NPO Novator


NPO 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. It is perhaps best known for designing the 9M82 and 9M83 missiles of the S-300V SAM system.

History

The Kalinin Machine-Building Plant 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 - later Experimental Design Bureau -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.
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 "Airborne [early warning and control|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.
OKB-8 was the USSR's sole developer of warheads delivered by ASW missiles such as the RPK-2 Viyuga and RPK-6 Vodopad
  • 1969 - 81R RPK-2 Vyuga
  • 1980 - RU-90 Vyuga 5 kt nuclear depth charge
  • 1981 - RU-100 Vodopod HE torpedo
  • 1984 - RU-100 Veter nuclear depth charge

    Sub-launched cruise missiles

  • 1984 - 3M10/RK-55 Granat, 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, AAM-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 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