Moscow Aviation Plant No. 23

Moscow Aviation Plant No. 23
Name	Plant No. 23
Native name	Московский авиационный завод № 23
Founded	1930s
Defunct	(reorganized)
Location	Moscow, Soviet Union; Russian SFSR; Russian Federation
Industry	Aerospace manufacturing
Products	Aircraft, aerostructures
Key people	(designers and directors)

Moscow Aviation Plant No. 23

Moscow Aviation Plant No. 23 was a Soviet-era aircraft manufacturing facility located in Moscow that participated in the production, repair, and modification of military and civil aircraft across the 20th century. The plant worked with prominent design bureaus and state institutions during industrialization, the Great Patriotic War, and the Cold War, contributing to strategic aviation programs and post-Soviet reorganization. Its workforce, facilities, and output connected to major enterprises such as Sukhoi, MiG, Tupolev, Ilyushin, and state ministries of the Soviet Union and later the Russian Federation.

History

Plant No. 23 was established during Soviet industrial expansion in the interwar period under directives from the Council of People's Commissars and the Five-Year Plan (Soviet Union), growing alongside the Gosplan and the People's Commissariat of Defence Industry. During the late 1930s the facility undertook licensed production and assembly for orders placed by the Red Army and the Workers' and Peasants' Red Air Fleet. In the early 1940s the plant shifted to wartime production during the Operation Barbarossa period, supporting front-line aviation needs and cooperating with evacuated design bureaus such as those led by Andrei Tupolev and Sergei Ilyushin. Postwar reconstruction saw integration with Cold War programs directed by the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union and coordination with ministries including the Ministry of the Aviation Industry (Soviet Union), enabling participation in jet-era production and modernization initiatives.

Throughout the Khrushchev and Brezhnev eras the plant engaged in serial manufacture, overhaul, and adaptation for models originating at design bureaus like Pavel Sukhoi's bureau and Mikoyan-Gurevich. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union the enterprise faced restructuring tied to commercial agencies such as Rosaviakosmos successors and state consolidation efforts under United Aircraft Corporation and other defence-to-civil transitions.

Facilities and Organization

The plant complex comprised assembly hangars, metalworking shops, testing airfields, and non-destructive testing laboratories, modeled on standards promulgated by the State Committee for Science and Technology (USSR) and industrial norms developed through collaboration with academic institutes like the Moscow Aviation Institute and the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute (TsAGI). Organizationally, the enterprise reported to sectoral ministries and worked in contractual partnership with design bureaux including OKB-155, OKB-51, and independent constructors from the Soviet Academy of Sciences network.

Workshops supported toolmaking, sheetmetal forming, heat treatment, and avionics integration following specifications from the Gosstandard and the Ministry of Radio Industry (Soviet Union). The plant maintained testing rigs, prototype assembly lines, and logistics links to Moscow transport hubs such as the Moscow Ring Road and rail yards used by the Soviet Railways. Training cadres came from vocational colleges connected to institutions like the Bauman Moscow State Technical University and the Moscow State Technical University of Civil Aviation.

Aircraft and Products

Plant No. 23 produced, repaired, and modified a range of airframes and components including fighters, bombers, trainers, and transport derivatives developed by design bureaus such as Mikoyan, Sukhoi, Tupolev, and Ilyushin. Production lines handled fuselage sections, wing assemblies, control surfaces, and empennage units for types in serial service with the Soviet Air Force and the Aeroflot fleet. The facility also carried out final assembly and retrofits for avionics suites provided by enterprises like Radioelectronic Technologies (RET) predecessors and performed structural overhauls mandated by the State Military-Industrial Commission.

Special projects included limited-run prototypes and conversion programs for airframes used by organizations such as the Ministry of Defence (Soviet Union), civilian research institutes including GosNIIAS, and export contracts brokered through Rosvooruzhenie and other arms trade channels. Subassemblies produced at the plant were incorporated into larger production cascades managed by leading aviation conglomerates of the era.

Role in Soviet and Russian Aviation

As an industrial node, the plant served as a subcontractor and maintenance base for the Soviet Air Defence Forces, the Soviet Naval Aviation, and civilian operators under Aeroflot oversight, linking Moscow’s industrial capacity with national procurement plans overseen by the State Planning Committee (Gosplan). Its involvement in overhaul cycles, life-extension programs, and quick-repair capabilities made it integral during wartime mobilization and Cold War readiness. In the post-Soviet period, the enterprise contributed to retooling efforts aligned with military reform in Russia and engaged in limited civil production under market conditions shaped by ministries and joint-stock restructuring efforts.

Notable Incidents and Accidents

During its operational lifetime the plant experienced industrial accidents and incidents typical of heavy manufacturing, including on-site fires, structural collapses during renovations, and accidental damage during handling of large airframe components—events that prompted investigations by bodies such as the State Labor Inspectorate and local Moscow authorities. Several high-profile assembly or test incidents involving aircraft from associated design bureaus led to official inquiries by the Minister of Aviation Industry and technical commissions drawn from TsAGI and design OKBs. Wartime relocations and evacuation convoys tied to the Battle of Moscow resulted in logistic losses and interruptions to production.

Legacy and Preservation

The legacy of the plant is preserved through surviving airframes in museum collections like the Central Air Force Museum (Monino), archival materials housed at the Russian State Archive of the Navy and aviation institutes, and the oral histories contributed by former employees recorded in projects linked to the Russian Aviation Museum movement. Components and design documentation influenced later production practices adopted by successors within the United Aircraft Corporation framework and by industrial parks in Moscow. Commemorations have been organized by veterans' associations and municipal cultural bodies such as the Moscow City Duma and regional heritage groups.

Category:Aerospace companies of the Soviet Union Category:Aircraft manufacturers of Russia