Vasily Ivanovich Bakalov (; 18 April 1929 – 25 January 2020) was a

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

military engineer and designer who worked on the designs of

armoured vehicle Military vehicles are commonly armoured (or armored; see spelling differences) to withstand the impact of shrapnel, bullets, shells, rockets, and missiles, protecting the personnel inside from enemy fire. Such vehicles include armoured fightin ...

defence systems and

anti-tank guided missile An anti-tank guided missile (ATGM), anti-tank missile, anti-tank guided weapon (ATGW) or anti-armor guided weapon is a guided missile primarily designed to hit and destroy heavily armored military vehicles. ATGMs range in size from shoulde ...

s. Born in 1929, Bakalov served during the Second World War in his youth, drawing on his experience with , a voluntary organization promoting water safety and work, while crewing vessels to transport military personnel, civilians and weapons. After a period as a machinist in the marine salvage department after the war, he studied at the Leningrad Electrotechnical Institute of Communications, graduating with honours and starting a career as a design engineer at the TsKB-14

design bureau OKB () is a transliteration of the Russian initials for "" (), which translates to "Experimental Design Bureau." It could also mean or "Special Design Bureau" in english. During the Soviet era, OKBs were closed institutions working on design and ...

in Tula. Working on guided rocket weapons, Bakalov rose to senior design and management positions, eventually becoming the bureau's chief engineer and overseeing the development of anti-tank guided missiles such as the

9M113 Konkurs The 9M113 ''Konkurs'' (; ; NATO reporting name AT-5 ''Spandrel'') is a Soviet SACLOS wire-guided anti-tank missile. A development of the 9K111 Fagot with greater firepower, the 9M113 Konkurs can use the same launchers and is very similar vis ...

9K115-2 Metis-M The 9K115-2 Metis-M (NATO reporting name AT-13 Saxhorn-2) is a Russian portable anti-tank guided missile system. "9K115-2" is the GRAU designation of the missile system. The Metis-M1 is the latest upgraded variant of Metis-M. The system is designe ...

9M117 Bastion The 9M117 Bastion is a Soviet laser beam-riding anti-tank missile. It is used in a number of separate weapon systems, including the 9K116-1 Bastion missile system (AT-10 Stabber), 9K118 Sheksna (AT-12 Swinger), T-12 anti-tank gun and the 3UBK ...

, and 9M119 Svir/Refleks, and the guided artillery shells 2K25 Krasnopol and

2K22 Tunguska The 2K22 Tunguska () is a Soviet tracked self-propelled anti-aircraft gun armed with a surface-to-air gun and missile system. It is designed to provide day and night protection for infantry and tank regiments against low-flying aircraft, helicop ...

. In 1978 he was appointed head and chief designer of

TsKIB SOO The Central Design and Research Bureau of Sporting and Hunting Arms, abbreviated TsKIB SOO () is a Russian small arms design bureau based in Tula, Russia. It was established in 1946, and it is currently managed as a branch of the KBP Instrument D ...

, where he remained until his retirement in September 1997. Bakalov oversaw significant developments in the company's organizational structure, which soon achieved a high reputation for the quality of its products. The Soviet team for the

shooting competitions Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missiles can ...

at the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad () and officially branded as Moscow 1980 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1980 in Moscow, Soviet Union, in present-day Russ ...

in Moscow all used weapons designed and manufactured by TsKIB SOO. Among the designs developed under his supervision was the

Drozd Drozd ( rus, Дрозд, , ˈdrost, Ru-дрозд.ogg, thrush) is an active protection system (APS) developed in the Soviet Union, designed for increasing tanks' protection against anti-tank missiles and RPGs. It is considered the world's fir ...

active protection system An active protection system (APS) is a system designed to actively prevent certain anti-tank weapons from destroying a vehicle. Countermeasures that either conceal the vehicle from or disrupt the guidance of an incoming guided missile threat are ...

for tanks and armoured vehicles for use against anti-tank missiles and

rocket-propelled grenade A rocket-propelled grenade (RPG), also known colloquially as a rocket launcher, is a Shoulder-fired missile, shoulder-fired anti-tank weapon that launches rockets equipped with a Shaped charge, shaped-charge explosive warhead. Most RPGs can ...

s. Over his career he received a number of honours and awards, including the

Lenin Prize The Lenin Prize (, ) was one of the most prestigious awards of the Soviet Union for accomplishments relating to science, literature, arts, architecture, and technology. It was originally created on June 23, 1925, and awarded until 1934. During ...

, and held around 150 patents.

Early life and wartime

Bakalov was born on 18 April 1929 in the village of

Semeyka Semeyka () is a rural locality (a selo) and the administrative center of Semeyskoye Rural Settlement, Podgorensky District, Voronezh Oblast, Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It ...

, in

Central Black Earth Oblast Central-Chernozem Oblast () was an administrative-territorial unit (''oblast'') of the Russian SFSR from 1928 to 1934. Its seat was in the city of Voronezh. The oblast was located in the center of European Russia, and its territory is currently ...

, then part of the

RSFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

, in the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. His father moved the family to a city in the 1930s seeking work, and the young Bakalov joined , a voluntary organization promoting water safety and work. With the

Axis invasion of the Soviet Union Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and several of its European Axis powers, Axis allies starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. More than 3.8 million Axis troops invaded the western Soviet ...

in 1941, Bakalov and other OSVOD members were called up to support the war effort by crewing vessels to transport military personnel, civilians and weapons. During the war he studied at the special school of the 4th military recovery unit, graduating in August 1945 and going on to serve with the marine salvage department as a machinist, working aboard the

tugboat A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, suc ...

s ''Stalingrad'' and ''Chapaev'' to salvage vessels sunk during the war.

Tula and design work

In 1948 Bakalov enrolled in the Electrical Engineering College in

Alma-Ata Almaty, formerly Alma-Ata, is the largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population exceeding two million residents within its metropolitan area. Located in the foothills of the Trans-Ili Alatau mountains in southern Kazakhstan, near the border wi ...

, graduating with honours, and then entering the Leningrad Electrotechnical Institute of Communications. He was awarded a Stalin scholarship in his second year, and also worked as a laboratory assistant at the

Budyonny Military Academy of the Signal Corps The S. M. Budyonny Military Academy of the Signal Corps is a military university in Saint Petersburg, Russia, founded in 1919. The academy trains officers for service in the Signal Troops of the Russian Ground Forces. History * 1919 (8 Nove ...

. He took part in student life and the institute, becoming head of the student scientific society and a member of the scientific council. Bakalov graduated with honours in 1957 and went to Tula with his wife, arriving on 5 August 1957 to work as a design engineer at the TsKB-14

, later the KBP Instrument Design Bureau. The bureau was in the process of creating a division to develop guided rocket weapons and Bakalov distinguished himself in this field. In 1960 he became head of the laboratory, and in 1961 head of his design department, followed by his appointment in 1968 as first deputy chief and chief designer, and then chief engineer of the KBP Instrument Design Bureau. Bakalov's work revolved around the development of

s, overseeing projects including the anti-tank guided missiles

, and 9M119 Svir/Refleks, and the guided artillery shells 2K25 Krasnopol and

T-55AD with Drozd active protection system

In November 1978 he was appointed head and chief designer of

, where he remained until his retirement in September 1997. TsKIB SOO, in full the "Central Design and Research Bureau of Sports and Hunting Weapons", specialized in the development and manufacture of sports and hunting weapons, small arms, anti-tank and anti-personnel grenade launchers, machine-gun turrets and small-calibre artillery naval anti-aircraft installations. Bakalov oversaw significant developments in the company's organizational structure, which soon achieved a high reputation for the quality of its products. The Soviet team for the

at the

in Moscow all used MTs brand weapons designed and manufactured by TsKIB SOO. Among the designs developed under his supervision was the

for tanks and armoured vehicles for use against anti-tank missiles and

s. For his work on this Bakalov received the

. He also held around 150 patents on other inventions. In addition to his focus on the technical and business-related side of his work at the bureau, he also interested himself in the social side. He was instrumental in the establishment of the Yasniy Bereg recreation centre in Tula's Dubensky District.

Retirement and awards

Though officially retiring in September 1997, he continued to act as an adviser to TsKIB SOO's general director. His working career ultimately spanned over 60 years. Bakalov died on 25 January 2020 at the age of 90. His funeral was held on 29 January at the Church of Saint Nicholas in Tula. He was then interred on the Alley of Honour in the city's . Over his career Bakalov received the

, the and the Prize of the Russian

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

. He had also received the

Order of the October Revolution The Order of the October Revolution (, ''Orden Oktyabr'skoy Revolyutsii'') was instituted on 31 October 1967, in time for the 50th anniversary of the October Revolution. It was conferred upon individuals or groups for services furthering communis ...

, two Orders of the Red Banner of Labour, and the jubilee medals "In Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin", "50 Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" and "300 Years of the Russian Navy". He had also received the honorary titles of "Veteran of Labor", "Honorary Radio Operator", and "Honorary Worker of the Arms Industry". On 26 August 2009 the Tula city duma awarded Bakalov the title of "Honorary Citizen of the Hero City of Tula." He was married, with two sons and a daughter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bakalov, Vasily 1929 births 2020 deaths 20th-century Russian engineers 21st-century Russian engineers People from Voronezh Oblast Recipients of the Lenin Prize Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Russian mechanical engineers Russian military engineers Soviet mechanical engineers Soviet military engineers Soviet inventors