Electronics and Informatics Development in Armenian SSR (1960-1988)

In the 1950s the Armenian Communist Party Central Committee and the USSR Council of Ministers approved the deployment of a new (for the republic) scientific and technical area: electronics, computer science and computer engineering (CE) with the focus on research results implementation in the economy. In the early 1950s serial production of semiconductor components (transistors and diodes) was organized in the Soviet Union. Such components replaced vacuum tubes and surpassed all constructive technical and economic indicators in the tens of times. In the middle of the 1950s the Armenian SSR began the development of semiconductor technology: enterprises were created, their main tasks were development and mass production of semiconductor devices for general use, including the needs of defense equipment. These enterprises were destined to become the main element base for the new second generation computers. The process of transferring tube equipment for defense purposes onto semiconductor basis also began: for example, at Yerevan Research Institute of Mathematical Machines (YerRIMM) during a short time period the product HSRTS-4 (high-speed radio telemetry system) was upgraded, which in 1967 had been manufactured in a large series at the “Electron” factory (Yerevan, team leaders A. Kuchukian, T. Sarkisian, V. Arustamian, L. Grigorian, G. Alanakian). YerRIMM participated in the state program on creation of the Unified System of universal computers (USC) and the special purpose automated control system (ACS) necessary for the needs of the Ministry of Defense.