German influence in USSR

Abstract

In June 1945 this author was one of the organizers of the, first in the postwar history, Soviet–German institute RABE. The main task of its activity was to study the history of the German rocket technology developments and rebuild the technology of the long range ballistic missiles V-2. This work was supported by the Soviet military authorities and also by the Soviet government. In the Turingia region of Germany a big institute, “Nordhausen”, was established, in which Soviet and German specialists jointly worked on the rocket technology problems. In November 1947 a big group of German specialists was transferred to the Soviet Union. All the works in Germany were cancelled. German specialists took part in the preparation and running of the flight test of rocket V-2 in October–November of 1947 on Kapustin Yar test range. Until the beginning of the 50s a big group of German specialists worked in the daughter institute of the leading Soviet research institute on rocket technique, NII-88, under the management of Helmut Grettrupe, one of the former von Braun employees. They worked out the design of ballistic missiles of range up to 800 km with principally new guidance system. Germans also took part in the development of the technology of fluid rocket engine production. In 1952–1953 German specialists returned to Germany and rocket technology in the USSR matured independently. The Soviet and German scientists cooperation resumed in 1960s after manned space flights were started. The author was one of the leading participants in those joint works.