Vympel NPO is a Russian research and production company (NPO) 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).
History
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.[1] 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.[2] 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.[3]