• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Mikhail Vasilievich Khrunichev

Mikhail Vasilievich Khrunichev(1901-1961) - Member of the CPSU (b) since 1921, Lieutenant-General of Engineering and Technical Services (1944), Hero of Socialist Labor (1945). From 1930 on economic work; in 1932–37, deputy director, director of a military factory. From 1938, Deputy Commissar of the Defense Industry, from 1939 Deputy Commissar of the Aviation Industry, from 1942–46, First Deputy Commissar of USSR Munitions. In 1946–53, Minister of Aviation Industry of the USSR. In 1953–55, First Deputy Minister of Medium Machine Building; in 1955–57, First Deputy Chairman of the USSR Council of Ministers; 1957–61 First Deputy Chairman of the USSR State Planning Committee, Minister of the USSR; in 1961, Deputy Chairman of the USSR Council of Ministers. During the Great Patriotic War, he did a great job of providing the aircraft factories with material and technical resources. In the post-war period, he was involved in the organization and development of the OKB and institutes of the aviation industry, of serial plants, and contributed to the accelerated transition of aviation to jet technology. His name is the engineering plant in Moscow. Urn with ashes in the Kremlin wall.

Born on March 22 (April 4), 1901 at the Shubinsky mine (now Lugansk region, Ukraine) in the family of a miner. Russian. His father, who lived in a poor peasant family in the Oryol province, came to the Donbas mines to earn money for a twenty-year-old and worked for 35 years at the Shubinsky mine in the Bakhmut district of the Yekaterinoslav province (now Stakhanov). It also met his future wife - Luhansk. By the way, the family of the future chief militia officer of the country, the Minister of the Interior of the USSR N. Shelokov, lived somewhere nearby . He studied at the Primary Zemstvo School in Alchevsk for two years, but did not graduate because of the extremely difficult financial situation of the family. Already at the age of 13, Mikhail knows what heavy mining work is, he works at the mine as a messenger, a konogon, then in the workshops as a hammerman.

In 1920, he volunteered to join the Red Army, served in a special military-food commission, ensuring the harvesting of bread and fodder in the Azov region. Then he became commander of a sapper platoon in the renowned 15th Sivash division. Participated in battles, showing courage and heroism. In 1921, Mikhail Khrunichev joined the VKP (b), and three years later, as a communist, he was sent to work in the police, rising to the head of the Lugansk regional militia. In 1926 he headed the militia of the 1st district of the city of Lugansk, and then the criminal investigation department of the Lugansk district militia.

The selfless work of the policemen of Luhansk region was highly appreciated. On the day of the 10th anniversary of the police of the Ukrainian SSR, on February 5, 1929, the Collegium of the NKVD of the Ukrainian SSR police of the Luhansk district, among the three best, for achievements in the fight against banditry and crime, was awarded the Red Banner. And its fifty best workers, including M. Khrunichev, are government awards and personal weapons.

In 1929, Mikhail Khrunichev was appointed Assistant Director of the Lugansk Artem Plant. At the same time, he begins his studies at the Ukrainian Industrial Academy, and then at the special-purpose faculty of the All-Union Institute of Economic Managers. However, he did not complete the training, having completed only three courses. This did not prevent Khrunichev in 1935-1937 from heading the military factory No. 184 in Zelenodolsk near Moscow.

In November 1937, he transferred to the People's Commissariat of the Defense Industry of the USSR to the post of head of the 12th Main Directorate (this department managed the enterprises engaged in the production of ammunition).

In May 1938, Khrunichev became deputy people's commissar of the defense industry. When, in January of the following year, this people's commissariat was disaggregated, Mikhail Vasilyevich was appointed deputy people's commissar of the aviation industry of the USSR. In this position, he made considerable efforts to introduce new types of aircraft and develop the industrial base of the industry.

(In connection with the growth of industry, the emergence of new industries, the need for more flexible and operational leadership in February 1939, one month before the 18th party congress, the People’s Commissariat of Mechanical Engineering (Narkommash) was divided into three new commissariats. The newly formed people's commissariats — the people's commissariat of the average mechanical engineering People's Commissariat of General Engineering and the People's Commissariat of Heavy Engineering - headed by I. A. Likhachev, P. I. Parshin and V. A. Malyshev . Was it a complete surprise? Of course not ... The emergence of a new generation of socialist leaders such as N. A. Voznesensky , A. N. Kosygin , D. F. Ustinov , I. F. Tevosyan , B. L. Vannikov , M. V. Khrunichev, A. I. Shakhurin , 3. A. Shashkov, A. P. Zavenyagin , A. A. Goreglyad , P. M. Zernov, and others, was absolutely natural, necessary in the pre-storm conditions of 1939-1941. ... (Malyshev VA - People's Commissar of Heavy Machinery 1939))

In the first months of the war, Khrunichev was forced to evacuate aircraft factories. Soon the organizational abilities of Khrunichev turned out to be in demand in another industry. In 1942, he was appointed first deputy commissar of the USSR for ammunition. At that time, many enterprises of this most important defense industry were just beginning to deploy production of ammunition at new locations in the eastern regions of the Soviet Union.

The front badly needed shells, bombs and all other types of ammunition. And in these conditions, Khrunichev successfully coped with the task. October 28, 1943 he was awarded the rank of Major General Engineering and Technical Services. By the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of September 16, 1945 "for outstanding services in organizing the production of aircraft, tanks, engines, weapons and ammunition, as well as for creating and developing new models of military equipment and providing them years of the Great Patriotic War "in the group of leaders of the defense industry Khrunichev Mikhail Vasilyevich was awarded the title Hero of Socialist Labor with the award of the Order of Lenin and the gold medal "Hammer and Sickle".

In 1944, M. Khrunichev was given the military rank - Lieutenant-General of Engineering and Technical Services. And in 1945 "for outstanding achievements in organizing the production of aircraft, tanks, engines, weapons and ammunition, as well as for creating and mastering new types of combat equipment and providing them with the Red Army and Navy during the Great Patriotic War" M .AT. Khrunichev was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor with the award of the Order of Lenin and the Hammer and Sickle Gold Medal.

In January 1946, Mikhail Khrunichev was appointed people's commissar (since March 1946 - Minister) of the aviation industry of the USSR. His main task in this post was the elimination of the emerging backlog in the field of jet aircraft. And he successfully coped with this task. If the first Soviet jet fighters MiG-9 ( A.I. Mikoyan ) and Yak-15 ( A.S. Yakovlev ) had very modest flight characteristics, the Mi-15 G-15 that appeared in 1948 fully corresponded to world level.

A qualitative leap in the aviation industry, organized by Mikhail Vasilyevich, allowed to use the Il-28 ( S.V. Ilyushin ), Tu-16 ( A.N. Tupolev ) jet bombers , and also to create and introduce into production the first Soviet jet passenger Tu-104 aircraft. At this time, helicopter construction was born in the USSR, the production of Mi-1 helicopters began, followed by the Mi-4 and Yak-24.

From March 1953, Mikhail Khrunichev worked as Deputy Minister of Medium Machine-Building of the USSR (this ministry was in charge of the atomic industry), and in February 1955 became Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR. He held this position for less than two years, after which he worked in the USSR State Planning Committee and other governing bodies.

In 1961, he was appointed to the post of Deputy Chairman of the USSR Council of Ministers and Chairman of the USSR Council of Ministers State Committee for the Coordination of Scientific Research. From the first days in this new field, M. Khrunichev directed all his efforts to improve scientific research on a nationwide scale. Scientists, engineers, technicians, innovators of production invariably found understanding and assistance from Mikhail Vasilyevich. Having established close contact with the Academy of Sciences of the USSR and other scientific institutions of the country, he mobilizes scientists to perform new tasks.

Mikhail Vasilyevich died on June 2, 1961 of heart failure. He was buried in Moscow in the Kremlin wall. Deputy USSR Armed Forces in 1946–50 and from 1958. Awarded 7 Orders of Lenin, Orders of Suvorov, 2nd class, Red Banner of Labor, medals.