Soviet designer Yuri Solomonov: biography

General designer Yuri Solomonov is known as one of the most experienced and bright specialists in his field. To date, he works at the Moscow Institute of Heat Engineering.

early years

Future engineer Yuri Solomonov was born in Moscow on November 3, 1945. He received his higher education in the capital aviation institute. After that, military service began as Lieutenant of the Strategic Missile Forces.

In 1971, Yuri Solomonov went to work at the Moscow Institute of Heat Engineering. The young specialist was a promising engineer. The Institute belonged to the Ministry of Defense of the USSR. Within the walls of this institution, the development of intercontinental ballistic missiles and complexes necessary for their operation was underway.

Careers at MIT

Thanks to his talents and diligence, Yuri Solomonov confidently moved up the career ladder. He has come a long way from an ordinary engineer to the chief designer of an enterprise. In 1997, the specialist headed the Moscow Institute of Heat Engineering (MIT). In the 90s, Solomonov did much to ensure that Russia's nuclear shield was preserved, even in spite of economic and political upheavals.

Under the direction of the doctor of sciences, his subordinates began to receive a large number of orders from various law enforcement agencies. Leading developers of rockets intended for land units worked at MIT. The Navy assigned the enterprise the creation of anti-submarine complexes "Medvedka", "Downpour" and "Whirlwind". Solomonov directed such complex projects as "Topol" and "Pioneer". These complexes went to the Strategic Missile Forces.

MIT developed and transformed due to the activities of its chief designer, who was Yuri Solomonov. The biography of the specialist is also known due to his initiatives to conduct scientific and research work on the re-equipment of space and ballistic missiles.

"Mace"

An important project of the MIT was the creation of an intercontinental missile "Bulava", intended for sea basing. The design biography of Yuri Solomonov is full of such important works of state scale. Order for "Bulava" was received in 1998. Especially for her, the underwater missile carrier Borey was upgraded, as well as the underwater missile cruiser Dmitry Donskoy. These submarines were idle without the Bulava. The army could not take them into service.

Tests of the Bulava missile were first conducted in 2004 in Udmurtia. The production of these projectiles was planned to begin within a few years after the order was accepted into the MIT. However, despite the efforts of the company's staff and personally Yuri Solomonov, the first few launches were unsuccessful. There were technical errors and design flaws. Only two starts out of eleven were recognized as part-time.

Failures forced the chief designer to resign from the post of head of the institute. The last straw was the failure of the launch on the nuclear submarine Dmitry Donskoy in the White Sea. It happened in July 2009. The media noted that this incident was the first of its kind, when the chief designer took personal responsibility for the failure of many years of work. This was the most difficult decision ever taken by Solomon Yuri Semyonovich. Parents, family and loved ones supported him at this difficult moment. The designer managed to recognize the defeat with a high-raised head.

Temporary setbacks

In Roskosmos quickly reacted to the resignation of Solomonov. The department noted that, despite the fact that he left the post of head of the institute, Yuri Semenovich remained in the MIT as the general designer. The engineer continued to work on projects of sea and land-based missile systems. The post of director of the institute went to Sergei Nikulin. He won this place at a contest held by Roscosmos.

The main reason for the failure with the Bulava was the problems that arose at the assembly stage. The process of creating a missile was complicated by the lack of necessary components. Despite the fiasco, "Bulava" as a project has survived. For some time other people started to develop it.

Adopting Bulava for service

In September 2010, the post of general designer responsible for the development of the Topol-M missile system was established. It was taken by Yuri Solomonov. The designer promised that the development will end in 2011. At the same time, under his leadership, work was resumed on the completion of the long-suffering Bulava. The Ministry of Defense demanded that the work be completed as soon as possible. In a few months, four successful Bulava launches were carried out. The missile was intended for the nuclear submarine "Yuri Dolgoruky". On June 28, 2011 an important successful launch was made from this carrier.

A few months later, Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov announced that the missile had passed all the necessary tests. Soon it was adopted.

Disputes with the Ministry of Defense

In 2011, a scandal broke out in the military circles, in the center of which was Yuri Solomonov. The designer criticized the Ministry of Defense for plans to develop a new type of liquid heavy rocket. The main opponent of the well-known designer was Vladimir Popovkin. He was a deputy defense minister, who advocated the continuation of developments in this vein.

Solomonov disagreed with Popovkin. He gathered a press conference at Interfax. The designer called the decision of the Ministry of Defense to continue the program of developing missiles far-fetched and harmful. Solomonov declared these shells unsuitable for use together with modern technology. At the end of the press conference, the general designer of MIT also added that he considers this project of the Defense Ministry "a waste of money."

Ground analogue of "Bulava"

On May 24, 2012, a new missile was launched at the strategically important cosmodrome in Plesetsk. The Ministry of Defense did not specify what kind of development it was. In fact, it turned out that this was the first ground-based analogue of the Bulava Solomonov, which had previously been launched from nuclear submarines. The well-known designer was one of the main characters in the course of the development of this secret project. The purpose of the new weapons was later called the opposition of the complex to the US missile defense system deployed in Europe.

The missiles received improved characteristics in comparison with similar "Yars" and "Topol-M". From the first version of the Bulava this complex received a solid kind of fuel. It was designed specifically to make engines even more efficient. This project was extremely useful for the entire military-industrial complex of the country. The specialists of MIT have a new design, scientific and research experience.

Cooperation with Luzhkov

For more than ten years, Solomonov has collaborated with Yuri Luzhkov, who until 2010 was the mayor of Moscow. The designer headed the initiative group, who nominated the mayor for a second term in 1999. Solomonov at a professional level supported the projects of Luzhkov, which he initiated in the capital.

For example, in Moscow, the Moscow Monorail was designed specifically for the mayor's office. Luzhkov and Solomonov jointly registered patents for inventions in the field of urban infrastructure. Their cooperation ended when the mayor was dismissed by Dmitry Medvedev, then president of Russia.

Scientific and Writing Activity

In the Russian Academy of Sciences there are many technical correspondents related to the army. Among them is Yuri Solomonov. The academician and engineer's nationality is Russian. Doctor of Technical Sciences became an inventor even in Soviet times, having received for his professional activities the State Prize of the USSR.

Solomonov wrote nine monographs, six teaching aids and about three hundred scientific papers. He owns patents for 17 inventions. In connection with the public interest in Bulava, the general designer of MIT wrote a documentary and art book "The Nuclear Vertical". The novel was popular with a wide reading audience. April 28, 2015, the academician became one of the first citizens of Russia, awarded the title of Hero of Labor.

The family of Solomonov Yuri Semenovich lives with him in Moscow. At present, the designer continues to work at the MIT and supervise research projects in the field of rocket engineering.