NPO Novator

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.

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.

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 (SS-N-15 'Starfish') and RPK-6 Vodopad (SS-N-16 'Stallion')

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