Rise and decline of the enterprise-ancestor of the production of computer technology in the USSR

Earlier we talked about the development of the first legendary cash registers “National” of the American company National Cash Register, which appeared in the USA. “Nationals” quickly dispersed around the world and firmly entrenched in the Russian Empire and the USSR. Today we will talk about the ancestor of the production of computer technology in the USSR, whose history began back in 1923 with the formation of an enterprise for the repair of cash and counting devices of the Bureau of Fine Mechanics of the 1st Moscow State University.

Early history and achievement era

The 1920s in the USSR passed under the banner of the NEP – the new economic policy adopted on March 15, 1921 by the X Congress of the RCP (Russian Communist Party). In this era in 1923 appears The Bureau of Precision Mechanics of the 1st Moscow State University is the country’s first enterprise for the repair of cash and counting devices, as well as typewriters. In 1927, it was transformed into the Plant-Bureau of Precision Mechanics of the 1st Moscow State University, in 1927 – into the Plant of Calculating Machines of the Precision Mechanics Trust.

Until 1994, the plant was renamed more than once, eventually becoming the Moscow Plant of Calculating and Analytical Machines named after V. D. Kalmykov or CAM JSC.

In St. Petersburg, in the period from 1890 to 1918, the famous progenitor of the Felix adding machine, the Odner adding machine, developed by the Russian mechanic of Swedish origin Wilgodt Theophil Odner, was already commercially produced. In Germany, in 1892, the production was sold, the country launched the production of its clone called Brunsviga. After the 1917 revolution, Odner’s heirs moved from the former Russian Empire to Sweden and began to produce “Original-Odhner” (“Original Odner”).

In the USSR, the production of Odners was transferred from St. Petersburg to Moscow, including the Plant of Calculating Machines of the Precision Mechanics Trust. Until 1932, the adding machine was produced under the brand name “Original-Odner”, after which it was named “Felix” in honor of Felix Dzerzhinsky. In addition, in 1928, the plant produced the first domestic adding machine Soyuz-1.

After 1932, the plant started production of ten-key machines, as well as T1 and T2 tabulators, and sorting machines. During the Great Patriotic War, the plant switched to the production of PPSh and PPS submachine guns. In total, during the war years, the enterprise managed to manufacture more than 1.2 million PPSh, for which in 1945 it was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree, and the team was given the challenge Red Banner of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, the State Defense Committee and the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions for eternal storage.

In 1949, on the basis of the plant created Research Institute of Calculating Engineering, aka NIIschotmash. The institute included a bureau of calculating and analytical, keyboard calculating, mathematical and electronic calculating machines, as well as a technological bureau and a bureau of normalization and standardization. They set the following goals:

• development of the direction and prospects for the development of the branch of counting engineering;

• creation of theoretical foundations for the design of calculating machines, their study and selection of types for mass production;

• development of technical specifications for the design and construction of new types of Soviet machines;

• provision of scientific and technical assistance to counting machine-building plants.

During the entire existence of the institute (from 1949 to 1999), the employees of NIIschetmash have done a great job in the development and testing of calculating machines and devices. By the end of the 1960s, the list of achievements could include the VA-346 texture machine, the VMM-2 keyboard computer, the SD-110 adding machine, the SE-65 unit counter, and the SDM-345 electronic calculating machine.

Also, the designers of NIIschetmash created hydraulic integrators (they are also “water computers”) GI-1, GI-2 and GI-3, a series of mathematical instruments, planimeters, integrafs, harmonic analyzers MGA-1, I-1, PMK-1, a machine for measurements of skin area and thickness EMIC-1 with electronic control, loudspeaker PR80-2, final puncher PI-80-1, reading puncher PS80-1, alphanumeric tabulator TA80-1 and more.

computer

A separate round in the development of technology was the development of electronic computers (computers). In 1953, the enterprise develops and produces the first computer “Arrow”, including 6200 lamps and 60,000 semiconductor diodes. It could execute up to 2000 three-address commands per second (operations per second, op. / s), information was entered from a punched card input device or magnetic tape, output was made to a magnetic tape, card puncher or large-format printer. “Arrow” occupied 300 square meters. m. and consumed 150 kW (75 kW per processor).

In total, from 1953 to 1956, seven Arrows were produced for seven key organizations of the USSR: the Department of Applied Mathematics of the Steklov Mathematical Institute (OPM MIAN USSR), Computing Center No. 1 of the USSR Ministry of Defense (Computer Center No. 1 of the USSR Ministry of Defense – military unit 01168) , Almaz Research Institute (Almaz Research Institute), Computing Center of the USSR Academy of Sciences (Computer Center of the USSR Academy of Sciences), Research Computing Center of Lomonosov Moscow State University (NIVTs MSU), Arzamas-16 Nuclear Center “and the Nuclear Center” Chelyabinsk-70 “. Specialists used the Strela to calculate the trajectories of artificial Earth satellites, to calculate the flight of Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin, and to calculate the aerodynamic calculations of the Soviet Tu-104 passenger jet aircraft. The computer was also used in the development of the first Soviet hydrogen bomb RDS-6s.

NIIschotmash also developed other computers for various purposes. For example, “EMIK-1” for measuring and recording hard leathers, an aggregated electronic calculating machine (electronic computing puncher) “PEVR-80” for solving accounting and statistical accounting, planning tasks and performing mathematical and engineering calculations, an aggregated electronic calculating machine “ATE -8” and not only.

The BESM computers became the most popular and long-lived. In 1952, the company’s specialists developed the BESM-1 with a speed of up to 8000 op.s. In 1953, in terms of speed, it was second only to the American IBM 701 computer. In 1958, BESM-2 appeared with a speed of up to 20,000 op./s, after a while – BESM-3M.

Since 1965, mass production of “BESM-4” began with a speed of up to 40,000 op./s. In 1966, engineers completed the development of the BESM-6, capable of performing up to 1 million operations per second. This is the first Soviet supercomputer based on the element base of the second generation (transistors). It was produced until 1987. In total, about 350 BESM-6s were produced, for the creation and production of which the employees of the institute and the plant received USSR State Prizes.

In the 1970s, work began on the Elbrus. The SAM plant acted as a co-developer and manufacturer of the main devices of the Elbrus-1 and Elbrus-2 multiprocessor computing systems (MCC), the Elbrus-B computer (a continuation of BESM-6), systems based on a modular pipeline processor ( MCP) and automated control systems for large integrated circuits “Istok”. At the same time, the first in the USSR shop for multilayer printed circuit boards was created at the plant and additional buildings were built for the development of research and production.

Active work was carried out until 1991. Specialists have developed the main fleet of peripheral equipment, including workstations for use in CAD, an alphanumeric display complex ES-7970, subscriber stations AP “Luch”, AP-4M, a display terminal ET-7063 and its modifications, a small-sized magnetic tape drive AP-5600, graphics station, several advanced input-output devices, KUVT (a set of educational computer equipment) “Corvette” as an application to the PC “Corvette”, developed in 1985 by specialists from the Institute of Nuclear Physics of Moscow State University. In addition, the development of AVK-33 and analog-to-digital systems ATsVS-41, ATsVS-42, ATsVS-43 was completed.

Hard times

The reduction in state funding has been observed since 1988 and in 1991 became critical. In 1994, on the basis of NIIschotmash, JSC “Accountmash‘, which still exists. Now the company is engaged in the development, production and supply of cash registers and auto components. In the same year, the plant itself was spun off into a separate JSC “Moscow Plant of Calculating and Analytical Machines named after V. D. Kalmykov” or JSC “CAM”. But, unfortunately, he did not live to this day.

In the early 1990s, SAM JSC received a license from Siemens for the production of computers based on MIPS processors (RM200, RM300, RM400, Reliant RM1000), while continuing to supply its main solutions and services to industry, financial organizations and government agencies. In 2003, CAM was still pointing to an increase in the volume of its products, although it noted the difficult economic situation in the country. Among the partners and consumers of the enterprise, in addition to Siemens, were RSC Energia, the Ministry of Atomic Energy of Russia, the Ministry of Railways of the Russian Federation, MGTS, Yokogawa Electric, CJSC Informtekhnika and Svyaz, VEF-KTR, CJSC IVK, Citi and not only.

In 2006 to 2009, the volume of production at the plant increased several times, reported MASS MEDIA. But at the beginning of 2010, the management of SAM changed, and soon 200 people were laid off from the enterprise. In June of the same year, the production base of the plant in the South-Eastern Administrative District of Moscow was sold – a plot of 4 hectares and facilities on it were sold for 44 million rubles.

As a result of this policy, production volumes decreased by 40%, overhead costs have tripled. The plant had only buildings in the center of Moscow on the street. Lower Krasnoselskaya 35 with an area of ​​more than 70,000 sq. m. In 2013, the Magma group bought out 78% of the shares of SAM (12.8% was from the Federal Property Management Agency), after which sold factory buildings to the Stone Hedge Foundation, which bought them for the construction of apartments and office space. In the summer of 2014, the dismantling of permanent buildings on the territory of the enterprise began.

Thus ended almost a century of history of one of the leading factories in the USSR for the production of computer technology. The enterprise itself cannot be returned, but it is worth remembering its rich heritage.