“On December 30, 2019, at the 92nd year of his life, Valentin Ivanovich Bliznyuk, the head of work, the chief designer of the Tu-160 aviation complex and its modifications, died after a serious and prolonged illness,” the report said.
The company called Bliznyuk an outstanding aviation designer, who made an invaluable contribution to the development of the domestic aircraft industry.
In April, the Soviet and Russian aircraft designer, the former general designer of the Design Bureau named after S.V. Ilyushin Henryk Novozhilov.
Novozhilov is the creator of the projects of the heavy military transport aircraft Il-76, passenger wide-body aircraft Il-96, twin-engine turboprop aircraft Il-114.
He was the general designer of the Design Bureau named after S.V. Ilyushin from 1970 to 2005.