Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Blagonravov

Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Blagonravov (; 24 May 1933 – 1 January 2020) was a Soviet and Russian military engineer and designer who worked on the designs of armoured vehicles. Major general of Engineering and Technical Service.

Born the son of a military engineer who worked on tank designs during the time of the Second World War, Blagonravov followed in his father's footsteps. After studying at the Military Academy of the Armoured Forces, he began a long association with the academic study of problems relating to mechanised military vehicles. He taught and researched at the academy after graduation, and also served briefly as a deputy battalion commander in the 4th Guards Tank Division. He left the academy in 1974, taking up the position of chief designer at Kurganmashzavod, a state enterprise that designed and produced infantry fighting vehicles. Under his leadership the designs of the BMP-2 and BMP-3 were brought to fruition, entering service with the Soviet Armed Forces.

Stepping down as chief designer in 1989, Blagonravov continued to live and work in Kurgan, teaching at Kurgan State University and producing a number of academic works. Over his career he had received awards from the Soviet and Russian governments, including the Order of Honour, the Order of Lenin, the Order of the Red Banner of Labour, and the Medal "For Battle Merit". He was a Doctor of Technical Sciences.

Family and early life Blagonravov was born on 24 May 1933 in Moscow, the capital of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and the Soviet Union. He was the son of Aleksandr Ivanovich Blagonravov, a military engineer who worked on the T-34 and IS-2 tank designs, and had been awarded the Stalin Prize. He entered the Military Academy of the Armoured Forces in 1951, eventually working on the theory of turning tracked vehicles, and then in the field of transmissions, turning mechanisms, and continuously variable transmissions for his dissertation. From 1957 to 1961 he was a junior research fellow at the Academy, and then from 1961 to 1962 was a deputy battalion commander in the 4th Guards Tank Division, based in the city of Naro-Fominsk.

Order of Honour, 6 December 2003 Order of Lenin, 1989 Order of the Red Banner of Labour, 1981 Medal "For Battle Merit" Jubilee Medal "In Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin" Medal "Veteran of the Armed Forces of the USSR"

He was also given the title: He had retired with the military rank of major general.