Luch Design Bureau
Ukraine's precision weapons house: anti tank, air, naval missiles and test gear
State Kyiv Design Bureau Luch has spent sixty years building guidance and control hardware, and over the last decade it has become the enterprise behind most of Ukraine's home grown precision weapons. It was set up in 1965 to develop automatic control and diagnostics systems for Soviet aircraft armament, work that produced the Ingul and Trubezh complexes and, from 1981, the Gurt multifunction station able to prepare more than forty missile types. In 1986 the bureau built the tracking rudder drive unit for an R-77 class air to air missile, and the compact brushless motors developed since have gone into the digital control packages that guide tank fired rounds. That heritage is a live business line rather than a museum piece. The bureau sells the Gurt-M complex, Ingul-A container based checkout equipment and the AKIPS family of mobile test stations, designs the servo electric control surface actuators that go inside missiles and torpedoes, and holds the national role for extending the service life of aviation, anti aircraft and mine and torpedo weapons.
Antitank weapons systems are the commercial core. Skif, sold in Ukraine as Stugna-P, is a tripod launcher fired from a remote operator console and became one of the most photographed Ukrainian weapons of the war. Bar'er is the vehicle carried version, Bar'er-V arms helicopters, Bar'er-VK is the shipborne variant and Bar'er-S 543 a further land configuration. Corsar is a lighter shoulder fired system, Sarmat another launcher in the family, and Amulet a related complex. Separately the bureau makes gun launched antitank guided missiles: Falarick 90 and Falarick 105 for low pressure and rifled tank guns, Kombat and Konus for 125mm and 115mm barrels, and the Stugna round for the MT-12. Training simulators including SKIF-UTS and the KTK1 checking kit are sold alongside, together with a guided mortar armament system and a portable rocket grenade launcher. Around thirty Ukrainian enterprises feed the wider programme.
Air weapons and naval missile weapon systems account for the rest. AR-8 and the corrected AR-8L are aircraft rockets, Alta is a helicopter launched antitank system, and Sokil-300 is a reconnaissance and strike unmanned aircraft designed around the bureau's own missiles. Arbalet-K is a short range shipborne air defence mounting. Two programmes moved Luch out of the specialist bracket entirely. Vilkha, a guided rebuild of the Soviet Smerch rocket, gave Ukraine a precision multiple launch rocket system, and the R-360 Neptune anti ship cruise missile, later given a land attack role, is the weapon widely reported to have sunk the cruiser Moskva in April 2022. Luch belongs to Ukrainian Defense Industry and depends on the Artem plant in Kyiv for series manufacture. Reporting on its facilities and current output is thin by design, and the bureau publishes nothing about production rates. Provided services run to modernisation, repair and resource extension of existing stocks, plus scientific and technical support on the documentation that governs how guided weapons are developed, operated and disposed of.
- Anti tank guided missile design
- Gun launched guided projectile design
- Anti ship and land attack cruise missile development
- Guided multiple launch rocket systems
- Shipborne short range air defence
- Air launched rockets and helicopter weapon systems
- Unmanned aircraft integration with guided weapons
- Automatic control and diagnostics systems for guided weapons
- Servo electric control surface actuators for missiles and torpedoes
- Missile life extension and refurbishment
- Anti tank missile training simulators
Man portable tripod launched antitank missile system fired from a remote operator console.
Vehicle carried antitank missile system fitted to armoured personnel carrier turrets.
Helicopter mounted version of the Bar'er antitank missile system.
Naval missile guided weapon system derived from Bar'er for small combatants.
Further land based configuration of the Bar'er antitank missile system.
Light portable antitank missile system for infantry use.
Antitank missile system in the bureau's portable and vehicle launcher family.
Missile system marketed alongside the Skif and Corsar launchers.
Gun launched laser beam riding antitank guided missile for 90mm low pressure guns.
Laser beam guided antitank missile fired from 105mm rifled tank guns and turret systems.
125mm gun launched antitank guided missile round for tanks of Soviet lineage.
Gun launched antitank guided missile round in the same family as Kombat.
Guided antitank round fired from the MT-12 anti tank gun.
Helicopter launched antitank missile system for armour, boats and slow air targets.
Unguided and corrected air weapons rockets for fixed wing aircraft and helicopters.
Short range shipborne air defence missile mounting.
Reconnaissance and strike unmanned aircraft system carrying the bureau's guided missiles.
Guided 300mm multiple launch rocket system rebuilt from the Soviet Smerch.
Subsonic anti ship cruise missile with a later land attack variant.
Mobile complex that checks and prepares more than fifty aircraft missile and guided bomb modifications.
Container built checkout and preparation complex for aircraft missiles and corrected bombs.
Family of mobile automatic checkout and test stations for aviation, anti submarine and torpedo weapons.
Classroom and field simulator for training Skif antitank missile operators.
Checking and training set supporting the bureau's antitank weapons systems and simulators.
National role coordinating resource and service life extension of aviation, anti aircraft and mine and torpedo weapons.
Design and manufacture of tracking servo electric control surface actuator blocks for missiles and torpedoes.
Programs & Platforms
Kyiv, Ukraine
Ownership
State-owned