Russia: Central Scientific Research Radiotechnical Institute (TsNIRTI)

LOCATION:
Address: Novaya Basmannaya 20, Moscow 107066
Telephone: (095) 263-9844
Fax: (095) 261-7910
["Vooruzheniye, boyepripasy, i vzryvchatyye veshchestva RF, Moskovskaya obl.," Vystavki i Yarmarki Rossii i SNG, 2000; in Integrum Techno, http://www.integrum.ru/.]
ADMINISTRATION:
General Director: Aleksey Shulunov
Assistant General Director: Boris Koliashvili
Deputy Director for External Economic Contacts: Yuriy Perunov
[Petr Chachin, "GosTsNIRTI - 55 let," PC Week, 16 November 1998; in Integrum Techno, http://www.integrum.ru/.] 
BACKGROUND:
The institute was founded on 4 July 1943 as the Radio Location Council under the State Defense Committee. It was later renamed NII-108. During the war it reportedly constructed communication, radar, and jamming equipment for Soviet aircraft. After the war it developed night- and poor-visibility bombing and navigation apparatus, ground search radar, radar warning devices, airborne jammers, and other electronics. It is considered Russia's main developer of electronic countermeasures (ECM) equipment for land, air, naval, and space use. Since 1958 NII-108 has been involved in the design of anti-ballistic missile (ABM) system penetration aids and is the leading Russian enterprise in this field. In 1958 NII-108 created Special Sector No. 3 to design ABM system penetration aids. It was headed by academicians Boris Vvedenskiy, Mikhail Lentovich, and Vladimir Fok. In 1961, under General Petr Pleshakov, at the time NII-108's general director, it began work on three separate types of ABM penetration aides, designated Verba (consisting of inflatable decoys and miniature dipole reflectors), Kaktus (radar signature-reducing warhead coatings), and Krot (a miniature active radar jamming system). The R-36 [NATO designation SS-9 'Scarp'] could reportedly carry hundreds of inflatable decoys, or up to half a million dipole reflectors. All three systems underwent testing in 1962 and 1963, which included missile test flights. In 1963 NII-108 designed the Kupol system, which integrated components of Verba, Kaktus, and Krot projects and lessons learned from the flight tests. NII-108 collaborated with the  Pivdenne Design Bureau (formerly KB Yuzhnoye), NPO Mashinostroyeniya, and the Moscow Institute of Thermal Technology to develop the following ABM countermeasures systems: List, Palma, Bereza, Kashtan, Magnoliya, Lavr, Vyaz, Kiparis, and others, which were deployed on several types of Soviet ballistic missiles. It also developed "heavy" decoys which, unlike inflatable decoys, did not burn up upon re-entry but continued to function as effective decoys during the terminal phase of flight. In addition to the R-36, missiles equipped with NII-108's penetration aids include the RT-2P [NATO designation SS-13 'Savage'], MR-UR-100 [SS-17 'Spanker'], R-36M [SS-18 'Satan'], and others.
[Mikhail Pervov, "Raketnyye kompleksy RVSN," Tekhnika i vooruzheniye, May-June 2001, p. 39.]
ACTIVITIES:
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, state orders for defense products decreased considerably. Like other Russian defense establishments, TsNIRTI is owed considerable sums of money by the Ministry of Defense for completed military orders.[1] Institute officials have complained that the absence of government orders and confusion in defense conversion programs have brought the institute to the brink of collapse, and forced them to dedicate a considerable amount of time to solving financial problems. Since 1994 the institute has been authorized to export its production, and these sales have eased the situation somewhat, allowing it to finance continued R&D activities and retain its personnel.[5] In 1997 the Ministry of Defense placed orders with TsNIRTI to conduct research for a sum of 24 million rubles. However, Ministry of Defense representatives commented that the ministry was not permitted to pay TsNIRTI this sum of money without the government's permission.[4]  According to TsNIRTI General Director Aleksey Shulunov, the worst period of state order non-payment was in 1998.[2] The Defense Enterprise Assistance League, in which Shulunov serves as vice-president, claimed that the situation in 1998 reached a point at which 80% of defense industries faced bankruptcy and the country faced the possibility of mass strikes and civil unrest.[3] TsNIRTI's leadership has sought to redress the situation through legal means, and in February 2000 an arbitration court in Moscow awarded TsNIRTI 16.44 million rubles owed to it by the Ministry of Defense. In April 2001 Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov cancelled penalties levied on defense enterprises, including TsNIRTI, for non-payment of taxes, which was caused by the government's failure to pay the enterprises for their work on fulfilling state orders. In TsNIRTI's case, this sum reached some 50 million rubles.[2]

In order to make up for the shortfall in defense orders, like other firms, TsNIRTI has attempted to develop and market products for the civilian market. Conversion activities include automation equipment for railroad rolling stock, blood analysis equipment, etc. Conversion activities include a new train automation system and a videotester for rapid blood analysis for use in laboratories and field conditions. Institute officials complain, however, that they are not able to sell their products in large amounts due to the continuing economic crisis in Russia.[6]
Sources:
[1] Mikhail Kozyrev, "Kreditory dostali Sergeyeva," Vedomosti, 16 February 2001, p. A3; in WPS VPK i Biznes, 23 February 2001; in Integrum Techno, http://www.integrum.ru/.
[2] "Peni VPK spisany," AviaPort.Ru Web Site, http://www.avias.com/; in Integrum Techno, http://www.integrum.ru/.
[3] "Zayavleniye ot prezidiuma Ligi sodeystviya oboronnym predpriyatiyam," Nezavisimoye voyennoye obozreniye, 24 July 1998; in Integrum Techno, http://www.integrum.ru/.
[4] "Apellyatsionnaya instantsiya postanovila vzyskat s Minoborony RF 16,4 mln rub v polzy TsNIRTI po gosoboronzakazu," Praym-Tass, 2 February 2000; in Integrum Techno, http://www.integrum.ru/.
[5] Petr Chachin, "GosTsNIRTI - 55 let," PC Week, 16 November 1998; in Integrum Techno, http://www.integrum.ru/.
[6] "Tsentralnyy nauchno-issledovatelstiy radiotekhnicheskiy institut aktiviziruyet rabotu po konversionnym programmam," Agentstvo voyennykh novostey, 10 May 2000; in Integrum Techno, http://www.integrum.ru/. {Entered 10/5/2001 MJ}