OKB explained

OKB is a transliteration of the Russian initials of "Russian: опытно-конструкторское бюро" –, meaning 'experiment and design bureau'. During the Soviet era, OKBs were closed institutions working on design and prototyping of advanced technology, usually for military applications. The corresponding English language term for such a bureau's activity is "research and development".

A bureau was officially identified by a number, and often semi-officially by the name of its lead designer. For example, OKB-51 was led by Pavel Sukhoi, and it eventually became known as the OKB of Sukhoi. Successful and famous bureaus often retained these names after the death or replacement of their founding designers.

These relatively small state-run organisations were not intended for mass production of aircraft, rockets, or other vehicles or equipment which 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 OKBs became Scientific Production Organizations (Russian: Научно-производственное объединение) (NPO). There were some attempts to merge them in the 1990s, and there were widespread amalgamations in 2001–2006 to create "national champions", such as Almaz-Antey to consolidate SAM development.

OKBs in aerospace industry

• KB-1 – NPO Almaz, Vitaly Shabanov
  • OKB-1 – Korolev today RSC Energia OKB-1 – Dr. Brunolf Baade disbanded by 1953
• OKB-2 – early name of MKB Raduga (OKB-155-2)
• OKB-3 – Bratukhin
• OKB-4 – Matus Bisnovat's Design Bureau (different from NPO Molniya)
• OKB-8 – Novator (long-range SAMs)
• OKB-19 – Shvetsov, Soloviev. Now: "Perm MKB"^[1]
• OKB-20 – Klimov, Omsk-Motors
• OKB-21 – Alexeyev
• OKB-23 – Myasishchev (also OKB-482)
• OKB-24 – Mikulin
• OKB-26 – Klimov
• OKB-39 – Ilyushin
• OKB-45 – Klimov
• OKB-47 – Yakovlev originally, transferred to Shcherbakov
• OKB-49 – Beriev
• OKB-51 – Sukhoi
• OKB-52 – Chelomei
• OKB-86 – Bartini
• OKB-115 – Yakovlev
• OKB-117 – Klimov, Izotov
• OKB-120 – Zhdanov (surname)
• OKB-124 – N/A (cooling systems for Tu-121)
• OKB-134 – Vympel
• OKB-140 – N/A (first hydro-alcohol starter-generators for Tu-121)
• OKB-153 – Antonov
• OKB-154 – Kosberg, previously OKB-296
• OKB-155 – Mikoyan (formerly Mikoyan-Gurevich)
• OKB-155-2 – (sometimes designated as OKB-2-155) OKB-155 spin-off in Dubna. Gurevich, Berezniak, Isaev... Now MKB Raduga.
• OKB-156 – Tupolev
• OKB-165 – Lyulka
• OKB-207 – Borovkov and Florov (Borovkov-Florov D, Borovkov-Florov I-207)
• OKB-240 – Yermolaev
• OKB-246 – OKBM (naval nuclear propulsion)
• OKB-256 – Tsybin
• OKB-276 – Kuznetsov
• OKB-296 – renamed to OKB-154 in 1946 KB Khimavtomatika
• OKB-300 – Tumansky
• OKB-301 – Lavochkin
• OKB-329 – Mil
• SKB-385 – Makeev
• OKG-456 – Glushko
• OKB-458 – Chetverikov
• OKB-478 – Ivchenko
• OKB-575 – Kovrov
• OKB-586 – Yangel
• OKB-692 – JSC "Khartron" (formerly KB electropriborostroeniya, then NPO "Electropribor")
• OKB-794 – Leninets^[2]
• OKB-938 – Kamov

See also

• Defense industry of Russia

External links

• Factories, Research and Design Establishments of the Soviet Defence Industry: a Guide. University of Warwick, Department of Economics.
• Aviation.ru - "OKBs"

Notes and References

1. Web site: ПЯТЬ ДЕСЯТИЛЕТИЙ ПАВЛА СОЛОВЬЕВА. Research Institute for the Economics of Aviation Industry (NIIEAP). ru. Five Decades of Paul Soloviev. https://web.archive.org/web/20070218105633/http://engine.avias.com/issues/25/page22.html. 18 February 2007. dead. 10 July 2006.
2. Web site: Su-24 Historical Background. Sukhoi Company. https://web.archive.org/web/20141219023949/http://www.sukhoi.org/eng/planes/military/su24mk/history/. 19 December 2014. dead. 14 November 2014.