Vympel NPO
Russian missile development and production company
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Vympel NPO is a Russian research and production company (NPO) based near Moscow, mostly known for their air-to-air missiles. Other projects include SAM and ABM defenses. It was started in the Soviet era as an OKB (experimental design bureau).
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| Formerly | OKB-134 |
|---|---|
| Company type | Joint Stock Company |
| Industry | Defence |
| Founded | 1949 |
| Headquarters | , Russia |
| Products | Missiles, Anti-ballistic missiles, Anti-aircraft missile systems |
| Revenue | $649 million[1] (2014) |
| Parent | Tactical Missiles Corporation |
| Website | vympelmkb |
History
Vympel started out after World War II as OKB-134, with Ivan I. Toropov leading the team. The first product they designed was the K-7 missile.[2] Their first missile built in serial production was the K-13 (R-13) in 1958. Toropov moved to Tushino Aviation Facility in 1961 and was replaced by Andrey Lyapin.[3] Somewhere between 1966 and 1968 the OKB got renamed to Vympel. In 1977, Matus Bisnovat of OKB-4 Molniya died, and all missile related work was passed to Vympel. G. Khokhlov led the team until 1981, when Genadiy A. Sokolovski succeeded him.[4]
In 1992, the GosMKB Vympel got started on the basis of the OKB[5] and in 1994 Sokolovski became the director of development at the company.
In May 2004, the Tactical Missiles Corporation was formed and Vympel became a part of it, as the design and development facility.
Notable projects
Air-to-air missiles
Air-to-surface missiles
- Kh-29 (AS-13 "Kedge")
- Terra-3 laser
Surface-to-air missiles
- 3M9 SA missile (SA-6 "Gainful") for Kub missile system.
- ABM-1 Galosh
