Shvetsov, Arkadii

Born Jan. 12 (24), 1892, in the settlement of Nizhnie Sergi, in what is now Sverdlovsk Oblast; died Mar. 19, 1953, in Moscow. Soviet aircraft-engine designer; doctor of technical sciences (1940). Lieutenant general of the engineering and technical service (1948). Hero of Socialist Labor (1942).

After graduating from the Moscow Higher Technical School in 1921, Shvetsov worked in the aviation industry. In 1934 he was made chief designer at an aircraft-engine plant.

In 1926, Shvetsov developed the M-ll, the first Soviet lot-produced air-cooled aircraft engine, for use in such aircraft as the Po-2 (U-2), the AIR-6, the UT-2, and the Iak-18. Later, in the 1930’s, the M-22, M-25, M-62, and M-63 engines were developed under Shvetsov’s supervision to power such fighters as the 1–15 and the 1–16.

In the 1940’s, Shvetsov guided the development of a number of ASh air-cooled radial engines, each more powerful than its predecessor: namely, the ASh-62IR, which was used in the Li-2 and An-2 transports; the ASh-82 and ASh-82FN, which powered the La-5 and La-7 fighter planes, the Tu-2 bomber, and the 11–12 and 11–14 passenger planes; and engines for the Mi-4 helicopter, designed by M. L. Mil’. Shvetsov can be said to have founded a school in the design of air-cooled engines.

Shvetsov was a deputy to the second and third convocations of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. He received the State Prize of the USSR in 1942, 1943, 1946, and 1948. Shvetsov was awarded five Orders of Lenin, three other orders, and various medals.