Scientific production association

The scientific production association (Russian: Научно-производственное объединение, romanized: Nauchno-proizvodstvennoye obyedineniye, NPO) is a form of scientific research-to-production enterprise in the Soviet Union and its successor states, including Russia and other union republics.

This type of structure is closely related to the NAUCHNO-PROIZVODSTVENNOYe PREDPRIYATIYe (NPP) structure, which translates to SCIENTIFIC AND PRODUCTION ENTERPRISE. NAUCHNO-VNEDRENCHESKOE PREDPRIYATIE structures (Scientific and Implementation Enterprise) also exist. NPOs, NPPs and NVPs house what are called in the English language research and development facilities.

History

The NPO structure first appeared in the late 1960s, after a Soviet decree was approved on 24 September 1968 to reform research and development structures; by 1980 there were 250 NPOs in the Soviet Union.^[1]

NPOs were established to consolidate research and production activities into a single entity.^[2] They were meant to bridge the technological gap between design bureaus and production plants, as new designs were often developed without considering the technical capabilities of the production facilities, leading to long delays between the start of development and serial production.^[3]

Famous examples from various NPOs

• 
  Lunokhod 1 from Lavochkin
• 
  Buran from Molniya
• 
  Angara from Polyot

They are usually headed by a research or design organization.^[4] Though they exist in many sectors, they are most common in electrical engineering, electronics, aviation, instrument-making and chemical industries.^[1]

Research and production association (abb. NPO), also a research and production enterprise (abb. NPP; научно-производственное предприятие (НПП)) is an organization of any organizational and legal form that conducts research and development along with their development in production and production. As a rule, the structure of the NPO includes research, design and engineering, technological organizations, pilot production and industrial enterprises.

List of NPOs

• NPO Altair
• NPO Almaz
• NPO Antey
• NPO Biosintez^[5]
• NPO Electropribor (Kharkiv, Ukraine)
• NPO Energomash (Moscow)
• NPO ELSIB (Novosibirsk)
• NPO Novator (Yekaterinburg)
• NPO Almaz (Moscow)
• NPO Avtomatiki (Yekaterinburg)
• NPO Lavochkin (Khimki)
• NPO Luch (Novosibirsk)
• NPO Luch (Podolsk)
• NPO Mashinostroyeniya (Reutov)
• NPO Molniya (Moscow)
• NPO NIIIP-NZiK (Novosibirsk)
• NPO Orion (Moscow)
• NPO Petrovax (Moscow)
• NPO Polyot (Omsk)
• NPO Splav (Tula)
• NPO Tekhnomash (Moscow)
• NPO Toriy (Moscow)
• NPO Trud/Kusnetsov (Samara)^[6][7]
• NPO Yuzhnoye (Dnipro) designers of the R-12 Dvina rocket^[6]

List of NVPs

• NVP Protek

References

1. Guroff, Gregory; Carstensen, Fred V. (2014). Entrepreneurship in Imperial Russia and the Soviet Union. Princeton University Press. ISBN 9781400855285.
2. Rockets and People, Volume III, Hot Days of the Cold War. Government Printing Office. ISBN 9780160867125.
3. Kassel, Simon (1989). Soviet Advanced Technologies in the Era of Restructuring (PDF). p. 51. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 28, 2017.
4. Barry, Donald D.; Gingsburgs, George; Maggs, Peter B. (1979). Soviet Law After Stalin: Soviet Institutions and the Administration of Law. BRILL. ISBN 9028606793.
5. "Obolensk NPO Biosintez State Research Center for Applied Microbiology". GlobalSecurity.org. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
6. "Iran Missile Chronology" (PDF). Nuclear Threat Initiative. August 2011. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
7. Shahab-5/IRSL-X-3, KOSAR/IRIS

See also

• Production association