Pyotr Stepanovich Pleshakov
Pyotr Stepanovich Pleshakov was the minister of the radio industry of the USSR in 1974-1987. In the early 50's, the 5th Main Directorate of the USSR Military Ministry was created to coordinate the work in the field of radar, which are conducted on orders of the Armed Forces. Pleshakov receives an appointment in this department, behind which the topic of radio technical reconnaissance and radio counteraction is fixed. Pyotr Stepanovich studied everything done in the industry on this topic. He closely cooperated with the specialists of the Central Research Institute-108, often visited the institute.
Pyotr Stepanovich Pleshakov was born in a peasant family in the Tambov region, graduated from the Moscow Institute of Communications Engineers and, thanks to his enormous talent and amazing performance, he made his way to the director of the Central Research Institute and then to the USSR radio industry minister. It was Peter Stepanovich who led the creation of a system known to all as the "nuclear button". The S-300 and S-400 anti-aircraft complexes, which have no analogs in the world, and the strategic missile Topol also embody the ideas and work of P.S. Pleshakova.
During the undeclared war in Korea, Pleshakov, with a team of specialists, twice travelled there as a "Chinese volunteer" to test electronic reconnaissance equipment in combat conditions. The tests were successful. It was then that he had an idea about the creation of aviation complexes capable of conducting radio technical reconnaissance and, simultaneously, on the basis of the received data, to ensure the guidance of missiles and the destruction of the enemy radar. Pleshakov submits a report on his transfer to Central Research Institute-108, and in 1952 he began to work there as head of laboratory No. 28.
Pyotr Stepanovich closely followed the development of the Korean War. In the skies of North Korea and China, there was a tough confrontation between Soviet fighters MiG-15 and American "Sabers". It was found that one of the reasons for the loss of our pilots is the possibility of unobstructed calling of the Sabers with the help of airborne radio trains to the tail of the MiG. Initially, together with a group of laboratory engineers, Pleshakov, in a short space of time, develops a warning system for the pilot about an attack from the rear hemisphere. An experimental batch is prepared urgently and sent to the active units. The results of its operation in combat conditions confirmed the high efficiency of the equipment, and it is immediately transferred to mass production.
Under the guidance of Pleshakov, work was also carried out to create the first domestic air missile systems with systems for passive detection and homing of missiles for radar targets. As a result, the army received strike complexes with non-transmitting (passive) long-range aiming heads for destroying the operating radar. They were placed on Tu-16KP and Tu-22P aircraft and for many years served our aviation properly.
The accumulated experience, as well as the rapid development of space technology, allowed Pyotr Stepanovich to come up with the idea of conducting radio technical reconnaissance and observing the situation on the globe from space. His proposals were supported. Now, not only the key scientific and technical problems are closing in on it, but also the problems of creating external cooperation from enterprises of various departments, primarily rocket and space enterprises. Pleshakova's selfless labor, energy and dedication were noticed in the defense department. In 1958, he was appointed director of the Central Scientific Research Institute of Nuclear Research (TsNII-108, in common use - the 108th Institute) - an extraordinary institution. It was here that the foundations of Russian radiolocation arose. Here the best shots were concentrated.
Out of the walls of the Central Scientific Research Radio Engineering Institute, many major leaders of various departments and enterprises of the defense industry came out. Scientists and highly qualified specialists became general and chief designers, heads of giant promising thematic areas in related enterprises: TsKB Almaz - AA Raspetin, BV Bunkin, TR Brakhman; "NIIDAR" - V.P.Sosulnikov, All-Union Research Institute of Television Technology - N.G. Moiseev and many others. Working with such outstanding scientists, designers for a number of years, Pleshakov learned a lot from them.
Much is said about, for example, such a case that occurred when Pyotr Stepanovich was a member of the State Commission that controls the preparation and launch of missiles that put satellites with equipment into orbit. The missile is prepared for launch with a satellite in which the institute's equipment is mounted, but the last check reveals a malfunction in it. How to be? To postpone launch means to discharge a missile: Pleshakov, without attracting anyone, himself climbs on the product and fixes the malfunction. The missile is saved, the launch is made, the satellite went into a given orbit, the information flow went to the receiving point.
In the 1950s, the United States and the Soviet Union created nuclear warheads, the first ballistic missiles appeared, intercontinental ballistic missiles were being prepared for testing as a means of delivering these charges. As a consequence, in the early 50's, Moscow and Washington began work on the creation of anti-missile defense. On March 4, 1961, the Soviet experimental missile defense system of the "A" system for the first time in the world intercepts and hits the head of the ballistic missile of the target R-12.
At the initiative of Peter Stepanovich and with his direct participation, experimental design work is carried out. In the course of these experiments, experimental samples of the radar suppression facilities of the anti-missile defense system are being created and tested in the Soviet Union for the first time. The Central Research Institute-108 is creating a unit specializing in the development of antimissile defense missile defense system assets and complexes. Experts noted that one of the decisive factors contributing to the signing of the 1972 Treaty between the USSR and the United States on missile defense was precisely the work of the institute to equip strategic missiles with the means to overcome missile defense.
Having become Minister, Pleshakov flew all over the Soviet Union in a short time, visited a large number of enterprises that had not previously visited, got acquainted with collectives, heads of regions and republics. Pyotr Stepanovich understood that without their support and assistance, the development of the industry is impossible. To carry out the task of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers on the reorganization of the Ministry of Radiopharm, expanding its scientific base and creating a new industrial and technological one, it took decisive measures both in the ministry apparatus and in the design institutes. He was the permanent head of the Interdepartmental Council for Missile Defense of the country, where such outstanding scientists and designers as Yu.E.Khariton, E.P.Velikhov, G.V.Kisunko, A.Basistov, B.V.Bunkin, A.B.I.Savin.
With the appointment of Pleshakov Minister began to increase production volumes, and this required an increase in the pace of construction, the creation of enterprises, capacities for the latest developments in defense technology and consumer goods. Under the personal control of the minister, a non-ferrous casting plant is being built in Izhevsk, in Yaroslavl - a plant for the production of standard equipment. His initiative was the construction of a plant in the NPO Almaz. It's a pity that because of problems with the delivery of equipment, the facility was built with difficulty, and "perestroika" also completely buried a grandiose project. In total, more than 30 factories of scientific research institutes and design bureaus were built to create a new scientific and production base of the industry.
Pleshakov considered the control of the execution of state orders at the level of final products, especially this applied to the stages of full-scale testing at the Ministry of Defense sites. At that time, in particular, in the field of aviation, they were under the control of Pavel Stepanovich Kutakhov, the commander-in-chief of the Air Force, Ivan Stepanovich Silayev, the minister of the aviation industry and Pyotr Stepanovich Pleshakov, minister of the radio industry. This "triple alliance" gave a great operational success, since many organizational and technical issues were solved on the spot of testing at a high level.
On the whole, the years of the leadership of the radio industry by Pleshakov were marked by large-scale projects in many scientific and technical areas, including in the field of computer technology. Thus, in the Institute of Precision Mechanics and Computer Science. SA Lebedev a broad front was the work on the creation of a multiprocessor computer complex "Elbrus-2" (the chief designer was VS Burtsev). By the beginning of the 1980s, the field of design automation of individual programs was becoming a powerful force integrating science into production.
The main business of P.S. Pleshakova was the creation of a powerful domestic radio industry - an industry that allowed the country to become a truly great power, reliably secure its national security, make an entrance to the forefront in science and production. His contribution to strengthening the defense capacity of our country is truly priceless. Under the leadership of Pleshakov and with his direct participation, unique strategic systems were created, all modern radio facilities that are in service with the army, aviation and fleet were developed. These are missile attack warning systems and global space radio electronic reconnaissance, a single radar field of the country for providing rocket and space and air defense, an automated troop control system, and an air traffic control system.
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