# OKB

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{{Short description|Type of closed research institutions in the Soviet Union}}
{{Other uses|OKB (disambiguation)}}
{{refimprove|date=April 2026}}
[[File:Sukhoi-okb.JPG | thumb|JSC [Sukhoi](/source/Sukhoi)/Sukhoi OKB  head office]]
'''OKB''' ({{langx|ru|ОКБ}}) is a transliteration of the Russian initials for "{{lang|ru|Опытно-Конструкторское Бюро}}" ({{Transliteration|ru|Opytno-Konstruktorskoye Byuro}}), which translates to "Experimental Design Bureau". It could also mean {{Transliteration|ru|Osoboye konstruktorskoye byuro}} or "Special Design Bureau" in English.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Boris |first1=Chertok |title=Rockets and people Volume 1 |date=January 2005 |publisher=NASA History Office |location=Washington, DC |isbn=978-1484842676 |page=20 |url=https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/635675main_rocketspeoplevolume1-ebook.pdf?emrc=3b9dce |access-date=9 May 2025 |ref=1}}</ref> During the [Soviet era](/source/Soviet_Union), OKBs were closed institutions working on design and prototyping of [advanced technology](/source/High_tech), usually for [military applications](/source/Military_technology). The corresponding English language term for such a bureau's activity is R&D or [research and development](/source/research_and_development).

For security, each bureau was only officially identified by a number, but were often semi-officially referenced by the name of its lead designer. For example, OKB-51 was led by [Pavel Sukhoi](/source/Pavel_Sukhoi), and it eventually became known as simply [Sukhoi](/source/Sukhoi). Successful and famous bureaus often retained these names after the departure of their founding designer.

After the [collapse of the Soviet Union](/source/collapse_of_the_Soviet_Union), many OKBs became [Scientific Production Association](/source/Scientific_Production_Association)s (NPOs). There were some attempts to merge them in the 1990s, and there were widespread amalgamations in 2001–2006 to create "[national champion](/source/national_champions)" corporations, such as [Almaz-Antey](/source/Almaz-Antey_Corporation) to consolidate [surface-to-air missile](/source/surface-to-air_missile) development.

== OKBs in aerospace industry ==
{{refimprove section|date=April 2026}}
* KB-1 – [NPO Almaz](/source/NPO_Almaz), [Vitaly Shabanov](/source/Vitaly_Shabanov)
* OKB-1 – [Korolev](/source/Sergei_Korolev) today [RSC Energia](/source/Energia_(corporation)) 
* OKB-1 – Dr. [Brunolf Baade](/source/Brunolf_Baade) disbanded by 1953
* OKB-2 – early name of [MKB Raduga](/source/MKB_Raduga) (OKB-155-2)
* OKB-3 – [Bratukhin](/source/Bratukhin)
* OKB-4 – [Matus Bisnovat](/source/Matus_Bisnovat)'s Design Bureau (different from [NPO Molniya](/source/NPO_Molniya))
* OKB-8 – [Novator](/source/NPO_Novator) (long-range SAMs)
* OKB-19 – [Shvetsov](/source/Shvetsov), [Soloviev](/source/Soloviev_Design_Bureau). Now: "Perm MKB"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://engine.avias.com/issues/25/page22.html|title=ПЯТЬ ДЕСЯТИЛЕТИЙ ПАВЛА СОЛОВЬЕВА|publisher=Research Institute for the Economics of Aviation Industry (NIIEAP)|language=ru|trans-title=Five Decades of Paul Soloviev|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070218105633/http://engine.avias.com/issues/25/page22.html|archive-date=18 February 2007|url-status=dead|access-date=10 July 2006}}</ref>
* OKB-20 – [Klimov](/source/Klimov), [Omsk-Motors](/source/Omsk_Engine_Design_Bureau)
* OKB-21 – [Alexeyev](/source/Semyon_Alexeyev)
* OKB-23 – [Myasishchev](/source/Myasishchev) (also OKB-482)
* OKB-24 – [Mikulin](/source/Alexander_Mikulin)
* OKB-26 – [Klimov](/source/Klimov)
* OKB-39 – [Ilyushin](/source/Ilyushin)
* OKB-45 – [Klimov](/source/Klimov)
* OKB-47 – [Yakovlev](/source/Yakovlev) originally, transferred to {{ill|Aleksey Shcherbakov|ru|Щербаков, Алексей Яковлевич}}
* OKB-49 – [Beriev](/source/Beriev)
* OKB-51 – [Sukhoi](/source/Sukhoi)
* OKB-52 – [Chelomei](/source/Vladimir_Chelomei)
* OKB-86 – [Bartini](/source/Robert_Ludvigovich_Bartini)
* OKB-115 – [Yakovlev](/source/Yakovlev)
* OKB-117 – [Klimov](/source/Klimov), [Izotov](/source/Sergei_Izotov)
* OKB-120 – [Zhdanov (surname)](/source/Zhdanov_(surname))
* OKB-124 – N/A (cooling systems for [Tu-121](/source/Tupolev_Tu-121))
* OKB-134 – [Vympel](/source/Spetztekhnika_Vympel_NPO)
* OKB-140 – N/A (first hydro-alcohol starter-generators for Tu-121)
* OKB-153 – [Antonov](/source/Antonov)
* OKB-154 – [Kosberg](/source/Chemical_Automatics_Design_Bureau), previously OKB-296
* OKB-155 – [Mikoyan](/source/Mikoyan) (formerly Mikoyan-Gurevich)
* OKB-155-2 – (sometimes designated as OKB-2-155) OKB-155 spin-off in [Dubna](/source/Dubna). [Gurevich](/source/Mikhail_Gurevich_(aircraft_designer)), [Berezniak](/source/Alexander_Bereznyak), [Isaev](/source/Aleksei_Mihailovich_Isaev)... Now [MKB Raduga](/source/MKB_Raduga).
* OKB-156 – [Tupolev](/source/Tupolev)
* OKB-165 – [Lyulka](/source/NPO_Saturn)
* OKB-207 – [Borovkov and Florov](/source/Borovkov_and_Florov) ([Borovkov-Florov D](/source/Borovkov-Florov_D), [Borovkov-Florov I-207](/source/Borovkov-Florov_I-207))
* OKB-240 – [Yermolaev](/source/Vladimir_Yermolaev)
* OKB-246 – [OKBM](/source/OKBM_Afrikantov) (naval nuclear propulsion)
* OKB-256 – Tsybin
* OKB-276 – [Kuznetsov](/source/Kuznetsov_(aircraft_engines))
* OKB-296 – renamed to [OKB-154](/source/OKB-154) in 1946&nbsp;KB Khimavtomatika
* OKB-300 – [Tumansky](/source/Tumansky)
* OKB-301 – [Lavochkin](/source/Lavochkin)
* OKB-329 – [Mil](/source/Mil_Moscow_Helicopter_Plant)
* SKB-385 – [Makeev](/source/Victor_Makeev)
* OKG-456 – [Glushko](/source/NPO_Energomash)
* OKB-458 – [Chetverikov](/source/Chetverikov)
* OKB-478 – [Ivchenko](/source/Ivchenko_design_bureau)
* OKB-575 – [Kovrov](/source/Kovrov)
* OKB-586 – [Yangel](/source/Mikhail_Yangel)
* OKB-692 – [JSC "Khartron"](/source/Khartron) (formerly KB electropriborostroeniya, then NPO "Electropribor")
* OKB-794 – [Leninets](/source/Leninets)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sukhoi.org/eng/planes/military/su24mk/history/|title=Su-24 Historical Background|publisher=[Sukhoi Company](/source/Sukhoi_Company)|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141219023949/http://www.sukhoi.org/eng/planes/military/su24mk/history/|archive-date=19 December 2014|url-status=dead|access-date=14 November 2014}}</ref>
* OKB-938 – [Kamov](/source/Kamov)

== See also ==
* [Defense industry of Russia](/source/Defense_industry_of_Russia)

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/economics/staff/mharrison/vpk/data/ Factories, Research and Design Establishments of the Soviet Defence Industry: a Guide]. University of Warwick, Department of Economics.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050221050008/http://www.aviation.ru/okb.php Aviation.ru - "OKBs"]

Category:Science and technology in the Soviet Union
Category:Science and technology in Russia
Category:Technological races
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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [OKB](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OKB) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OKB?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.