Gennady Alekseevich Denezhkin

Gennady Denezhkin [28 January 1932 - 13 February 2016] was one of the creators of the most powerful artillery weapon - the Grad, Prima, Uragan and Smerch multiple launch rocket systems. After graduating from the Tula Mechanical Institute in 1954, he was sent to work at the FSUE "GNPP" Splav". From 1954 to 1983 he worked as an engineer, senior engineer, group leader, head of department, head of the research department. In 1983 he was appointed first deputy Director General for Research - Chief Designer of FSUE "GNPP" Splav ".

Gennady Denezhkin was born on January 28, 1932 in the city of Karabanovo, Vladimir Region. As soon as he became a first grader, little Gena was forced to grow up dramatically. In 1939, his father went to the Finnish War, and Gennady had to help his mother raise two younger brothers and run the household. A year later, his father returned home, but soon got hit by a train, and care for the disabled was added to Gena's worries. Later, Gennady Denezhkin recalled that when choosing a university, the most important criterion for him was the availability of a hostel. There was simply nothing to rent a room. Despite the abundance of household chores, the future designer managed to study well. Gennady was especially good at exact sciences, which eventually helped him enter the Moscow Aviation Institute (MAI), although only one point was still not enough for a place in a hostel. The situation was saved by a representative of one of the Tula enterprises, who recruited from the same as Gennady, "flying" past the free housing of MAI applicants, a new group for admission to the Tula Mechanical Institute (TMI). There, the hostel was supposed to be for everyone who needed it, and Denezhkin, without hesitation, went to study in Tula. In the early 50s, a group of students, which included Gennady Denezhkin, was sent to NII-147 (now JSC NPO Splav named after A.N. Ganichev, part of the Technodinamika holding of the Rostec state corporation) for practice. As a result, students had to write dissertations. Denezhkin chose a topic related to the development and production of shells for a new generation of artillery weapons - multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS). During the period of G.A. Denezhkin made a fundamental creative contribution to the creation of multiple launch rocket systems "Grad", "Grad-1", "Prima", "Uragan", "Smerch", which, in comparison with previous models, increase the combat efficiency several times. Together with the team, technical solutions were proposed, which later became classic for multiple launch rocket systems. For these decisions, he personally and in co-authorship received 213 copyright certificates confirming the high level and priority of the created samples of new technology. For the development of MLRS Grad "he was awarded the Lenin Prize (1966). Scientific results are presented in the book" Missile Weapons ", TsNIINTI, M., 1974.

As a leading engineer, he did a lot of work in the development of the 9M22 complex (it is worth understanding the M-21OF projectile of the 9M22 index). As a result of the creative initiative work of comrade. Denezhkina G.A., as one of the leading developers, high technical characteristics were obtained in this complex, and it was accepted for operation by the customer. With high performance Denezhkin GA, as the deputy chief designer of development and the team led by him, the product "Cloud", which is of great national economic importance, was worked out and handed over for mass production.

At various times, from the late 50s and 60s of the XX century, under the leadership and direct participation of G.A. Denezhkin, a number of development work was carried out, the products of which were accepted for mass production. Among them are rockets 9M22, 9M22M (for the Grad-P system), 9M22M1 (for the Partizan system), 9M23 (for the Grad system). A number of research projects were also carried out, in which a number of complex technical issues of practical importance in the development of products were solved. See electronic skins for stats on G.A. Denezhkin in 1964.

G.A. Denezhkin also made a fundamental creative contribution to the creation of multiple launch rocket systems "Grad-1", "Grad-2", "Prima", "Uragan", "Smerch" for rockets of caliber 122 (the first three systems), 220 and 300 mm. Together with the team, he proposed technical solutions that eventually became classic for multiple launch rocket systems. Most of the original solutions of Gennady Alekseevich are protected by copyright certificates for inventions, many of which were introduced into production and gave a great economic effect.

He was a leading designer for the development, production and implementation of highly efficient systems "Grad", "Grad-I", "Grad-P", "Grad-M". As chief designer, he developed and manufactured new systems: "Prima", "Smerch", "Uragan", "Hood", "Kazantin-I", "Prozaik", "Priklad", "Abris", "Rovesnik", " Taming ”,“ Boa constrictor ”.

When creating the 9K59 system, T. Denezhkin G.A. personally proposed a fundamentally new scheme of the product with separation of compartments, original solutions for the design of the main units of the product and the system, which provided a fivefold increase in efficiency compared to standard samples.

The ideology and construction scheme proposed by Gennady Alekseevich Denezhkin, the structure of the control system of two subsystems, made it possible to create a fundamentally new system 9K58 (MLRS "Smerch"), which has no foreign analogues, having high accuracy characteristics at long ranges, high efficiency.

At that time, work on the creation of the first MLRS was just beginning and was carried out on a competitive basis: the Tula NII-147 competed with the Moscow NII-24. The customer - the USSR Ministry of Defense - demanded the creation of an installation with a firing range of at least 20 km, with a number of guides of at least 40 and the ability to install it on the chassis of the Ural-375 car. But first, the MLRS had to be presented in the form of a draft design, on which the famous Tula designer Alexander Ganichev worked in those years. At the same time, he assembled his team and immediately noticed the young talented engineer Denezhkin. After practicing and defending his diploma, Denezhkin, at the invitation of Ganichev, returned to NII-147 and continued to work on the first rocket launcher.

According to former colleagues of Gennady Denezhkin, due to the lack of experience in creating jet weapons, the development team of the research institutes had to read a lot, study and experiment, rely on technical instincts. As a result, Alexander Ganichev's team made a decision that determined the winner in the fight against Muscovites for the right to create the first Soviet MLRS. Tula engineers proposed to produce a rocket projectile by cold stamping from plastic and light steel.

New shells invented by Tula gunsmiths made it possible to ensure compact placement of missiles and high accuracy of fire of the first MLRS. So, in the late 50s, the BM-21 Grad was created, which met all the requirements of the military, and also had a greater range than the outdated Katyusha.

MLRS Grad is a Soviet and Russian multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) of 122 mm caliber. Designed to destroy open and sheltered manpower, unarmored vehicles and armored personnel carriers in the area of concentration, artillery and mortar batteries, command posts and other targets in various combat conditions. The rocket system includes a combat vehicle on a modified chassis of a Ural-4320 off-road truck, as well as an M-21OF unguided rocket of 122 mm caliber (standard, a whole family of shells of this caliber was later developed). March 28, 1963 "Grad" was adopted by the Soviet army.

"Why was the Grad so popular all over the world? Because the unmanned production technology was created, so they could make these orders in huge batches a year. It was cheap and everyone bought it. Its unguided rockets were so technically accurate that could hit one point. Therefore, the combat capabilities of "Grad" expanded to a level that in those years could be considered fantastic," recalled the former chief technologist of the enterprise, and now a veteran of NPO Splav, Rudolf Kobylin.

"Gennady Alekseevich came to the enterprise after high school. Who was he? Sleeve engineer. And he became the chief designer, developer of the most complex systems, designer of long-range guided missiles. This is impossible without a demanding attitude towards people, including oneself. The option "it will do just that" - even in the most insignificant detail - is not about Denezhkin at all. He did not tolerate such an attitude to business - there simply could not be compromises..." said Rudolf Kobylin, veteran of NPO "Splav".

It was the BM-21 Grad field rocket system that became the base for a number of other domestic systems for firing unguided rockets of 122 mm caliber - 9K59 Prima, 9K54 Grad-V, Grad-VD, the light portable rocket system Grad -P", 22-barrel ship "A-215 Grad-M", "9K55 Grad-1", BM-21PD "Damba" - and some foreign systems, including RM-70, RM-70/85, RM-70 / 85M, Type 89 and Type 81. Also, the BM-21 itself has more than five modification options.

Today, Splav, which is part of Rostec, supplies the Russian army with the most modernized version of the Grad - Tornado-G. Compared to the old model, it has a significantly greater range and maneuverability, but the main difference is in the modern navigation system. Using satellite navigation and computer calculation of ballistic indicators, the system can be guided to targets automatically.

Further development of multiple launch rocket systems led to the creation of the Uragan MLRS. During the design process, for the first time, the original design of the cluster warhead, combat element, combat and transport-loading vehicles was developed. To replace the "Grad" in 1975, with the participation of Gennady Denezhkin, the Uragan MLRS was created (projectile caliber - 220 mm, firing range - 35 km). The machine based on the ZIL-135LM had 16 charges in one salvo. "Hurricane" was baptized by fire in Afghanistan, more than once helped the Soviet, Russian army, as well as the allies. The last test for him was the mission to liberate Palmyra in Syria.

"In Uragan, we first used the so-called cluster warhead. If one combat element is concentrated in the Grad warhead, then there are about 30 of them in the Hurricane. If the weight of the entire Grad warhead is 18 kg, then in " Hurricane "only one element weighs 2 kg. In terms of the effectiveness of defeating enemy manpower, one element of the Hurricane corresponds to the entire warhead of the Grad," Gennady Denezhkin said in an interview with Tula journalists.

In 1987, the first Smerch rolled off the assembly line, which still invariably serves not only the Russian army, but also a number of other countries. It has the best performance among the MLRS. The accuracy of the hit exceeds the accuracy of analogues by two to three times. Due to its effectiveness and range, the Smerch is close to tactical missile systems, and is similar in accuracy to an artillery gun.

The breakthrough achievement in the Smerch design was the flight path correction system. The flight range of the shells in the "Grad" and "Hurricane" does not exceed 35 km. If we forced the projectile to fly farther, then we inevitably lost in accuracy. This problem was solved in "Smerch". To reduce the dispersion of shells, they made a block of the trajectory correction system. Figuratively, these are four holes in the head part, from which powder gas flows in one direction or another. In the first phase of the flight, the axis of the projectile is adjusted and controlled, and then it becomes insensitive to wind and other factors. Already in the post-Soviet period, "Smerch" was finalized, and today its projectile flies up to 90 km.

It is expected that by the end of 2027, the existing Smerchs and obsolete Uragan systems will be completely replaced by large-caliber MLRS Tornado-S, which have improved performance and an expanded range of rockets. The Grads will also be replaced by the Tornado-G medium-caliber MLRS. The time of "Gradov" and "Tornados" will go down in history.

Since the 80s, while working as the first deputy general director, he headed a new scientific direction to create long-range, adjustable multiple launch rocket systems, providing an increase in accuracy and a decrease in technical dispersion by 1.5-2 times compared to the level achieved by that time. Interconnected scientific problems were solved to develop methods of physical and mathematical modeling of functioning processes, methods of experimental and theoretical determination of characteristics using a limited amount of flight tests. During this period, new methods of designing and testing projectiles were developed, ways were found for a rational combination of classical methods of developing artillery ammunition with methods for creating guided missiles. Work on the creation of the first long-range multiple launch rocket system with adjustable projectiles was completed by the adoption in 1987 of the Smerch MLRS, which has no analogues in terms of its characteristics and technical solutions. For outstanding services in the development of MLRS G.A. Denezhkin was awarded the high title of Hero of Socialist Labor (1989). In 1997 he was awarded the State Prize.

In his free time from design work, Gennady Denezhkin was active in scientific and teaching activities. In the early 1980s, he defended his Ph.D. thesis, and then his doctoral thesis. In the 90s, already being the chief designer of Splav, Denezhkin became an academician of the Russian Academy of Rocket and Artillery Sciences. At the same time, according to colleagues, he not only constantly improved himself as a scientist, but also prepared six candidates of sciences.

For outstanding achievements in the field of creating MLRS, Gennady Denezhkin was awarded two Orders of Lenin, the Order of the October Revolution and "For Merit to the Fatherland" III degree.

The last direction that Denezhkin was engaged in at Splav was high-precision and adjustable weapons. "The civilian population should not suffer because of someone's political ambitions. And in this sense, high-precision and adjustable weapons guarantee minimal losses," the outstanding Tula designer said in one of his last interviews.

G.A. Denezhkin did a lot of scientific work. He defended his Ph.D. thesis in 1983, his doctoral dissertation in 1999, published several monographs and articles, since 1995 - Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Rocket and Artillery Sciences, awarded two Orders of Lenin, the Order of Merit to the Fatherland, III degree, medals. Honorary citizen of the Tula region and the city of Tula.

Gennady Alekseevich Denezhkin died on February 13, 2016 in Tula at the age of 85. His death was expected. The cause of death was the result of falling from a ladder a little more than a month and a half before his death. He He was buried at the Smolensk cemetery in Tula. On August 22, 2018, a memorial plaque dedicated to the native and honorary resident of the city Gennady Alekseevich Denezhkin was solemnly opened on the Walk of Fame in Karabanovo.

"GRANDFATHER", the employees of the enterprise called him, having worked at it for more than 61 years. Modesty, intelligence, erudition, on the one hand, and the firmness of upholding the decisions made have earned tremendous respect for Denezhkin both from colleagues and representatives of related organizations and factories. He went to the public dining room, worked on weekends even after his 75th birthday, and could let him ride in a company car without question. In the evening it could have been an old service car of the "UAZ" series. He taught to do the work consistently, and not to take on everything at once. He had a deep hatred for “those who like leaking information for their own gain,” those who like to move forward at the expense of discrediting others.

Calm, reasonable, professional in technology, where necessary - a subtle politician. And always - the desire to meet halfway, to help, be it just advice at work, or specific material assistance to a veteran. If the subcontractors failed to do something and turned to him with a request to resolve the situation, he said: "We need to help!" He never raised his voice, the worst thing was when he said quietly:“ Do I need to order you? ” And this phrase, spoken in a calm voice, acted worse than any shout. He spent his free time fishing, hunting or in the country, but his main muse was work.