Working on guided rocket weapons, Bakalov rose to senior design and management positions, eventually becoming the bureau's chief engineer and overseeing the development of anti-tank guided missiles such as the 9M113 Konkurs, 9K115-2 Metis-M, 9M117 Bastion, and 9M119 Svir/Refleks, and the guided artillery shells 2K25 Krasnopol and 2K22 Tunguska.