OKB
Encyclopedia
OKB is a transliteration of the Russian
acronym for "Опытное конструкторское бюро" - Opytnoe Konstructorskoe Byuro, meaning Experimental Design Bureau. During the Soviet
era, OKBs were closed institutions working on design and prototyping of advanced technology, usually for military applications.
A bureau was officially identified by a number, and often semi-officially by the name of the lead designer - for example, OKB-51 was led by Pavel Sukhoi
, and eventually became known as OKB Sukhoi
. Successful and famous bureaus often retained this name even after the death or replacement of that designer.
These relatively small state-run organisations were not intended for mass production of aircraft, rockets, or other vehicles or equipment they designed. However they usually had the facilities and resources to construct prototypes. Designs accepted by the state were then assigned to factories for mass production.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, many OKB's became Scientific Production Organizations (Научно-производственное объединение) abbreviated to NPO. There were some attempts to merge them in the 1990s, and there were widespread amalgamations in 2001-6 to create "national champions", such as Almaz-Antey
to consolidate SAM development.
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
acronym for "Опытное конструкторское бюро" - Opytnoe Konstructorskoe Byuro, meaning Experimental Design Bureau. During the Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
era, OKBs were closed institutions working on design and prototyping of advanced technology, usually for military applications.
A bureau was officially identified by a number, and often semi-officially by the name of the lead designer - for example, OKB-51 was led by Pavel Sukhoi
Pavel Sukhoi
Pavel Osipovich Sukhoi was a Soviet aerospace engineer. He designed the Sukhoi military aircraft and founded the Sukhoi Design Bureau. -Biography:...
, and eventually became known as OKB Sukhoi
Sukhoi
Sukhoi Company is a major Russian aircraft manufacturer, headquartered in Begovoy District, Northern Administrative Okrug, Moscow, famous for its fighters...
. Successful and famous bureaus often retained this name even after the death or replacement of that designer.
These relatively small state-run organisations were not intended for mass production of aircraft, rockets, or other vehicles or equipment they designed. However they usually had the facilities and resources to construct prototypes. Designs accepted by the state were then assigned to factories for mass production.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, many OKB's became Scientific Production Organizations (Научно-производственное объединение) abbreviated to NPO. There were some attempts to merge them in the 1990s, and there were widespread amalgamations in 2001-6 to create "national champions", such as Almaz-Antey
Almaz-Antey
OJSC "Concern PVO "Almaz-Antey" is a Russian joint undertaking in the arms industry, a result of a merger of Antey Corporation and NPO Almaz, unifying some of the national military enterprises, in particular, the developers of anti-aircraft defence systems . The organisation is headquartered in...
to consolidate SAM development.
OKBs in aerospace industry
- KB-1 - NPO AlmazNPO AlmazJSC "NPO "Almaz" named after A. A. Raspletin is a Soviet/Russian military R&D enterprise founded in 1947. It's the core of the Almaz-Antey holding....
, Vitaly Shabanov - OKB-1 - KorolevS.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation EnergiaOAO S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia , also known as RKK Energiya, is a Russian manufacturer of spacecraft and space station components...
- OKB-1 - Dr. Brunholff Baade disbanded by 1953 (Alekseyev banished here to oversee the German teams)
- OKB-2 - early name of MKB RadugaMKB RadugaMKB Raduga is a Russian aerospace company, concerned with the production of various missile systems and related technologies. It is headquartered in Dubna in the Moscow Oblast...
(OKB-155-2) - OKB-3 - BratukhinBratukhinBratukhin, or OKB-3, was a Soviet aircraft design bureau created in 1940 from within TsAGI to develop helicopters. Headed by Ivan Pavlovich Bratukhin, the bureau built several experimental helicopters over the next decade. Each model had the same basic design of two rotors with separate engines...
- OKB-4 - MolniyaNPO MolniyaNPO Molniya is a Russian scientific and production enterprise, founded on February 26, 1976 prior to and for the creation of Shuttle Buran. At present, NPO Molniya carrying works on the reusable launch systems.- External links :*...
- OKB-8 - NovatorNPO NovatorNPO Novator is a Russian company that designs long-range anti-aircraft missiles. It was established in 1947 as OKB-8 in Sverdlovsk , became independent in 1991, and then became part of the Almaz-Antey conglomerate...
(long-range SAMs) - OKB-19 - ShvetsovShvetsovArkadiy Dmitrievich Shvetsov was a Soviet aircraft engine designer whose OKB was founded in Perm, USSR, in 1934, to produce the Wright Cyclone-derived Shvetsov M-25 engine...
, Soloviev. Now: "Perm MKB". - OKB-20 - KlimovKlimovThe Kirill Klimov Experimental Design Bureau under the direction of Vladimir Yakovlevich Klimov designed engines for Soviet aircraft. The OKB was formed in the early 1930s to produce and improve upon the liquid-cooled Hispano-Suiza 12Y V-12 piston engine for which the USSR had acquired a license...
, Omsk-MotorsOmsk Engine Design BureauThe Omsk Engine Design Bureau was an aeroengine design bureau. It was originally situated in Moscow in the Soviet Union, but was evacuated in 1941. Operations were moved to a "site of farm machinery". The Bureau returned to Moscow and became independent on 5 July 1947 and was renamed "OKB-20". ... - OKB-21 - AlexeyevAlexeyevAlexeyev, Alekseyev, Alexeiev, Alexeev or Alekseev is a common Russian last name and may refer to several people. Often the same name appears in English in several different transliterations...
- OKB-23 - MyasishchevMyasishchevV. M. Myasishchev Experimental Design Bureau or OKB-23, founded in 1951 by Vladimir Myasishchev) was one of the chief Soviet aerospace design bureaus until its dissolution in 1960. Vladimir Myasishchev went on to head TsAGI...
(also OKB-482) - OKB-24 - Mikulin
- OKB-26 - KlimovKlimovThe Kirill Klimov Experimental Design Bureau under the direction of Vladimir Yakovlevich Klimov designed engines for Soviet aircraft. The OKB was formed in the early 1930s to produce and improve upon the liquid-cooled Hispano-Suiza 12Y V-12 piston engine for which the USSR had acquired a license...
- OKB-39 - IlyushinIlyushinOpen Joint Stock Company «Ilyushin Aviation Complex» , operating as Ilyushin or Ilyushin Design Bureau, is a Russian design bureau and aircraft manufacturer, founded by Sergey Vladimirovich Ilyushin. Ilyushin was established under the Soviet Union. Its operations began on January 13, 1933, by...
- OKB-45 - KlimovKlimovThe Kirill Klimov Experimental Design Bureau under the direction of Vladimir Yakovlevich Klimov designed engines for Soviet aircraft. The OKB was formed in the early 1930s to produce and improve upon the liquid-cooled Hispano-Suiza 12Y V-12 piston engine for which the USSR had acquired a license...
- OKB-47 - YakovlevYakovlevThe Yak Aircraft Corporation is a Russian aircraft designer and manufacturer...
originally, transferred to Shcherbakov - OKB-49 - Beriev
- OKB-51 - SukhoiSukhoiSukhoi Company is a major Russian aircraft manufacturer, headquartered in Begovoy District, Northern Administrative Okrug, Moscow, famous for its fighters...
- OKB-52 - ChelomeiVladimir ChelomeiVladimir Nikolayevich Chelomey was a Soviet mechanics scientist and rocket engineer from Ukraine.-Early life:Chelomey was born in Siedlce, Russian Empire into a Ukrainian family...
- OKB-86 - BartiniRobert Ludvigovich BartiniRobert Ludvigovich was a Russian aircraft designer and scientist. Active mostly in Soviet Union, he was named, because of his noble descent "Red Baron".- Personal life/history :...
- OKB-115 - YakovlevYakovlevThe Yak Aircraft Corporation is a Russian aircraft designer and manufacturer...
- OKB-117 - KlimovKlimovThe Kirill Klimov Experimental Design Bureau under the direction of Vladimir Yakovlevich Klimov designed engines for Soviet aircraft. The OKB was formed in the early 1930s to produce and improve upon the liquid-cooled Hispano-Suiza 12Y V-12 piston engine for which the USSR had acquired a license...
, Izotov - OKB-120 - ZhdanovZhdanovZhdanov or Zhdanova is a surname and may refer to:People* Andrei Zhdanov , Stalinist politician, developer of the Zhdanov Doctrine that governed Soviet cultural activities for a number of years...
- OKB-124 - N/A (cooling systems for Tu-121TupolevTupolev is a Russian aerospace and defence company, headquartered in Basmanny District, Central Administrative Okrug, Moscow. Known officially as Public Stock Company Tupolev, it is the successor of the Tupolev OKB or Tupolev Design Bureau headed by the Soviet aerospace engineer A.N. Tupolev...
) - OKB-134 - Vympel
- OKB-140 - N/A (first hydro-alcohol starter-generators for Tu-121)
- OKB-153 - AntonovAntonovAntonov, or Antonov Aeronautical Scientist/Technical Complex , formerly the Antonov Design Bureau, is a Ukrainian aircraft manufacturing and services company with particular expertise in the field of very large aircraft construction. Antonov ASTC is a state-owned commercial company...
- OKB-154 - KosbergChemical Automatics Design BureauChemical Automatics Design Bureau , also KB Khimavtomatika is a Russian Design Bureau founded by the NKAP in 1941 and led by Semyon Kosberg until his death in 1965. Its origin dates back to a 1940 Moscow carburetor factory, evacuated to Berdsk in 1941, and then relocated to Voronezh in 1945,...
, previously OKB-296 - OKB-155 - MikoyanMikoyanRussian Aircraft Corporation MiG , or RSK MiG, is a Russian joint stock company. Formerly Mikoyan-and-Gurevich Design Bureau , then simply Mikoyan, it is a military aircraft design bureau, primarily designing fighter aircraft...
(formerly Mikoyan-Gurevich) - OKB-155-2 - (sometimes designated as OKB-2-155) OKB-155 spin-off in DubnaDubnaDubna is a town in Moscow Oblast, Russia. It has a status of naukograd , being home to the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, an international nuclear physics research centre and one of the largest scientific foundations in the country. It is also home to MKB Raduga, a defence aerospace company...
. GurevichMikhail GurevichMikhail Iosifovich Gurevich was a Soviet aircraft designer, a partner of the famous MiG military aviation bureau. He was of Ukrainian Jewish Heritage....
, Berezniak-Isaev (BI)... Now MKB RadugaMKB RadugaMKB Raduga is a Russian aerospace company, concerned with the production of various missile systems and related technologies. It is headquartered in Dubna in the Moscow Oblast...
. - OKB-156 - TupolevTupolevTupolev is a Russian aerospace and defence company, headquartered in Basmanny District, Central Administrative Okrug, Moscow. Known officially as Public Stock Company Tupolev, it is the successor of the Tupolev OKB or Tupolev Design Bureau headed by the Soviet aerospace engineer A.N. Tupolev...
- OKB-165 - LyulkaNPO SaturnNPO Saturn is a Russian aircraft engine manufacturer, formed from the mergers of Rybinsk and Lyul'ka-Saturn . Saturn's engines power many former Eastern Bloc aircraft, such as the Tupolev Tu-154. Saturn holds a 50% stake in the PowerJet joint venture with Snecma...
- OKB-207 - Borovkov,and Florov
- OKB-240 - YermolaevVladimir Grigoryevich YermolaevVladimir Grigoryevich Yermolaev , 1909–1944, was a Soviet aircraft designer, general-major of the aviation engineering service. He graduated from the Moscow State University in 1931....
- OKB-256 - Tsybin
- OKB-276 - KuznetsovKuznetsov (aircraft engines)The Kuznetsov Design Bureau was a Soviet design bureau for aircraft engines, administrated by Nikolai Dmitriyevich Kuznetsov. It was created for developing German WW2 jet engine technology headed by a group of deported Junkers engineers under Ferdinand Brandner.The Kuznetzov Bureau first became...
- OKB-296 - renamed to OKB-154 in 1946
- OKB-300 - Tumansky
- OKB-301 - LavochkinLavochkinNPO Lavochkin is a Russian aerospace company. It is a major player in the Russian space program, being the developer and manufacturer of the Fregat upper stage, as well as interplanetary probes such as Phobos Grunt...
- OKB-329 - MilMil Moscow Helicopter PlantMil Helicopters is the short name of the Soviet Russian helicopter producer Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant , named after the constructor Mikhail Mil. Mil participates in the Euromil joint venture with Eurocopter....
- SKB-385 - MakeevVictor MakeevViktor Petrovich Makeyev was the founder of the Soviet-Russian school of sea missiles production.-Work:Makeyev's work has resulted in three generations of submarine-launched ballistic missiles being used by the Russian Navy.Among these were:...
- OKG-456 - GlushkoNPO EnergomashNPO Energomash “V. P. Glushko” is a Russian manufacturer originated from design bureau, which focuses primarily on the development and production of liquid propellant rocket engines. NPO Energomash is based in Moscow, with satellite facilities in Samara, Perm, and St. Petersburg, and employs close...
- OKB-458 - ChetverikovChetverikovOKB Chyetverikov was a Soviet aircraft design bureau headed by designer Igor Vyacheslavovich Chyetverikov at the TsAGI Menzhinskii factory in 1931 in order to produce flying boat designs.-Overview:Chyetverikov, Igor Vyacheslavovich , was a Soviet aircraft...
- OKB-478 - Ivchenko
- OKB-586 - YangelMikhail YangelMikhail Kuzmich Yangel , was a leading missile designer in the Soviet Union....
- OKB-692 - JSC "Khartron"KhartronJSC "Khartron" is a one of the leading design engineering bureaus of CIS , which develops and produces spacecraft control systems.- History and achievements :Khartron Corp...
(formerly KB electropriborostroeniya, then NPO "Electropribor") - OKB-938 - KamovKamovKamov is a Russian rotor-winged aircraft manufacturing company that was founded by Nikolai Il'yich Kamov, who started building his first rotor-winged aircraft in 1929, together with N. K. Skrzhinskii...