General Machine-building - Detente and Arms Control
Already by the end of 1970, successfully completing the five-year education ministry, several hundred intercontinental combat missiles of the type R-16 (OKB-586), R-9A (OKB-1), UR-100 (OKB-52) and RT-2 (OKB-1 and CB Arsenal), strategic submarines of the Navy equipped with R-27 and R-29 missiles (OKB-385). US President Richard Nixon was forced to formally recognize for the first time nuclear parity between the US and the USSR.
In the 1970s, the scientifically grounded concept of nuclear deterrence and reasonable sufficiency was developed in the USSR, which became decisive during all periods of the development of the domestic system of nuclear missile weapons up to the present time. This concept still serves as a basis for choosing the rational structure of the weapons system, substantiates the quantitative and qualitative composition of missile systems, develops tactical and technical and reliability characteristics. Afanasyev's catchphrase was "Nobody duplicates us!"
With the creation of the Ministry of General Mechanical Engineering, the space direction opened a wide path for solving defense, scientific and social problems. In the long period of sharp confrontation between the two geopolitical systems, space assets also served as an important deterrent in ensuring strategic stability. These were, first of all, complexes of space exploration and mapping (TsSKB), radio-technical space complexes (Yuzhnoye Design Bureau), marine satellite systems (OKB-52 and TsNII Kometa), missile attack warning complexes (NPO im. Lavochkin and the Central Research Institute of Comet), communication, broadcasting, relaying and management complexes (NGO PM), etc. These achievements of the rocket and space industry and other defense industries allowed the Soviet Union to conduct large-scale negotiations on the problems of limiting and reducing nuclear weapons.
In May 1972, an agreement was signed between the USSR and the USA on certain measures in the field of limiting strategic nuclear weapons (SALT-1) and in June 1979 - the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT-2), as well as the ABM Treaty. Thus, the "cold war" began to decline, and for a long time peace was preserved on Earth. However, now much has been achieved and in the years of detente, and in the years of warming destroyed. But the still preserved nuclear missile shield serves as a guarantor of Russia's containment and security.
In those glorious years, domestic astronautics gained wide scientific importance, paving the way for the Moon, Mars, and Venus, providing the first fundamental research in the near and far space (OKB-1, Lavochkin NGO). A special and huge contribution to the world cosmonautics was made by the further developed Russian manned complexes - long-term orbital stations of the Salyut type (OKB-1 and OKB-52), serving as a prototype for the Mir Space Station and the International Space Station, spacecrafts of the Soyuz type and "Progress", which now provide transport and cargo operations to the ISS. This is the time-passing rocket and space system Energia-Buran (NPO Energia), the scale of the project is indicated by the fact that over 1200 enterprises of 87 ministries and departments of the country participated in its implementation.
The achievements of that period include the creation of a number of means of removing the ground infrastructure of spacecraft control and processing information received from them, developing an experimental base, and developing new launch and technical complexes at the cosmodromes. In the period when Sergei Aleksandrovich Afanasyev headed the Ministry of General Mechanical Engineering of the USSR, 45 launches of manned spacecraft with crews were carried out. Presenting the head ministry, he gave space to 56 cosmonauts, 46 of them - citizens of the USSR and 10 - representatives of Czechoslovakia, Poland, the GDR, Bulgaria, Hungary, Vietnam, Cuba, Mongolia, Romania, France.
The rigid system of one-man management, control over the progress of work at the colleges, which often led to serious organizational conclusions, was combined with the possibility of a democratic discussion of scientific and technical problems at various levels. Verbosity in speeches was not accepted, the emphasis was on the shortcomings and measures for their correction. The lengthy reports with a lengthy introductory part were severely suppressed by S.A. Afanasyev, who would say "start with the word "however"."
At the turn of the 1970s and 1980s, the country raised the question of the production of consumer goods and civilian equipment by the defense industry. The circle of concerns of the Ministry of General Mechanical Engineering extended to such products as tractors, refrigerators, video tape recorders, color televisions, vacuum cleaners, electric shavers, heating devices and much more. The nomenclature and technical specifications for these products were brought to each glavka and enterprises of the industry with requirements for the development and upgrading of capacities. The collegium of the Ministry on the proposal of S.A.Afanasyeva decided to bring the volume of output of goods, completely covering the costs of the industry's salary fund.
The deadlines were always set, in accordance with the established tradition, extremely tight, and not feasible. The staff of the Ministry tried to smooth out planned penalties as much as possible. If they already had a leader or a deputy leader, they tried not to admit the reprimands. The consequences could be irreversible, with the wording "without the right to work in the industry." It is clear how cruel it was to people who gave their work almost all their lives.
The awareness of the importance of the state task often outweighed the understanding of possible troubles. It was also helpful that over time, as a result of joint work in state bodies and enterprises, a circle of specialists who knew and understood each other and who knew the importance of the state task was formed. They had no personal interest, it was their job for the usual salary.
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