December 23, 2013 passed away Great designer small arms, Doctor of Technical Sciences, twice Hero of Socialist Labor, Hero of Russia, Lieutenant General - Mikhail Timofeevich KalashnIkov.
November 17, 2013 Mikhail Timofeevich was hospitalized in intensive care unit Clinical Diagnostic Center of Udmurtia shortly after his 94th birthday. As Alexander Volkov reported, Kalashnikov underwent surgery, which was carried out by specialists from the Center (RKDC). However, the condition remained serious and, despite all the efforts made, the condition did not improve.
short biography M.T.Kalashnikov.
Mikhail Timofeevich was born November 10, 1919 years in the village of Kurya. In addition to Mikhail Timofeevich, the peasant family had 17 more children! IN 1938 year he was drafted into the Red Army, where he was a tank driver in the 12th Tank Division of the Kyiv Military District. Already at that time he showed interest in design and construction.
He developed a tank life meter, which did not have time to go into production due to the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, about which he personally reported to the commander of the Kyiv Special Military District Zhukov G.K..
By the time of the Second World War, Mikhail Timofeevich commanded a tank, took part in the hostilities, and in October was wounded and sent to the hospital. It was in the hospital that he began to think about creating his own automatic weapon. During a six-month vacation after being wounded, he assembled his first sample of a submachine gun, which, due to the complexity of manufacturing its parts, did not go into mass production. IN 1945 began work on a new model chambered for 7.62x39 arr. 1943 g., a 1947 year the AK was put into service. The first batch of machine guns was sent to the army in 1949, where successful military tests. And it was on the basis of this machine gun that dozens of models of machine guns with the index were designed and adopted AK, have become a legend and the undisputed leader in the world of small arms in the world, synonymous with reliability, quality and fame. There is not a single person who does not know what he looks like AK, not to mention the fact that the image of the machine gun is even on the national flags of some countries. An example is the fact that every fifth sample of hand rifle firearms in global circulation is AK and its modifications.
Mikhail Timofeevich worked until 2012 years, creating new models of weapons, up to last days life, he oversaw the creation of a fifth-generation assault rifle ( AKhundredth episode). Among the samples, in addition to machine guns, small arms, there are also known Kalashnikov machine guns va ( RPK, PKM, PKT, PKB). Kalashnikov also did not ignore hunters, creating a series of self-loading smoothbore and rifled carbines "Saiga". Kalashnikov weapons are still in service with our country and more than fifty other countries.
In the ranks of the Red Army. After graduating from the tank driver school, he passed conscript service in the Kiev Special Military District. In the army, he developed an inertial counter to record the actual number of shots fired from a tank cannon, made a special device for a TT pistol to increase the efficiency of firing through slits in the tank turret, and created a device for measuring the service life of a tank engine.
For the latest invention, the commander of the Kyiv Military District, General Georgy Zhukov, awarded Kalashnikov a personalized watch.
In June 1941, Kalashnikov was sent to Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) to put the invention into production.
Mikhail Kalashnikov began the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945) in August 1941 as a tank commander. In October 1941, in the battles near Bryansk, he was seriously wounded. While on six-month leave for health reasons, Senior Sergeant Kalashnikov developed his first model of a submachine gun.
Among the numerous awards of Mikhail Kalashnikov are three Orders of Lenin, the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, II degree, the Order of the October Revolution, the Red Banner of Labor, Friendship of Peoples, Patriotic War 1st degree, Red Star, medal. Mikhail Kalashnikov is a holder of the Order of St. Apostle Andrew the First-Called.
Kalashnikov was an honorary member (academician) of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Academy of Rocket and Artillery Sciences, and the Russian Academy of Engineering; full member - academician of the International Academy of Sciences, Industry, Education and Art of the USA, International Academy of Informatization, honorary professor of Izhevsk State technical university, a number of other large scientific institutions.
Mikhail Kalashnikov wrote several books of memoirs: “Notes of a gunsmith designer” (1992), “From someone else’s threshold to the Spassky Gate” (1997), “I walked the same road with you: Memoirs” (1999), “Kalashnikov: the trajectory of fate” (2004), “In the whirlwind of my life” (2007), “Everything you need is simple” (2009). He was a member of the Russian Writers' Union.
Since 2002, the Interregional Public Fund named after M.T. has existed in Izhevsk. Kalashnikov, who is working to popularize the activities of the famous designer and other Russian gunsmiths.
In 2012, the name of Mikhail Kalashnikov was assigned to Izhevsk State Technical University.
In August 2013, NPO Izhmash joined OJSC Concern Kalashnikov.
On November 15, 2013, in the designer’s native village of Kurya, it received the status of a branch of the Altai State Museum of Local Lore.
Mikhail Kalashnikov was married, his wife Ekaterina Kalashnikova (1921-1977) worked as a design technician and helped her husband carry out drawing work.
Four children were born into their family: daughters Nellie (1942), Elena (1948), Natalya (1953-1983), son Victor (1942).
The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources
Timofeevich in many ways personifies the characteristic image of the Soviet dream. The whole of it represented the path of a man who came from a poor peasant family, but managed to create a big name for himself all over the world at the cost of his own labor and talent.
Childhood and youth
The biography of Mikhail Timofeevich Kalashnikov begins in a small village in
Altai region. Here he was born on November 10, 1919, being the seventeenth child in a peasant family. As soon as Misha was ten years old, the family was subjected to dispossession and was exiled to the Tomsk region. Here the boy went to school. Already from school, Misha was passionate about technology, geometry, and physics. IN adolescence his first acquaintance with weapons occurs when, out of curiosity, he disassembles american pistol"Browning"
Army service and the war years
After graduating from school, the young man worked for some time at the depot railway, and when he turned nineteen (this happened in 1938), he was drafted into the army. There he completed a training course, receiving the title and specialty of a tank driver-mechanic. By the way, as any biography of Mikhail Kalashnikov will testify, it was during this period that he began to show extraordinary design abilities. For example, in the army he invented an inertial counter, which counted the number of shots fired by a tank cannon. Through his efforts, a very popular one was improved. By chance, the young officer turned out to be one of those soldiers who was destined to serve in military service at the very beginning of the German invasion.
Mikhail Timofeevich Kalashnikov (the date of death of many of these guys was in the first days and months of the war, since they were the first to hold back the Blitzkrieg in difficult conditions) was a participant at the beginning of the war. But during the defense of Bryansk in the fall, he received severe wounds and was shell-shocked. And yet, while in the hospital, he found ways to help liberate the country. At this time, a new design of a submachine gun was conceived and implemented. However, the sample never entered service with the troops, although it was manufactured. Since 1942, Mikhail served at the Central Small Arms Research Site, which was subordinate to the Main Artillery Directorate. Actually, in 1944, a self-loading carbine was developed here, which would later form the basis of a world-famous machine gun.
Post-war biography of Kalashnikov Mikhail Timofeevich
The first version of the machine gun known today appeared in 1947. And immediately it becomes the best in field competitive tests among similar projects. The design was finally finalized by 1949 and entered service. Very soon his brainchild gained incredible popularity on all continents, becoming a symbol of struggle. Kalashnikov Mikhail Timofeevich, whose photo was now familiar to every person in the USSR, was awarded Stalin Prize. The inventor continued to improve and optimize small arms. In particular, the machine itself was subsequently repeatedly modernized. And its creator later received high awards more than once.
Kalashnikov Mikhail Timofeevich- designer of small automatic weapons; head of the design bureau of the Izhevsk Machine-Building Plant, colonel-engineer; Deputy Chief Designer of Izhmash Production Association, Colonel-Engineer; chief designer- Head of the Small Arms Bureau of Izhmash Concern OJSC, Lieutenant General.
Born on November 10, 1919 in the village of Kurya, now Kurya district Altai Territory in the large peasant family of Timofey Alexandrovich (1883-1930) and Alexandra Frolovna (1884-1957) Kalashnikov. In 1936, after graduating high school in the village of Kurya, went to Kazakhstan, where he began working as a student at the Matai station railway depot, and then from October 1936 to September 1938 he worked in the city of Alma-Ata (now Almaty) as a technical secretary of the political department of the 3rd railway department Turkestan-Siberian Railway. Member of the Komsomol in 1936-1947.
In September 1938, M.T. Kalashnikov was drafted into the Red Army, served in the Kiev Special Military District, and graduated from the school of tank driver mechanics. On actual military service He proved himself to be a warrior-inventor: he made a special device for the TT pistol to increase the efficiency of firing from it through the cracks in the tank turret, developed an inertial counter to count the number of shots from a tank gun, and created a device for measuring the life of a tank engine. For the last invention in January 1941, the commander of the Kiev Special Military District, General of the Army G.K. Zhukov, presented the Red Army soldier M.T. Kalashnikov with a personalized watch and ordered the army inventor to be sent to Moscow - to one of the parts of the Moscow Military District, on the basis of which comparative tests were carried out testing the device. By order of the head of the Main Armored Directorate of the Red Army, M.T. Kalashnikov was sent to one of the Leningrad factories, where the meter, after working out the working drawings, was to be put into production. The prototype of the device successfully passed laboratory tests in factory conditions. A report signed by the chief designer of the plant was sent to the Main Armored Directorate of the Red Army, which noted that compared to existing devices, this one is simpler in design, more reliable in operation, lighter in weight and smaller in size. This document was dated June 24, 1941.
With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, from the end of June to August 1941, the tank commander, senior sergeant M.T. Kalashnikov, took part in battles with German fascist invaders as part of the 108th Tank Division of the Bryansk Front. In August 1941, in battles near the city of Bryansk, he was seriously wounded and shell-shocked.
From August 1941 to April 1942, M.T. Kalashnikov was treated in the evacuation hospital in the city of Yelets now Lipetsk region. There, in the hospital ward, he had the idea of creating a submachine gun. Having received a six-month leave for health reasons, he arrived at the Matai station and made a test sample in the workshops of the railway depot. The second sample was manufactured in Moscow, evacuated to Alma-Ata. aviation institute in the workshops of the faculty of small arms and cannon weapons. In April 1942, M.T. Kalashnikov was sent for further service to the Central Research Site small arms Main Artillery Directorate of the Red Army (according to the registration card of a member of the CPSU - from April 1942 to February 1949 he worked in Moscow as a designer in the invention department of the Ministry Armed Forces THE USSR).
Kalashnikov and comrades.
In June 1942, a prototype of the submachine gun was sent for review to the city of Samarkand (Uzbekistan), where at that time the Artillery Academy named after F.E. Dzerzhinsky was evacuated. And although one of the leading teachers of this academy, the largest scientist in the field of ballistics and small arms, the future twice Hero of Socialist Labor, Major General of Artillery A.A. Blagonravov did not recommend the M.T. Kalashnikov submachine gun for adoption, nevertheless , he praised the inventive talent of the senior sergeant.
Kalashnikov assault rifle (model 1947). In 1944, M.T. Kalashnikov developed a model of a self-loading carbine, the design of the main components of which served as the basis for the creation of an assault rifle in 1946. In 1947, the inventor improved his machine gun and won competitive tests. After modification, the machine gun was put into service in 1949 Soviet army called “7.62 mm Kalashnikov assault rifle model 1947” (AK). In 1949, M.T. Kalashnikov was awarded the Stalin Prize, 1st degree.
Kalashnikov designer at work (1949). In 1949, M.T. Kalashnikov moved to the capital of the Udmurt Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (now the Udmurt Republic), the city of Izhevsk, and worked at the Izhevsk Machine-Building Plant - from February of the same year to August 1957 as a leading designer, and from August 1957 to August 1967 as a chief design bureau (KB). Member of the CPSU since June 1953 (candidate since June 1952).
The team of designers headed by M.T. Kalashnikov unified on the basis of the AK whole line samples of automatic small arms. The following were adopted for service: 7.62 mm modernized machine gun(AKM), 7.62 mm light machine gun (RPK).
By Decree of the Presidium Supreme Council USSR dated June 20, 1958, for the modernization of the assault rifle and the creation of a light machine gun, the head of the design bureau of the Izhevsk Machine-Building Plant, Mikhail Timofeevich Kalashnikov, was awarded the title Hero of Socialist Labor with the presentation of the Order of Lenin and the Hammer and Sickle gold medal.
In the 1960-1970s, based on the AK-47, AKM and RPK, a number of unified models of small automatic weapons were adopted for service: AKM, chambered for 5.45×39, varieties with folding stocks (AKMS and RPKS), 7, 62-mm machine gun (PK, PKS - on a machine), 7.62-mm machine gun for a tank (PKT) and an armored personnel carrier (PKB). For the first time in world practice, a series of unified models of small arms were created, identical in operating principle and unified automation scheme. Strelkovoe automatic weapons, created by M.T. Kalashnikov, is distinguished by its high reliability, efficiency, and ease of use. For the first time in the history of creating small arms, he managed to achieve an optimal combination of a number of qualities that would ensure highly effective use and exceptional reliability of the machine gun in combat, namely: a short locking unit, a suspended bolt, preliminary release of the cartridge case after the shot, eliminating failure when removing the spent cartridge case, low sensitivity to contamination and the possibility of trouble-free use in any climatic conditions. M.T. Kalashnikov not only created the best machine gun in the world, but was the first to develop and introduce into the troops a number of unified models of automatic small arms.
In 1964, for the creation of a complex of unified machine guns PK, PKT, PKB, M.T. Kalashnikov and his assistants A.D. Kryakushin and V.V. Krupin were awarded the Lenin Prize.
From August 1967 to April 1975, M.T. Kalashnikov was deputy chief designer of the Izhevsk Machine-Building Plant (from April 1975 - “Izhmash Production Association”).
In 1969, in the year of the 50th anniversary of his birth, the designer was awarded military rank“Colonel-Engineer”, and in 1971, based on the totality of research and development work and inventions, the Academic Council of the Tula Polytechnic Institute awarded him academic degree Doctor of Technical Sciences without defending a dissertation.
From April 1975 to May 1979, Colonel-Engineer M.T. Kalashnikov - Deputy Chief Designer production association"Izhmash".
By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of January 15, 1976, for outstanding services in the creation new technology Deputy Chief Designer of Izhmash Production Association Mikhail Timofeevich Kalashnikov was awarded Order of Lenin and the second gold medal "Hammer and Sickle".
Since May 1979, the chief designer has been the head of the small arms design bureau of the Izhmash production association (in the early 1990s, reorganized into Izhmash JSC, and later into Izhmash Concern OJSC, Izhevsk Machine-Building Plant OJSC).
Mikhail Timofeevich Kalashnikov in 1987. In addition to small arms for the Armed Forces, the design bureau under the leadership of M.T. Kalashnikov developed a large number of weapons for athletes and hunters, which is distinguished not only by its direct purpose and specifications, but also beauty. The Saiga self-loading hunting carbines, designed on the basis of the Kalashnikov assault rifle, have gained enormous popularity among hunting enthusiasts in our country and abroad. Among them: smoothbore model"Saiga", self-loading carbine"Saiga-410", "Saiga-20S". More than a dozen modifications of carbines are still produced today. By Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of June 6, 1998 No. 657, a group of seven designers, among whom was the famous gunsmith M.T. Kalashnikov, was awarded the State Prize of the Russian Federation in the field of literature and art in 1997, in the field of design - for a collection of sports and hunting weapons.
He was elected as a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the 3rd (1950-1954) and 7-10th (1966-1984) convocations.
After the collapse of the USSR, the merits of the now legendary gunsmith designer were received highly appreciated V Russian Federation. By Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of October 28, 1994 No. 2022, Colonel-engineer M.T. Kalashnikov was awarded the military rank of “Major General”, and eight days later by Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of November 5, 1994 No. 2061 for outstanding services in the field of creating an automatic rifle weapons and significant contribution to the defense of the Fatherland, he was awarded the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, 2nd degree (No. 1). By Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of October 7, 1998 No. 1202 for outstanding contribution for the defense of the Fatherland, he was awarded the country's highest award - the revived Order of the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called (No. 2).
In 1999, M.T. Kalashnikov was awarded the military rank of “lieutenant general.”
By Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 1258 dated November 10, 2009, for outstanding services in strengthening the country's defense capability, the chief designer - head of the small arms bureau of Izhmash Concern OJSC, Mikhail Timofeevich Kalashnikov, was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation with a special distinction - a medal. Golden Star».
The honored veteran, the legendary designer of small arms, who crossed the 94-year mark, lived in Izhevsk, which became his hometown of gunsmiths, and continued his fruitful work at OJSC Concern Izhmash OJSC Izhevsk Machine-Building Plant.
Awards and titles of M. T. Kalashnikov
Awarded the Russian orders of St. Apostle Andrew the First-Called (10/7/1998, No. 2), “For Services to the Fatherland” 2nd degree (11/5/1994, No. 1), “For Military Merit” (11/2/2004), 3 Soviet Orders of Lenin (06/20/1958, 11/10/1969, 01/16/1976), Order of the October Revolution (03/25/1974), Order of the Patriotic War 1st degree (03/11/1985), Red Banner of Labor (07/1/1957), Friendship of Peoples (08/30/1982) ), Red Star (08/17/1949), Honorary personalized weapon from the President of the Russian Federation (1997), medals, as well as orders and medals foreign countries, including the Belarusian Order of Honor (11.24.1999), the Kazakh Order of Friendship, 1st degree (2003), the highest award of Venezuela - the Order of the Star of Carabobo, 1st degree (2006).
Laureate of the Lenin Prize (1964), Stalin Prize 1st degree (1949), State Prize of the Russian Federation (1997), Prize of the President of the Russian Federation (2003).
Honored Worker of Industry of the USSR (1989), Honored Worker of Science and Technology of the Udmurt Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (1979), Honorary Academician Russian Academy rocket and artillery sciences (1993), Honorary Professor of Izhevsk State Technical University (1994), Honorary Member of the Russian Academy of Engineering (1994), Honorary Academician of the Engineering Academy Udmurt Republic(1995), Honorary Member of the International Academy of Sciences, Industry, Education and Arts of the USA (1996), Academician of the International Academy of Informatization (1997), Honorary Academician of the Academy of Informatization of the Republic of Tatarstan (1997). Awarded the title “Legend Man” and the “Golden Pegasus” award from public organization"Russian national Olympus"(2000), a silver figurine of Fortune with a golden sword (2001), awarded the medal "Symbol of Science" (2007). Member of the Russian Writers' Union. Behind literary creativity Kalashnikov received a diploma as a laureate of the All-Russian literary prize"Stalingrad" (1997).
Honorary citizen of Izhevsk (1988), the Udmurt Republic (1995), Altai Territory (09/2/1997) and the village of Kurya, Altai Territory.
Documents that testify to M.T. Kalashnikov’s first steps as a designer were declassified only in 2004. These documents are now stored in the Izhevsk Museum and Exhibition Complex of Small Arms named after M.T. Kalashnikov.
Memory of Kalashnikov
In the homeland of M.T. Kalashnikov - in the village of Kurya - a bronze bust was erected to him in 1980. The name of the designer is immortalized on a stele for gunsmith designers on the territory of the Degtyarev plant in the city of Kovrov. At the beginning of November 2004, a museum and exhibition complex dedicated to the legendary gunsmith designer opened in Izhevsk. The event was timed to coincide with the 85th anniversary of M.T. Kalashnikov. The central place in the exhibition was occupied by a monument to the designer. M.T. Kalashnikov assault rifles and machine guns are in service with the armies of more than fifty countries around the world. His machine gun is depicted on the coat of arms and flag of Mozambique, on the coat of arms of Zimbabwe, and in 1984-1997 it was depicted on the coat of arms of Burkina Faso. In Mozambique, in honor of the Soviet machine gun, born boys began to be given the name “Kalash”.
Author of books:“Notes of a gunsmith designer” (1992);
“From someone else’s threshold to the Spassky Gate” (1997);
“I walked the same road with you” (1999);
“Kalashnikov: the trajectory of fate” (2004);
“In the whirlwind of my life” (2008);
“Everything you need is simple” (2009).
The designer came from large family, in which 19 children were born, but only 8 people survived, including Mikhail Timofeevich. Kalashnikov's parents were peasants.
Mikhail Timofeevich Kalashnikov was born on November 10, 1919. Soviet and Russian designer, creator of the Kalashnikov assault rifle, which is familiar to residents of all world states. Small Motherland Mikhail Timofeevich Kalashnikov is the village of Kurya, Altai Territory.
Timofey Alexandrovich was recognized as a kulak in 1930, so the family was sent to the village of Nizhnyaya Mokhovaya, Tomsk Region. Even as a child, the young designer showed interest in technical means, studied the principles of operation of mechanisms. IN school years Kalashnikov demonstrated knowledge of geometry and physics, but literature was also easy for him.
Only after finishing 7th grade did Mikhail Timofeevich decide to return to Altai, but he could not find work in the region, so he returned to his family. Due to belonging to the kulak family for a long time Kalashnikov could not obtain a passport, but then he forged the seal of the local commandant’s office on the certificate and the document ended up in his hands.
Mikhail returns to Altai again. At this time, the first acquaintance with the design of the weapon occurs. The young man was able to disassemble the Browning pistol. When Kalashnikov turned 18, the designer moved to Kazakhstan. The guy was hired at the depot of the Matai station of the Turkestan-Siberian Railway. Mikhail not only communicated with mechanics and machinists, but also gained knowledge about the technology that he had admired since childhood.
In 1938, Mikhail Timofeevich went to serve in the Red Army. The service took place in the Kiev Special Military District. After some time, Kalashnikov became a tank driver, after which the designer was transferred to the 12th tank division. While serving in the Red Army, Mikhail created an inertial counter for shots from a tank gun. Also among the developments young man There was equipment to improve the efficiency of shooting from a TT pistol, and a tank life meter.
In 1942, this device was sent into mass production. Unfortunately, hostilities prevented the project from being implemented. Kalashnikov personally reported about this equipment to the commander of the Kyiv Special Military District, Army General Georgy Zhukov.
After the conversation, Mikhail Timofeevich was sent to the Kiev Tank School, where he created prototypes and conducts research. Later, Kalashnikov moved to Moscow, where he continued to work on equipment. Already at the Leningrad plant named after. Mikhail Voroshilova and the craftsmen finalized the counter.
Great designer
During the Great Patriotic War, Kalashnikov was seriously wounded, so he was treated in hospital for several weeks, and after that the man was sent on leave. Mikhail Timofeevich devoted this time to creating a submachine gun.
After own sample brought to the required condition, Kala
Shnikov sent him to the competition. The commission was not delighted, since, according to experts, the weapon is expensive and complex. For comparison, we took PPSh and PPS. Despite this, the designer’s talent was noticed.
In 1942, Mikhail Timofeevich was recruited to serve in the Main artillery department Red Army. A man supplies weapons to military personnel. Management soon gave Kalashnikov a new task: the designer needed to develop a weapon based on an “intermediate” cartridge with a caliber of 7.62x39 mm. A pistol or machine gun must have a firing range of 200-800 meters.
In addition to Mikhail Timofeevich, designers who already had experience took part in the competition. Thanks to this, the Simonov self-loading carbine appeared in the army, light machine gun Degtyareva. The Kalashnikov assault rifle was a complex design. None of the gunsmith's samples met the requirements of the competition. The first stage ended with improvements, and the second - with the victory of the young participants. On the Internet you can see photos of Kalashnikov, who is passionate about his work.
Mikhail Timofeevich was in no hurry to innovate, and the designer’s ideas cannot be called brilliant. Meanwhile, the machine is designed from high-quality components and mechanisms that have been tested in practice. The weapon is capable of firing in any situation, including after exposure to water or dirt. There is no difficulty in cleaning or disassembling.
Thanks to known designs, the Kalashnikov assault rifle can be manufactured using existing equipment in large quantities. The cost of weapons is considered low. Mikhail Timofeevich created the machine gun not as a designer, but as an ordinary soldier, for whom it was important that the device be simple, convenient and understandable.
At the age of 30, Mikhail Kalashnikov became a laureate of the Stalin Prize. The designer received the Order of the Red Star for his unique development. Immediately after this, the machine gun was transferred to production at the Izhevsk Arms Plant. The designer moved to Udmurtia to actively participate in the creation of weapons. Mikhail Timofeevich constantly improved the invention.
For a long time, Kalashnikov tried to establish production, since during the process there were a lot of defects, including in the receiver. The specialist changed the technology and opted for milling, which significantly increased the cost of equipment production. As soon as the problem was solved, I returned to the original idea.
Soon the gunsmith created a new modification of the AKM. Since that time, Kalashnikov assault rifles and machine guns have become the main small arms infantry, since the creations of Simonov and Degtyarev were discontinued. In the 70s they decided to adopt low-impulse cartridges 5.45x39 mm. A competition was announced among designers. Won victory again
Mikhail Timofeevich.
Back in the 50s, Kalashnikov weapons began to be supplied to the Organization’s allies Warsaw Pact, other countries with which the USSR had friendly relations. But the black market for weapons was already flourishing in those days, so many underground fighters began to copy the creation of Mikhail Timofeevich.
Foreign companies took the Kalashnikov assault rifle as a basis, but supplemented it with their own developments, which were mainly expressed in a new design. Despite the fact that the weapon received a new name in each country, the AK remained itself. The Kalashnikov assault rifle remains to this day one of the most popular and reliable in the world. AK occupies 15% of the weapons world.
In 1963, Mikhail Timofeevich began developing an RPKS equipped with a folding stock and a night vision sight. At the same time, Kalashnikov was trying to develop an automatic pistol for 9x18 cartridges. But the gunsmith could not compete with Stechkin. Mikhail Timofeevich could not pay enough attention to this development, as he was fascinated by the field of machine guns and machine guns.
Already in the 1970s, Kalashnikov tried new area activities - hunting rifles. The gunsmith took his own machine gun as a basis. Immediately after testing, the carbines were sent into production. In 1992, the master creates a self-loading hunting rifle"Saiga" equipped with an optical sight.
Personal life
In the biography of Mikhail Kalashnikov there are 2 marriages. The man’s first wife was Ekaterina Danilovna Astakhova, who was born in the Altai Territory and later worked at the Matai station railway depot. In 1942, a son, Victor, appeared in the family. Later, Mikhail Timofeevich and Ekaterina Danilovna broke up. The ex-wife and child remained in Kazakhstan. In 1956, the woman died suddenly, so Kalashnikov moved his son to Izhevsk.
Mikhail Timofeevich’s second wife was Ekaterina Viktorovna Moiseeva. The woman worked as a design technician. From her first marriage the woman had a daughter, Nelly. But Kalashnikov adopted the girl.
Later, more children appeared in the family - Natalya and Elena, the latter holds the post of president of the Interregional Public Fund named after. M.T. Kalashnikov. Unfortunately, Natalya died at the age of 30. Mikhail Timofeevich was known happy father and grandfather. The children gave birth to five grandchildren: Mikhail, Alexander, Evgeniy and Alexander, Igor.
Death
Kalashnikov started having health problems in 2012. The designer's assistant stated that this was the reason for leaving his job. In December of the same year, the man was hospitalized at the Republican Clinical Diagnostic Center of Udmurtia for a routine examination. Another deterioration in health was recorded in the summer of 2013. By means of an aircraft of the Ministry of Emergency Situations with a joint venture
Mikhail Timofeevich was delivered with special equipment to Moscow.
“Due to the need for a medical examination, the doctors decided to send Mikhail Timofeevich to one of the Moscow clinics,” the press service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations said.
Moscow doctors diagnosed the gunsmith with pulmonary embolism. For several weeks, the capital’s doctors pored over Kalashnikov. As a result, the man’s well-being improved, after which the designer returned home to Izhevsk.
In November, Mikhail Timofeevich felt unwell again, so on the 17th the designer was hospitalized in the intensive care unit of the Republican Clinical Diagnostic Center of Udmurtia. Kalashnikov’s relatives believe that the gunsmith’s health was affected by preparations for the celebrations on the occasion of Mikhail Timofeevich’s 94th birthday.
In early December, Kalashnikov underwent emergency surgery, but the surgical intervention worsened the designer’s condition. After a month, doctors did not notice any visible improvements. A few days before his death, the gunsmith was transferred to intensive care due to stomach bleeding. The death of Mikhail Timofeevich became known on December 23.
Farewell to Mikhail Kalashnikov took place on December 25 and 26, and the funeral service took place in St. Michael’s Cathedral in Izhevsk. In connection with the death of the designer, mourning was declared in Udmurtia by order of the head of the region. Kalashnikov's funeral took place in the Pantheon of Heroes of the Federal War Memorial Cemetery.
The burial ceremony was attended by officials and key figures of the state, including Vladimir Putin and Sergei Shoigu, Andrei Vorobyov and Sergei Ivanov, Denis Manturov. Expressed condolences CEO state company "Rostec" Sergey Chemezov. A monument to Mikhail Kalashnikov appeared on the Garden Ring in Moscow. The designer was awarded the “Gold Star” and “Hammer and Sickle” medals for the created weapon.
Inventions
Inertial counter of shots from a tank gun
Kalashnikov light machine gun
Kalashnikov machine gun
Kalashnikov assault rifle 100 series
Self-loading hunting carbine "Saiga"
Automatic Kalashnikov pistol
Awards
1946 – medal “For victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.”
1947 – Order of the October Revolution
1949 – Order of the Red Star
1958, 1969, 1976 – Order of Lenin
1958, 1976 – Hero of Socialist Labor
1958, 1976 – Hammer and Sickle medal
1975 – Order of the Red Banner of Labor
1982 – Order of Friendship of Peoples
1985 – Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree
1993 – Zhukov medal
1994 – Order of Merit for the Fatherland, II degree
1998 – Order of the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called
2004 – Order of Military Merit
2009 – Hero of the Russian Federation
2009 – Gold Star medal
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