Tula KBP Instrument Design Bureau - History
The idea of creating a special design bureau was discussed back in 1924, at which time this issue was first considered by the Technical Committee of the Tula arms factories. There was an urgent need to re-equip the Red Army with the most modern automatic weapons, which needed not only to produce, but also to modernize and update. This task required the unity of design ideas, the pooling of forces, Russian talents, and the government took consistent steps to create domestic specialized arms development organizations.
Two years later, in August 1926, with the machine-gun department of the Tula Arms Plant, a cell of the future design bureau was formed, headed by I.A. Pastukhov. Since 1927, P.P. Tretyakov. The main direction of work of the organized bureau was the creation of light small arms and machine guns. The first head of the bureau was a talented, highly educated military engineer with tremendous production experience and excellent organizational skills Pavel Petrovich Tretyakov.
The experience, knowledge and skills of Tula gunsmiths, application of engineering methods in the development of new models of weapons became the key to the success of the young PCB (since 1936 - TsKB-14). The first major success of the organization was the acceptance by the Red Army in February 1931 of a TT pistol (Tula, Tokarev). The TT gun was in service with the Soviet Army for exactly 20 years. Shkas, ShVAK and UB air guns, VY and B-20 cannons are samples that were not equal in the world. This weapon in the terrible years of the Great Patriotic
In 1935, the PCB withdrew from the Tula arms factories and received a new name - the Central Design Bureau of Small Arms with an approved staff of 220 people. Later the name of the Bureau changed. In 1936 it was renamed into TsKB-14, and 30 years later - in 1966 it was named the Design Bureau of Instrument Engineering.
Prior to the Great Patriotic War, the main thing for the PCB was the creation of light small arms and machine guns, samples of domestic automatic weapons, the development of rapid-fire aircraft guns and guns. According to their tactical and technical characteristics, these developments far exceeded foreign analogs. In the mid-1930s, the theme of the PCB was expanded by the development of automatic aviation armament.
The main result of the prewar period of the KB activity was the development and deployment of many automatic weapons: a TT gun (Tulsky, Tokarev); rifles SVT-38, SVT-40, AVT-40, developed by F.V. Tokarev; quadruple antiaircraft installation of the machine gun "Maxim", developed by N.F. Tokarev; Quick-firing aircraft machine gun ShKAS, developed by B.G. Shpitalny, I.A. Komaritsky; The airborne machine gun ShVAK, developed by B.G. Shpatalny, S.V. Vladimirov; Universal aviation machine gun UB, developed by M.E. Berezin; the aircraft cannon VY, developed by A.A. Volkov, S.A. Yartsev.
The products of the Tula designers' development in the Second World War were equipped with more than 80% of the aircraft of the Russian aviation, including such widely known fighters as La-5, MiG-3, Yak-3, Il-2 attack planes, Pe-2 bombers, Tu- 2. In 1944, the gun was adopted B-2 design ME. Berezina. Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of November 18, 1944 for outstanding achievements in the field of creating new and improving existing models of small arms and aircraft guns TsKB-14 was awarded the highest award of the Motherland - the Order of Lenin.
After the war, there was a hard period of recovery, the years when all the forces of the state mobilized. In the PCU began to develop new types of weapons, and here the collective showed its remarkable character. During this period, work began on the creation of next-generation rifle and cannon armaments with increased rate of fire for prospective aviation.
The restoration of the enterprise in the postwar years was conducted by a talented engineer and organizer Igor F. Dmitriev. Under the leadership of Dmitriev continues the development of rifle and cannon armament. Such well-known examples as the 9 mm PM pistol (Makarov pistol), the 9 mm automatic pistol APC (Stechkin pistol), the 23 mm AM-23 air gun, the 23-mm anti-aircraft machine 2A7 for ZSU Shilka, 23 ZM anti-aircraft gun ZU-23 with anti-aircraft automatic device 2A14.
In the postwar years, the best weapons in the world were created. It is a submachine gun developed by NF. Makarov; automatic APS gun, developed by I.Ya. Stechkin; A-12.7 aircraft machine gun, developed by N.M. Afanasyev; aircraft gun AM-23, developed by NM. Afanasyev, N.F. Makarov; antiaircraft automata 2A7 and 2A14, developed by N.M. Afanasyev, P.G. Yakushev; Zu-23 antiaircraft gun designed by E.K. Rachinsky, R.Ya. Purzenim. In total, 11 different types of guns were developed.
The creation of the first ATGM made it possible to work out the principles of the use of new weapons, to master its production and create a scientific and technical base for the development of more advanced models, including the Gadfly, Dragon, and Lotus in the 1960s. In the early 60-ies the main focus of the enterprise was the development of guided weapons. At the same time, the subject of small arms was transferred to the Tula Central Design Research Bureau (TsKIB), established in 1946. In March 1962, TsKB-14 was headed by the outstanding Russian scientist and designer Arkady Georgievich Shipunov.
It was under his leadership in the PCU (which the company received in 1966) that works were being deployed on guided missile weapons, including high-precision weapons. The implementation of the scientific and technical solutions proposed by A. G. Shipunov ensured the creation of samples of B and BT that do not have analogues abroad or surpass them in their tactical and technical characteristics. Strong examples of such systems are PTRK "Kornet-E", KUAV "Krasnopol-M2", ZPRK "Tunguska", ZRPK "Pantsir-S1", Zrach "Kashtan".
When Shipunov came in 1962, in TsKB-14 they were engaged only in missile technology, since the rifle-cannon field in the country was officially closed as a "cave" technique. At the same time, abroad, no one closed the rifle-cannon direction, as happened in the USSR, there were produced both rockets, first-class jet aircraft, and guns. When the analysis was made in 1964, it turned out that Russia had lagged behind the West for 8-10 years with regard to rifle and cannon armament.
Arkady Georgievich proved that we should continue to engage in guns, because there can not exist only missile-guided weapons, since there are tasks that are much better solved by cannon armament. And he proved this in word and deed, having created guided high-precision missile-artillery systems, according to tactical and technical data, many of them were superior and superior to foreign ones, and some - did not and do not have analogs in the world. In 1964, the Ministry of Defense issued a decree on the restoration of the production of cannons with the indication of specific enterprises where their production should be organized.
An order was issued on the Ministry, according to which from the NII-61, where Shipunov used to work, several people were transferred, headed by Vasily Petrovich Gryazev and with all the stock that they had for guns. At that time, high-temperature guns of caliber of 23 mm, caliber of 30 mm, were already being conducted. From 1966 to 2008 Vasily Petrovich Griazev was Deputy General Designer and Chief of Instrument Design Bureau. Hero of Socialist Labor, laureate of State Prizes, Academician of the Russian Academy of Missile and Artillery Sciences, Academician of the Russian Engineering Academy, Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor.
A special feature of the new stage was the parallel development, when, not yet finished the first prospect, laying the second, third. For example, when the GSh-23 cannon and its 30-mm modifications were being developed and were still being developed, the company has already begun to develop six-barreled cannons, which were even more quick-fired. All samples were brought to the end and put on a batch production.
In 1966, TsKB-14 was renamed the Design Bureau of Instrument Engineering. By 1966, the company had already organized work in two main areas, which required a change in its structure - there were separate design bureaus, a testing bureau, scientific and technical bureaus and support units. The development of the main elements of anti-tank missile systems and, later, high-precision science-intensive weapon systems in the interests of various combat arms was prepared and deployed.
On a qualitatively new level, thanks to new ideas and design solutions, the development of small-caliber rifle and cannon armaments was restored, led by the outstanding armourer, deputy general designer, Hero of Socialist Labor, Doctor of Technical Sciences Vasily Petrovich Griazev.
In parallel, another important task was solved: the technical directions of new developments were determined. The design bureau of instrument engineering started the development of a system of anti-tank missile systems (ATGM) of the second generation.
The successful delivery of the "Fagot" product was the actual new birth of the Design Bureau. This was the first successfully completed system in the field of guided weapons. A stable success has come to the firm and the head. It was 1970. Then the "Fagot" was unified into the "Competition", "Metis", for which the PCU was awarded the Order of the October Revolution, and Arkady G. - the title of Hero of Socialist Labor.
After the acceptance of the samples for armament under the leadership of A.G. Shipunov at the plants of the industry organized the development and commissioning of a large-scale production of ATGM of the 2nd generation. For more than 30 years, these systems have been the basis of this type of weapons in the Russian army and armies of many countries in the world.
The period from the end of the 70s is characterized by a strong expansion of the company's subjects and its emergence beyond the traditional framework, which provided the enterprise with a long-term leading position in the field of creating weapons and military equipment. At this time, several new areas appear: arming lightly armored vehicles, guided artillery and anti-aircraft systems to protect ground targets and ships. It was in the Design Bureau of Instrument Engineering that the beginning of guided artillery shells began in Russia.
The initiator of the appearance of a new antiaircraft direction in the KBP was A.G. Shipunov. Thanks to his ideas on the formation of the appearance of this type of weapon, it was possible to create a complex, which at that time had no analogues in the world. As a result, the KBP developed a system of cannon-antiaircraft missile systems: land ("Tunguska") and ship-based ("Kashtan") capable of solving these problems, complementing and simultaneously defending the classical air defense systems of long-range and medium-range action.
Samples of weapons developed by the Instrument Design Bureau are widely supplied to various countries around the world. At first they were ATGM "Fagot" and "Competition", ZU-23 anti-aircraft guns, AK-306 and AA-630 anti-aircraft guns, PM and APS pistols, GSH air guns. Thousands of combat aircraft MiG-21, MiG-23, MiG-27, MiG-29, Su-24, Su-25 and Mi-24 helicopters, Mi-35 equipped with GSh guns are in service with tens of countries around the world. At present, the basis of exports are WTO complexes of various purposes - anti-tank, artillery, anti-aircraft.
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