NPO "Almaz" / Almaz Scientific Production Association

Producing SAM systems for the Troops of National Air Defense, NPO Almaz is one of the largest associations of the Russian military-industrial complex. The rival company, the ANTEY Industrial Concern, typically produced mobile surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems for the Army's air-defense units. Over time, the leading products of the two development and production complexes converged, and their institutional patrons reveresed, with Antey producing the highly mobile S-300V SA-12 GLADIATOR system for the Ground Forces, while Almaz produced the similar S-300PMU SA-10 GRUMBLE, initially deployed at static sites by PVO forces.

The Almaz Scientific Production Association was a large defense electronics research and manufacturing association which was involved in the design, development and production of the S-25, S-75, and S-125 (SA-2, -3, and -5) long-range air defense missile systems and continues work on the S-300 PMU (SA-10), a system similar to the US Patriot. Almaz makes missile navigation systems.

The Almaz Scientific Production Association employed more than 50,000 people in 1995, including 7,000 engineers and designers, spread over 5 plants located in Moscow (2 plants), St. Petersburg, Omsk, and Ryazan. Each plant has its own design bureau. One of the Moscow plants, "TAPEM", is a modern test facility for integrated circuits, navigation systems for missiles, optical laser gyroscopes, dynamic inertial and mechanical electronic system temperature controls.

In the beginning of 1995 the state enterprise OF NPO Almaz was converted into the open joint-stock company OF TSKB Almaz. This made it possible to conduct independent economic policy and control of property with the retention/maintaining of the state control, necessary for the enterprise, which carries out the most important state orders.

Work on the contracts with the foreign customers, and also effective use of the free compartments (of about 15%), which were placed the banks, made it possible to draw significant financial means, which supported enterprise at the complex moment/torque and it helped to ensure the necessary level of scientific developments and production specials-technician.

Tehnical capabilities included multi-layered printed-circuit boards; computer chips and other integrated circuits; semi-conductor production, measuring and test equipment; lasers for industrial and medical uses; computer-aided design systems; controllers for numerically-controlled machine tools; consumer goods, mainly television sets and tape recorders; medical diagnostic equipment; computer printers; automobile components, including electronic ignition systems, security receiver-transmitters, and engine-monitoring systems.

Conversion projects under development in the early 1990s included batteries for space power applications; medical diagnostic equipment, notably an ultrasonic scanning system; alarm systems; electronic banking equipment; computer-aided manufacturing equipment; and high density television technology (HDTV). Almaz used modern semiconductor production measuring and test equipment including a robotic integrated circuit test machine. It also uses special manufacturing technology for multi-layer printed-circuit boards (16 and 24 layers) and has an automated warehousing system.

In late 2001 Victor Ivanov, deputy head of the president of the Russian Federation administration, was elected the Chairman of the research-and-production association (RPA) "Almaz" board of directors. Earlier, V.Ivanov was elected the chairman of the concern " Antey " board of directors. The concern "Antey" and RPA "Almaz" are the largest Russian developers and manufacturers of antiaircraft defense systems. It was supposed that the concern "Antey " and "Almaz" will be a part of the newly created "Concern PVO (air defense)".