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Groettrup, Helmut

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Groettrup Groettrup, Helmut

Born: 1916. Died: 1981-01-01.

G-2 The G-2 design objective was to create the first IRBM - to deliver a 1000 kg payload over a 2500 km range. The missile would use three V-2 derived engines with a total thrust of 100 metric tons. A variety of alternate configurations (R-12A through R-12K) were considered by the German team in Russia. These included parallel and consecutive staging, gimbaled motors, and other innovations. The R-12K was particularly interesting because it represented a concept later used on the US Atlas missile - jettisoning of the two outboard engines at altitude to significantly improve range. The G-2 was given the secret designation R-6 and overt designation R-12 by the Russians.

G-1 Russian intermediate range ballistic missile. The G-1, an improved 600 km range version of the V-2 missile, was the first design produced by Groettrup's German engineering team after they had been moved to Russia. A Soviet state commission found in 1948 that it was superior to Korolev's R-2 concept. Nevertheless the R-2 was put in production instead.

G-4 Russian intermediate range ballistic missile. The G-4 was designed by the Groettrup German team in the Soviet Union in competition with Korolev's R-3. Rocket chief Ustinov informed Groettrup of the requirement on 9 April 1949: to deliver a 3000 kg atomic bomb to a 3000 km. This requirement meant a massive improvement over existing V-2 technology. The G-4 was evaluated against Korolev's R-3 on 7 December 1949 - and the G-4 was found to be superior. Neither ended up in production, but the design concepts of the G-4 led directly to Korolev's R-7 ICBM (essentially a cluster of G-4's or R-3A's) and the N1 superbooster. Work on the G-4 continued through 1952.

G-3 German aerodynamicist Albring designed the G-3 missile for the Russians in October 1949. This would use a rocket-powered Groettrup-designed G-1 as the first stage. The cruise stage would have an aerodynamic layout like that of the Saenger-Bredt rocket-powered antipodal bomber of World War II. Cruising at 13 km altitude, the supersonic missile would carry a 3000 kg warhead to a range of 2900 km.

G-5 Russian intercontinental ballistic missile. Some sources indicate the G-5 / R-15 designation was assigned to an ICBM designed by the Groettrup team. If so, it may have been the 'packet of G-4's' that was the direct ancestor of the Korolev R-7. The designation G-5 / R-15 has also been reported as that of the ramjet missile more often referred to as G-3 or R-13.

Photo Gallery

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Groettrup

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Groettrup Groettrup, Helmut

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• Groettrup team completes R-2 design. - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Groettrup.

  Groettrup team in Nordhausen completes design of the K1 (R-1). The design uses some parts manufactured in reopened factories in the German east zone. Factory 88 at Podlipki (later Kaliningrad, then Korolev) 16 km north-west of Moscow, and Factory 456, at Khimki, 7 km north-west of Moscow, are to be the first two Soviet rocket assembly factories.

• Groettrup team designs 2 stage IRBM. - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Groettrup. Groettrup sketches design for a 2500 km range missile..

• Groettrup G-1 design ordered - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Glushko, Groettrup, Korolev.

  The G-1 was Groettrup's first design after the German engineering team had been moved to Russia. The first group of 234 specialists was given the task of designing a 600 km range rocket (the G-1/R-10). Work had begun on this already in Germany but the initial challenge in Russia was that the technical documentation was somehow still 'in transit' from the Zentralwerke. The other obstacle was Russian manufacturing technology, which was equivalent to that of Germany at the beginning of the 1930's. The Germans worked at two locations, NII-88 (Korolev OKB) and Gorodmlya Island to complete the design of the G-1. Other groups of Germans worked at Factory 88 (R-1 production) and Factory 456 (Glushko OKB / engine production).

• G-1 design completed by Groettrup team. - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Glushko.

  The selected design was 14.2 m x 1.62 m, 18,400 kg gross weight, empty weight 1,960 kg, 32,000 kgf thrust, LOX/alochol propellants, 20 atm pressure thrust chamber, integral tanks, turbine driven by exhaust gases, control section in back, radio beam guidance, 900 km range, accuracy - 25% in a 1.0 km box.

• G-1 and R-2 designs evaluated by Soviet State Commission. - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Korolev.

  The team defended the G-1 draft project on 28 December 1948. The State Commission found the G-1 to be superior to Korolev's R-2 design in many respects. However the Russian designers managed to convince the government to put the R-2 rather than the G-1 into production by arguing that the manufacturing technology of the G-1 could not be mastered immediately by Soviet Union. Several of the design concepts (integrated propellant tanks, radio-controlled cut-off, forward liquid oxygen tank) were however used by the Russians in their R-2 and R-5 rockets.

• Groettrup team completes G-2 design. - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Groettrup. Groettrup completes design work on G-2, 1,000 kg warhead, 2500 km range..

• Ustinov instructs German rocket engineers to design '3000/3000' missile. - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Ustinov. Ustinov's requirement was to deliver a 3000 kg nuclear warhead over a 3000 km range (eg to reach the United Kingdom)..

• Groettrup team designs R-13. - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Groettrup. Groettrup group consulted on 'R-13' (code name for R-11?). Specifications include 1000 kg warhead, 120 km range..

• Russo-German advanced rocket engine tests. - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Glushko.

  The planned IRBM's (R-3 or G-4) would use a new design high pressure cylindrical combustion chamber. This would feed a spherical mixing chamber. The German engineers worked with Glushko to build a subscale 7 tonne thrust, 60 atmosphere chamber pressure test model. Given the Russian designation ED-140, this was run 100 times between the summer of 1949 and April of 1950. 19 of these chambers would feed the chamber of the Glushko RD-110 engine slated for use in Korolev's competing R-3 rocket.

• Groettrup G-4 IRBM design complete - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Groettrup. Groettrup's team finished the 20 volume design study three months after go-ahead. The selected configuration was a conical single-stage design, which was aerodynamically stable in all flight regimes..

• Groettrup team briefs G-4 - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Groettrup.

  The Scientific-Technical Soviet of NII-88 receives a briefing on Groettrup's G-4 IRBM design: 23.7 m long, 2.74 m diameter, 70.800 kg takeoff mass, 7000 kg empty, 3,000 kg warhead, turbine exhaust for roll control (as in Jupiter), plywood RV, lox/alcohol propellants.

• Albring G-3 cruise missile - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Albring, Groettrup, Saenger, Ustinov. Program: Navaho.

  German aerodynamicist Albring designed the G-3 missile for the Russians. This would use a rocket-powered Groettrup-designed G-1 as the first stage. The cruise stage would have an aerodynamic layout like that of the Saenger-Bredt rocket-powered antipodal bomber of World War II. Cruising at 13 km altitude, the supersonic missile would carry a 3000 kg warhead to a range of 2900 km. This was an alternate approach to Ustinov's 3000 kg over 3000 km range missile requirement of April 1949. This design would be elaborated at Korolev's bureau into the EKR ramjet design of 1953.

• German assistance to Soviet rocketry to be ended. - . Nation: Russia. Decree 3456-1446 'On termination or the work of German scientists in the Soviet missile program.' was issued..

• First Germans returned to Germany. - . Nation: Russia. First Germans sent back to Germany. Were not used to generate new designs after the G-4.

• Groettrup and last Germans return to Germany. - . Nation: Russia.

• Death of Helmut Groettrup. - . Related Persons: Groettrup. German engineer. Head of German design group held in Russia German rocket guidance expert, worked at Peenemuende and later headed German rocket team in Russia, 1945-1953. Headed the group that fired V-2 rockets at Kapustin Yar in 1946..