The events with the hijacking of one aircraft and the crash of another in an area that was not controlled by units of the Soviet Army demanded that the timing of the development and adoption of a new system of State radar identification be adjusted. In the systems that were developed with my participation and leadership, there were modes of state identification of aircraft. Apparently, this factor was not the last, when the Government offered me to transfer the affairs of the management of the scientific divisions of the Leningrad Research Institute and head the Main Directorate of the Ministry. It was not accepted to refuse in such cases, although as a doctor of sciences, I was supposed to develop new scientific directions. Now, after the adoption of the State Recognition system, it was required to put into production all its complexes in a short time and equip our Armed Forces and individual mobile civilian objects with this system. The work was immense, and when the factories showed successes in the production of products needed by the Armed Forces, the Government issued a decree on military tests of the system. Three military districts, ships of the Black Sea Fleet and aircraft of two air armies took part in these tests by decree.
At the command post of 40 RTBR, Aviation Marshal Savitsky, Commander of the Air Defense Forces of the GSVG Major General VV Litvinov, Commander of the 41st Aviation Corps. (Photo album of S. G. Shcherbakov "40th radio engineering brigade")
The general leadership of the military trials was entrusted twice to the Hero of the Soviet Union, Marshal of Aviation E. Ya. Savitsky. The decree determined the working coordinating group, which included the Deputy Commanders of the three military districts, the Deputy Commander of the Black Sea Fleet and the Commanders of the two air armies. From the industry, I and the General Designer of the system I. Sh. Mostyukov. But Ildus and I learned about this from our Minister, when I was urgently summoned from a business trip. Mostyukov was already waiting for me at the Main Directorate. In the Minister's office, we found Marshal E. Ya. Savitsky and the Chief of Armaments of our Army R. P. Pokrovsky. We have known these leaders from the Ministry of Defense of the country for a long time. With E. Ya. I personally met Savitsky back in Kapustin Yar a few years ago while testing one of the systems, when I worked at the Leningrad Research Institute. I also knew Roman Petrovich for several years, since through him I had to draw up resolutions on the adoption of systems that were created by our research institutes. The minister looked at us, and then, smiling, said - "You are at the disposal of the marshal to participate in military trials." We understood everything, and Yevgeny Yakovlevich, having greeted us, asked me to present him with a list of names of representatives of the enterprises providing our work, and not to forget to send an airplane for testing. After discussing the details of our work, the Minister summoned the Head of the Administrative Department, who gave me and Mostyukov new documents for the testing period. Now Mostyukov and I had passports in other names to be able to check in for flights and in hotels. Evgeny Yakovlevich said goodbye to us in a friendly way before meeting in Odessa.
The military tests were carried out strictly according to the program. Hundreds of aircraft, dozens of ships, many units of anti-aircraft missile systems and samples of armored vehicles were involved. Industry representatives were stationed in the Odessa Research Institute "Storm", our warehouses and vehicles were also located here. The director of the research institute, Vadim Mikhailovich Chirkov, was transferred to my subordination for the period of testing. The AN-26 aircraft, converted into a cabin for the possibility of flying with a marshal to various airfields in the south of the country, was located at the Odessa airport. For the testing period, I sent an airplane with a military crew from the flight detachment of my Leningrad Research Institute. On the positive results of military tests of this most complex system, we reported almost daily to the Minister of Military Communications from the headquarters of the Odessa district. Three months have passed, during which I flew only two times to Moscow and Leningrad to coordinate the work of my enterprises. I was forbidden to do this from Odessa. But the enterprises worked steadily, the managers were professionals, and the deputies knew what had to be done. At the beginning of autumn Odessa was empty, vacationers returned to their places of work, the velvet season was coming to an end. On one of these in the evening, in two cars, E. Ya. Savitsky, who drove only with his driver, and I and Mostyukov were returning from a radar post, which was located 80 km from the city. The control flights were successful, all targets were identified, the blocking on the use of missiles also worked normally. Approaching the city, the marshal's car braked and stopped. Yevgeny Yakovlevich got out, I had to stop the car too. I approached Evgeny Yakovlevich and asked - "Has anything happened?" Suddenly, the marshal said - “I propose to go to the Odessa pub tonight for dinner. How do you look at it?" “Comrade Marshal, but we didn't order dinner, and we don't have security. After all, anything can happen”- I began to object. “Yes, come on, Yuri, what can happen. There are few people in the city, and I have long dreamed of visiting such an institution. Do you know any good pub? " V. M. and I Chirkov ten days ago we were in such a pub. Then my wife came to me for one day with the permission of the authorities, and the director of the research institute arranged a meeting for us in the pub. Here you could have a decent dinner, and most importantly, listen to a violin. An old Jew played on it, but how he played! He sometimes sang, you could listen to them. I confirmed that I know one decent pub. "Then get in my car and let's go," commanded the marshal. Mostyukov saw this conversation of ours, I asked him to follow us. Thank God, we did not have closed documents, so we risked only our own heads. We set off, at the first intersection the marshal's car was stopped by a militia captain. He gave the instruction with a rod to drive up to the sidewalk. The captain went to the car, the honor department, introduced himself. "Why did you stop us, captain?" - Evgeny Yakovlevich asked. Seeing the marshal in the second seat, the captain reported that he wanted to check the documents. “Why check, you see I’m eating,” the marshal scolded the captain. "No way, comrade Marshal, the whole city knows that you are here, but they did not give us the license plate" - Well, now you will know "- Evgeny Yakovlevich grinned. “Let's go,” he commanded. The captain saluted, and we set off, about three minutes later we drove up to the diner where the director of the Shtorm Scientific Research Institute had invited me and his wife. There were about ten people in the hall, the violinist played something in the klezmer style for everyone, probably it was "The Lament of Israel". Suddenly the violinist froze, the visitors turned their heads in our direction. Odessans all stood up and bowed to Yevgeny Yakovlevich.
Mostyukov and the marshal sat down at a free table, and I went to the counter, ordered dinner and tea. While we ate, the violinist continued to play one melody after another in the same style. The violinist and residents of Odessa immediately accepted E. Ya. Savitsky for his own. Once even the visitors began to sing along to the musician in an undertone, this has not happened here before. Here visitors usually drank beer, ate, smoked, spoke loudly, but today these ten visitors are different. Looking at the marshal, they recalled their war years, youth, lost friends and relatives. When the violinist performed songs that Mostyukov did not know, I tried to translate them, Yevgeny Yakovlevich also listened to the translation. While playing the melody "Bublichki" I noticed that they knew this song. To the beat of the music, Evgeny Yakovlevich and Mostyukov were tapping something on the table with their fingers. The melody "Tumbalalaika" turned out to be just as cheerful, which Marshal and Mostyukov began to sing along with everyone. Then the cheerful melody was replaced by the lyrical romance "Ten Drops", which was again asked to translate. When the marshal was finishing his tea, I went up to the counter, paid off and asked the violinist to play the melody of the song "Lily Marlene". This song was sung during the Second World War by soldiers on all fronts. I was told that when a famous German singer came to London with a concert in 1946, she was asked to start her performance with this particular song. Assuming that the inhabitants of Odessa remember this song, I began to perform it in English:
Underneath the lantern, By the barrack gate
Darling I remember
The way you used to wait
Taw's there that you whispered tenderly, That you love me
The violinist continued to play the melody. I realized that people had time to forget the words of the song in English, I had to correct, and I continued the verse in Russian:
Beating with hurricane, God help!
I will give Ivans bread and boots, If only they would allow me in return
Stand together under the lantern
With you, Lily Marlene. With you, Lily Marlene.
Yes, the ending was exciting. The visitors began to shake hands with us and asked us to perform something else. The marshal came to the rescue, he raised his hand and asked permission to leave. There was a cry of "Hurray". The violinist played a funny melody about the train that will come to "Seven Forty". The two men joined hands and went into the dance. This has never happened before in this diner. We climbed the stairs from the basement to the car. And here already about twenty people were waiting for the marshal. Everyone began to greet him. Evgeny Yakovlevich joined his palms, raised his hands up to greet. Then he bowed to everyone and got into the car. When the car door slammed shut, Mostyukov and I also got into our car. The cars started quietly. At the headquarters, the marshal came up to me, looked for a long time, then hugged me and said - “Thank you for an unforgettable evening, Yura. It’s like I’ve been when I was young.” Twenty days later, the military trials ended.
P. S. In the process of military trials, there were other interesting true cases. Once we dined with the Commander of the Black Sea Fleet of the USSR. The sailor on duty after the naval borscht served navy-style pasta. Have you ever eaten such pasta so that each pasta was stuffed with minced meat? There was a radar post in the Crimea on Mount Ai-Petri. The radar screens showed the entire Black Sea to the coast of Turkey. In any weather, day and night, the command received full information about the movement of ships and aircraft in this region. And we arrived there by helicopter with the marshal to look at two American ships: a cruiser and a reconnaissance. They stood during the entire period of military trials in neutral waters, apparently to analyze the situation and results. It was later that two American ships invaded our territorial waters and were driven into neutral waters by ramming.
After these tests, I had to meet with the marshal in the Far East. The MiG-31P planes regularly housed equipment of my design for semi-autonomous and group operations of these interceptors. As a result of deliberate maneuvers led by the Marshal, US aircraft stopped violating our airspace. On the same plane, a method was introduced and the products were modified according to my copyright certificates, which made it possible to extend the long-range interception of targets by more than 150 km and introduce a group version of interceptor actions. The work was carried out at the landfill of Lake Balkhash. The Marshal arrived there on purpose. This was my last meeting with him.
On April 6, 1990, students of the Air Force Academies, the Central Office of the Ministry of Defense of the country, specialists of the defense ministries said goodbye at the House of the Soviet Army to E. Ya. Savitsky. I came together with our new Minister V. I. Shymko to say goodbye to this legendary man.
