Tula Artillery Engineering Institute

Creation and Beginning

The birth of the Tula Artillery Engineering Institute is connected with the Highest Order of the Emperor Alexander II on the establishment in Tula of an arms school in the Decree on July 15, 1869 .

By the middle of the 19th century, before the Russian defense industry, represented by the Minister of War of the Russian Empire, Field Marshal A. D. Milyutin , head of the Main Artillery Directorate of the General for Artillery A. A. Barantsov and commanders of the Tula Arms Plant K. K. Standerscheld (led the TOZ until 1869 .) and V.V. Notbek (led the TOZ from 1870 to 1876) there was the task of re-equipping the Russian army with artillery-loading weapons, the release of which began the Tula Arms Plant . In the beginning, these were the Terry rifles ^[1] , Karle and Krnka . Then, a radically new 4.2-line Berdan rifle , designed for a unitary cartridge and charged by a hinged shutter, was adopted by the Russian army. In addition to rifles, weapons are adopted revolvers systems Lefoshe , Colt , Smith-Wesson . All this required the start of training for the operation of new weapons in military units.

Following the example of his great ancestor Peter the Great , who chose Tula as the center of the state defense industry and founded an arms factory in it in 1712 ^[2] , Tsar Alexander II also chose Tula to solve the above problem. He perfectly understood that the training and education of a skilled craftsman cannot take place outside the social environment of the city in which the process of developing and manufacturing weapons has been going on for centuries.

The Royal Decree read ^[3] .:

“... The Emperor, on the 15th day of July 1869, having approved the Regulations on special schools of the artillery department examined by the Military Council, I deigned to command the Highest: Based on the aforementioned Regulation, the weapons school should be re-established in Tula ...”

- Decree of the Emperor Alexander II of July 15, 1869.

The date of the registered Decree of the Emperor, namely July 15, 1869 , is considered the founding date of the Tula Artillery Engineering Institute.

The first head of the school was appointed colonel of the field foot artillery Pyotr Ivanovich Mamontov . He led the Tula Arms School from 1869 to 1879.

The most prominent chief of the TOS was Colonel, later Major General of the Pedestrian Field Artillery Vasily Semenovich Strakhov , who gave her almost all his life and served in it for 41 years (from February 8, 1879 to March 24, 1911), and for the last 32 years he was its chief . Almost the entire 50-year history of the Tula arms school is the history of the work of this outstanding person.

Pupils of the school should, in theory, know the whole technological process of manufacturing absolutely all the small arms that are in service with the Russian army, and there were over 20 of them - rifles, revolvers, machine guns. They were obliged in any conditions, including field ones, to independently manufacture any part of small arms. Be able to work with calibration instruments. Know the rules for storing weapons and their conservation. In addition, to know the entire machine park of the arms factory, to independently work on any of the machines and to be able to manage the activities of the workshop ^[4] .

Gunsmiths - graduates of the Tula Arms School were a small closed corporation of military officials of the Russian Imperial Army. They did not have an officer rank and did not belong to the category of junior command personnel. Their activities in military units were narrowly targeted. The combat readiness and combat readiness of military units directly depended on their professional skills, one of the indicators of which was always the serviceability and safety of weapons ^[5] . Consequently, the Tula Arms School, as the leading military educational institution that trained personnel for weapons repair masters, occupied an exclusive place in ensuring the country's defense capabilities. And it is no coincidence that an outstanding graduate, Irinarkh Andreyevich Komaritsky, came out of her walls. A talented designer of small arms, a famous gunsmith and an experienced technologist.

Tula arms school was a unique military educational institution in Russia. At the minimum cost of public funds, she trained for the army qualified specialists in the maintenance and repair of small arms.

Weapon-technical stage

The Tula Arms School lasted 50 years. It was her high status and exceptional role in training military professionals that allowed her to maintain this status even after the 1917 revolution . Born of the October Revolution, the Red Army needed not only experienced commanders and fighters. She also needed competent gunsmiths. Therefore, on May 21, 1919, by order of the All-Russian General Staff No. 170, the TOSH was transformed into the Tula Weapon-Technical Courses (TOTK) . Peter Ivanovich Belyaev was appointed head of the courses. And on the basis of these courses, training of military specialists for units of the Red Army was continued.

Classes for the new program were ordered to begin on September 1. On August 25, 1919, the GUVUZ ordered the staff to be increased to 200, the number of military and civilian teachers increased, the posts of unit commanders, administrative and business workers, and support services were introduced. Applicants underwent entrance exams in the Russian language, arithmetic, and geography. The training period was initially set to be one-year, but later on, depending on the situation on the fronts, it changed, decreasing to 2–4 months ^[6] .

During the period of its existence until the autumn of 1921, weapons and technical courses conducted 13 issues and gave the fronts of the Civil War 348 weapons technicians. In accordance with the Order of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic of August 29, 1921, weapons-technical courses were transformed into a school with a 4-year term of study and it became known as the Tula Weapon-Technical School (TOTS) ^[7] . The number of students in the cadet school was brought to 500 people.

The school was attended by military personnel (Red Army and junior commanders) no older than 25 years old and civilians aged 18-20 years. All applicants should have had general education in the volume of the full course of the first-level civil school (4 classes).

In addition to the junior, middle and senior classes (courses), a preparatory class (course) was created at the school, which made it possible to involve the wider masses of working-peasant youth in the school.

In 1924, the Leningrad OTSH, which in 1922 was combined with the Omsk courses of weapons technicians and the Izhevsk OTSH, entered the TOTS in full force ^[6] . By 1927, the number of cadets was reduced to 200 people.

In 1925, the school was visited by the legendary commander of the Red Army S. M. Budyonny ^[6] .

From 1929 to 1931 girls who had received preliminary training in OSOAVIAHIM circles were accepted into the school ^[6] .

For great help to the population of the city and the region, fruitful communication with the Tula workers, preservation and development of the best labor traditions, on February 13, 1930, the Order of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR TOTS was named after the Tula proletariat .

The Soviet government praised the role of the school in strengthening the country's defense capabilities and training highly qualified personnel for the Red Army. On March 24, 1930, the Central Executive Committee of the USSR awarded the school with a diploma and the revolutionary Red Banner ^[8] .

During its existence, the TOTS conducted 17 issues and gave the troops 1,596 weapons technicians and about 600 reserves.

On March 16, 1937, by order of the NPO of the USSR, the TOTS was transformed into the Tula Arms and Technology School (TOTU) named after the Tula Proletariat.

During the Great Patriotic War

June 22, 1941 began the Great Patriotic War .

And already on October 2 the combat mission set forth in the Order of the chief of the Tula combat section of the Moscow defense zone followed.

The order read:

“... The Tula Military Technical School with two companies of a combat engineer battalion 330 sd will leave Tula at 2:30 p.m. on October 3 and take a line on the northeast bank of the Zusha river near the city of Mtsensk for defense to block the highway to Tula by October 20 p.m. Prepare a highway mining on the Mtsensk - Samozvanovka section. Defensive work and preparation for mining to finish by 6:00 on October 4 ... "

- Order of the chief of the Tula combat section of the Moscow defense zone No. 1 of October 3, 1941.

The cauldron between the cities of Oryol and Mtsensk was the front line of defense of our troops on the southern flank of the Bryansk Front , broken through by the Germans, as a result of the German command successfully conducting the initial stage of a major offensive operation, code-named "Typhoon" .

The plan of this operation provided: by blows of three powerful tank groups from the regions of Dukhovschina, Roslavl and Shostka to dismember the defense of the Soviet troops, to encircle and destroy the troops of the Western , Reserve and Bryansk fronts. Then, surrounded by strong mobile tank groups, surround Moscow and inflict a decisive blow on it in the center. Moreover, not a single person was to leave the capital. It was supposed to flood the city with all its inhabitants. Hitler announced: "The huge sea will hide Moscow - the capital of Russia from the entire civilized world" ^[9] .

The threat was quite real. Indeed, as a result of the breakthrough of the Bryansk Front, several Soviet armies were already surrounded. And from this direction the Germans had a free path to Moscow. The task of detaining the Germans to ensure the withdrawal of the 50th Army to Tula was entrusted to the urgently formed 1st Separate Guards Rifle Corps , led by Major General D. D. Lelyushenko

The cadet battalion of the Tula Arms-Technical School (the battalion commander is Major I. V. Kamyansky, the battalion commissar - regimental commissar E. Z. Kruglikov ) became part of this corps ^[10] . The battalion took up defense on the right bank of the Zusha River and began to carry out the task assigned to it by the head of the Tula section of the Moscow defense zone .

For almost two weeks, from October 3 to 15, fighters of the 1st Separate Guards Rifle Corps repelled enemy tank attacks. The task set by the command was completed. The corps was torn apart by German tank brigades and managed to leave this terrible cauldron with minimal losses ^[11] . From here, from Mtsensk, the sunset of Guderian’s impeccable career began, which was finally ruined in the battles for the city of Tula. Hitler laid all the blame for the lost battle near Moscow on Guderian and removed the commander of the tank group from his post.

The participation of the cadet battalion of the Tula Arms and Technical School in the hostilities was a continuation of a new and unusual practice, when the unit of the military educational institution was turned into a military unit and thrown into a bloody battle. Two weeks later, similar feats were accomplished by cadets of the Podolsky infantry and Podolsk artillery schools near Maloyaroslavets ^[12] , the Lenin Moscow Military-Political School near Mozhaisk ^[13] , and the Kremlin cadets near Volokolamsk . Tula cadets did not suffer the terrible fate of Moscow and Podolsk cadets , who died in thousands of battles. But, this circumstance does not in any way plead with the merits of Tula cadets to their homeland ^[14] . They performed the combat mission and their military duty with honor. After graduating from college, they continued to beat the enemy. Many reached Berlin and Prague .

The participation of the combined battalion of Tula cadets in the battles near Mtsensk is the most outstanding event in the history of the Tula Artillery Engineering Institute and allowed it to appear in official documents as a military educational institution of the country, which was assigned to the army from 3 to 15 October 1941 and has military merit in front of the motherland. And the homeland praised them.

In February 1944, the school was awarded the Red Banner ^[15] . On May 30, 1944, by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, TOTU was awarded the Order of Lenin for outstanding success in training technical personnel for the Red Army and military services to the Motherland and became known as the Tula Arms and Technical Order of Lenin School of the Tula Proletariat .

The head of state, Supreme Commander-in-Chief, Marshal of the Soviet Union Joseph Stalin personally congratulated the staff of the school with a high award. The announcement of the rewarding of the school with the Order of Lenin and the text of the congratulatory telegram from Comrade IV Stalin were published in the Pravda newspaper dated May 31, 1944.

From November 1941 to April 1944, the city of Tomsk was the place of permanent deployment of TOTU. The school continued its main activity - the training of technical personnel and political workers for the Red Army. In the first year of stay in Tomsk, school personnel were recruited from among civic youth. And then the cadets were replenished exclusively at the expense of the front-line soldiers.

Hundreds of former cadets - graduates of courses, schools and schools - were awarded high military awards for the valor and courage shown on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War. A graduate of the 1931 school Vladimir Yakovlevich Gavrilov became a Hero of the Soviet Union ^[16] , and Hero of the Soviet Union Ivan Grigorievich Edunov graduated from the school in 1946 ^[17] .

Artillery Stage

On the instructions of the commander of the artillery of the Soviet Army, in October 1955, the school officially switched to training officers in the profile of artillery technicians of rifle and mechanized regiments.

And since 1958, a new, artillery, stage was opened in the history of TAII, during which the institute was four times successively transformed.

Directive of the Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces of August 4, 1958, TOTU from September 1 was transformed into the Tula Artillery Order of Lenin School (TAU) named after the Tula Proletariat for the preparation of command and technical personnel of heavy rocket artillery and artillery technicians of ground artillery. The school switched to the training of command personnel, which it dealt with later for 16 years.

By order of the Minister of Defense of July 1, 1968, the TAU was transformed into the Tula Higher Artillery Command Order of the Lenin School (TAKU) named after the Tula Proletariat for the training of command personnel of the missile forces and artillery of the RV and A SV with a training period of 4 years.

On August 1, 1974, TVAKU was transformed into the Tula Higher Artillery Engineering Order of Lenin School (TVAIU) named after the Tula Proletariat with a training period of 5 years.

In 1979 TVAIU was awarded the Order of the October Revolution and became known as the Tula Higher Artillery Engineering Order of Lenin and the October Revolution School named after the Tula Proletariat .

In June 1985, the school became subordinate to the head of the Main Rocket and Artillery Directorate ( GRAU ).

In 1994, the school began to recruit cadets in a specialty unusual for artillery universities: “Combat and everyday activities of the airborne artillery units”. Graduates of this specialty inscribed several more heroic pages in the history of the institute. So, a 1999 graduate of the Guard, Senior Lieutenant Alexander Ryazantsev, in the legendary 6th company of the 104th Guards Airborne Regiment, on February 29, 2000, took the battle near the Chechen village of Ulus-Kert as an artillery spotter against one and a half thousand bandits trying to break into the territory neighboring state. During the battle, having lost both legs, he continued to adjust the fire of the artillery battery. The title of Hero of Russia was awarded posthumously.

In accordance with Government Decision No. 1009 of August 29, 1998, November 1, 1998 ^[18] and the Directive of the Head of the State Anti-Corruption Administration of the RF Ministry of Defense of October 12, 1998, No. 561/16/0603, the Tula Higher Artillery Engineering School named after the Tula Proletariat was transformed into the Tula Artillery Engineering Institute (TAII) .

And in May 2002, historical justice was restored: according to the order of the head of the GRAU, July 15, 1869 was recognized as the day of formation of the TAII.

For 83 years (from 1919 to 2002), the foundation date of the TAII was considered May 30, 1919 (the day the order of the All-Russian General Staff on its transformation into the Tula arms-technical courses was received at the Tula Arms School). And the period of creation and the 50-year history of the existence of the Tula arms school (1869-1919) were forgotten.

Within the walls of the institute, cadets studied everything that makes up the main firepower of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Huge weapons class:

• Barrel artillery.
• Armament of combat vehicles of landing and infantry.
• Tank weapons.
• Multiple launch rocket systems.
• Anti-tank missile systems.
• Ground-based artillery reconnaissance radar systems.
• Complexes of software and hardware for automated control systems.

Moreover, not only the material part of the studied samples, but also their calculation and design, the rules of operation and combat use.

Since 2006, the institute has begun training cadets in another specialty unusual for artillery universities: “The use of marine artillery units”.

Historically, the location of the institute in one of the largest centers of the military industry and science in Russia, its close ties with Tula production enterprises and research organizations created favorable opportunities for the professional development of future engineer officers. Over a long history, about 25,000 have been released. Among them are 38 generals, small arms designers - I. A. Komaritsky and M. S. Knebelman , Heroes of the Soviet Union - I. G. Edunov and V. Ya. Gavrilov , Heroes of Socialist Labor - A. I. Brykin , M. I. Nenashev and A. S. Matryonin , Heroes of the Russian Federation - A. N. Ryazantsev and R. V. Kokshin , professors and doctors of sciences, heads of state enterprises.

The Tula Artillery Engineering Institute (1869-2010) lasted 141 years. During this time, he was reformed eight times (from the weapons school to the artillery institute) and carried out 170 graduations of gunsmiths, military technicians, engineer officers for the Russian, Soviet and Russian armies (taking into account the Tula cadets of 2006-2009 sets).

In 2010, it was disbanded. Cases handed over to the Central Archive of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation , Moscow Region, Podolsk, ul. Kirova, d. 74.

Tula cadets from 2006-2009 enrollments, who entered the TAII in the indicated years, after the university closed, arrived at other universities to continue their studies.

At present, the 106th Guards Airborne Division is deployed on the territory of the institute.

• The Order of Lenin - for outstanding success in training technical personnel for the Red Army and military services to the motherland (May 30, 1944).
• Order of the October Revolution - for great services to the training of officers (June 1, 1979).
• The certificate of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR and the revolutionary Red Banner are a sign of a call for constant readiness to defend the gains of the Socialist Revolution (March 24, 1930).
• The diploma of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR and the Red Banner - as a symbol of military honor, valor and glory, as a reminder to each of the soldiers and commanders of their sacred duty to faithfully serve the Soviet Motherland, to defend it courageously and skillfully, to defend every inch of their native land from the enemy, not sparing his blood and life itself (February 19, 1944).
• Certificate of Honor of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the RSFSR - for the successes achieved in the training of officer personnel (May 29, 1969).
• A jubilee honorary sign commemorating the 50th anniversary of the founding of the USSR .
• The diploma of the President of the Russian Federation and the Banner of War - as an official symbol and military relic, the personification of honor, valor, glory and military traditions (May 5, 2008).

• Mamontov, Pyotr Ivanovich (1869-1879), colonel of the field artillery on foot.
• Strakhov, Vasily Semenovich (1879-1911), major general of field light artillery.
• Petrov Nikolai Nikolaevich (1911-1916) ^[19] , staff captain of the guards light artillery.
• Assumption Boris Yakovlevich (1916-1918) ^[20] , colonel of the guards light artillery.
• Belyaev Petr Ivanovich (1919-1920) ^[21] , weapons technician.
• Zvezdnov Moisei Vasilievich (1920-1921) ^[22]
• Ilmensky, Pavel Alexandrovich (1921-1928), division commander .
• Davidovsky, Yakov Lvovich (1928-1930), division commander .
• Comrade Petrov (1930-1931) ^[23] .
• Ilyinsky, Alexander Nikolaevich (1931-1938), brigade commissar .
• Bakanov Ivan Stepanovich (1939-1944), colonel.
• Cheremisinov, Grigory Mikhailovich (1945-1949), major general of artillery.
• Kolbasin, Sergey Grigoryevich (1949-1952), Major General of the Engineering Service.
• Nesterov Anton Yakovlevich (1953-1959), Major General of the Engineering and Artillery Service.
• Dobrinsky, Alexander Grigorievich (1959-1961) ^[24] , major general of artillery.
• Kostikov Grigory Andreevich (1962-1967), major general of artillery.
• Lutsenko Vasily Tikhonovich (1967-1973), major general of artillery.
• Kulev, Vasily Yakovlevich (1974-1988), Lieutenant General.
• Kalyuzhny Vladimir Grigorievich (1988-1992), Major General.
• Starozhilov Gennady Petrovich (1992-1999), major general.
• Volkov, Alexander Sergeevich (1999-2005), major general.
• Alferov Aleksei Mikhailovich (2005-2009), Major General ^[25] .

• Komaritsky, Irinarkh Andreevich - a graduate of the Tosh 1913, one of the creators of the 7.62 mm air defense machine gun ShKAS , 37 mm airborne gun of the 1944 model of the ChKSh (Charnko-Komaritsky-Shelkov), improved the bayonet mount to the Mosin rifle , together with Degtyaryov developed a magazine with a capacity of 73 rounds for PPSh and PPD .
• Deminov, Dmitry Konstantinovich - a graduate of the military technical school of 1924, a Soviet and Polish military leader, lieutenant general of the engineering and technical service, brigadier general ( Poland ).
• Knebelman, Mikhail Samoilovich - a graduate of the TOTSh of 1931, created AK-630 and AK-630M quick-fire gun mounts with the AO-6 6-barrel automatic gun designed by A. Shipunov and V. P. Gryazev, as well as a lightweight version of these AK gun mounts -306 for Navy and Coast Guard boats. He participated in the development and creation of 23-mm anti-aircraft guns 2A-7 and 2A-14, an automatic remote-controlled grenade launcher, anti-hail shells .
•   Gavrilov, Vladimir Yakovlevich - graduate of the TOTSH 1931. Member of the Great Patriotic War, Hero of the Soviet Union.
•   Nenashev, Mikhail Ivanovich - a graduate of TOTU 1939. Head of the 5th Directorate of the 4th Main Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the USSR (since 1978 - the Main Directorate of Armament of the USSR Air Defense Forces). Lieutenant General. Hero of Socialist Labor (for the successful creation of a missile attack warning system and putting it on combat duty).
• Bazhenov, Pavel Ivanovich - graduate of TOTU 1942. Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the USSR Ground Forces for Armaments - Head of Armaments for the Ground Forces. Laureate of the USSR State Prize (1979), Colonel General.
•   Brykin, Alexander Ivanovich - graduate of TOTU 1942. Director of the Novosibirsk plant of semiconductor devices. Hero of Socialist Labor.
• Lobanov, Dmitry Petrovich - graduate of TOTU 1943. Rector of the Moscow Geological Prospecting Institute (1964-1988), advisor-mentor and member of the Academic Council of the Russian State Geological Prospecting University . Honorary Academician of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences (1995), Honored Geologist of the USSR.
•   Matryonin, Alexander Sergeevich - graduate of TOTU 1943. Developer and tester of ballistic missiles. Lieutenant General. Hero of Socialist Labor.
•   Kalin, Vasily Ignatievich - a graduate of TOTU 1943. Director of the farm "Zarya" Promyshlennovsk district of the Kemerovo region. Hero of Socialist Labor.
•   Edunov, Ivan Grigoryevich - a graduate of TOTU 1946. Member of the Great Patriotic War, Hero of the Soviet Union.
• Rybas Alexander Leonidovich - graduate of the 1982 Russian Academy of Aviation Administration. General Director of the Instrument Design Bureau , Tula (2006-2009). General Director of FSUE GNPP Basalt (☎). General Director of Prominvest LLC (2012-2015).
• Mishagin, Andrei Vasilievich - graduate of TVAIU in 1987. Minister of the Interior for the Republic of Kalmykia. Major General of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia.
•   Ryazantsev, Alexander Nikolaevich (Hero of Russia) - 1999 graduate of the TAII. Hero of the Russian Federation (posthumously).
•   Kokshin, Ruslan Vladimirovich - graduate of TAII 2001. Hero of the Russian Federation.

• Kuznetsov O. Yu. Tula arms school. 1869-1919 (inaccessible link) . Tula. TAII. 1999. Russian Book Chamber. ISBN 5-8125-0017-7 .
• Tizhanin V.G. From weapons master to artillery engineer. Tula. TWAIU. 1979.
• Katukov M.E. At the tip of the main blow . M. Military Publishing. 1974.
• Lelyushenko D. D. Moscow-Stalingrad-Berlin-Prague. Notes of the commander . - M.: Science, 1987.
• Tula Artillery Engineering Institute. Historical background. Tula. Left-handed. 2004. Russian Book Chamber. ISBN 5-86269-215-0 .

• TAII website
• At the Mtsensk turn of 1941