Vladimir Grigorevich Fedorov

Born May 3 (15), 1874, in St Petersburg; died Sept. 19, 1966, in Moscow. Soviet scientist and designer. Founder of the Soviet school of automatic firearms design. Professor (1940); lieutenant general in the engineering and technical service (1943). Hero of Labor (1928).

Fedorov graduated from the Mikhail Artillery Academy in 1900 and was assigned to the artillery committee of the Main Artillery Directorate. He designed a 7.62-mm automatic rifle in 1912 and a 6.5-mm automatic rifle for a cartidge of his own design in 1913. In 1916 he designed the first machine gun to use a 6.5-mm rifle cartridge. The automatic weapons designed by Fedorov were used in World War I and the Civil War.

After the October Revolution, Fedorov served from 1918 to 1931 as the director and technical director of the first Soviet plant to produce his machine guns. In 1921 he organized and subsequently directed the plant’s planning and design bureau for automatic firearms. From 1931 to 1933 he was also consultant on standardization for the small arms and machine gun trust. Fedorov published several important works during this period, and from 1942 to 1946 he served as a firearms consultant to the People’s Commissariat of Armaments and the Ministry of Armaments. From 1946 to 1953 he was a member of the Academy of Artillery Sciences.

Fedorov directed the work of such prominent designers as V. A. Degtiarev, G. S. Shpagin, and S. G. Simonov. He wrote scientific works on the history, design, production, and combat use of firearms. Fedorov was awarded two Orders of Lenin, two other orders, and various medals.