Decorated engineer and scientist Valerian Sobolev headed the development of multiple missile and strategic systems<\/p>\n
The designer of the Iskander and Topol missile launcher systems, legendary engineer Valerian Sobolev, has passed away at the age of 87, RIA Novosti reported on Wednesday, citing a family friend.
\nHe died in his home city of Volgograd on Tuesday after a lengthy battle with an illness.
\nOver his long career, Sobolev climbed from working as an engineer at a tractor plant to serving as chief designer at the Titan Design Bureau, now a subsidiary of Russian space giant Roscosmos.
\nAt the bureau, he led the development of launchers and ground equipment for the mobile Iskander cruise missile, as well as the Topol intercontinental ballistic missile system, a key component of the USSR\u2019s \u2013 and now Russia\u2019s \u2013 nuclear triad. Upgraded Iskander missiles have seen extensive use in the Ukraine conflict.<\/p>\n
Launching the Iskander-M ballistic missile system.<\/p>\n
\u00a9\u00a0Sputnik <\/p>\n
His work earned him major state honors, including the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, the USSR State Prize, and the Lenin Prize.<\/p>\n
Rocket launch of the Topol complex.<\/p>\n
\u00a9\u00a0Wikipedia <\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Russian Iskander missile hits Ukrainian HIMARS \u2013 MOD (VIDEO)<\/p>\n
Sobolev was born in pre-war Stalingrad (now Volgograd) in 1938. He graduated from the Stalingrad Mechanical Institute in 1960, first working as a tractor engineer before moving into defense manufacturing.
\nHe made significant contributions to science and held over 190 invention copyright certificates and patents. He tackled a broad range of scientific pursuits, including housing construction and aerospace developments.
\nSobolev also held a series of regional and national government posts from 1989 to 1996.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Decorated engineer and scientist Valerian Sobolev headed the development of multiple missile and strategic systems The designer of the Iskander and Topol missile launcher systems, legendary engineer Valerian Sobolev, has…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23259,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23258","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t