Cosmonautics in Russia - Herbert Aleksandrovich Efremov
The slang words "kickback" and "cut" have become common and familiar in our everyday life. Previously, lawlessness, as well as systematic violation of the law in the distribution of public funds for projects relating to military, scientific, space and other important spheres of our country's life, worried and provoked protest among young and hot people, now the venerable intelligentsia is trying to publicly declare irrational financing unnecessary to the state costly undertakings.Known in developed countries, the creator of the Salyut orbital station, a whole complex of rocket weapons, which became a reliable shield and sword of our Motherland, spacecraft, the specificity of which is to probe the Earth and small spacecraft: “Flight”, “Ruslan” and “Condor-E”, Herbert Alexandrovich Efremov raised the pressing issue of financing unnecessary for public discussion. space projects. He called the modern ambitious plans of statesmen relating to the space sphere, an elementary "gutting of money." Especially the most talented engineer and designer outraged plans to fly to the moon’s satellite and to the red planet Mars, as well as the new Vostochny cosmodrome under construction in the Far East. The author of over eighty inventions and scientific works, Herbert Efremov, noted that a country with no well-planned roads, gas in villages and other signs of global disruption does not need moon rovers or rovers. Why does Russia have to go for China and India, because all the main developments and methods for creating spacecraft, now practiced in these states, for our country are already a past stage. Efremov insists that, first of all, urgent tasks with practical value and relevance should be solved.
G.A. Efremov was born in the 1933 year in the Vologda region in the village of Maloye Zarechie in the family of Russian peasants. He studied at the Leningrad Military Mechanical Institute, and in the 1956 year he got a job in the design office of the rocket-space technology academician Chelomey, located in the town of Reutov near Moscow, where he worked all his life. The company has changed many names - United Design Bureau No. XXUMX, Central Design Bureau of Mechanical Engineering and, finally, the Scientific Production Association of Mechanical Engineering. Herbert Efremov worked as an engineer, design engineer, deputy head of department, head of design bureau, deputy chief designer and, after the death of V.N. Chelomey, general designer. From 52, he became CEO of the company. For many years he devoted to the development of various ballistic missiles, launch vehicles, spacecraft for peaceful purposes. In parallel, he worked as a teacher in Baumanka, wrote a huge number of popular in narrow circles of scientific works, the author of a number of inventions. Created autonomous spacecraft for Earth probing "Almaz" and "Almaz 1991", "Proton". The special merit of the scientist is the preservation of the unique scientific potential of the design bureau in the most difficult for the industry of the country of the nineties. In the new century, its design bureau returned to military affairs, taking up the creation of supersonic anti-ship missiles ("BrahMos") and sea-based cruise missiles. Currently, all the main activities of the organization are successfully developed and claimed by the Navy, the Strategic Missile Forces and the troops of the East Kazakhstan region. For great services in the creation of special-purpose products, the development of Russian rocket production and the improvement of our country's defense, Herbert Alexandrovich was awarded the title of Hero of Social Work, awarded many orders, medals and state awards. Astronomers in his honor even named one of the small planets of the solar system. 1 March Herbert Efremov turned eighty years old, however, despite his old age, he continues to work as general director of the NPO Mashinostroenia, actively participating in professional discussions and acting as an expert in national security issues.
A veteran of domestic defense production focuses on several problems that require speedy resolution. For military and civilian purposes, it is necessary to create satellites engaged in remote sensing of the earth. The system operating on the basis of satellite navigation still functions without Russian maps. It is necessary to create an electronic base of domestic production with accurate results obtained on the basis of topography and navigation. In addition, it is necessary to develop communication services to increase the range of transmitted information and channel capacity through geostationary satellites. Meteorological satellites require special attention, which are not enough to obtain accurate and complete information. On the Moon or on Mars, Gerber Efremov believes that these pressing problems cannot be solved. He also made a reservation that he couldn’t still tell, said that during the armed conflict in 2008 with Georgia, there were problems with aerial photography and the necessary pictures about the situation in the city of Tskhinval, the Russian military command received from Israel because the Russian system reconnaissance from space did not work.
All these exceptional flaws that threaten the well-being of our country, according to Herbert Alexandrovich, are based on the desire of the brethren of officials to bite off a bigger piece. They are not interested in low-budget, economical projects that the defense complex of Russia strongly suggests to top management. It is much easier, without bearing any responsibility, to purchase all the equipment abroad, having laid out huge budget funds for this. The possibility of purchasing a whole batch of German SAR-Lupe satellites with a radar installed on board is being seriously discussed. As if it is impossible to build the same intelligence systems in our country. The domestic program, which can be funded in the five hundred million budget, and even in ruble equivalent, was completely displeased by domestic officials, but the bureaucrats immediately liked the project to build a base on the moon, which costs fifty billion dollars and has a long execution period.
The illustrious designer confirmed his disappointing conclusions by an example of the utter disuse of the combat intercontinental rocket developed by the Scientific Production Association of Mechanical Engineering, which is financially not costly for our country. The rocket in NATO is classified as "Stiletto", and in Russia it has the designation UR-100. The rocket is intended to launch various satellites into Earth orbit and is still in service with the rocket forces. At one time, work was carried out on the site of the construction of the Vostochny cosmodrome on the alteration of mines prepared for combat missiles. The mines were supposed to be a place to launch the UR-100 with satellites. The alteration of the combat missile required a minimal amount of work — instead of the warheads, it was necessary to install a satellite and a new fairing, which made the UR-100 into a space carrier. But no one needed a cheap rocket. The Rokot carrier rocket, made by the center to them, was developed. Khrunichev. The cost of this project exceeded the cost of the UR-100 several times. "Rokot" differed from the "weave" of the upper stage, installed instead of the third stage, and the perfect new control system. Herbert Efremov, who did not accept projects with an unplanned distribution of funds, namely the aforementioned “kickbacks” and “cuts”, was not suitable for the top management and his project, approved, but not accepted, was delayed in the long box with a warm farewell to Herbert Alexandrovich from the customers: “Learn to manage money. "
A little excursion into history the creation of Soviet missiles according to Herbert Efremov: “In 1963, Russian scientists needed to respond to the production of the Minuteman missiles by the United States. The only thing that we had then in development was the R-7 Korolev missile, which, taking into account the dimensions of a three-megaton warhead, weighed almost three hundred tons and flew eight thousand kilometers. Plus a huge start-up complex. Plus three days refueling time. In short - not a military missile. After that, the intercontinental R-16 rocket of Mikhail Yangel appeared. They refuel it for only three hours. Progress. Only after the discovery of American missiles, we had only twenty minutes to retaliate. And in the first test, the rocket exploded on the site, the death toll was more than seven dozen, including leading experts of the Design Bureau and the Strategic Missile Forces commander Marshal Nedelin. After that, Khrushchev personally ordered Dementiev (Minister aviation industry) and Chelomei (distinguished by the development of cruise missiles) to give at least some decent answer to America. And so the famous UR-100 rockets were born. They have already been refueled, heptyl and amyl are amputated to prevent leaks, the rocket has been on alert for decades. Now in service are reliable and cheap UR-100N UTTX, the youngest of which is already twenty-three years old. Nevertheless, with its help, the Condor mock-up weighing one ton was launched with perfect accuracy! ”
As a result, the honorary General Designer had no choice but to criticize the leadership of the defense and space industry in the media. In his statements, Herbert Alexandrovich appealed to common sense and addressed personally to Dmitry Rogozin, who, as Deputy Prime Minister, oversees issues related to the military-industrial complex of our country in the Russian government. Among the many problems in the rocket industry, the scientist focuses on two tasks that, according to the designer, require a speedy solution.
The first problem relates to the need to restructure the work of Roscosmos, because it is the only agency that has the right to resolve legal issues related to the sphere of space activity and the creation of intercontinental ballistic missiles, including combat, equipped with nuclear warheads. Herbert Aleksandrovich for a long time headed the largest rocket and construction association of our country, and he is well aware that the interests of the directors of various enterprises belonging to the space industry are based on the extraction of funds for large-scale and long-term projects from the supervising department. Efremov notes that Roskosmos draws attention only to those works in which this federal body acts as a customer, that is, it has the ability to manage cash flows. If the customer is another agency, then for Roscosmos these works are absolutely not interesting. The consequence of this state of affairs was a completely failed organizational work in the industry, which is connected with the military space and the combat missile industry.
Renowned inventor believes that Roskosmos with the tasks can not cope, and product quality has declined significantly. Privatization of enterprises related to rocket and space issues was carried out at such a rapid pace that, as a result, the transfer of these enterprises into private hands became not only untimely, but also untenable. Recently, the government of the country decided to constructively reform the agency. But Efremov believes that due to the commercialization of approaches to the work of Roskomos, its inclusion in the structure of the Ministry of Industry and Trade will not give a positive effect.
The second problem is related to the classification of works according to their priority in space topics. Herbert Alexandrovich categorically disagrees with the goals outlined in the rocket and space industry by the Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin. In the first place, as a breakthrough element of this program, a fantastic project of building a lunar base has been put forward and has no practical use for our country. And the solution of the urgent tasks of developing and improving the space systems and apparatuses of the government of the country is in the last place.
Sharp objections to the creation of a research base on the moon Efremov bases on the fact that no discoveries in the development of high technologies will follow this time. This fantastic project, for which a huge amount of money has been allocated, will be a repetition of the already completed stages in space exploration, which took place in the 60-70 years under the Queen and Babakin. Herbert Alexandrovich in his controversy with Rogozin indicates that space exploration today is provided only by automatic devices, and work in near-earth orbit is primarily due to the protection and safety of the human body. And the main priority in the space industry should be such pragmatic tasks as the improvement of cartography, communication services, and the signal for television. Perhaps the solution of these problems will not cause great enthusiasm among the public, but they are really economical and effective. Among other things, these space systems allow you to monitor the development of the potential adversary’s armed forces, make predictions of the development of natural trends, communicate between various governments and ordinary citizens, ensure accurate and stable navigation of vehicles and military equipment, which ultimately allows public and private organizations successfully perform their functions.
We have to admit that Russia today is inferior to the United States, China, Japan, India and the EU countries in its space grouping. In light of this, it is especially important that funding be allocated primarily for the reconstruction of the domestic radio-electronic industry, and not for fantastic and delusional ideas. These tasks should be, in the opinion of designer Efremov, put in the first place in the space program of Russia. And on the second place it is necessary to put forward work to strengthen the defense of the country in outer space. Herbert Alexandrovich was worried about the fact that he was implementing an impressive strategy to ensure America’s national security in space, called the National Security Space Strategy or NSSS. The designer noted that neither Roskosmos nor the Ministry of Defense paid particular attention to this strategy, adopted in the USA in the 2010 year.
According to statements by influential individuals from the US military, the new “National Space Security Strategy” (NSSS) was created in response to modern realities in the near-Earth space. According to them, space today is extremely crowded with devices of various states operating on a wide range of radio frequencies, and also heavily littered with fragments of space objects. In addition, an extensive competitive environment has emerged in the field of space use and space production. All this, in their opinion, is a threat to America’s national security. The “strategy” requires the indispensable leadership of the United States in this area, reinforcing the need to further improve, balance and integrate all the tools of American space power. According to experts, the White House wants to create a stable space environment in which all nations will share all the responsibility among themselves, and the Americans will act as security guards to ensure compliance with accepted standards of behavior. Today, the United States continues to actively create means of destroying space objects of a possible adversary and directly speak of their desire to control near-Earth space. However, similar claims are being made by Beijing and a number of other states under the pretext of protecting their space infrastructure. It seems that collisions in space in the future are inevitable, because if a weapon is made, then someday it should fire. Americans themselves in many documents argue that in the XXI century the resolution of possible conflicts without the use of space is almost impossible.
Third place in solving the most important tasks related to space exploration, Herbert Efremov, along with Dmitry Rogozin, assigns to fundamental and thorough scientific research, which will be carried out using spacecraft. As for the idea of flying to Mars and other remote objects of our solar system, the scientist is firmly convinced on this score that such risky projects should be financed not only from the government budget, but at the expense of private investors.
Of course, some critical remarks of Herbert Alexandrovich cannot be considered absolutely indisputable. For example, his opponents declare that the famous designer is cunning, trying in his proposals for the development of Russia in the space sphere to take the position of a true patriot, who is wholeheartedly supporting the development of domestic cosmonautics. They emphasize that the requirements of Efremov to the Russian space industry are directly related to the work of his company - a scientific production association of mechanical engineering, which is located in the Moscow city of Reutov, of which Herbert Efremov is an honorary citizen from 1995. Many projects, on which the talented designer places emphasis in his appeals, were developed by the Chelomey Design Bureau, and were subsequently rejected by the Ministry of Defense and Roskosmos.
Also controversial and the situation regarding the creation of a new cosmodrome Vostochny. After all, Baikonur is located on the territory of Kazakhstan, and when Nursultan Nazarbayev leaves his post, it is not known how the relations of the Moscow government with the new Kazakhstani leadership will develop, and whether Russia can launch heavy rockets from Baikonur.
Nevertheless, the leadership of our country is obliged, at a minimum, to listen to the words of Herbert Efremov, who gave sixty years of his life to design work, has invaluable experience in a managerial position and great authority in the scientific community. And which, in turn, is extremely indignant at the practice of “kickbacks” adopted in the Russian defense industry, as well as the illogical and destructive distribution of limited resources allocated for the development of the national space.
From the speech of Herbert Alexandrovich Efremov 13 of December 2012 at the ceremony of presenting him the international prize of the Foundation “Faith and Faithfulness”: “I am a nuclear missile and I have been engaged in this business all my life. All our victories are the work of thousands of designers, specialists, workers and entire organizations. We built the shield and the sword of the motherland. Recently, however, the world has lost its rules on nuclear weapons. Everything hangs on a single agreement that does not work in contemporary realities. We need to take the initiative to create theses of the new treaty. I am convinced that the people of Russia, with their striving for justice, with faith in the inexhaustibleness of their own forces, and with their common sense, will do everything to preserve peace on earth. "
Information sources:
- http://novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/news/?SHOWALL_1=1
- http://www.km.ru/v-rossii/2012/12/22/promyshlennost-v-rossii/700295-rossiiskii-kosmos-stal-sredstvom-raspothesheniya-
- http://www.warheroes.ru/hero/hero.asp?Hero_id=14621
- http://vpk-news.ru/articles/14878
- http://www.sunhome.ru/journal/536620
Information