Rostec today unites more than 800 scientific and industrial organizations of various directions. Almost 600 thousand employees work at the Corporation's enterprises, among whom there are representatives of interesting, and sometimes simply unique professions. We have already talked about weapons testers, industrial designers, surveyors, cryptographers and other specialties. The hero of today's issue is Evgeny Bulashev, a test driver of combat and special vehicles of the Uralvagonzavod assembly shop.
− Tell us, what was your path to the profession?
− I was born in Nizhny Tagil.
My parents worked at Uralvagonzavod. After graduating from school, I also got a job at an enterprise as an operator of software-controlled machines. Then I was drafted into the army. I served as a mechanic-driver on a floating transporter, but closer to demobilization I caught fire with tanks, realized that I wanted to connect my life with heavy military equipment. I returned home already, one might say, a ready-made specialist and got a job in the UVZ assembly shop.
− What tasks do you face at work? How are the tests going?− The main thing is to be attentive to the little things.
You need to constantly observe and listen to everything that happens in the tank. Monitor the readings on the instrument panel, coolant temperature, oil pressure and many other parameters. Each incomprehensible click can be a signal to stop testing. If in doubt, it is necessary to accurately determine the problem node, to diagnose. I transmit all information about malfunctions to the manufacturer's workshop.
− What machines have you tested? − The tester must be able to control all modern tanks, as well as transport and special vehicles.
This will help, firstly, to quickly master the next new tank, and secondly, rather to understand the advantages and disadvantages of the design. I have tested almost all tank models.
The first tank I worked with as a test pilot was the T-72 Ural. After that, there were other modifications of the "seventy-two". The T−14 on the Armata platform is the most maneuverable tank of all that I had to experience. The T-90M "Breakthrough" is good, the BMPT is very spacious for the crew.
− Which tests were the most memorable? − Of the most memorable and difficult tests, I would call underwater.
Since the 1960s, equipment for overcoming water obstacles along the bottom has been installed on every domestic tank. Since then, each tank is checked for tightness, for which it is lowered into a special pool on the territory of the plant. Its depth is five meters, and the car should spend at least twenty minutes in the water. According to the standards, the tank body can pass no more than five liters in five minutes.
We, the testers, do not participate in the "bathing" of the tank in the workshop, but our work begins at the landfill. There the car enters a deep ford, and then gets out on land. By the way, it's not always easy to get out − the river mud interferes. It happens that the gas pedal has been in the floor for a long time, and the tank still can't get out and plops into the water again. An exciting moment! But that's what the tests are for!
I often remember what the road to our testing ground used to be like. The mud was such that it was difficult even for a tank to pass. Then we made a new flat track, which we call a "bike track". And at the landfill itself there are slides, and off–road, and smooth high-speed sections - everything you need for testing.
− What is the difference between the work of a tester and the work of a military tanker? − Firstly, the variety of tank models!
Well, at the enterprise, the requirements for driving a tank are much higher. It is necessary to take into account a large number of parameters, to know the device of the machine down to the smallest details.
− What do you do at work, besides tests?− I can be put, for example, on tank maintenance before a run, during which it is necessary to check the condition of all tank systems.
− What do you like and dislike most about your work?− I really like the variety in my work!
I can drive a whole shift or prepare the car for a run. Or, for example, to do repairs. And then − it's very nice to see the result of your work. And the most difficult thing is probably when you have to overcome the most impassable areas on the landfill: ditches, mounds, fords. At the same time, the tank must also shoot.
− What is your favorite tank?− T-90M "Breakthrough".
Many people try to compare it with the predecessor of the T-90, but still it is a new, completely different car. A pleasant innovation in the "Breakthrough" was the automatic transmission. But I still prefer mechanics the old-fashioned way.
− How have the machines changed during your work?− Today digital technologies are everywhere!
My first tank had levers and old Soviet instruments with arrows. And in modern cars, even the driver-mechanic has a separate monitor on which all indicators are displayed. There are sensors everywhere that help monitor the condition of the machine online.
− Tell us a little about your family. − Both sons work at UVZ together with me.
The eldest son Artem is a controller-tester of equipment. By position, it turns out, he has overtaken me and is checking my work, although I have been in the profession for 40 years. A test controller is a specialist who knows the whole tank like the back of his hand. He alone can perform the functions of an operator, commander and driver.
The youngest son Anton is an electrician, sets up fire control systems. At one time, I persuaded them to go out of business to the factory. And they don't regret it! They feel that they are doing something very important for the country.
