NPO Novator

For other uses, see Novator (disambiguation).

NPO Novator (Novator Design Bureau, OKB Novator, OKB Lyulev) is a Russian company that designs long-range anti-aircraft missiles. It was established in 1947 as OKB-8 in Sverdlovsk (Yekaterinburg), 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.^[1]

Products

Main article: Lev Lyulyev

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 - SH-08 'Gazelle' endoatmospheric interceptor missiles for A-135 anti-ballistic missile system (ABM-3) defending Moscow.

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-14 'Silex')
• 1980 - RU-90 Vyuga 5 kT nuclear depth charge (SS-N-15)
• 1981 - RU-100 Vodopod 90 kg HE Type 40 torpedo (SS-N-16A)
• 1984 - RU-100 Veder 200 kT 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 3M-54 KlubK 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.^[2][3][4]

Notes and references

1. ^ "Missiles in the Asia Pacific", Defence Today (Amberley, Queensland: Strike Publications): p67, May 2005, http://www.ausairpower.net/DT-Missile-Survey-May-05.pdf 
2. ^ Concealed-carriage Club-K changes cruise missile rules, Robert Hewson, Jane's Defence Weekly (p5), 14 April 2010
3. ^ Concealed-carriage Club-K changes cruise missile rules, Robert Hewson, Jane's Defence Weekly, 8 April 2010
4. ^ A cruise missile in a shipping box on sale to rogue bidders

External links

• NPO Novator at the Nuclear Threat Initiative web-site
• (Russian) OMKB «Novator»