Uralvagonzavod is a Russian machine building company located in Nizhny Tagil

Nizhny Tagil

Nizhny Tagil is a city in Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia, situated east of the virtual border between Europe and Asia. Population: -History:...

, Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

. It is one of the largest scientific and industrial complexes in Russia and the largest main battle tank

Main battle tank

A main battle tank , also known as a battle tank or universal tank, is a tank that fills the heavy direct fire role of many modern armies. They were originally conceived to replace the light, medium, heavy and super-heavy tanks. Development was spurred onwards in the Cold War with the development...

 manufacturer in the world.

The full name of the company is "UralVagonZavod" scientific industrial corporation" PLC (ОАО «Научно-производственная корпорация «УралВагонЗавод»). It is a public limited company

Public limited company

A public limited company is a limited liability company that sells shares to the public in United Kingdom company law, in the Republic of Ireland and Commonwealth jurisdictions....

. The name Уралвагонзавод (Урал Вагон Завод) means Uralrailroadcarfactory (Ural Railroad car Factory).

Operations

The company's main products include railway cars and tanks, road-building vehicles, metallurgical products, tools and consumer goods.

Production of T-90

T-90

The T-90 is a Russian third-generation main battle tank that is a modernisation of the T-72 . It is currently the most modern tank in service with the Russian Ground Forces and Naval Infantry...

 main battle tanks accounts for 18–20% of the company's overall production. In 2008, Uralvagozavod produced about 175 tanks: 62 T-90A for the Russian Ministry of Defence

Russian Ministry of Defence

The Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation exercises operational leadership of the armed forces of Russia.The Russian Minister of Defence is the nominal commander of all the armed forces, serving under the president of the Russian Federation, in whom executive authority over the military is...

, 60 T-90S for India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 and 53 T-90SA for Algeria

Algeria

Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...

. This represents the highest level of tank production at Uralvagonzavod and in Russia as a whole since 1993. Moreover, according to Moscow Defense Brief

Moscow Defense Brief

Moscow Defense Brief is a bimonthly English-language defense magazine published by Centre for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies , an independent defense think-tank.- Overview :...

, it would appear that in 2008 the number of tanks produced by the company was greater than the number of main battle tanks produced in all the other countries of the world taken together.

Railway cars and other civilian production amounted to 2/3 of the company's overall output in 2008.

The company is one of the Russian leaders in developing and manufacturing high-quality machine-building products of world class.

In 2005, the company's revenue was $874.54 million, and net profit was $1.79 million. Export share was 4.7%.

History

The plant was built during 1931-1936 (mostly during the second five-year plan), launched on October 11, 1936, and named after Felix Dzerzhinsky. Initially it manufactured freight cars.

After the German invasion

Operation Barbarossa

Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...

 of 1941, Stalin ordered hundreds of factories in Ukraine and western Russia to be evacuated east. The KhPZ Factory No. 183 in Kharkiv

Kharkiv

Kharkiv or Kharkov is the second-largest city in Ukraine.The city was founded in 1654 and was a major centre of Ukrainian culture in the Russian Empire. Kharkiv became the first city in Ukraine where the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed in December 1917 and Soviet government was...

 was moved to Nizhny Tagil by rail, and merged with the Dzerzhinsky Works, to form the Stalin Ural Tank Factory No. 183. During the second world war it became the largest producer of tank

Tank

A tank is a tracked, armoured fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat which combines operational mobility, tactical offensive, and defensive capabilities...

s in the world, including the T-34

T-34

The T-34 was a Soviet medium tank produced from 1940 to 1958. Although its armour and armament were surpassed by later tanks of the era, it has been often credited as the most effective, efficient and influential design of World War II...

. After the war, tank production was scaled down, and part of the Vagonka's manufacturing and design assets were transferred back to Kharkiv's Diesel Factory No. 75 during 1945–51.

After the war it was expanded to produce machinery of other destinations: agricultural, construction, aviation, and space, including design and production of the Vostok

Vostok rocket

Vostok was a family of rockets derived from the Soviet R-7 Semyorka ICBM designed for the human spaceflight programme. This family of rockets launched the first artificial satellite and the first manned spacecraft in human history...

, Voskhod

Voskhod rocket

The Voskhod rocket was a derivative of the Soviet R-7 ICBM designed for the human spaceflight programme but later used for launching Zenit reconnaissance satellites. It combined the R-7 with an upper stage that had been originally designed to launch interplanetary probes.There was only one main...

, Proton

Proton rocket

Proton is an expendable launch system used for both commercial and Russian government space launches. The first Proton rocket was launched in 1965 and the launch system is still in use as of 2011, which makes it one of the most successful heavy boosters in the history of spaceflight...

 and Energia

Energia

Energia was a Soviet rocket that was designed by NPO Energia to serve as a heavy-lift expendable launch system as well as a booster for the Buran spacecraft. Control system main developer enterprise was the NPO "Electropribor"...

 expendable rockets.

It is the location of the Kartsev-Venediktov Design Bureau (OKB-520) where the T-54A and T-55

T-55

The T-54 and T-55 tanks were a series of main battle tanks designed in the Soviet Union. The first T-54 prototype appeared in March 1945, just before the end of the Second World War. The T-54 entered full production in 1947 and became the main tank for armored units of the Soviet Army, armies of...

 (development of Morozov's

Kharkiv Morozov Machine Building Design Bureau

Kharkiv Morozov Machine Building Design Bureau , often simply called Morozov Design Bureau or abbreviated KMDB, is a state-owned company in Kharkiv, Ukraine, which designs armoured vehicles, including the T-80UD and T-84 main battle tanks, as well as military prime movers...

 T-54), T-62

T-62

The T-62 is a Soviet main battle tank, a further development of the T-55. Its 115 mm gun was the first smoothbore tank gun in use.The T-62 was produced between 1961 and 1975. It became a standard tank in the Soviet arsenal, partly replacing the T-55, although that tank continued to be...

, T-72

T-72

The T-72 is a Soviet-designed main battle tank that entered production in 1970. It is developed directly from Obyekt-172, and shares parallel features with the T-64A...

, and T-90

T-90

The T-90 is a Russian third-generation main battle tank that is a modernisation of the T-72 . It is currently the most modern tank in service with the Russian Ground Forces and Naval Infantry...

 tanks have been designed, and was working on one possibility for a next generation main battle tank, rumored to be called the T-95

T-95

T-95 is the common informal designation of a Russian fifth generation tank that was under development at Uralvagonzavod before being cancelled in May 2011.-History:...

, until this project was canceled in May 2010.

Its gradual privatization was planned, beginning in 2006.