Vympel NPO is a Russian research and production company based near Moscow, mostly known for their air-to-air missiles. Other projects include SAM and ABM defenses. It was started in the Soviet era as an OKB (experimental design bureau).
Formerly | OKB-134 |
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Company type | Joint Stock Company |
Industry | Defence |
Founded | 1949 |
Headquarters | , Russia |
Products | Missiles, Anti-ballistic missiles, Anti-aircraft missile systems |
Revenue | $649 million[1] (2014) |
Parent | Tactical Missiles Corporation |
Website | vympelmkb |
Vympel started out after World War II as OKB-134, with Ivan I. Toropov leading the team. The first product they designed was the K-7 missile.[2] Their first missile built in serial production was the K-13 (R-13) in 1958. Toropov moved to Tushino Aviation Facility in 1961 and was replaced by Andrey Lyapin .[3] Somewhere between 1966 and 1968 the OKB got renamed to Vympel. In 1977 Matus Bisnovat of OKB-4 Molniya died, and all missile related work was passed to Vympel. G. Khokhlov led the team until 1981, when Genadiy A. Sokolovski succeeded him.[4]
In 1992 the GosMKB Vympel got started on the basis of the OKB[5] and in 1994 Sokolovski became the director of development at the company.
In May 2004 the Tactical Missiles Corporation was formed and Vympel became a part of it, as the design and development facility.
55°49′30″N 37°26′24″E / 55.825°N 37.440°E