Vladimir Petrovich Ivanov (; 5 June 1920 – 16 June 1996) was a Soviet and Russian radio engineer. After graduating in 1945 from

Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy () – is a higher military educational institution for training and retraining of engineers for the Russian Aerospace Forces. The academy trains specialists – engineers, research engineers in the fol ...

, he spent his entire career on developing radio equipment at Moscow research institutes. Since 1979 he headed the

Tikhomirov Scientific Research Institute of Instrument Design JSC V.V. Tikhomirov Scientific Research Institute of Instrument Design (, , NIIP) is a joint stock company, one of the Russian enterprises in the development of weaponry control systems for fighter planes and mobile medium range anti-aircraft ...

. As a senior designer, Ivanov led the development of

radar altimeter A radar altimeter (RA), also called a radio altimeter (RALT), electronic altimeter, reflection altimeter, or low-range radio altimeter (LRRA), measures altitude above the terrain presently beneath an aircraft or spacecraft by timing how long it t ...

, which controlled the landing of

Luna 9 Luna 9 (Луна-9), internal designation Ye-6 No.13, was an uncrewed space mission of the Soviet Union's Luna programme. On 3 February 1966, the Luna 9 spacecraft became the first spacecraft to achieve a soft landing on the Moon and return ima ...

. Thanks to that altimeter Luna 9 became the first spacecraft to achieve a survivable landing on a celestial body (the Moon). Ivanov also developed radars for the early warning and control aircraft

Tupolev Tu-126 The Tupolev Tu-126 (NATO reporting name: Moss) was an airborne early warning and control aircraft developed from the Tupolev Tu-114 airliner by the Tupolev design bureau. It was in service with the armed forces of the Soviet Union from 1965 to 1 ...

and

Beriev A-50 The Beriev A-50 (NATO reporting name: Mainstay) is a Soviet-origin airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft that is based on the Ilyushin Il-76 transport plane. Developed to replace the Tupolev Tu-126 "Moss", the A-50 first flew in ...

. He was married to Galina Ivanova (1924–2014).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ivanov, Vladimir 1920 births 1996 deaths 20th-century Russian engineers People from Volgograd Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Patriotic War, 2nd class Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Recipients of the Stalin Prize Recipients of the USSR State Prize Russian aerospace engineers Soviet aerospace engineers