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Russian Optics - Post-Soviet

In the history of the Russian defense industry there was a difficult period when companies, deprived of public contracts, had to survive based on orders from abroad. The Russian optical industry was in the deep coma, with only space related firms surviving ( that's why MiG-35 optical complex turned out to be so good), so they need jump-start example to fire up their own family of specialized optics. Plus there had been no support from the government to bankrupt factories, which never operate in the private sector, beyond words and media light flashes.

Among the achievements of the industry in 1980–1990s, the following can be underlined:

• Serial production of civil equipment and devices - immunoenzymometric analyser, Sapfir medical thermal imager, remote control systems for Record, Rubin and Horizont television sets
• Development of the MK-100 metrological facility to control the parameters of thermal imaging equipment
• Production of experimental samples of reconfigurable filters for Venera 13 and Venera 14 landing modules
• Acquisition of IR-images of the Earth's surface and highly informative images with the use of Izumrud and Izumrud-M space equipment
• Successful testing of aircraft-based IR-equipment for mine and mine field detection at a height of up to 150 m
• Development of a noise-proof sun-blind ultraviolet direction-finding channel for helicopter and aircraft missile protection complexes

The D.S.Rozhdestvensky Optical Society established in 1990 played an important role in the establishment and maintenance of scientific contacts among the companies of the industry.

In 2005, Buran-M sighting complexes for armored vehicles were successfully tested and accepted for military purposes. In the same year, Gamma-L and Gamma-Z optical-electronic multi-zone remote sensing devices were developed. In 2006, the Geoton optical-electronic Earth HD remote sensing system for the research of natural resources and prevention of natural disasters was put into operation. Specialists of the optical industry participated in the development of a new tactical ballistic missile system which was put into service by the Russian army.

Russian image intensification scopes of the third generation had a resolution of about 32 lines per mm in the 1990s. Now they have more than double that. The quality has improved because money made was invested in retooling with modern machines and precision tooling. In 2008, within the framework of the governmental policy for the reformation of the Russian defense industry complex and in order to improve the competitive performance of the Russian optical industry in the world market, Shvabe OJSC Holding was established - a structure that united the leading companies of the country. Today, Shvabe encompasses 64 organizations, including research institutes, design bureaus, and scientific and production associations. The optical holding produces over 6,500 products that are supplied to 95 countries around the world.

At the international Paris Airshow 2013 and at Aero India 2013, the Holding presented optical locating stations for Su-27 and MiG-29 aircraft and their modifications, as well as a search and track system for Mi-17 helicopters. These systems were fully developed using modern components. This is equipment that will function effectively for the next twenty years.

The items Shvabe Holding presented at MAKS-2015 Salon included 46 new samples of products. In particular, an innovative optical electronic complex for new generation planes presented at MAKS-2015 has already been successfully tested and accepted for operation. The presented unique wide-coverage multi-spectrum optical electronic Earth remote sensing equipment (ERS) will be installed at Soyuz launch vehicle during its first launch from Vostochny space launching site. This ERS equipotent is unique in its class, has a wide hold range and enables solving a wide range of problems, including environmental monitoring, emergence situation control, geologic survey etc.

Shvabe cooperates with Chinese partners in satellite navigation. There are different navigation systems now – Russian GLONASS, Chinese Beidou, European Galileo and American GPS. Shvabe manufactures universal satellite receivers which will work with any of these systems. They can be used for very quick and accurate positioning and finding geographical coordinates anywhere in the world. This will enable to receive coordinates for motor transport, for agricultural devices, for construction sites etc.