• Military Menu                       

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

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Military Industrial Commission - History

The tradition of Military Industry in Russia dated back to the beginning of the XXth century, when the First World War to lead the war economy had created special bodies. Chief among them was the "special meeting to discuss measures for the defense of the state" under the control of the Minister of War. The structure of the meeting included representatives of the State Council and the State Duma, representatives of the industry - including private. Meeting to do what in today's language can be called "controlled placement and implementation of the state defense order," combined with the activities of the Armed Forces of the home front: the distribution of military orders and monitor their implementation in the enterprises producing military goods, the issues of army supplies.

In addition to the meeting, the important role played by the military-industrial committees - in fact, the intermediary structures for placement of state orders for private enterprises then "defense". In RFSR in the early years of the Soviet industrial management, including - the military, carried out through the structure of the Supreme Economic Council (the Supreme Economic Council).

In 1926 Sergo Ordzhonikidze was appointed to the Politburo, the central policymaking and governing body of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. In 1930 he took the position of Commissar of Soviet Heavy Industry. In 1932, "defense" plants were under the control of the People's Commissariat of Heavy Industry (NKTP), the composition of which in 1936 stood the People's Commissariat of Defense Industry.

On 18 February 1937 Ordzhonikidze was found dead in his apartment. In 1938, on the eve of the war, the Soviet leadership created a body responsible for preparing the economy for war. This body became the Military-Industrial Commission [MIC] under the Defence Committee of the Council of People's Commissars. The main task of the MIC was defined as: "Mobilization and training industry as the defense and non-defense for the full enforcement of the plans and tasks of the Committee of Defense of the production and supply of the Red Army and Navy weaponry."

MIC was assigned the role of arbiter in interagency disputes that status was enshrined in the documents of the military industrial complex. During the war, however, all the control functions of the defense industry moved GKO - State Defense Committee.

In the early postwar years, the single control of the MIC was absent. Tasks were entrusted to the Bureau of industry, including mechanical engineering and shipbuilding, which are engaged in the defense industry. The idea of the revival of such a body has appeared in 1948.

In 1951, the Presidium of the USSR Council of Ministers Office was established by the military and the military-industrial issues, chaired N.A.Bulganin, which operated from February 1951 to October 1952 Members of the Bureau is the largest of the armed forces and defense industry. This institution has been more deliberative vote, considering plans for military contracts and research and development. The final decision rested with the Central Committee and the USSR Council of Ministers.

In 1953 the Special Committee of the Council of Ministers of the USSR was established, which later (in 1957) turned to the Commission of the Presidium of the Council of Ministers of the military-industrial issues. The peak of development of the Soviet defense industry, in the 1970-80s, it was achieved under the control of this structure.

Khrushchev initiated major changes in the organization of science and technology. In 1957 he abolished the industrial ministries in favor of regional economic councils (sovety narodnikh khoziaistv — sovnarkhozy). Khrushchev thought that research, development and production facilities subordinated to the sovnarkhozy could cooperate on programs more easily than they could under the ministerial system. The experiment failed, partly because of excessive duplication of effort [in 1965, under the leadership of Leonid I. Brezhnev, the industrial ministries were restored.

Although the defence industrial ministries were not destroyed in the Sovnarkhoz reforms they came under a new form of government control - the Military-Industrial Commission (VPK). An institution with the same name had been established in the 1930s, but it appears that its oversight function had been usurped by the security organs.

Some Western studies suggest that the VPK was a significant organisation throughout the 1950s. According to this view, Malyshev was a Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers because he was head of the VPK. Russian and Soviet sources generally do not mention the VPK from the war through early 1957. One source suggests that by 1955 there was a special committee of the Council of Ministers that oversaw. Thus, it is unclear whether the VPK existed as a functioning institution in the post-Stalin period prior to 1957. In any case, the VPK assumed an important role when Ustinov started this new organization.

After the "Anti-Party Group" affair control over weapons R&D policy shifted decisively from government institutions to the party. After the "Anti-Party Group" affair, Ustinov who was promoted to Deputy Chairman and given responsibility for execution of weapons R&D policy. Promoted from Minister of Defence Industry to Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers, Ustinov now supervised all defence industry.

In the formation of the Commission of the Presidium of the Council of Ministers of the military-industrial issues, it was determined that it was headed by Deputy Chairman of the USSR Council of Ministers, and found that the decisions of the commission are binding for all ministries and departments, developing and manufacturing products for military use, regardless of their affiliation. The decision to begin an ICBM project was initiated by S.P.Korolev with the assistance of Minister D.F.Ustinov.

To develop recommendations to address scientific and technical issues related to the development of weapons and military equipment (AME), and defense industries, with the Military-Industrial Commission was organized by the Scientific and Technical Council.

Subsequently, functions and tasks of the Commission were expanded. So, in 1961 on the Military-Industrial Commission was responsible for monitoring the development and approval of plans for R&D of weapons and military equipment, in 1967 - to coordinate the development of nuclear and chemical weapons, with the 70-ies - laser weapons, special and non-conventional weapons, and the creation of special facilities.

The structure of the military industrial complex were Deputy Chairman Council of Ministers of the USSR - the chairman of the MIC, the first deputy chairman of the defense industry in the rank of Minister of the USSR, the first deputy chairman of USSR State Planning Committee of the military-industrial complex, the Vice-Chairman of the MIC, the ministers of defense industries, the First Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR - Chief of General Staff Armed Forces of the USSR, USSR Deputy Defense Minister for Armaments, Deputy Chairman of the KGB of the USSR.

Since the formation of the military industrial complex in 1957 it was headed by Dmitry Ustinov (1957-1963.) L.V.Smirnov (1963-1985 gg.), I.S.Belousov (1988-1990.), Yu D.Maslyukov (1985-1988 gg. and 1991). Vice-chairman of the MIC were entitled to First Deputy Minister of the USSR, Head of Department - Deputy Minister of the USSR rights. Scientific Council for many years headed the rank of deputy chairman of the defense industry of the USSR Academy of Sciences, twice Hero of Socialist Gruda A.N.Schukin. Apparatus MIC together with all the support staff did not exceed 250 people.

The structure of the NTS MIC consisted of sections 10-12 of the main problems of development of arms and military equipment. They worked 200-250 STC members who were involved in the defense industry, research institutes Ministry of Defense of the USSR Academy of Sciences and higher education. One of the sections of the NTS officially called "Presidency". This was due to the fact that the group in different years were academicians and corresponding members of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR: A.P.Aleksandrov, A.G.Baistov, B.V.Bunkin, Yevgeny Velikhov, I.A.Glebov , P.D.Grushin, VAKoptiug, VAKotel'nikov, AALogunov, G.L.Svischev, V.S.Seminihin, G.G.Ryabov, Paton, T.I.Trefilov, K.V.Frolov and others.

The main objectives of the MIC unit was operational, deep, thorough and comprehensive training materials for the chairman of the defense industry, on the basis of which to make important state decisions, then the daily work of the organization and supervision of the execution of these decisions. Workers MIC chosen from the administrative board of Gosplan, the ministries, research institutes, design bureaus and factories of military-industrial complex and order management USSR Ministry of Defense. They were not just the organizers, but above all engineers and scientists who know what is happening in their own and related industries in the country and in the world, prepared to vigorously defend their proposals, able to evaluate the original ideas and technical solutions. The authority in the defense of their very high.

Thus, the defense industry was "concentrated in a single fist and subject to a single will". In 1965, after the restoration of ministerial committee got the final form. The basis of its power was the legendary "nine" - nine accountable defense industry ministries, enterprises that focus the lion's share of the state defense order. This ministry of the aviation industry, defense industry, shipbuilding industry, general engineering, medium machine building, radio, electronic industry, electrical industry and the chemical industry. With them was closely linked dozen allied ministries, also produces products for military and civil purposes.

In order to further optimize the organizational structure and improve the management of the Armed Forces of the USSR with modern means of AME November 16, 1985 adopted a resolution "On the commission management of defense industries." This resolution previously created commission was transformed into the State Commission of the Council of Ministers of the USSR on military-industrial issues as a permanent body managing a single set of defense industries. It is composed of nine ministries - the aviation industry, engineering, defense, general engineering, the communications industry, the radio industry, shipbuilding industry, the medium mechanical engineering and electronics industries.

The main tasks of the state commission were:

• organization and coordination of works on creation of modern types of weapons and military equipment, superior or inferior to the performance characteristics to foreign analogues;
• strengthening the responsibility of the ministries and agencies involved in the creation of IWT for implementing the plans, increasing productivity and reducing production costs;
• overseeing the preparation of the mobilization of the national economy.

In 1987, the Government adopted a resolution "On measures to improve military-technical cooperation with foreign countries," according to which a commission was entrusted with additional functions to implement in cooperation with the Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, State Planning Committee, the State Committee for Foreign Economic Relations and the KGB activities to Military-Technical Cooperation with Foreign Countries.

These were the years of bold technical solutions, high-rise of the creative thoughts of scientists, designers, engineers and workers. The results of the military-industrial complex will continuously expand production and resource base, work on the construction, upgrading and development of new models of military equipment, its mass production.

The activity of the VPK was inextricably linked to solving complex problems of concentration of forces and resources for research and the creation of systems of ballistic missile defense and strategic nuclear weapons, which are a guarantee of strategic stability in the world on the basis of nuclear deterrence. This included the creation and further development of tools and systems of missile warning, missile defense, space control, space defense, domestic aviation, construction of submarines and surface ships of all classes, development and commercial introduction of samples and complexes of the Land Forces is difficult to overestimate.