On the experimental design work of the design bureau of engineer Kondakov from 1932 to 1938 (except for aircraft and dynamo-propelled guns)

The subject of research in this article is the activities of the design bureau of engineer Mikhail Nikolaevich Kondakov (Leningrad) during 1932–1938 in the context of the formation of a domestic scientific school of weapons design. A general description of the main directions of development of the design bureau in the field of small arms and cannon weapons (except for aircraft and dynamo-reactive guns) is given. The most important research and development projects of the specified period are identified and their description is carried out. The development of universal guns, automatic guns (except for aircraft), heavy infantry weapons, samples of self-propelled artillery are analyzed and other projects are listed. The complex of methods used included the processing of archival materials, historical and scientific analysis of fundamental works on the topic, and the comparative historical method. Analysis of the activities of the design bureau of engineer Kondakov from 1932 to 1938 and the identification of its role in the development of the domestic school of small arms and cannon weapons design has not received any significant coverage in domestic weapons science. The reason for this state of affairs is the significant fragmentation of archival documentation on this topic and the fragmentary degree of preservation in various museum collections of samples of experimental design work. Based on newly discovered information, the article for the first time builds a thematic series of developments by the design bureau of engineer Kondakov in 1932–1938. The role of this organization for the development of domestic weapons in the pre-war period is revealed.

history of weapons, weapons design, 1930s, design bureau, M. N. Kondakov, automatic guns, non-recoil cannons, dynamo-reactive guns, universal guns, self-propelled artillery