The outstanding scientist and academician Vladimir Kotelnikov became the initiator and founder of Russian cryptography. During the Great Patriotic War, he and his colleagues created several unique devices with which secret information and instructions were transmitted.
early years
An outstanding scientist and engineer Kotelnikov Vladimir Alexandrovich was born in Kazan. He was born on September 6, 1908. The boy belonged to a hereditary family of professors - his father and grandfather worked at a local university. It is not surprising that with such relatives little Volodya had already learned to read and write by the age of 6, and also mastered the basics of algebra, arithmetic and geography.
The school years of the child fell on the period of the First World War and the Civil War. Because of this, the Kotelnikovs family constantly moved from place to place. Vladimir was educated at home, and at school he studied only the last three classes. The ordeals of the war years did not break his interest in science. The teenager became interested in radio engineering. This hobby determined his whole future life.
Education
In 1926, Vladimir entered the Bauman Moscow Technical University. Studying at this university was accompanied by attending courses at the Physics and Mathematics Faculty of Moscow State University. During Kotelnikov’s stay at MVTU, MPEI — the Moscow Power Engineering Institute, which graduated from the young man — stood out from its structure.
Prestigious education allowed him to become an engineer at the Research Institute of Communications of the Red Army. Then Vladimir Alexandrovich Kotelnikov entered the graduate school of MPEI, while working as the chief engineer and the head of the laboratory at the research institute.
Important discovery
The young scientist’s career made a rapid leap when, in 1933, he generalized the function interpolation theorem discovered by the English researchers Whittaker. She explained the lack of data loss when using a continuous signal. The formula proved by Kotelnikov was of crucial importance for the future of technology. This discovery became the basis of the theory of information, as well as its coding and processing, digital messaging systems, etc. At about the same time as Kotelnikov, the American Claude Shannon made a similar breakthrough in his research, which is why the theorem was called Whittaker-Kotelnikov - Shannon.
The fundamental nature of the discovery was not immediately clear. Based on his unique materials, Vladimir Alexandrovich Kotelnikov wrote a detailed report, but he was not accepted by the editors of the All-Union Journal of Electricity. The publication stated that the material of the researcher is not of value to the engineers of the USSR.
Career continuation
Nevertheless, already at the age of 30, the Soviet scientist Vladimir Kotelnikov became a candidate of technical sciences of the USSR. He received a degree even without defending a dissertation. Soon, in 1941, the engineer formulated several key principles on which the future stable signal classification system was to be built.
Kotelnikov's theses were revolutionary. A key innovation was the conversion of old analog signals to digital. It was assumed that the equipment for such operations would work according to the sampling theorem. As in the case of his theoretical research, the scientist again ahead of his time. The technique that he predicted appeared only after World War II.
In secret enterprises
In the late 30s, Vladimir A. Kotelnikov began to lead the laboratory for the creation of multi-channel radio communications equipment. With its help, a short-wave line between Moscow and Khabarovsk was later created. Together with Kotelnikov, outstanding inventors Alexander Mints, Konstantin Egorov and others worked on this project. The scientist also led two laboratories in which secret telephone and telegraph information technologies were developed. The team working at these facilities was staffed by engineers who had recently graduated from the communications institute.
During World War II, Soviet specialists managed to move from outdated information encryption systems to a new synchronous, linear classification of radio and telephone conversations. A huge contribution to this success was made by Vladimir Kotelnikov. The biography of the scientist seemed to the leadership of the country worthy of entrusting him with an important task. The inventor set about solving a task of national importance - the creation of a device for encrypting speech signals that is resistant to decryption by the enemy. After the German attack on the USSR, such equipment became vital.
"Sable" and "Bullfinch"
Unique equipment was ordered by the department responsible for government high-frequency (HF) communications. In 1938, the Sable-I model was developed and passed its first tests. The equipment was manufactured at the Krasnaya Zorya plant in Leningrad. When the Northern capital was in blockade, the enterprise was evacuated to Ufa. A new plant No. 697 was created there, which belonged to the People's Commissariat of Electrical Industry of the USSR.
At the same time, part of the laboratory, whose head was Vladimir Kotelnikov, was also transported to Ufa. Despite the war, the scientist continued the development of the encoder, which was of great importance for the country's defense. In Ufa, the Kotelnikov group joined forces with the engineers of the Krasnaya Zorya plant. In 1942, the Sobol-P prototype was developed. This model was intended for secret short-wave radiotelephony. At that time, Sobol-P became the most technically sophisticated equipment for encrypting information. The device twice converted electrical speech signals. This was done using the time delays of signal sections and the ring inversion of its spectrum. The development allowed for permutation of speech segments. The generated ciphers were unreadable to the adversary.
The model was studied by a special state commission. She found that "Sable-P" allows you to safely conduct secret negotiations. It is interesting that part of the mechanical components for the equipment (including magnetic drums) were produced not in Ufa, but in besieged Leningrad. Valuable items were delivered through the front line by aircraft.
Together with Sobol, during the war, portable classified equipment SAU-16 (Bullfinch) was developed. This device looked like a suitcase. It was used by commanders of the fronts and representatives of the General Headquarters in places where there was no HF communications during their business trips.
"Neva"
Sobol-P devices were first used in the field at the end of 1942. Then the model encrypted secret radiotelephone negotiations between Moscow and Tbilisi, replacing the habitual connection with the leadership of the Transcaucasian Front spoiled by the Germans. The device rescued Headquarters for several months, until a new line was built along the Caspian coast. After a successful baptism of fire, the Sobol-P equipment fell into the headquarters of all fronts. The Headquarters decided to use this model to transmit top secret orders and reports.
But Sobol-P was far from the only novelty to which Vladimir Kotelnikov had a hand. The achievements of the scientist in the 40s became even more significant after the invention of the “Owl” and “Neva”. These devices were designed to encrypt messages over wired channels. They were based on a complex coding scheme, the analogues of which were not abroad. The Neva was used to establish communications between Moscow, the 1st Belorussian and the 2nd Belorussian fronts. In addition, this technique found its application during international conferences of the Allies in the second half of the war (Tehran, Yalta and Potsdam conferences). Finally, the Neva was used in negotiations between the Kremlin and the capitals of various European powers when signing the surrender of Germany.
After the war
After the Victory, the team of engineers working in Ufa was disbanded. Specialists of the "Red Dawn" returned to Leningrad. The other half of the inventors and scientists went to Moscow, including the MPEI. Kotelnikov Vladimir Alexandrovich remained there to work. The photo of the scientist never hit the newspapers. While working on secret missions, he could not count on the public disclosure of his activities. Nevertheless, after the war, Vladimir Kotelnikov headed the institute department “Theoretical Foundations of Radio Engineering”. He led it for over 36 years.
But this public part of the activity faded against the background of work in the famous Martha Sharashka. This unofficial name became widely known, it was fixed thanks to the books of the writer and Nobel laureate Alexander Solzhenitsyn, who also worked there. Formally, it was a special laboratory No. 8, created by order of the Soviet government. The state of sharashka was 490 people. They all developed secret telephony, new equipment for encrypting information, and so on. Part of the state consisted of scientists and inventors who were serving prison sentences.
Academician
In 1953, the scientist became an academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences. If anyone among communication encryption specialists deserved this title, then it was definitely Vladimir Kotelnikov. Photos and models of his inventions are now in numerous museums, whose expositions are devoted to this topic. The academician led the laboratories that created the devices by order of the Ministry of Defense and the KGB. In addition, he led commissions that monitored the quality of new inventions by other engineers.
In the 1950s and 60s, Vladimir Kotelnikov became the initiator and inspirer of the creation of such devices as Liana, Lily of the Valley, Diamond, Sever-M, Bulava, Lotus-V, etc. From 1954 to 1988 The academician was a director at the Institute of Radio Engineering and Electronics of the USSR Academy of Sciences.
Last years
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, despite his venerable age, Vladimir Kotelnikov continued his active work. Date of birth (September 6, 1908) and many services to the country were not an occasion for him to stop and rest on their laurels.
In 1992, thanks to the academician, the Russian Cryptography Academy was created. In 2003, Vladimir Kotelnikov was awarded the Order of Merit to the Fatherland, I degree. The scientist received it for his many years of work and outstanding contribution to the development of Soviet and Russian science. The academician died on February 11, 2005. He was buried at the Kuntsevsky cemetery in Moscow.