Strela-1, the First Soviet Computer: Political Success and Technological Failure

Which computer was developed first in the Soviet Union? Which one was first successful? Such questions are difficult to answer, but recently declassified archival material may hold the key. The story of the Strela illustrates how competing interests helped determine the fate of this computer, a political success but a technological failure. This article examines the interests and behavior of two groups-the engineers and the scientists-involved in the initial developments of Soviet high-speed, digital computers, which had been obscured by ideology. What the author found was that a conflict of interests existed between the mechanical engineers and the mathematicians. The engineers were associated with the ministry producing the measurement and control instruments for the artillery, while the mathematicians were associated largely with the country´s nuclear developments