 | |
| Formerly | OKB-8 |
|---|---|
| Company type | Joint-stock company |
| Industry | Defense |
| Founded | 1947 |
| Headquarters | Yekaterinburg, Russia |
| Key people | Paul Kamneva |
| Products | Anti-aircraft defence systems, Missiles, Cruise missiles, Anti-ballistic missiles |
| Parent | Almaz-Antey |
| Website | okb-novator |
NPO Novator (Novator Design Bureau, OKB Novator, OKB Lyulyev; Russian: Опытное конструкторское бюро «Новатор» им. Люльева Л. В.) 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. It is perhaps best known for designing the 9M82 and 9M83 missiles of the S-300V (SA-12 'Gladiator') SAM system.
History
The Kalinin Machine-Building Plant (now JSC MZiK) was a major part of the Soviet war effort in World War II, producing 20,000 anti-aircraft guns. After the war ended, Lev Lyulyev was promoted to Chief Designer of Factory No. 8 and he started work on heavy guns such as the KS-19 and KS-30. In 1947 he formed the Chief Designer Bureau (OGK) - later Experimental Design Bureau (OKB)-8 - of the Ministry of Aviation Industry, for the development of heavy anti-aircraft guns. As was the Soviet tradition, the OKB was often referred to by his name. In 1957 he switched to surface-to-air missiles (SAMs).
Lyulyev died on 1 November 1985. OKB-8 became independent from the factory in 1991, but maintains a relationship with the factory. After the end of the Cold War, they set up the Novator Production-Commercial Bureau as a defence conversion enterprise to fund the work of the Design Bureau, but the company struggled financially throughout the 1990s. On 20 March 1996 General Designer Valentin Smirnov was murdered, possibly as a result of discovering fraud in the company.
In 2001 Novator was amalgamated with other companies involved in SAM production, into the Almaz-Antey. In 2004 it signed a deal with India's Defence Research and Development Organisation to develop the K-100 "AWACS killer" missile.
In 2017 US has announced licensing and export restrictions on Novator, charging it with producing the cruise missile prohibited by the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. Novator and its parent company, Almaz-Antey, are in the list of sanctioned entities under the EU's 'fourth package' of restrictive measures, announced 15 March 2022.
Products
Anti-aircraft guns
- 1957 - KN-52 zenith gun
Surface-to-air missiles
Dates given are when missiles entered operational service with the Russian armed forces.
- 1969 - 3M8 (later 9M8) ramjet-powered missile, part of the 2K11 Krug (NATO reporting name SA-4 'Ganef') SAM system with a range of 55 km (30 nmi).
- 1980 - 9M38 for the Buk missile system (SA-11 'Gadfly'), range 35 km (19 nmi), followed by the 9M38M1 and 9M38M2
- 1984 - 9M82 (40 km range, 'Gladiator') and 9M83 (100 km range plus ABM defence, 'Giant') missiles for the S-300V (SA-12 "Gladiator") army SAM that replaced the SA-4.
- 1995 - 53T6, SH-08, (ABM-3 'Gazelle') endoatmospheric interceptor missiles for the A-135 anti-ballistic missile system (ABM-3) defending Moscow.
- ~2017 - 9M82MD, 400 km-range hypersonic missile for S-300VM system, not presently operational.
Anti-submarine missiles
OKB-8 was the USSR's sole developer of warheads delivered by ASW missiles such as the RPK-2 Viyuga (SS-N-15 'Starfish') and RPK-6 Vodopad (SS-N-16 'Stallion')
- 1969 - 81R RPK-2 Vyuga (SS-N-15)
- 1980 - RU-90 Vyuga 5 kt nuclear depth charge (SS-N-15)
- 1981 - RU-100 Vodopod HE torpedo (SS-N-16A)
- 1984 - RU-100 Veter nuclear depth charge (SS-N-16B)
Sub-launched cruise missiles
- 1984 - 3M10/RK-55 Granat (SS-N-21 'Sampson'), a version of the Raduga Kh-55 cruise missile launched from submarines.
Air-to-air missiles
- 2015? - K-100 "AWACS killer" with a range of 200–400 km is currently under joint development with India. May be based on the 9M38 airframe, previous names include Izdeliye 172 ('Article 172'), AAM-L (RVV-L), KS-172, KS-1, 172S-1 and R-172.
Surface-to-surface missile systems
In April 2010, Jane's Defence Weekly reported the development of the Club-K containerised version of the Club cruise missile family, with either four of Novator's anti-ship missiles or land-attack missiles in a 40 ft shipping container. The missiles are revealed when the Universal Launch Module (erector) tilts up to the vertical. The containers can be carried on ships, trains and road haulage trucks.
In December 2017 it was revealed that Novator's new product the 9M729 cruise missile was believed by the US National Security Council to be in violation of the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces treaty.
Cruise missiles
Notes and references
- Pike, John. "9M729 - SSC-X-8". www.globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 2018-10-22.
- "Missiles in the Asia Pacific" (PDF), Defence Today, Amberley, Queensland: Strike Publications: 67, May 2005, archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-01-26
- "U.S. Hits Russian Missile Designer With Export Restrictions Over Treaty Dispute". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. Retrieved 2022-05-17.
- Plopsky, Guy (January 20, 2017). "Surprise, Russia's Anti-Aircraft Missiles in Syria Are Not as Capable as Believed". War is Boring. Archived from the original on January 20, 2017.
Unlike the 40N6 which is developed by the Fakel Machine-building Design Bureau, the 9M82MD is developed by the Novator Design Bureau, meaning that this missile is clearly not the 40N6 Indeed, the S-300V4 system's TELs that transport the large 200 kilometer-range 9M82M and 400 kilometer-range 9M82MD missiles are fitted with just two large container-launchers per vehicle. It is therefore not unreasonable to assume that the new missile is not yet operational.
- "S-300V4 air defense missile system to get three types of hypersonic missiles - Almaz-Antey (Part 2)". Interfax. September 9, 2016. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
Almaz-Antey has prepared three types of hypersonic missiles for an air defense missile (ADM) system, which will allow it to be used both as a ground-to-air and missile defense weapon, a company spokesman told reporters at the Army-2016 forum on Friday. "The universality of the S-300V4 AMD system as a missile defense system, based on the cost-efficiency criterion, is ensured by the use in it of three types of missiles: a small air defense guided missile, the 9M83M, designed mainly to destroy all types of aerodynamic targets, as well as aero-ballistic, tactical ballistic and cruise missiles; a high-potential air defense missile, the 9M82MD, which intercepts and destroys main types of ballistic targets, including warhead parts of medium-range ballistic missiles (MRBMs) flying at a speed of up to 4,500 meters per second, as well as aerodynamic targets within the ranges of up to 400 kilometers; and the 'interim' version of the 9M82M missile with a maximum range of 200 kilometers," the spokesman said.
- Concealed-carriage Club-K changes cruise missile rules, Robert Hewson, Jane's Defence Weekly (p5), 14 April 2010
- Concealed-carriage Club-K changes cruise missile rules, Robert Hewson, Jane's Defence Weekly, 8 April 2010
- "A cruise missile in a shipping box on sale to rogue bidders". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2023-07-14.
- Majumdar, Dave (7 December 2017). "Novator 9M729: The Russian Missile that Broke INF Treaty's Back?". Center for the National Interest.
- Goncharenko, Roman (5 December 2018). "Russia's controversial 9M729 missile system". Deutsche Welle.
External links
- OAO «OKB Novator» official site (in Russian)