OKB

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OKB is a transliteration of the Russian acronym for "Опытное конструкторское бюро" - Opytnoe Konstructorskoe Byuro, meaning Experimental Design Bureau. During the Soviet era, OKBs were closed institutions working on design and prototyping of advanced technology, usually for military applications.

A bureau was officially identified by a number, and often semi-officially by the name of the lead designer - for example, OKB-51 was lead by Pavel Sukhoi, and eventually became known as OKB Sukhoi. Successful and famous bureaux often retained this name even after the death or replacement of that designer.

These relatively small state-run organisations were not intended for mass production of aircraft, rockets, or other vehicles or equipment they designed. However they usually had the facilities and resources to construct prototypes. Designs accepted by the state were then assigned to factories for mass production.

[edit] OKBs in aerospace industry

KB-1 - V.M. Shabanov
OKB-1 - Korolev
OKB-2 - early name of MKB Raduga (OKB-155-2)
OKB-4 - Molniya
OKB-19 - Shvetsov, Soloviev. Now: "Perm MKB". [1]
OKB-20 - Klimov, Omsk-Motors
OKB-23 - Myasishchev (also OKB-482)
OKB-24 - Mikulin
OKB-26 - Klimov
OKB-39 - Ilyushin
OKB-45 - Klimov
OKB-49 - Beriev
OKB-51 - Sukhoi
OKB-52 - Chelomei
OKB-86 - Bartini
OKB-115 - Yakovlev
OKB-117 - Klimov
OKB-120 - Zhdanov
OKB-124 - N/A (cooling systems for Tu-121)
OKB-134 - Vympel
OKB-140 - N/A (first hydro-alcohol starter-generators for Tu-121)
OKB-153 - Antonov
OKB-155 - Mikoyan (formerly Mikoyan-Gurevich)
OKB-155-2 - (sometimes designated as OKB-2-155) OKB-155 spin-off in Dubna. Gurevich, Berezniak-Isaev (BI)... Now MKB Raduga.
OKB-156 - Tupolev
OKB-165 - Lyulka
OKB-240 - Yermolaev
OKB-256 - Tsybin
OKB-276 - Kuznetsov
OKB-300 - Tumansky
OKB-301 - Lavochkin
OKB-329 - Mil
SKB-385 - Makeev
OKB-458 - Tschetverikov
OKB-478 - Ivtschenko
OKB-586 - Yangel
OKB-938 - Kamov