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Rockets and People
lagged behind us considerably, especially in the area of rockets. Beginning in
1935, however, the Germans started to catch up and then pass us in the development
of liquid-propellant rocket engines, especially in those using oxygen/
alcohol components.
During the tragic years of 1937–38, NII-3 lost its leadership. Kleymenov and
Langemak were arrested in 1937 and shot to death in January 1938. Military engineer
Boris Slonimer, who had returned from Spain, was appointed chief. Kostikov
was appointed chief engineer and deputy chief.
In 1938, Glushko and then Korolev were arrested. In late 1939, they removed
Slonimer from his post. Chief Engineer Kostikov became the sole director of
NII-3. He was given free reign in all areas of research—the scientific technical
advisory board no longer directed the institute. Repressions against the leadership
had created a stifling psychological situation at the institute, crushing initiative and
bold creative quests. But it was amazing to see the great intellectual potential of
the RNII collective! People found in themselves the strength to throw off their
depression and get back to their feverishly intense work. How many similar dramas
were played out in those years!
Solid propellant rockets were accepted as a standard armament for aviation
and set up for series production.The Air Force rated the weapons highly. This
new field required the leadership’s attention and reinforcement. Kostikov
assigned Pobedonostsev to supervise the work. One must give credit to Yuriy
Aleksandrovich. During that difficult time, he appreciated the promise that RS
missiles held and did much to give them a second wind after Langemak’s
death. Pobedonostsev, as much as he could, also supported work on liquidpropellant
rocket engines, assigning them to Leonid Dushkin. Kostikov
assigned to Tikhonravov both Korolev’s reactive aircraft and the continuing
work on oxygen/kerosene liquid-propellant rocket engines and liquidpropellant
rockets.
in spite of the success in aviation, the development of ground-based solid
propellant launchers for the infantry lagged behind.Vasiliy Aborenkov, senior military
representative of GAU at RNII, played a large role in the development and
final acceptance of the Katyusha rocket launchers as standard armaments for the
infantry. Under strong pressure from Aborenkov, the scale of these operations
expanded substantially. Military engineers Shvarts and Sorkin joined the work
being conducted on projectiles, while Gvay, Pavlenko, Galkovskiy, and Popov
began working on self-propelled launchers. In 1939, the first self-propelled launchers
were manufactured using the ZIS-6 automobile.
In 1939, NII-3 was transferred to the People’s Commissariat for Ammunition
directed by Boris Vannikov.
Its departmental affiliation gave rocket projectile issues priority over liquidpropellant
rocket engines, liquid-propellant rockets, and rocket-powered aircraft.
Tikhonravov, the proponent of liquid-propellant rockets, did not have the oppor-
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