The biography of the hero of this essay is no different from the biography of an ordinary Soviet engineer. Mikhail Vadimovich Korzhuev was born on February 4, 1955 in Ramenskoye, Moscow Region; graduated from the Moscow Aviation Institute (MAI) in 1982. He started his career in 1972 at the Zenit Moscow Machine-Building Plant.
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| Mikhail Vadimovich Korzhuev. |
He served in the Soviet Army (1972-1975), and from 1975 he worked at the OKB. Mikoyan, where he worked his way up from a simple engineer to General Director — General Designer of ANPK MiG. He became a major specialist in the fields of avionics, radio navigation systems, computer technology, and electronic display; he directly supervised the creation of new avionics systems for various modifications of MiG aircraft.
Under his direct supervision, comprehensive work was carried out on the creation of new avionics systems and modifications of the MiG-29SMT and UBT aircraft, as well as the MiG-AT.
Through the thorns to the stars
The 90s of the last century were difficult not only for the country, but also for the MiG Design Bureau. In the early 90s, the Mikoyan MMZ was transformed into the MiG Aviation Scientific and Industrial Complex (ANPK). In May 1995, ANPK MiG became a part of the MAPO MiG, formed on the basis of the Moscow Aviation Production Association named after P.V. Dementiev. Since 1996, MAPO MiG has been a part of the State Unitary Enterprise MAPO Military-Industrial Complex (MIC MAPO), established on January 25, 1996 by decree of the President of the Russian Federation B.N. Yeltsin.
The overall unsatisfactory situation forced Rostislav Apollosovich Belyakov, the man who meant so much in the entire history of the MiG-29 aircraft, to resign from the post of general designer in 1997. They say the Nine was his favorite car. Mikhail Korzhuev, who also headed the Russian Avionics instrument engineering concern, became the new general designer.
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He vigorously undertook the modernization of the avionics of the basic MiG-29 and, with the help of specialists from the Design Bureau and the Russian Avionics company, created the first version of the MiG-29SMT— a generation 4+ fighter.
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It had a reinforced structure that provided increased flight duration and range. The new glass cabin was equipped with a data display system from two MFD-10-6 widescreen multifunction color displays. The Zhuk-M onboard radar provided increased detection range and improved target recognition. The onboard systems could simultaneously track 10 targets and work on 4 targets. The aircraft had six external suspension units for the installation of various modern high-precision weapons systems.
The car has received a number of important features. In addition to the refueling rod, a bulky overhead fuel tank appeared on it, completely transforming the appearance. As for REO, the new was combined with the old. Russian Avionics, headed by Korzhuev, acted as the main contractor in completing the SMT with equipment. When designing the aircraft, the concept of "hands on RUS and RUD" was implemented - all the controls necessary for a pilot in combat were focused on the aircraft's control stick and engine control levers. Two multi-function color indicators were installed in the cabin, and the total number of instruments, switches and alarms was reduced.
The aircraft used an "open architecture" REO structure, which made it possible to integrate equipment according to the American standard MIL STD1553B and apply almost any REO of domestic and Western production. The MiG-29SMT received an inertial navigation system with a combined GloNASS/Navstar satellite navigation receiver. The aircraft's armament was supplemented by UR and KAB with laser seeker systems, as well as X-35 and Onyx anti-ship missiles.
From the fourth generation fighter to the 5th generation fighter
In January 1999, a prototype of the multifunctional front-line fighter MFI (1.42/1.44, MiG-39) was presented at the LII. This event was timed to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the famous Mikoyan Design Bureau and was conceived as a real holiday. And it marked the emergence of a fundamentally new, highly promising machine of the next generation.
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Among those who arrived in Zhukovsky on a clear frosty day on January 12 were Russian Defense Minister Igor Sergeev, Air Force Commander-in-Chief Anatoly Kornukov, Economy Minister Andrei Shapovalyants and presidential aide Yevgeny Shaposhnikov. Among the guests was Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, accompanied by Archpriest Alexei, dean of the churches of the local district and "his man" in LII, where in April 1996 he consecrated the prototype MiG-AT.
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| The visit of Russian Defense Minister Igor Sergeev to Zhukovsky. |
The screening was followed by a press conference. The questions were answered not only by Mikhail Korzhuev, General Director of ANPK MiG, and Yuri Vorotnikov, Chief Designer, but also by government representatives. While the Mikoyan team expressed confidence in the success and reality of the stated characteristics, the ministers of defense and economy behaved more cautiously, evasively talking about the financing of the tests.
Metropolitan Kirill found the words more convincing and vivid than the officials, describing his interest in what he saw.:
- For me, what is presented here is evidence that Russia has preserved its intellectual potential, so I feel great pleasure from communicating with people whose knowledge is perhaps the only thing that can lead Russia out of an economic breakthrough today.
But the advantages of the new aircraft were not limited to this. That's what Mikhail Korzhuev, General Director of ANPC MiG, said.:
- This is invisibility not only in subsonic, but also in supersonic mode. This is a fundamentally different placement in terms of the visibility of weapons: everything is inside. These are fundamentally different ranges. This is a fundamentally different ideology and a fundamentally different intelligence board.
Korzhuev was confident that his fighter would be much more invisible than American Stealth aircraft, which long before their appearance were not invisible to Soviet air defenses.
This fighter proposed by ANPK MiG could become the main one in the modernization project of the modern aircraft fleet of the Air Forces of Central and Eastern Europe and bring 250-300 million dollars to Russia. With minimal government support, ANPK MiG could receive $100 million annually only through external orders. However, for a number of reasons, the project was closed, but according to unverified information, all the materials on it were transferred to the Chinese, who made a promising Chinese J-20 fighter based on it.
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| MiG 1.42. |
At the same time, the very first publication with a detailed description and photo of the MiG 1.42 appeared the day (!) before the official screening in the American aviation weekly Aviation Weekend Space Technology on January 11, 1999!
On February 29, 2000, for the first time, an experimental fighter known as the "Product 1.44" took off from the ground. The test flight took place at the flight test and development base (LI and DB) of the MiG Design Bureau, located at the airfield of the M. Gromov Flight Research Institute in the city of Zhukovsky near Moscow. The flight, which lasted 18 minutes, was conducted in full accordance with the mission. The aircraft gained an altitude of about 1000 m, flew two laps over the airfield at a speed of 500-600 km / h, and then successfully landed.
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- The flight, which we have all been waiting for for so long, was surprisingly casual, said the chief pilot, Honored Test pilot, Hero of Russia Vladimir Gorbunov.
- The car behaved obediently, although it is obvious that in terms of its aerobatic qualities it is a fundamentally new aircraft. So all the work is still ahead, the pilot noted.
However, in 2002, the program was closed and flight tests of the aircraft were discontinued due to a change in approaches to creating a front-line fighter as a whole.
Not just the MiGs
Russian Avionics was established in 1997 by the then head of the MAPO Military Industrial Complex (now the Russian MiG Aircraft Corporation) By Mikhail Korzhuev.
Russian Russian Avionics proposed its own concept for the modernization of combat aircraft of the Russian army back in 1998. However, a conflict soon broke out between Nikolai Nikitin, CEO of the Russian Aircraft Corporation (RAC) MiG, and Mikhail Korzhuev, CEO of Russian Avionics. The participation of Russian Avionics in the modernization of the MiG-29 was discontinued. And under pressure from Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov, the company's licenses for the development and production of military equipment were suspended altogether.
However, according to Korzhuev, the licenses were restored - according to the law, the decision to revoke the license should have been fixed by a court decision. But the case never went to trial. Thus, Russian Avionics continued to operate. She received virtually exclusive rights to modernize Su military aircraft and Mi helicopters for the Russian Defense Ministry.
In March 2001 An upgraded Su-27UBM fighter jet was demonstrated to Chief of the General Staff Anatoly Kvashnin, Air Force Commander Anatoly Kornukov and numerous journalists in Zhukovsky near Moscow.
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The first aircraft commissioned by the Ministry of Defense was upgraded at the Irkutsk Aviation Production Association (IAPO). The cooperation between the IAPO and the Russian Avionics Design Bureau, a company that was called innovative in the West. She was distinguished by her exceptionally quick reaction to technological innovations and her ability to turn her idea into hardware in a short time.
At the same time, "Russian avionics" was often accused of being insufficiently fundamental and of spreading its forces. In general, the innovative development strategy, accompanied by rather high technical and even greater commercial risks, has not yet been accepted in Russia. Meanwhile, the world has long had a system in which innovative developments carried out by small teams are picked up by large businesses. Something similar happened in 1999, when the IAPO bought a controlling stake in Russian Avionics.
The cooperation between the two companies allowed the construction of the Su-30KN, Russia's first "4+" generation fighter for the Russian Air Force, which was tested and approved as a reference version for combat aircraft. The idea of the Su-30KN was to provide the Air Force with a relatively inexpensive but effective modernization option and to do it as soon as possible, taking into account the specific tasks that the Russian Armed Forces faced in 1999-2001.
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The ideology of modernization according to the Su-30KN variant was that the weapons control system (SUVs) was built with a multifunctional computing complex to integrate information from various sensors and to control weapons. Using information from the satellite navigation system. It became possible to combine the operation of an on-board radar and a navigation system to ensure the stealth of vehicles (long-range target detection, turning off the radar, flying on a navigation signal, capturing a target with a weapon homing head, launching, leaving the vehicle in a safe area).
However, later, for some unknown reason, Deputy Minister of Defense A. Moskovsky signed a decision that the modernization of the aircraft of the system should take place on the basis of those studies conducted by the NIIP.Tikhomirov on the Su-30MKK. At the beginning of 2004, the first 5 upgraded Su-27SM were transferred to the KnAAPO Air Force. They have a space navigation system and liquid crystal indicators. Yes, it was an alternative upgrade option, but more expensive.
The Ministry of Defense also decided that the Mi-8 and Mi-24VK helicopters in service with the Russian Army will be upgraded to the Mi-8MTKO and Mi-24VK variants proposed by Russian Avionics. The cost of upgrading 12 vehicles was approximately 350 million rubles. The work was carried out at the Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant (MVZ).
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The Mi helicopter modernization program used hardware, algorithmic and software solutions unified with the Su-30KN, developed by Russian Avionics CJSC, which was part of Irkut Research and Development Company. As part of the first stage of modernization, the Mi-8MTKO and Mi-24VK were created. The improved Mi-8s have found application in various law enforcement agencies conducting anti-terrorist operations. The modernization of the Mi-24PK and Mi-35M was carried out jointly with the MV Mil and Rostvertol. The Su-30KN and Mi-8MTKO used the STORK system, which allowed combining various means of reconnaissance and destruction into reconnaissance and strike complexes.
According to the former commander of the army aviation of the Russian Armed Forces, Colonel-General Vitaly Pavlov, in 2000-2002, Mi-8MTKO, working at night, uncovered more than 2,000 targets, of which 1,200 were destroyed. In fact, the helicopters upgraded by Russian Avionics turned out to be the only new-generation aircraft that the industry was able to provide to the military conducting a counter-terrorism operation in the North Caucasus. The developments of Russian Avionics on the Su-30KN were used to modernize the L-39 training aircraft and turn it into a combat training aircraft. The work was carried out jointly with the EMZ im.Myasishchev and LII named afterGromova. Elements of the unified avionics complex in conjunction with the AK im.Ilyushins were installed on the IL-103 light aircraft. There was a project to install them on the Il-76.
These developments were also used for OCD on unmanned vehicles. Tests of a multi-purpose unmanned complex have begun, in particular, for monitoring areas of natural disasters, using partially foreign technologies. UAVs of various masses and capabilities were being developed. And Mikhail Korzhuev had great merit in all these developments.
In a new field
In May 2006, M.V.Korzhuev was appointed General Director of JSC Phazotron-NIIR Corporation, the only Russian company offering comprehensive modernization of eight aircraft complexes in service with the Russian Air Force, based on the use of a single basic radar of its own design (and unified series of components, blocks and assemblies), which adapts to a specific type of aircraft. According to the specialists of Phazotron, this would allow the Russian Air Force to significantly reduce the cost of modernization. The amount saved could exceed 3-4 billion rubles.
It is no secret that under the leadership of Mikhail Korzhuev, Phazotron-NIIR created the 4+ and 4++ generation radar families for the Russian Air Force and foreign customers, as well as the first domestic radar with AFAR "Zhuk-AE".
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The corporation has also developed specialized radar systems designed to detect attacking aircraft, anti—aircraft missiles and air-to-air missiles, as well as to warn the crew of a dangerous approach to another aircraft.
When creating the radar, a modular design structure, the principle of "open architecture", the unification of circuit design, design and technological solutions, as well as minimizing maintenance costs during operation were implemented.
It is interesting to note that one of the changeable elements of the various upgrades proposed today, based on the preservation of the old radar, is the inclusion of an additional signal processor and data processor, sometimes called "MVK", in the avionics.
This abbreviation is interpreted in different ways. Some believe that MVK is a "multifunctional computing complex." Others interpret "MVK" as "Mikhail Vadimovich Korzhuev," who first voiced this option on behalf of Russian Avionics.
This is how Alexey Samusenko, the general designer of the Mil MVZ (from April 2001 to 2013), spoke about Mikhail Korzhuev.
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- Our joint work with him on improving the Mi-8 family of helicopters was successfully completed at the time. The introduction of upgraded vehicles into the series, which are capable of performing combat missions around the clock and in difficult weather conditions, is an indisputable success. These helicopters have saved hundreds of lives of Russian military personnel, including in southern Russia.
And here's what Ruslan Pukhov, director of the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, said about Korzhuev.:
- He made a huge contribution to the preservation and development of the Russian school of combat aircraft design. In many ways, thanks to his efforts, it was possible to save the Mikoyan Design Bureau from complete degradation during the most difficult times for the domestic aviation industry in the late 90s.
Mikhail Korzhuev is a versatile person, an engineer, and a designer. It is not for nothing that he was awarded the honorary title of "Honored Machine Builder of the Russian Federation" in 1998. And it is awarded to highly professional workers, engineering, technical and scientific workers of machine-building organizations, including research, technological and design organizations, for personal services to Russia.
Valery Ageev
