Aleksei Tcharomskoi (Boronichev) was born on 15 February 1899. In 1930 he became a head of the oil engines department in the just-founded Central Institute of Aviation Motors (CIAM). In 1936 he created AN-1 aircraft diesel engine, the most powerful such unit for its time. Using the AN-1 as a basis, Tcharomskoi created V-2 diesel engine for armoured vehicles, which found application on tanks and self-propelled cannons of the WWII. The Navy had its own version of the AN-1, known as the M-50. Another special design, M-30, went into production as a powerplant of BOK-15 and TB-7 airplanes. The M-30B (renamed "ACh-30B" in 1944) was the most pow-erful aircraft diesel engine for its time (1102 kWt/1500 hp at take-off mode and 920 kWt/1250 hp at 6000 m). 1500 such engines were built during WW2 for Ermolayev Er-2 bombers. In 1954 Tcharomskoi initiated development of a new diesel engine for main battle tanks. In 1959 he created the 5TD engine of 426 kWt/580 hp. The high development potential of the engine allowed to in-crease the power up to 880 kWt/1200 hp without drastic changes in overall design. The last few years of his life Tcharomskoi devoted to training of young specialists, working at Malyshev's factory of Kharkov and the Scientific Research Institute of Engines (NIID) as a consultant.