OKB

OKB (Russian: ОКБ) is a transliteration of the Russian initials for "Опытно-Конструкторское Бюро" (Opytno-Konstruktorskoye Byuro), which translates to "Experimental Design Bureau". It could also mean Osoboye konstruktorskoye byuro ("Special Design Bureau" in English). During the Soviet era, OKBs were closed institutions working on design and prototyping of advanced technology, usually for military applications. The corresponding English-language term for such a bureau's activity is "R&D" or "research and development". For security, each bureau was officially identified only by a number, but semi-official use often referenced the name of each establishment's lead designer. For example, OKB-51, led by Pavel Sukhoi, eventually became known as simply "Sukhoi". Successful and famous bureaus often retained these names after the departure of their founding designer. After the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, many OKBs became Scientific Production Associations (NPOs). There were some attempts to merge them in the 1990s, and widespread amalgamations took place in 2001–2006 to form "national champion" corporations (such as Almaz-Antey to consolidate surface-to-air missile development).