NPO Maschinostrojenija

NPO Maschinostrojenija ( Russian: НПО машиностроения ) is a Russian defense and space company. The seat is in Reutov near Moscow . In the Soviet Union , the company was significantly involved in the development of cruise missiles and space travel under the names OKB-52 Tschelomei and ZKBM .

The company was founded in 1955 as the OKB-52 experimental design office . The most famous development of the office is the Proton launcher (UR-500). Vladimir Chelomei was the director for many years .

history

The origins go back to 1955, when Vladimir Tschelomei was entrusted with the management of the newly established experimental design office OKB-52, whose task was the development of cruise missiles. A former agricultural machinery workshop in Reutow was designated as the company's headquarters.

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the OKB-52 expanded through the incorporation of other design offices, such as the OKB-23 of Vladimir Myasishchev in October 1960 .

OKB-52 was strongly supported by Prime Minister Nikita Khrushchev , whose son Sergei Khrushchev worked there. Khrushchev's fall in October 1964 meant a loss of importance for the OKB-52.

In 1966 OKB-52 was renamed “Central Design Office for Mechanical Engineering (ZKBM)”, in 1983 it was renamed “NPO Maschinostrojenija” with the short form “NPO Masch”.

Chelomei gave up management of the company in October 1983 after holding it for 28 years. His successor was his previous deputy Herbert Jefremow , who headed the company for another 24 years. Aleksandr Leonow has been general director and chief designer since 2007 .

Since February 28, 2007 NPO Masch has belonged to the state-owned holding company OAO Vojenno-promyslennaja korporazija Nautschno-proisvodstvennoje obedinenije maschinostrojenija .

developments

Cruise missiles

In 1944, Wladmir Tschelomei was commissioned to design a cruise missile similar to the German Fieseler Fi 103 (V1). As early as December 1944 he was able to demonstrate the 10Ch , other types were 12Ch, 14Ch and 16Ch, but only the 10Ch and only in small numbers were delivered to the armed forces.

Chelomei had more success with the guided missiles P-5 Pitjorka, P-6 Progress and P-35 Progress , which were stationed on surface ships and submarines of the Soviet Navy from 1959 . A special feature were the wings, which automatically unfolded shortly after the launch and were later thrown off.

From 1959 the OKB-52 developed a solid-propelled cruise missile that could also be fired from submerged submarines. Under the designation P-70 Ametist , the weapon was used in the Soviet Navy from 1968.

The successor type P-120 malachite with a longer range was introduced to the Soviet Navy in 1972.

The OKB-52 developed the P-500 Basalt guided weapon as the successor to the P-5, P-6 and P-35 . It enabled a coordinated plan of attack by several missiles, one of which took the lead from a great height. Like its predecessor, the weapon could not be shot down from submerged submarines, but this was possible with the P-700 Granit . A later extension of the P-500 was the type P-1000 Vulkan.

The development of the cruise missile Ch-80 , however, was unsuccessful. After delays, budget overruns and failures, the project was canceled in 1986.

The P-800 Onyx guided weapon was developed from the early 1980s. It is also exported under the name Jachont .

ICBMs

From the late 1950s, the OKB-52 also developed multi-stage missiles that could be used both as ICBMs and for satellite launches. Chelomei proposed a family of three different sized universal missiles (UR). The UR-100 was a light rocket that could be stored in a sealed container ready for launch for a long time. It was introduced in large numbers from 1966 to the strategic missile forces. The successor type UR-100N is still in service with the Strategic Missile Forces of Russia . The larger UR-200 was to be developed as an intercontinental carrier for heavy warheads as well as for the orbital carriers required under the Global Rocket 2 program . The orbital version should not bring nuclear warheads directly to the target via the shortest route above the rotation- adjusted orthodromes , but use an orbital path from where they could then approach their target. Several test starts were carried out with the UR-200 from November 1963, but after Khrushchev's disempowerment, the decision was made in favor of the R-36 and its orbital version R-36-O from Jangel's OKB-586 . Further development of the UR-200 was canceled. With the UR-500 , a much more powerful missile for warheads of up to 30 Mt was planned for the arsenal of heavy and super-heavy launchers; it was also available in the course of 1965. Thanks to the energetic intervention of Academy President Keldysch , the UR-500 was assigned to the space program from August 1965. It is considered the most successful design of a launcher from Chelomei's office. It became known to the public by the name of its first official payload as the Proton . It put many heavy payloads into orbit , including all of the Soviet space stations ( Salyut , Almas and Mir ), as well as parts of the ISS . In later years the version of the Proton rocket UR-500K originally developed as part of the lunar program (also in combination with the Block-D upper level from the ZKBEM or NPP Energia) matured into a flexible and reliable workhorse in Soviet and Russian space travel . Between the last launch of the Saturn V in May 1973 and the first launch of the Energija in May 1987, it was the rocket with the largest orbital payload in the world. The last evolution is the Proton-M with even more thrust-enhanced engines of the first stage. In its modernized versions, the Proton is still in service today (as of June 2020).

The last intercontinental ballistic missile was developed by NPO Mashinostroyeniya from 1987 under the name Albatros developed and was in response to the SDI program of the United States thought. This project was discontinued after the collapse of the Soviet Union and as a result of the START agreements.

Raketoplan

From the late 1950s, officially funded from June 1960, the OKB-52 worked on a maneuverable manned spacecraft called the Raketoplan . The missile should have a crew of two. After a mission duration of 24 hours, Raketoplan was supposed to land horizontally on existing airfields. With this missile both scientific and military operations should be possible.

A suborbital test flight of a reduced model was carried out by Kapustin Yar at the end of 1961 , a second on March 21, 1963. After Khrushchev's fall, this project was passed on to the OKB-155 Mikoyan-Gurevich (MiG) design office, where the project over the next few years Spiral was developed.

Satellites

The OKB-52 developed Poljot , the first satellite that could maneuver in orbit. Poljot 1 took off on November 1, 1963. The UR-200 was originally intended as a launch vehicle. Since this was not yet available, the R-7 was used by OKB-1 Koroljow. Poljot 2 started on April 12, 1964.

Another development of the OKB-52 was the research satellite Proton , which was supposed to study high-energy cosmic particles in earth orbit. The launch of Proton 1 took place on July 16, 1965. Since this was also the first flight of the UR-500, the name of the satellite was also transferred to the rocket, which is now better known as the Proton than the UR-500. Three other copies of the Proton satellite were launched between 1965 and 1968.

The Kondor radar satellite, developed by NPO Maschinostrojenija, was launched with a Strela rocket on June 27, 2013 , and a second unit followed on December 19, 2014.

The lunar program

In response to the US Apollo program , the Soviet Union planned its own lunar program . It should consist of two separate parts: a manned orbit around the moon and a moon landing. The OKB-52 was supposed to develop both the UR-500 rocket and the LK1 spacecraft for orbiting the moon. For the landing mission, the rocket N1 and spaceship L3 should come from Korolyov's OKB-1. This approach resulted in duplication and internal competition.

On July 16, 1965, the first launch of the two-stage UR-500 took place with the Proton satellite, which gave the rocket the name by which it is known today.

In August 1965, Chelomei was ordered to stop the development of its lunar orbiting spacecraft LK1. At the beginning of September 1965 it was decided that the three-stage UR-500K should instead bring a modification of the Soyuz spaceship of the OKB-1 (the Soyuz 7K-L1, L1 for short) to the moon. In addition, this version received a block D upper stage developed by the OKB-1 . However, the UR-500K / D1 / L1 combination turned out to be too complex for this hastily started crash program; the reliability could only be improved late. This led to numerous false starts during the Soviet lunar program. Only after the successful moon landing of Apollo 11 did this combination achieve the necessary reliability.

In competition with Korolev's N1 rocket, Chelomei also designed a powerful rocket: the UR-700, which should bring 130 to 170 tons into orbit. After an evaluation, however, the work was stopped in October 1964. Tschelomei then tried again in 1966 to enforce the UR-700 against the N-1 of the OKB-1 as a carrier rocket for the manned moon landing, but without success. Two even larger versions of these rockets, a version with nuclear-powered upper stages and the UR-700M, like the UR-900 intended for a manned flight to Mars, did not get beyond the planning stage.

Almaz space station

In October 1964 OKB-52 got permission to start the development of a space station called Almaz . The station was supposed to weigh 20 tons and be put into orbit with a single launch of the UR-500-K. Teams of three cosmonauts each would take turns at regular intervals. The task of this space station should be the earth observation, especially the identification of potential targets for its own ICBMs. A parallel development was carried out by Dmitri Koslow from OKB-1 under the project name Soyuz R , but canceled in March 1966, after Korolev's death, by order of the engineering ministry. When it turned out in the summer of 1969 that a few years would pass before the first flight from Almaz, the idea arose to develop a civil space station at the same time that was based on an Almaz structure but used Soyuz technology. This space station was named DOS (Dolgowremennaja Orbitalnaja Stanzija = long-term orbit station) and was developed by the design office TsKBEM, the former OKB-1. It should be ready for use by the end of 1971. The final decision to go with DOS was made in February 1970, and the DOS station was launched as early as April 1971 under the name Salyut 1 .

Later three Almaz stations were started under the names Salyut 2 (1972), Salyut 3 (1973) and Salyut 5 (1976). Three crews spent a total of 83 days on board.

Advances in electronics made it clear that it was not absolutely necessary to have a crew on board for reconnaissance purposes. Further space stations were therefore converted for unmanned operation under the name Almaz-T .

Space transporter TKS

For the connection between the earth and the Almaz space station, the TsKBM developed its own spaceship called TKS from 1970 . It could be flown both manned and unmanned, and carried both crew and equipment. It was considerably larger than the Soyuz spacecraft and the ZKBEM's Progress transporter. The first orbital tests of the TKS were carried out from 1976, three unmanned cargo flights to the stations Salyut 6 and Salyut 7 took place in 1977, 1981 and 1983. There were no manned launches, the trained cosmonauts were not deployed.

Almaz-T

Some copies of the Almaz space station were converted for unmanned operation from 1976 and should serve as all-weather radar reconnaissance satellites. The program was stopped by Defense Minister Ustinov in 1981 , but Chelomei was able to prevent the space stations from being scrapped. After the deaths of Chelomei and Ustinov, Chelomei's successor Yefremov was able to convince Ustinov's successor Sokolov to continue the Almaz-T program.

The Almaz station, which had been in storage for six years, was in remarkably good condition, so that it could be started in the fall of 1986. However, the second stage of the launcher failed and the self-destruct mechanism was triggered. The second start took place in July 1987. This station was named Kosmos 1870 . The third copy with improved resolution was named Almaz 1 in March 1991 . Another copy was planned, but failed due to funding after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

LKS

After Tschelomei had already worked on a reusable space glider in the 1960s, he designed another concept with the name LKS from 1970.

After various studies, Chelomei decided on a space glider with a mass of about 20 tons, which was to be launched by the Proton rocket. LKS should be able to transport two crew members, two tons of fuel and another four tons of payload. The landing should be done in gliding flight on a conventional runway, whereby a frame made of runners should be used instead of wheels. LKS was designed for both manned and unmanned use. Overall, LKS was significantly smaller than the US space shuttle and should also be significantly cheaper. Tschelomei presented the design to the Soviet leadership around 1975, but they decided to transfer the development of a space glider to the design office RKK Energija (formerly OKB-1 and ZKBEM) under the leadership of Valentin Gluschko . This would later become the Buran space glider .

However, Chelomei continued to work on LKS and made a full-size model. When US President Reagan announced the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) in March 1983 , Chelomei made another attempt to obtain a permit to build the LKS. In September 1983, however, this was rejected by a government commission.

Joint venture BrahMos

Together with the Indian defense group Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO), NPO Maschinostrojenja founded a joint venture called BrahMos in 1988 . The aim of this cooperation was the joint development of an anti-ship missile, which also bears the name BrahMos . The basis for development was the P-800 Jachont. Drive and warhead are contributed by NPO Maschinostrojenja, the control system and software by DRDO. India owns 51% of this company and has the decisive vote. The cooperation with India developed into an essential part of the sales of NPO Maschinostrojenja.

Web links

• Official website (Russian / English)