Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Blagonravov | |
|---|---|
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| Born | (1933-05-24)24 May 1933 |
| Died | 1 January 2020(2020-01-01) (aged 86) |
| Resting place | Ketovo Cemetery,Ketovo,Kurgan Oblast,Russia |
| Education | Military Academy of the Armoured Forces |
| Parent | Aleksandr Ivanovich Blagonravov |
| Engineering career | |
| Discipline | Military engineering Armoured vehicle design |
| Employer | Kurganmashzavod |
| Projects | BMP-2 BMP-3 |
| Awards |               |
Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Blagonravov (Russian:Александр Александрович Благонравов; 24 May 1933 – 1 January 2020) was aSoviet andRussian military engineer and designer who worked on the designs ofarmoured vehicles.Major general of Engineering and Technical Service (1982).
Born the son of a military engineer who worked on tank designs during the time of theSecond World War, Blagonravov followed in his father's footsteps. After studying at theMilitary Academy of the Armoured Forces, he began a long association with the academic study of problems relating to mechanised military vehicles. He taught and researched at the academy after graduation, and also served briefly as a deputy battalion commander in the4th Guards Tank Division. He left the academy in 1974, taking up the position of chief designer atKurganmashzavod, a state enterprise that designed and producedinfantry fighting vehicles. Under his leadership the designs of theBMP-2 andBMP-3 were brought to fruition, entering service with theSoviet Armed Forces.
Stepping down as chief designer in 1989, Blagonravov continued to live and work inKurgan, teaching atKurgan State University and producing a number of academic works. Over his career he had received awards from the Soviet and Russian governments, including theOrder of Honour, theOrder of Lenin, theOrder of the Red Banner of Labour, and theMedal "For Battle Merit". He was aDoctor of Technical Sciences.
Blagonravov was born on 24 May 1933 inMoscow, the capital of theRussian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and theSoviet Union.[1] He was the son ofAleksandr Ivanovich Blagonravov, a military engineer who worked on theT-34 andIS-2 tank designs, and had been awarded theStalin Prize.[2] He entered theMilitary Academy of the Armoured Forces in 1951, eventually working on the theory of turningtracked vehicles, and then in the field oftransmissions, turning mechanisms, andcontinuously variable transmissions for his dissertation.[1] He graduated in 1957 as a military mechanical engineer.[3] From 1957 to 1961 he was a junior research fellow at the Academy, and then from 1961 to 1962 was a deputy battalion commander in the4th Guards Tank Division, based in the city ofNaro-Fominsk.[3]
From 1962 Blagonravov was back at the Military Academy of the Armoured Forces, serving as a senior researcher, and then senior lecturer, until 1974.[3] In 1974 he was appointed chief designer atKurganmashzavod, which specialised in producing lightly armoured vehicles, particularlyinfantry fighting vehicles. He led the design of the enterprise'sBMP-2 design, which entered general service with theSoviet Armed Forces in 1980.[1] Alongside work to finalise the BMP-2 and bring it into mass production, He and a team of designers at Kurganmashzavod began work on a next-generation version of the vehicle in 1976, which was finalised and entered service in 1987 as theBMP-3.[1]
Blagonravov served as Kurganmashzavod's chief designer until 1989, and in retirement continued to participate in academic work and engineering studies. He eventually authored some 140 printed works and four monographs.[1] After 1989 he spent ten years as Head of the Department of Tracked Vehicles atKurgan State University.[3] He was aDoctor of Technical Sciences (1971).[1]
Blagonravov died inKurgan on 1 January 2020, at the age of 86.[1] Condolences were offered byVadim Shumkov, thegovernor of Kurgan Oblast, and byAndrey Potapov [ru], head of the city of Kurgan.[1] A memorial ceremony was held on 6 January in the sports complex "Zauralets" in Kurgan.[1] It was attended by some 300 people, including members of Kurganmashzavod and former members of the government of the Kurgan region, including ex-governorOleg Bogomolov and his former deputyAleksandr Bukhtoyarov [ru].[2] His body is interred in the village cemetery ofKetovo in Kurgan.[2][4]
Over his career, Blagonravov received numerous awards and honours.[1][5]
He was also given the title:
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