NPO Lavochkin

NPO S.A.Lavochkin
Lavochkin Research and Production Association

24 Leningradskoye Shosse Khimki 141400 Moscow Region Russia
Tel

+7 095 573-90-56
+7 095 251-92-49
+7 095 251-24-34

Fax

+7 095 573-35-95
+7 095 913-59-92

Telex

911721 IRBIS SU

Scientific and Production Association S.A.Lavochkin is one of the leading enterprises of the rocket and space industry in Russia. Included in the structure of the state corporation Roskosmos. Develops and manufactures automatic space vehicles for scientific purposes to work in near-earth space and for exploration of outer space, the universal upper stage "Fregat", satellites for remote sensing of the Earth, etc.

Vladimir Afanasyevich Kolmykov was appointed General Director of the NPO named after Lavochkin. "The board of directors of the Lavochkin NGO approved Vladimir Kolmykov as the general director of the enterprise and the director general of Roskosmos State Corporation Dmitry Rogozin announced the decision of the Board of Directors," the report said. The head of Roskosmos Dmitry Rogozin commented on the appointment. "At Lavochkin's NGO, we appointed our strongest director, VA Kolmykov, Lavochkin's NGO, the leading developer of the Russian lunar program, which will start in 2021, as well as a partner of European enterprises under the project ECZOMARS (2020), within which we make a lander module ", he wrote. Honored mechanical engineer of Russia V.A.Kolmykov was the head of Krasmash since 2005. At the enterprise, he passed the labor path from the student of the grinder to the general director.

Deputy Prime Minister Yury Borisov spoke 12 September 2018 about the change of leadership at Krasmash, the manufacturer of intercontinental ballistic missiles Sarmat and Bulava. "The decision of Roskosmos: Vladimir Kolmykov's arrival in Lavochkin NPO will not hurt, he is a man with rich experience, and the team that worked with him at Krasmash is quite qualified and will not allow the enterprise to fail the state defense order," he said.

At the post of general director of the NPO Lavochkin, Kolmykov succeeded Sergei Lemeshevsky, who was arrested by the court for fraud. After his departure, Krasmash was headed by Alexander Gavrilov.

Investigators are pressing embezzlement charges to the tune of 300 million rubles ($5 mln) against Lavochkin Research and Production Association CEO Sergei Lemeshevsky, Head of the Lavochkin Legal Department Yekaterina Averyanova and against Igor Tretyakov, chairman of the Tretyakov & Partners law firm, the Investigative Committee told TASS on 26 July 2018. They are accused of pilfering the sum in question from Russia’s State Space Corporation Roscosmos, the Investigative Committee said.

"According to the investigators, the Lavochkin chief executive and his subordinate Averyanova, along with the head of the law firm are accused of stealing funds from Roscosmos by signing bogus agreements with the Tretyakov & Partners law firm for legal services, which in actual fact were performed by the employees of the Lavochkin Legal Department. Payments to the law firm amounted to 330 million rubles over two years," the Investigative Committee stated.

S.A.Lavochkin Science and Production Association
(Lavochkin NPO)

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Contact Information
Address: 141400 Khimki-2 Moscow Region, Leningradskoe sh., 24
Tel: (095) 573-9056 [1-3] (Foreign Relations Dept.) (095) 573-9201, 573-5738 [4]
Telex: 911721 irbis su [1-3]
Fax: (095) 573-3595 (Foreign Relations Dept.) 573-1786 (General Director?)

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Key officials
General Director: A.Paletskiy
General Designer: Stanislav Danilovich Kulikov
Deputy General Director, responsible for foreign relations: Igor Petrovich Zaitsev [3]
Chief of Foreign Relations Department: Vladimir Viktorovich Kainov (573-9056)
Director of Babakin Science and Technology Center: Roald Savvovich Kremnev [3]
Director of Museum: Oleg Genrikhovich Ivanovskiy (575-5467)

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Activity: development and manufacturing of spacecraft
Status: state enterprise
Subordination: Russian Space Agency
Former subordination: Ministry of General Machine-building of USSR
Former name: OKB-301

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Background/General overview

The enterprise was established in 1937 as an aircraft design bureau (OKB-301), headed by Semyon Alexeyevich Lavochkin. It was best known for its wartime fighter planes, La-5 and La-7. After WWII OKB-301 developed jet fighters, including "article 176", which in December of 1948 became the first Soviet aircraft to reach the speed of sound in a horizontal flight.2)
In 1950 the Design Bureau was re-targeted for development of surface-to-air missiles (when this direction was transferred to the Ministry of Aviation Industry from the Ministry of Defense Industry). Lavochkin's first SAM was the R-101, a replica of a German Wasserfal, transferred from NII-88. After gaining experience with the R-101, OKB-301 developed the R-113 missile for the first Moscow Air Defense System. The Lavochkin bureau also developed a number of air-to-air missiles associated with their own planes, such as the La-250 Anaconda.
In 1953 SAM activities were taken over by a new independent enterprise, off-shot from KB-1 and headed by Lavochkin's ex-Deputy Pyotr D. Grushin. (This company is now known as Fakel Machine-building Design Bureau named after Grushin).
In the same year 1953 Lavochkin's OKB-301 was given responsibility for development of a rocket-boosted supersonic intercontinental cruise missile, called Burya and similar to the U.S. Navaho missile. Despite significant success in test firings of Burya during 1957-1959, the program was canceled as operationally inferior to ICBMs.
After death of Lavochkin in 1960 the Bureau quickly lost all its customers and was left idle.
When in 1959(?) Chelomei and Korolyov agrued over whom was going to take over the Central Artillery Design Bureau, headed by Grabin, Minister Dmitriy Ustinov offered Lavochkin's KB to Chelomey as a settlement. As a result, in December of 1962, OKB-301 became a Branch of Chelomei's OKB-52.
Around 1965, apparently, under pressure from Korolyov, the Branch was taken away from OKB-52 and was reassigned to the development of automated Moon probes and interplanetary stations, transferred from Korolyov's OKB-1.
Afterwards, spacecraft, developed by the company were the world first to land to the Moon, Venus and Mars, first to automaticlally bring samples of lunar soil back to Earth and to perform a remotely controlled study of the lunar surface. From 1965 till 1991 the enterprise reported to the Ministry of General machine-building of USSR (MOM). Since 1994 it reports to the Russian Space Agency.

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Succession of Chief Designers at OKB-301/NPO Lavochkin
Name                                         Period    
Semyon Alexeyevich Lavochkin                 1937-1960 (died)    
Georgiy Nikolayevich Babakin                 1960-1971 (died)    
Sergey Sergeyevich Kryukov                   1971-1977    
Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Kovtunenko           1977-1995 (died)
Vladimir Serebrennikov (acting)
Stanislav Danilovich Kulikov                 1996-present

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Main Activity

Principal directions of activity of Lavochkin include:

• design and manufacturing of automated spacecraft;
• analysis of spacecraft trajectories;
• testing of equipment at levels of system, subsystem and unit;
• preparation of spacecraft for a mission, including pre-launch checkout and testing at the launch site;
• control of spacecraft from the Center for Deep Space Communications (Yevpatoria) and from the Mission Control Center (Moscow region)

Projects participated:
Missiles:

• R-101 SAM (canceled in early 1950s)
• R-113 (SA-1 Guild) SAM (for the S-25 system)
• V-350 Burya intercontinental cruise missile (canceled in 1959)

Spacecraft:
Lunar probes:

• E6 series (Luna landers and orbiters) - 9 launched between 1966-1968;
• E8 (Lunokhod) - 3 launched between 1969-1973;
• E8-5 (automatic Lunar sample returner) - 8 launched between 1969-1972;
• E8LS (Lunar satellite) - 2 launched in 1971 and 1974;
• E8-5M (advanced Lunar sample returner) - 3 launched between 1974-1976.

Interplanetary probes:

• V-67 (Venus lander) - 2 launched in 1967;
• V-69 (Venus lander) - 2 launched in 1969;
• M-69 (Mars lander) - 2 launched in 1969;
• V-70 (Venus lander) - 2 launched in 1970;
• M-71 (Mars lander/orbiter) - 3 launched in 1971;
• V-72 (Venus lander) - 2 launched in 1972;
• M-73 (Mars lander or orbiter) - 4 launched in 1973;
• 4V-1 (Venus lander and/or orbiter) - 6 launched between 1975-1981;
• 4V-2 (Venus radar mapper) - 2 launched in 1983;
• 5VK (Venus-Halley Comet mission)- 2 launched in 1984;
• 1F (Phobos probe) - 2 launched in 1988;
• 1M (Mars'96 probe, initially developed as Mars'94) - launched 16 Nov 1996, failed to enter interplanetary transfer orbit.

Under preliminary development:

• Lomonosov solar probe
• New small-scale bus for interplanetary stations to be orbited by Molniya-M or Soyuz-2 launchers

Magnetospheric/Astrophysical observatories:

• Prognoz (solar/magnetosperic probe) - 10 launched between 1972-1985;
• Astron (UV observatory) - launched in 1983;
• Granat (X-ray observatory) - launched in 1989 and still operational.

Currently under development:

• Interball/Prognoz-M2 (solar/magnetosperic probe) - two launched in August of 1995 and August of 1996;
• Spektr series of observatories (Spektr-UV, IR, X-gamma, Radioastron)

Other spacecraft:

• Oko, early warning satellite (Lavochkin is the Lead contractor for the spacecraft) - in production;
• Prognoz -"-
• 11F664 optico-electronic reconnaissance satellite (first launched on 6 June, 1997).

Kick stages:

• Block L series kick/escape stages for Molniya launcher;

Currently under development:

• Fregat universal kick stages for Vostok/Soyuz/Molniya/Rus, based on propulsion unit of Phobos probe. Further derivative of Fregat, Fregat-2, is proposed for use with Zenit, Proton and, possibly, Angara. (Attitude of Khrunichev to these proposals for Proton and Angara is not clear)

Conversion/Commercialization projects
Lavochkin undetakes a variety of projects to directly convert its space technologies for civil applications, including commercial projects. Such projects include:

• Kurier - LEO communications network
• Zerkalo - GEO communications satellite system, using spot-beams to flexibly serve remote areas. The project was implemented through NOOS Space technologies, Ltd. (NST). Current status is unclear.
• Bankir - system of inter-bank communications. This project is being implemented in a framework of Global Information Systems (GIS) consortium and is funded by the Central Bank of Russia. Originally expected in late 1993 - early 1994, the launch of the first Kupon satellite for the Bankir system occurred on November 12, 1997. In March of 1998 this satellite failed in orbit, making further schedule of project implementation unclear;
• Nord - HEO communications satellite system for servicing remote Northern regions.
• Lavochkin - microgravity processing facility for production of medical substances and super-pure semiconductors. (The spacecraft was designed to be orbited by the SS-18 ICBM, slated for dismantlement under START-1 treaty. One proposal claimed, that Lavochkin spacecraft could be developed very fast, "because it is based on the Venera reentry vehicle". However, there are other proposals, entitled both Lavochkin and Merkuriy (Mercury), which call for development of the very similar spacecraft, using the same SS-18 launcher - but with a VA recovery vehicle, based on NPO mashinostroyenia's design for Almaz/TKS;
• Plamya - fire detection satellite system;
• there were also proposals for a microgravity spacecraft under yet another name Sadko, as well as for a number of Earth observation satellites, called Ekol, Ozone, Arkon, Monitor.

Organizational Structure
Lavochkin NPO consists of:

• experimental design bureau;
• experimental plant;
• the Kaluga Branch;
• dedicated facilities at the Baikonur and Plesetsk Cosmodromes, as well as at the Center for Deep Space Communications in Yevpatoria, Ukraine.

Experimental Design Bureau and Experimental Plant are located at a single site in Khimki.
Design Bureau is composed of 5 Complexes. One of the Complexes is Babakin Science & Research Center (NITs), others remain obscure, apparently because of their involvement with classified programs. There are also as many as 14 Small Enterprises, (legally independent from the parent company) established to pursue specific conversion projects

Technological capabilities
Lavochkin possesses a number of testing facilities [2]:

• centrifuge for stress and functional testing of assemblies under linear accelerations (the greatest g-load centrifuge in the former Soviet Union [1]);
• facilities for stress and functional testing of assemblies under alternating cyclic loads;
• vibration tables for vibration testing of systems, subsystems and units;
• chambers for testing systems, subsystems, units and instruments against hot and cold temperatures, cyclic temperature variations and moisture;
• thermovacuum chamber for environmental testing against hot and cold temperatures, and cyclic temperature variations under conditions of high and low pressure and with simulation of solar radiation;
• anechoic chamber for electromagnetic testing of fixed and steerable antenna systems,
• operating at frequencies, ranging from 50 MHz to 50 GHz.

there are also facilities for

• testing of electromechanical step motors to determine their accuracy in terms of output shaft position error as a function of rotation angle.
• hydraulic loading and destructive testing of tanks, pressure vessels, pipes and fittings;
• pressure resistance testing of assemblies, instruments, functional units, thermal control and ventilation elements;

Economic Status
In 1994 the state owed to Lavochkin more than 100 billions rubles for already completed works. As a result, in mid-1995 Lavochkin was reported to have a debt on credits of 170 billions rubles - the largest among companies, subordinated to RSA (and acconting for more than 1/3 of a cumulative debt on credits of all RSA companies at that time).
Employment: 15000 as of 1992 [3]; about 10000 [4]

Membership/shareholding
Lavockin NPO participates inthe following Associations and Stock-holding companies:

• Kosmos Concern,
• Association of Technologists - Machine-buildiers (ATM);
• ASKONT (Association for Advancement of Space Science and Technology)
• GIS AO (stock-holding company, handling development of Bankir system);
• Arkos Stock-holding Co.
• Lunokhod Innovative Enterprise (subsidiary?)
• In 1989 Conversion Company (Konversia Co.?) was formed in Kaluga, apparently indicating separation of the former Kaluga Branch into independent entity. The new company designs electromechanical equipment for agricultural, medical and environmental uses [3].

Production Cooperation
Principal partners of Lavochkin NPO are:

• Kometa TsNPO - system integrator for early warning system;
• Progress Plant - manufacturer of Molniya launcher (and future manufacturer of Soyuz-2/Rus)
• TsSKB lead developer of Molniya launcher, Soyuz-2/Rus lead designer
• Isayev KB Khimmash - engines for spacecraft (cooperation with Isayev goes as far back, as to R-101 with Isayev engine)
• GOI for large optical assemblies of early warning spacecraft)
• Khrunichev GKNPTs - Proton launchers
• RNII KP - command, control and telemetric equipmment, as well as transponder, hub station and Earth stations for Zerkalo (and, obviously, for a number of other systems)
• Elas NPAO - communications equipment for Bankir system
• Izhevsk Radio Plant - serial production of Zerkalo and Bankir stations and transponders
• NPO mashinostroyenia (VA recovery vehicle for "Lavochkin" spacecraft)
• Yuzhnoye KB (Ukraine) (SS-18 launcher -"-; Fregat-2 kick stage for Zenit)

International Cooperation
Lavochkin has long-term experience in international cooperative projects. As early as from the early 1970s its Prognoz magnetosperic probes were used for international experiments in a framework of Intercosmos Council. Later, in the early 1980s Western countries participated in inteplanetary and astrophysical spacecraft, developed here. (It was that reason, for which Babakin Center was showed up as seemingly independent "civil" design bureau, not to "compromise" the whole Lavochkin NPO and its military programs).
Lavochkin NPO also participated in preparation of the French SPET-1 and SPET-2 experimental satellites as piggy-back payloads for launching by the Molniya boosters (with Lavochkin's upper stages), as well as a French-made SIGNE-3 X- and gamma-ray observation satellite in 1977 [1], and IRS-1A in 1988. It also participated in launching of IRS-1C in December of 1995 by Molniya
Under a contract with MAI, Lavockin developed a bus for the Skipper satellite, ordered by BMDO through Uta State Univesity and orbited in December of 1995 piggy-back to IRS-1C. In 1995 Lavochkin NPO negotiated with Chinese Academy of Launch Vehicles delivery of 3-4 Fregat escape stages, worth about $20 millions, for a planned Chinese project to send spacecraft to the Moon. [5]

Joint Ventures:

• Lavochkin appears to participate in Sokol International company, offering VSAT communications services;
• in 1989 it established Kometa-CLK with CLK International, of London [4]

Conversion/Diversification
Civil products, offered by Lavochkin include:

• mountaineering equipment from titanium alloys;
• furniture;
• bathroom fixtures [3]

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References

1. Lavochkin Association - pamphlet, undated (about 1992-1993)
2. Directory of Russian Space Industry 1993 - Sevig Press p.46-47.
3. Russian Defense Business Directory 1993 - U.S. Department of Commerce - p.1-55.
4. Space Directory of Russia, Euroconsult 1993
5. Kommersant-DAILY 26 Jul 1995 p.9. (Consultations were to be continued in Beijing in September of 1995, but no more news has come out yet.)
6. Aviation. Encyclopedia - Large Russian Encyclopedia, Moscow, 1995 - p.302.
7. Krylia Rodiny # 11, 1993 p.33
8. Kommersant-DAILY ? June 1997 p.1.

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NOTE
2) Full list of aircraft, developed by Lavochkin OKB, includes: Piston-powered: LaGG-1(1940), LaGG-3(1940), La-5(1942), La-5F(1942), La-5FN(1943), La-7(1943), La-9(1946), La-11(1947) [6]
Experimental ramjet-powered: La-126 and La-138 (1946) [7] Turbojet-powered: La-150(1946), La-156(1947), La-160(1947), La-168(1948), La-176(1948), La-200(1949), La-190(1951), La-200B(1952), La-250 (1956).[6]