View source for Organization:Reactive Scientific Research Institute

{{Short description|Early Soviet rocket laboratory}}
{{Infobox institute
| name              = Reactive Scientific Research Institute (RNII)
| image             = RIAN archive 303890 A battery of Katyusha during the 1941-1945 Great Patriotic War.jpg
| image_size        = 
| image_upright     = 
| image_alt         = 
| caption           = Katyusha rocket launchers firing during WWII, which were created at RNII
| latin_name        = 
| other_name        = 
| motto             = 
| mottoeng          = 
| parent            = People's Commissariat of Heavy Industry
| founder           = [[Organization:Gas Dynamics Laboratory|Gas Dynamics Laboratory]] and [[Organization:Group for the Study of Reactive Motion|Group for the Study of Reactive Motion]]
| established       = 21 September 1933
| mission           = 
| focus             = 
| president         = 
| chairman          = 
| head_label        = 
| head              =  
| faculty           = 
| adjunct_faculty   = 
| staff             =  
| key_people        = [[Biography:Sergei Korolev|Sergei Korolev]], [[Biography:Valentin Glushko|Valentin Glushko]]
| budget            = 
| endowment         = 
| debt              = 
| num_members       = 
| subsidiaries      = 
| owner             = 
| slogan            = 
| former_name       = 
| address           =  Onezhskaya St, 8/10 
| location          =  
| city              = [[Place:Moscow|Moscow]]
| state             = [[Place:Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|RSFSR]]
| province          = 
| country           = [[Place:Soviet Union|USSR]]
| coordinates       = <!-- or |coor= -->
| website           = 
| dissolved         = 18 February 1944 transferred to the Scientific-Research Institute 1 (NII-1)
| footnotes         = Awards: {{Order of the Red Star|type=organization}}
}}
{{Soviet space program sidebar}}

'''Reactive Scientific Research Institute''' (commonly known by the joint initialism '''RNII'''; {{lang-ru|Реактивный научно-исследовательский институт|Reaktivnyy nauchno-issledovatel’skiy institut}}){{#tag:ref|The word “reaktivnyy” means “reactive” in Russian and is commonly used to denote "jet propulsion". However in the 1930s and 1940s "reactive" was normally used to describe both jet and rocket propulsion. In the case of RNII it was primarily used to describe what we would now call rocket propulsion.{{sfn|Chertok|2005|p=9 Vol 1}}|group=note|name="independent agency"}} was one of the first Soviet research and development institutions to focus on rocket technology. RNII developed the [[Engineering:Katyusha rocket launcher|Katyusha rocket launcher]]{{sfn|Chertok|2005|p=167 Vol 1}} and its research and development were very important for later achievements of the Soviet rocket and space programs.

==History==
The 'Reactive Scientific Research Institute' (RNII) was officially established on 21 September 1933 by combining the [[Organization:Group for the Study of Reactive Motion|Group for the Study of Reactive Motion]] (GIRD) with the [[Organization:Gas Dynamics Laboratory|Gas Dynamics Laboratory]] (GDL).{{sfn|Siddiqi|2000|p=7}}{{sfn|Chertok|2005|p=9 Vol 1}} Personnel based in Leningrad were relocated to Moscow.<ref name="RSW_RNII">{{cite web |last1=Zak |first1=Anatoly |title=History of the Rocket Research Institute, RNII |url=http://www.russianspaceweb.com/rnii.html |website=www.russianspaceweb.com |access-date=18 June 2022}}</ref> 

===Background===
Before 1931 there were two Soviet organizations devoted to researching rocket technology, the Leningrad-based GDL, and the mainly [[Place:Moscow|Moscow]]-based GIRD. The benefits of combining the two groups were recognized, particularly by Marshal Mikhail Tukhachevsky, the deputy People’s Commissar of Military and Naval Affairs (Narkomvoyenmor) and Deputy Chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council (Revvoyensovet). Tukhachevskiy, as a leading Soviet military leader, understood the benefits of rocket technology to military affairs and the requirement that it be supported by research, development, and engineering support.{{sfn|Siddiqi|2000|p=7}}{{sfn|Chertok|2005|p=9 Vol 1}}

===Timeline===
* 21 September 1933 – creation of RNII from the merger of GDL and GIRD.{{sfn|Siddiqi|2000|p=7}}{{sfn|Chertok|2005|p=9 Vol 1}}
* 31 October 1933 – RNII transferred to the responsibility of the People's Commissariat of Heavy Industry{{sfn|Siddiqi|2000|p=7}}                                                                        
* January 1937 – RNII was renamed '''Scientific-Research Institute 3''' ('''NII-3''') and transferred to the responsibility of the People’s Commissariat of the Defense Industry.{{sfn|Chertok|2005|p=10 Vol 1}}
* 1939 – NII-3 was transferred to the responsibility of the People’s Commissariat of Ammunitions.{{sfn|Chertok|2005|p=10 Vol 1}}
* 15 July 1942 – NII-3 was renamed '''State Institute of Reactive Technology''' ('''GIRT''') directly reporting to the USSR Council of People’s Commissars.<ref name="RSW_RNII" />     
* February 1944 – GIRT was transferred to the responsibility of the People’s Commissariat of Aviation Industry and renamed '''Scientific-Research Institute 1''' ('''NII-1''').{{sfn|Chertok|2005|p=10 Vol 1}}

===Organization===
[[File:RNII pamyatnaya doska.jpg|thumb|Memorial plaque in honor of the  first members of the Technical Council of RNII.]]
The first Director of RNII was Ivan Kleymyonov, (1931–1937) the former head of GDL. Sergey Korolev, the previous head of GIRD, was appointed as his deputy. However in 1934, following a disagreement over the direction of RNII, Korolev was demoted to section chief of winged missiles and was replaced by Georgy Langemak.{{sfn|Siddiqi|2000|p=7-8}}{{refn |group= note |11.01.1934. the position of deputy head of the RNII was eliminated, and instead of it the post of chief engineer was introduced.}} Langemak was also the chairman of the initial technical advisory board, which provided the sanctioned scientific direction of RNII. The initial advisory board was composed of Glushko, Korolev, Pobedonostsev, Tikhonravov, and Dudakov.{{sfn|Chertok|2005|p=167 Vol 1}} Other leaders of RNII consisted of Director {{ill|Boris Slonimer|ru|Слонимер, Борис Михайлович}}  (30.10.1937 – 1941) and Director {{ill|Andrey Kostikov|ru|Костиков, Андрей Григорьевич}} (1942–1944).

In the initial period, RNII had four departments:
* The first department was engaged in the  development of solid  fuel engines and rockets (Y. A.  Pobedonostsev, K. K.  Glukharev, L. E.  Schwartz);
* The Second Division developed  liquid fuel engines (M. K. Tikhonravov, A. I.  Stenyaev, A. G.  Kostikov); Brigades of liquid-propellant engines – [[Biography:Valentin Glushko|V. P.  Glushko]] and [[Biography:Leonid Dushkin|L. S.  Dushkin]];
* The Third Division dealt with cruise missiles (P.P.  Zuykov): cruise missiles — {{ill|E. S.  Shchetinkov|ru|Щетинков, Евгений Сергеевич}}, jet launch — V. I.  Dudakov;
* The fourth department investigated the  properties of solid fuels  (I. S.  Alexandrov).

Total personnel at RNII ranged from 403 in 1935 to a peak of 836 in 1941.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Harrison |first1=Mark |title=The soviet market for inventions : the case of jet propulsion, 1932 to 1944 |journal=Warwick Economic Research Papers |date=January 2001 |page=38 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/23750412 |access-date=20 June 2022}}</ref>

== Research and development ==
During RNII's existence the following were created:
* 1933 – various liquid propellent rocket engines;
* 1938 – military tests of the fundamentally new weapons begun in 1929 (at GDL) – RS-82 and RS-132 rockets were completed;
* 1939 — flight tests of  the cruise missile 212 with engine ORM-65;
* 1940 — pilot V. P. Fedorov flew the Rocket aircraft RP-318;
* 1941 – On June 21, orders were signed by {{wipe|Joseph Stalin}} to begin production of the Katyusha missile launcher, which was 24 hours before [[Place:Nazi Germany|Nazi Germany]] invaded;{{sfn|Chertok|2005|p=171 Vol 1}}
* 1942 — test pilot G. Ya. Bakhchivanji makes a flight on the first aircraft in the USSR equipped with ZHRD. The engine was designed by RNII;
* 1943–1944 – a number of experimental ballistic and cruise missiles and engines were developed;
* 1942–1944 – an attempt to create a interceptor missile aircraft 302, however it was never successfully flown and the project was cancelled in 1944.{{sfn|Chertok|2005|p=196 Vol 1}}

===RS-82 and RS-132 rockets===
[[File:Ракетные снаряды РС-82.jpg|thumb|RS-82 rockets at the Museum of Cosmonautics and Rocket Technology; St. Petersburg]]
{{Main|Engineering:RS-82 (rocket family)}}
Design work on RS-82 and RS-132 rockets (RS for {{lang|ru-Latn|Reaktivnyy Snaryad}}, 'rocket-projectile') began in the late 1920s at GDL.<ref name="W&WRRP">{{cite web |title=Russian Rocket Projectiles – WWII |url=https://weaponsandwarfare.com/2018/11/19/russian-rocket-projectiles-wwii/ |website=Weapons and Warfare |date=18 November 2018 |access-date=29 May 2022}}</ref> In 1932 in-air test firings of RS-82 rocket from an [[Engineering:Tupolev I-4|Tupolev I-4]] aircraft armed with six launchers successfully took place.{{sfn|Chertok|2005|p=165 Vol 1}} After September 1933 development was continued by RNII, including designing several variations for ground-to-air, ground-to-ground, air-to-ground and air-to-air combat. The RS-82 rockets were carried by [[Engineering:Polikarpov I-15|Polikarpov I-15]], [[Engineering:Polikarpov I-16|I-16]] and [[Engineering:Polikarpov I-153|I-153]] fighter planes, the [[Engineering:Polikarpov R-5|Polikarpov R-5]] reconnaissance plane and the [[Engineering:Ilyushin Il-2|Ilyushin Il-2]] close air support plane, while the heavier RS-132 rockets could be carried by bombers.<ref name="RSW_RNII" /> Many small ships of the Soviet Navy were also fitted with the RS-82 rocket, including the MO-class small guard ship.<ref name="W&WRRP" />

The earliest known use by the {{wipe|Soviet Air Force}} of aircraft-launched unguided anti-aircraft rockets in combat against heavier-than-air aircraft took place in August 1939, during the Battle of Khalkhin Gol.<ref name="W&WRRP" /> A group of [[Engineering:Polikarpov I-16|Polikarpov I-16]] fighters under command of Captain N. Zvonarev were using RS-82 rockets against Japanese aircraft, shooting down 16 fighters and 3 bombers in total.<ref>{{cite book |last= Maslov |first=  Mikhail|title=  Polikarpov I-15, I-16 and I-153 Aces |publisher= Osprey Publishing |year= 2010  |isbn= 978-1-84603-981-2 |page=51}}</ref> Six [[Engineering:Tupolev SB|Tupolev SB]] bombers also used RS-132 for ground attack during the Winter War.

===Katyusha rockets===
{{main|Engineering:Katyusha rocket launcher}}
[[File:BM-31-12 on ZIS-12 chassis at the Museum on Sapun Mountain Sevastopol 4.jpg|thumb|BM-31-12 on ZIS-12 at the Museum ([[Diorama|Diorama]]) on Sapun Mountain, Sevastopol]]
In June 1938, RNII began developing a multiple rocket launcher based on the RS-132 rocket.<ref>{{cite book| last1=Akimov |first1=V.N.|last2=Koroteev |first2=A.S.|last3=Gafarov |first3=A.A. | chapter = The weapon of victory – "Katyusha"| url =https://www.elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=19633690 |title=1933-2003 : 70 лет на передовых рубежах ракетно-космической техники | trans-title = 70 years at the forefront of rocket and space technology |language=ru |year= 2003 |series=Mechanical Engineering  | pages = 92–101| isbn = 5-217-03205-7}}</ref> Gvay led a team of designers and engineers to build multiple [[Engineering:Prototype|prototype]] launchers firing the modified 132&nbsp;mm M-132 rockets over the sides of [[Engineering:ZIS-5 (truck)|ZIS-5]] trucks. The trucks proved to be unstable, as a solution to this V.N. Galkovskiy proposed mounting the launch rails across the top of the vehicles. In August 1939, the completed rocket was the BM-13 (BM stands for ''боевая машина'' (translit. ''boyevaya mashina''), 'combat vehicle' for M-13 rockets).<ref name=Zaloga>{{cite book | last = Zaloga | first = Steven J |  author2 = James Grandsen | title = Soviet Tanks and Combat Vehicles of World War Two | url = https://archive.org/details/soviettankscomba00zalo | url-access = limited | publisher = Arms and Armour Press | year = 1984 | location = London | pages = 150–153 | isbn = 0-85368-606-8}}</ref>

Towards the end of 1938 the first significant large scale testing of the rocket launchers took place, 233 rockets of various types were used. A salvo of rockets could completely straddle a target at a range of {{convert|5,500|m|mi}}.  Various rocket tests were conducted through 1940, and the BM-13-16 with launch rails for sixteen rockets was authorized for production. Only forty launchers were built before Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941.<ref name=Zaloga /> By the end of the war 12 million rockets of the RS type were produced for the Soviet armed forces.<ref name="RSW_RNII" />

===Liquid propellant rocket engines===
Development of Liquid propellant rocket engines had previously commenced at both GDL and GIRD. At GDL [[Biography:Valentin Glushko|Valentin Glushko]] had designed and built a series of ORM (from "Experimental Rocket Motor" in Russian) engines {{ill|ORM-1|ru|ОРМ-1}} to {{ill|ORM-52|ru|ОРМ-52}}. This research was continued at RNII with engines ОРМ-53 to ОРМ-102 developed, with {{ill|ORM-65|ru|ОРМ-65}} powering the RP-318 rocket-powered aircraft.<ref name="Glushko" /> In 1938 [[Biography:Leonid Dushkin|Leonid Dushkin]] replaced Glushko and continued development of the ORM engines, including the engine for the rocket powered interceptor, the [[Engineering:Bereznyak-Isayev BI-1|Bereznyak-Isayev BI-1]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Gordon |first1=E. |title=Soviet X-planes |last2=Sweetman |first2=Bill |publisher=Motorbooks International |others=Bill Sweetman |year=1992 |isbn=9780879384982 |location=Osceola, WI |pages=47 |oclc=22704082}}</ref> At GIRD Mikhail Tikhonravov had built the GIRD-09 rocket, fueled by liquid oxygen and jellied gasoline, which launched on August 17, 1933. At RNII Tikhonravov worked on developing oxygen/alcohol  liquid-propellant rocket engines.{{sfn|Chertok|2005|p=167 Vol 1}} Ultimately liquid propellant rocket engines were given a low priority during the late 1930s at RNII, however the research was productive and very important for later achievements of the Soviet rocket program.{{sfn|Siddiqi|2000|p=8-9}}

===RP-318 rocket-powered aircraft===
{{main|Engineering:Korolyov RP-318}}
The RP-318 was USSR's first rocket-powered aircraft (Rocketry Planer or [[Astronomy:Raketoplan|Raketoplan]]) which "RP" stands for in Russian language. Built in 1936 by [[Biography:Sergei Korolev|Sergei Korolev]] as an adaptation of his SK-9 glider, the RP-318 was originally designed as a flying laboratory to test rocket engines and ORM-65 designed by [[Biography:Valentin Glushko|Valentin Glushko]] was the one selected to be used. In 1938, when both Korolev and Glushko were arrested in suspicion of Anti-Soviet activity, development of the RP-318-1 was continued by Alexei Scherbakov (Щербаков, Алексей Яковлевич) and Arvid Pallo (Палло, Арвид Владимирович), culminating in the first powered flight on Feb. 28, 1940. Test pilot V. P. Fedorov (Владимир Павлович Фёдоров) was towed to 2,600 m and cast off at 80&nbsp;km/h before firing the rocket engine and accelerating the aircraft to 140&nbsp;km/h and an altitude of 2,900 m. In all, the RP-318 flew nine times before [[Social:World War II|World War II]] ended its development.<ref name="RSW_RNII" /><ref name="Glushko">{{cite book |last1=Glushko |first1=Valentin |title=Developments of Rocketry and Space Technology in the USSR |date=1 January 1973 |publisher=Novosti Press Pub. House |pages=12–14, 18 |url=https://www.amazon.com/Development-rocketry-space-technology-USSR/dp/B0006CHI4I}}</ref>

== Great Purge ==
During the 1930s Soviet rocket technology was comparable to {{wipe|Germany}}'s,{{sfn|Chertok|2005|p=167-8 Vol 1}} however {{wipe|Joseph Stalin}}'s Great Purge severely damaged its progress. RNII was particularly affected with Director Kleymyonov and Chief Engineer Langemak arrested in November 1937, and later executed. Glushko was arrested in March 1938 and with many other leading engineers was imprisoned in the Gulag.{{sfn|Siddiqi|2000|p=10-11}} Korolev was arrested in June 1938 and sent to a forced labour camp in Kolyma in June 1939.{{sfn|Baker|Zak|2013|p=9}} However, due to the intervention by [[Biography:Andrei Tupolev|Andrei Tupolev]], he was relocated to a prison for scientist and engineers in September 1940.{{sfn|Siddiqi|2000|p=11-14}} From 1937 to 1944 no serious work was carried out on long range rockets as weapons, or for space exploration.{{sfn|Siddiqi|2000|p=10}}

== Successors ==

In February 1944, the institute merged with Design Bureau OKB-293, lead by Soviet engineer [[Biography:Viktor Bolkhovitinov|Viktor Bolkhovitinov]], which had developed the short-range rocket powered interceptor called [[Engineering:Bereznyak-Isayev BI-1|Bereznyak-Isayev BI-1]]. {{sfn|Chertok|2005|p=174,207 Vol 1}}  The new organisation was named '''Scientific-Research Institute 1''' ('''NII-1'''), and became the responsibility of the People’s Commissariat of Aviation Industry.{{sfn|Chertok|2005|p=10 Vol 1}}

In 1965, NII-1 was re-named the '''Scientific-Research Institute for Thermal Processes''' ('''NII TP''') and became part of the newly created [[Organization:Ministry of General Machine Building|Ministry of General Machine Building]],{{sfn|Chertok|2005|p=10 Vol 1}} which was responsible for all issues related to strategic ballistic missiles and [[Engineering:Space technology|space technology]] in the USSR.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ministry of General Machine-building of USSR (MOM) |url=https://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/russia/mom.htm |website=Global Security.org |access-date=21 June 2022}}</ref>

In 1992, NII TP became part of Rosaviakosmos and in 1993 was renamed the '''[[Organization:Keldysh Research Center|Keldysh Research Center]]'''.{{sfn|Chertok|2005|p=10 Vol 1}}

==Legacy==
A number of writers have noted the importance of RNII to the future [[Astronomy:Soviet space program|Soviet space program]], including Siddiqi:{{sfn|Siddiqi|2000|p=9}}
{{blockquote|…it is clear that the work at RNII was not only productive but also extremely important in terms of the later achievements of the Soviet rocketry program.  Apart from the purely technological advancements and the mastery of important practical processes, the years at RNII also gave the young engineers their first active involvement in issues of organization and management.}}

and Chertok:{{sfn|Chertok|2005|p=164 Vol 1}}
{{blockquote|All of our rocket-space technology historians consider it obligatory to mention the founding role of RNII, the Reactive Scientific-Research Institute, in the origin of domestic cosmonautics.}}

== Awards and rewards ==
* Order of the Red Star (1942) – for the development of  new types of weapons. The developers were awarded the Stalin prize and the head of development A. G. Kostikov was made a Hero of Socialist Labor.<ref>[http://kerc.msk.ru/predpijatie/%d0%b8%d1%81%d1%82%d0%be%d1%80%d0%b8%d1%8f/ of the State Research Center "Keldysh Center".  History. Official website] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160528235005/http://kerc.msk.ru/predpijatie/%d0%b8%d1%81%d1%82%d0%be%d1%80%d0%b8%d1%8f/ |date=2016-05-28}}</ref>
* Other participants in the creation of the famous rocket weapon of the Second World War, the [[Engineering:Katyusha rocket launcher|Katyusha rocket launcher]], received official recognition only in 1991. By decree of the President of the USSR [[Biography:Mikhail Gorbachev|Mikhail Gorbachev]] dated 21 June 1991, I. T. Kleymenov, G. E. Langemak, {{ill|Vasily Luzhin|ru|Лужин, Василий Николаевич|lt=V. N. Luzhin}}, {{ill|Boris Petropavlovsky|ru|Петропавловский, Борис Сергеевич|lt=B. S. Petropavlovsky}}, {{ill|Boris Slonimer|ru|Слонимер, Борис Михайлович|lt=B. M. Slonimer}} and [[Biography:Nikolai Tikhomirov (chemical engineer)|N. I. Tikhomirov]] were posthumously awarded title of Heroes of Socialist Labor.<ref name="Who_created_Katy">{{cite web |title=Who created the "Katyusha"? Andrey Kostikov: the life and fate of the inventor of "Katyusha" Who is the designer of Katyusha |url=https://orlova-center.ru/en/nasha-rodina/kto-sozdaval-katyushu-andrei-kostikov-zhizn-i-sudba-izobretatelya/ |access-date=5 June 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author= |url=http://base.consultant.ru/cons/cgi/online.cgi?req=doc;base=ESU;n=12573 |title= Указ Президента СССР от 21.06.1991 № УП-2120 «О присвоении звания Героя Социалистического Труда создателям отечественного реактивного оружия»|lang= |website= |publisher=КонсультантПлюс |date= |accessdate=2020-04-14}}</ref>
* In 1966 the following employees of RNII were assigned crater names on the far side of the Moon for their contribution to rocketry; [[Biography:Sergei Korolev|Sergei Korolev]], Aleksandr Fedorov, Georgy Langemak, [[Biography:Vladimir Artemyev|Vladimir Artemyev]].<ref name="hron">[http://www.astronaut.ru/bookcase/books/glushko/text/07.htm Brief chronology of rocket engine building in the USSR]</ref>
* In 1962 the names [[Organization:Gas Dynamics Laboratory|GDL]], GIRD and RNII were assigned to crater chains on the far side of the Moon.<ref name="kosm">{{cite web |title=Gas Dynamic Laboratory (in Russian) |url=http://www.space.hobby.ru/organizations/gdl_okb.html |website=History of Russian Soviet Cosmonautics |access-date=10 June 2022}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Organization:Gas Dynamics Laboratory|Gas Dynamics Laboratory]]
* [[Organization:Group for the Study of Reactive Motion|Group for the Study of Reactive Motion]]                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           
* [[Organization:Keldysh Research Center|Keldysh Research Center]]
* [[Astronomy:Soviet rocketry|Soviet rocketry]]

== Explanatory notes ==
<!-- {{Notelist}} -->
{{reflist|group=note}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

=== Sources cited ===
* {{cite book |last1=Baker |first1=David |last2=Zak |first2=Anatoly |title=Race for Space 1: Dawn of the Space Age |date=9 September 2013 |publisher=RHK |url=https://books.apple.com/au/book/race-for-space-1-dawn-of-the-space-age/id634833085 |access-date=20 June 2022}}

* {{cite book |last1=Siddiqi |first1=Asif |title=Challenge to Apollo : the Soviet Union and the space race, 1945–1974 |date=2000 |publisher=National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA History Div. |location=Washington, D.C |url=https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4408pt1.pdf |access-date=20 June 2022}}

* {{cite book |last1=Chertok |first1=Boris |title=Rockets and People Volumes 1–4 |date=2005 |publisher=National Aeronautics and Space Administration |url=https://www.nasa.gov/connect/ebooks/rockets_people_vol1_detail.html |access-date=20 June 2022}}

==Further reading==
* [http://www.famhist.ru/famhist/korol/0011ef19.htm#00196f38.htm RNII (REACTIVE INSTITUTE), 1933–1938 . Chapters from the  book "Father" by Natalia Koroleva]

[[Category:Rocket propulsion]]

{{Sourceattribution|Reactive Scientific Research Institute}}