The Development of the Optical Industry of the USSR in the Second half of the 1940s — Mid–1960s under the Conditions of Transition Towards Late Industrial Modernization

The purpose of the research. The purpose of the research work was to study the history of optics as one of the high-tech industries of production and science in the context of the transition to late industrial modernization. The topic is actualized by the modern conditions of the formation of the post-industrial economy and the need for import substitution in the face of sanctions pressure.

Results. In the second half of the 1940s — mid-1960s, having carried out re-evacuation and reconversion, the optical and mechanical industry of the USSR expanded its production and scientific base, mastered new types of optical products, and improved optical glass production technologies. The scientific and technological revolution has led to the emergence of new high-tech industries in need of high-tech optical devices (space industry, electronics, photo-film industry). In the second half of the 1940s — mid-1960s. The Soviet industrial modernization in optics was entering its final stage, and the fourth technological order was taking shape, within the framework of which there was a proliferation of conveyor production, laser technology, alignment equipment, and programmable machine tools. By the mid-1960s, the country was well-off in competition with the West in optical technologies, the USSR produced high-precision optical devices for export. The successes of the optical and mechanical industry and science created the prerequisites for the transition of the Soviet Union to a post-industrial economy.