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Focke-Wulf

Kurt Tank

Kurt Tank
(February 24, 1898 – June 5, 1983)

Professor Kurt Tank, main designer of firm "Focke - Wulf".

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  • 1898 - Kurt Tank was born in Germany.
  • 1931 - Kurt Tank has accepted a management of a design bureau and tests flights at the enterprise Focke-Wulf in Bremen.
  • 1936 - Development of the plane Fw-200.
  • 1943 - Kurt Tank has received the rank of the professor.
  • 1944 - Ta 152Н at height 14000m the 746 km/hour has reached speed.
  • 1945 - After ending World War II in Argentina has continued job on Ta 183 at the enterprise of the Argentina army.
  • 1950 - Development and construction of the first Argentina jet fighter - Pulki II.
  • 1954 - Cessation of work in Argentina.
  • 1955 - Moving in India. Designing of the Indian plane - HF24.
  • 1970 - Returning in Germany.
  • 1983 - Kurt Tank death.

The Soviet leadership had paid any attention to Kurt Tank's offers after WWII . As follows from Soviet counterintelligence reports, this was the state of events:

"In early September 1946, a Smersh [Death to Spies, a Soviet counterintelligence organization] branch in Berlin arranged a meeting between the Chief of OKB-1 Comrade Olekhnovich and Professor Kurt Tank.

Kurt Tank said that he would like to know whether he could be used for work in the Experimental Design Bureau. He received a positive answer and asked that another meeting be set up in 2-3 days. In addition, he asked for a small sum of money, 10,000-15,000 marks, to attract specialists from his group.

Two-three days later, the second meeting with Kurt Tank took place and he said that, by 20-23 September, he would be able to form a group of 8-10 persons and come with this group to the Soviet zone. At that, he was given the sum of 10,000 German marks.

Subsequently, Kurt Tank did not reappear, either in September or October, i.e. prior to the deportation of German specialists from Germany to the Soviet Union.

According to information our officers have, Kurt Tank was in the English zone where he evidently was hired to work".

But, as it turned out later, the British did not hire Tank to develop their aircraft industry. In late 1946, he went to Argentina where he took part in manufacturing military jet aircraft for J. Peron's government.