Design Office “Pivdenne” by M. Yangiel

The office was established in 1951 in Dnipropetrovsk (Dnipro nowadays), as a department of the Production Association Yuzhny Machine-Building Plan (“Pivdenmasz”). In 1954 it was transformed into a Special Design Bureau No. 586. under the leadership of Mikhail Yangiel, one of the main specialists in the rockets construction. Design Office “Pivdenne” designed ballistic missiles R-12, R-16 and R-36 in the times of the Soviet Union. They were the basic arms of Soviet Rocket Forces. The R-36 ballistic missile was the terror of NATO during the Cold War. Its last modification could carry 10 nuclear warheads capable of simultaneous attack on various targets. It was called SS-18 Satan by NATO. R-12, R-16 and R-36 were produced in the Production Association Yuzhny Machine-Building (“Pivdenmasz”). It was initially established in 1944 as a car factory. The first missiles were designed by Sergiy Korolov, the chief designer of the Soviet ballistic missiles. They were manufactured in Dnipropetrovsk in 1951. “Pivdenmasz” produced strategic ballistic missiles constructed in the local design office since 1954. - I recently visited one of the factories and saw how the rockets leave that place. Literally, like sausages from the vending machine - said the Politburo First Secretary Nikita Khrushchev, describing his visit to Dnipropetrovsk in 1958. You can see all types of rockets produced in the Aerospace Museum in “Pivdenne”. An interesting exhibit is one of the few preserved engines of the German V2 rocket.