Leonid Kurchevsky Leonid Vasilyevich Kurchevsky ( ) ( September 22 , 1890 , Pereslavl - Zalessky – November 26 , 1937 ( January 12 , 1939 ? ) ) was a Russia n / Soviet weapons designer . Kurchevsky was born into a family of a drawing teacher in Pereslavl - Zalessky . He was a student at the Department of Physics and Mathematics of the Moscow State University for two years . In 1916 - 1918 , Kurchevsky headed the design bureau of the Moscow Defense Industry Committee ( " Конструкторское бюро Московского военно - промышленного комитета " ) . In 1918 - 20 , he was put in charge of a laboratory of the VSNKh Inventions Committee . In 1921 - 22 , Kurchevsky served at the Acoustical Intelligence Commission . In 1922 - 24 , he headed the workshop / motor vehicle lab of the same Inventions Committee . Kurchevsky is known for his work in the field of recoilless gun s , which he began in 1923 . In 1924 , he was sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment for an alleged embezzlement of state property and funds , used to construct a helicopter . Kurchevsky served half of his term at the Solovki prison camp . While imprisoned , Leonid Kurchevsky continued his inventive work and designed a development model of his recoilless gun . He was released from prison in the early 1929 . In January 1930 , Kurchevsky was appointed chief designer at the Experimental Design Bureau # 1 of the Chief Directorate of Artillery ( " Опытно - конструкторское бюро - 1 Главного Артиллерийского Управления " , " ОКБ - 1 ГАУ " ) . In early 1934 , they organized Special Projects Commissary Directorate ( " Управление уполномоченного по специальным работам " ) especially for Kurchevsky . Leonid Kurchevsky and his team designed a score of recoilless guns ( Dinamoreaktivnaya pushka , " динамореактивная пушка " ) with caliber s ranging from 37mm to 420mm , including the so - called 76mm battalion gun ( батальонная пушка " , " БПК " ) , aircraft recoilless gun ( " авиационная пушка ' , " АПК " ) , etc . In his experiments with recoilless guns , Leonid Kurchevsky strived to cover a wide range of artillery weapons . Besides their work on field artillery , his team also constructed a special fighter aircraft armed with 76mm recoilless guns ( 1935 ) , mounted a 305mm howitzer on an automobile , a 305mm recoilless gun on a destroyer , a 152mm recoilless gun on a torpedo boat , etc . Kurchevsky enjoyed the support of Mikhail Tukhachevsky and Sergo Ordzhonikidze in promoting his projects . Among his other inventions were a prototype of a grenade launcher , an all - terrain motor boat for polar conditions , a three - axis all - terrain wheeled and tracked vehicle , a winged torpedo , and a special hydroplane . Most of Kurchevsky ’ s experimental guns had too many irreparable defects and their technical specifications did not correspond to those declared . In 1937 , Kurchevsky was arrested , charged with designing poor weapons systems at the request of Mikhail Tukhachevsky , and sentenced to death on November 25 , 1937 . The exact date of his execution is still uncertain : various sources claim it to be either November 26 , 1937 , or January 12 , 1939 . In the late 1930s , Kurchevsky ’ s recoilless guns were removed from operational status and almost all were destroyed . His gun systems were never used in the Great Patriotic War and all work on recoilless artillery in the USSR was stalled for a long time to come . Leonid Kurchevsky was rehabilitated posthumously in 1956 .