General Designer Yuri Solomonov is known as one of the most experienced and prominent specialists in his field. Today he works at the Moscow Institute of Heat Engineering.
early years
The future engineer Yuri Solomonov was born in Moscow on November 3, 1945. He received his higher education at the Metropolitan Aviation Institute. After that, military service began as a lieutenant of the Strategic Missile Forces.
In 1971, Yuri Solomonov went to work at the Moscow Institute of Heat Engineering. The young specialist was a promising engineer. The institute belonged to the USSR Ministry of Defense. Within the walls of this institution was the development of intercontinental ballistic missiles and systems necessary for their operation.
Careers at MIT
Thanks to his talents and hard work, Yuri Solomonov confidently advanced through the ranks. He has come a long way from an ordinary engineer to the chief designer of an enterprise. In 1997, the specialist headed the Moscow Institute of Heat Engineering (MIT). In the 90s, Solomonov did much to ensure that Russia's nuclear shield was preserved, even despite economic and political upheavals.
Under the guidance of a doctor of science, his subordinates began to receive a large number of orders from various law enforcement agencies. Leading developers of missiles designed for land units worked at MIT. The Navy entrusted the enterprise with the creation of anti-submarine systems Medvedka, Rainfall and Whirlwind. Solomonov led such complex projects as Topol and Pioneer. These complexes went to the Strategic Missile Forces.
MIT developed and transformed thanks to the activities of its chief designer, who was Yuri Solomonov. The biography of the specialist is also known for his initiatives to carry out scientific and research work on the re-equipment of space and ballistic missiles.
"Mace"
An important project of MIT was the creation of the Bulava intercontinental missile, designed for sea-based. The design biography of Yuri Solomonov is full of such important works of state scale. The order for the Mace was received in 1998. Specially for her, the Borey submarine missile carrier and the Dmitry Donskoy submarine missile cruiser were modernized. These submarines were idle without the Mace. The army could not take them into service.
Tests of the Bulava rocket were first conducted in 2004 in Udmurtia. The production of these shells was planned to begin within a few years after the order was accepted at MIT. However, despite the efforts of the staff of the enterprise and personally Yuri Solomonov, the first few launches were unsuccessful. Affected by technical errors and design flaws. Only two out of eleven launches were partially recognized as full-time.
Failures forced the chief designer to resign as head of the institute. The last straw was the failure of the launch on the Dmitry Donskoy nuclear submarine in the White Sea. It happened in July 2009. The media noted that this case was the first of its kind when the chief designer took personal responsibility for the failure of many years of work. This was the most difficult decision that Solomonov Yuri Semenovich has ever made. Parents, family and loved ones supported him at this difficult moment. The designer managed to admit defeat with a high head.
Temporary failures
In Roscosmos quickly responded to the resignation of Solomonov. The department noted that, despite the fact that he left the post of head of the institute, Yuri Semenovich remained at MIT as general designer. The engineer continued to work on projects for offshore and ground-based missile systems. The post of director of the institute went to Sergei Nikulin. He won this place in a competition held by Roscosmos.
The main reason for the failure with the Bulava was the problems that arose during the assembly phase. The process of creating a rocket was complicated by the lack of necessary components. Despite the fiasco, Bulava as a project has been preserved. Other people took up its development for a while.
Adoption of the "Mace" into service
In September 2010, the position of general designer responsible for the creation of the Topol-M missile system was established. She was taken by Yuri Solomonov. The designer promised that the development will end in 2011. Then, under his leadership, work was resumed on the completion of the long-suffering "Mace". The Ministry of Defense demanded to finish the work as soon as possible. In a few months, four successful Bulava launches were made. The missile was intended for the nuclear submarine "Yuri Dolgoruky." On June 28, 2011, an important successful launch was made from this carrier.
A few months later, Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov announced that the rocket passed all the necessary tests. Soon she was adopted.
Disputes with the Ministry of Defense
In 2011, a scandal broke out in military circles, in the center of which was Yuri Solomonov. The designer criticized the Department of Defense for plans to develop a new type of liquid heavy missile. The main opponent of the famous designer was Vladimir Popovkin. This was the Deputy Minister of Defense, who advocated the continuation of development in this vein.
Solomonov did not agree with Popovkin. He gathered a press conference at Interfax. The designer called the decision of the Ministry of Defense to continue the missile development program far-fetched and harmful. Solomonov declared these shells unsuitable for use with modern technology. At the end of the press conference, the chief designer of MIT also added that he considers this project of the Ministry of Defense “a waste of money.”
Ground analogue of the "Mace"
On May 24, 2012, a new rocket was launched at a strategically important spaceport in Plesetsk. The Ministry of Defense did not specify what kind of development it was. In fact, it turned out that this was the first ground-based analogue of Solomon's Bulava, which had previously been launched from nuclear submarines. The famous designer was one of the main characters in the development of this secret project. The purpose of the new weapons was later called the opposition of the complex to the American missile defense system, deployed in Europe.
The missiles received improved performance compared to the analogous Yarsa and Topol-M. From the first version of the Mace, this complex received a solid type of fuel. It was developed specifically to make engines even more efficient. This project was extremely useful for the entire military-industrial complex of the country. MIT specialists have a new design, scientific and research experience.
Cooperation with Luzhkov
For more than ten years, Solomonov collaborated a lot with Yuri Luzhkov, who was the mayor of Moscow until 2010. The designer led the initiative group, who nominated the mayor for a second term in 1999. Solomonov professionally supported Luzhkov’s projects, which he initiated in the capital.
For example, at MIT, a Moscow monorail was specially developed for the city hall. Luzhkov and Solomon jointly registered patents for inventions in the field of urban infrastructure. Their collaboration ended when the mayor was fired by Dmitry Medvedev, the then president of Russia.
Scientific and writing activities
The Russian Academy of Sciences has many technical correspondent members associated with the army. Among them stands out Yuri Solomonov. The nationality of the academician and engineer is Russian. The doctor of technical sciences became an inventor in Soviet times, having received the USSR State Prize for his professional activities.
Solomonov wrote nine monographs, six textbooks, and about three hundred scientific works. He holds patents for 17 inventions. In connection with the public interest in the "Mace", the chief designer of MIT wrote the documentary and fiction book "Nuclear Vertical". The novelty was popular with a wide reading audience. On April 28, 2015, the academician became one of the first citizens of Russia awarded the title of Hero of Labor.
The family of Solomonov Yuri Semenovich lives with him in Moscow. Currently, the designer continues to work at MIT and manage research projects in the field of rocket science.