Kharkiv State Aircraft Manufacturing Company

Kharkiv State Aircraft Manufacturing Company, also known as Kharkiv Aviation Factory and abbreviated KSAMC or KhAZ, is a Ukrainian aircraft manufacturing enterprise based in Kharkiv. Its industrial history reaches back to aircraft-repair facilities established in the city in 1923, followed by the formal establishment of the manufacturing plant on September 17, 1926. The factory was created during the early Soviet industrialization period and became part of the aviation-production system centered on Kharkiv and the wider Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. The original facilities were constructed by Junkers Flugzeug und Motorenwerke AG before Adolf Hitler's rise to power. The project was connected with the Weimar Republic's covert military and industrial cooperation with the Soviet Union, which sought to bypass the restrictions imposed on Germany's armed forces by the Treaty of Versailles. This early association placed the Kharkiv site within a broader network of aviation technology transfer, industrial development, and military production. During the Soviet era, the plant was known as Aircraft Production Plant 135. It was also identified in United States intelligence terminology as Kharkiv Airframe Plant 135. Over subsequent decades, the facility manufactured or participated in the production of a wide range of aircraft types. Its historical portfolio included fighters such as the Grigorovich I-Z, Grigorovich IP-1, Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15, and Sukhoi Su-2; the Yakovlev Yak-18 trainer; and passenger, transport, and special-purpose aircraft associated with Soviet design bureaux. The plant's output and production associations included the Tupolev Tu-104, Tu-124, Tu-134, and Tu-141, as well as Antonov designs including the An-72, An-74, and An-140. KhAZ was not limited to serial production. Its history also includes experimental aircraft and projects connected with the Kharkiv aviation-design tradition, including the Kalinin K-7, Kharkiv KhAI-1, KhAI-4, and KhAI-5. The company's name is therefore associated both with aircraft manufacturing and with the industrial ecosystem surrounding Kharkiv's aviation engineering institutions, including the National Aerospace University—Kharkiv Aviation Institute. The enterprise has its own aerodrome, Kharkiv North Airport, also known as Kharkiv Sokilnyky Airport, with the ICAO code UKHV. This airfield supported the movement, testing, and operation of aircraft connected with the factory. The combination of manufacturing facilities and an aerodrome was characteristic of major Soviet aircraft-production sites. After Ukrainian independence, the company continued to be identified as a state aircraft-manufacturing enterprise. Publicly available reference material establishes its historical importance and product associations but does not provide sufficiently current information to confirm its present operating status, production volume, ownership structure in detail, financial condition, or current aircraft program. Accordingly, the brand is best understood as a historically significant Ukrainian aerospace-manufacturing name whose contemporary operational position requires further verification.

The industrial origins of Kharkiv State Aircraft Manufacturing Company lie in aircraft-repair facilities established in Kharkiv in 1923. The later manufacturing plant was formally established on September 17, 1926, during the Soviet Union's rapid expansion of industrial and military capabilities. The site was initially constructed by the German aviation company Junkers Flugzeug und Motorenwerke AG. This construction formed part of the hidden German-Soviet military and technical relationship of the Weimar period. Germany used cooperation with the Soviet Union to develop and maintain aviation expertise despite the military restrictions imposed by the Treaty of Versailles. Once incorporated into the Soviet aviation-industrial system, the Kharkiv facility became known as Aircraft Production Plant 135. United States intelligence sources referred to it as Kharkiv Airframe Plant 135. The factory's location in Kharkiv connected it with one of the Soviet Union's important centers of engineering education, aircraft design, and industrial production. The plant's historical aircraft portfolio was extensive. It produced or was associated with fighter aircraft including the Grigorovich I-Z, Grigorovich IP-1, Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15, and Sukhoi Su-2. It also manufactured the Yakovlev Yak-18 trainer and participated in the production of several Soviet passenger and transport aircraft. The listed passenger and special-purpose types include the Kalinin K-2, K-3, K-4, and K-5, the Tupolev Tu-104, Tu-124, Tu-134, and Tu-141, and Antonov aircraft such as the An-72, An-74, and An-140. Kharkiv's aviation-production role also extended to experimental and research-oriented aircraft. The plant's associated types include the Kalinin K-7 and the Kharkiv KhAI-1, KhAI-4, and KhAI-5. These projects reflect the relationship between factory production, local design work, and the city's aviation institutes. The National Aerospace University—Kharkiv Aviation Institute is part of the same broader regional aerospace environment, although it is a separate institution from the manufacturing company. The factory operates or historically operated an associated aerodrome known as Kharkiv North Airport, also called Kharkiv Sokilnyky Airport. The airfield's ICAO identifier is UKHV. Such an on-site or closely associated airfield supported aircraft handling and operational activity connected with production. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the enterprise became part of independent Ukraine's state aerospace-industrial inheritance. Its public identity continued under the Kharkiv State Aircraft Manufacturing Company name, with Kharkiv Aviation Factory and KhAZ used as alternative names. The available reference material does not establish a complete post-1991 chronology of reorganizations, production contracts, leadership changes, or current manufacturing activity. It also does not provide verified current financial or operational figures. The company's historical significance is therefore well documented, while its present status remains uncertain and should be checked against Ukrainian corporate and aerospace-industry records.

• 1926

  Manufacturing plant formally established

  [1]Kharkiv State Aircraft Manufacturing Companyen.wikipedia.org

  The Kharkiv aircraft-manufacturing plant was formally established on September 17, 1926.

• 1923

  Aircraft-repair facilities established in Kharkiv

  [1]Kharkiv State Aircraft Manufacturing Companyen.wikipedia.org

  Aircraft-repair facilities were established in Kharkiv, forming the industrial foundation from which the later aircraft-manufacturing enterprise developed.

• Known as Aircraft Production Plant 135 during the Soviet era

  [1]Kharkiv State Aircraft Manufacturing Companyen.wikipedia.org

  During the Soviet period, the facility operated under the designation Aircraft Production Plant 135 and was identified in United States intelligence terminology as Kharkiv Airframe Plant 135.

• Associated aerodrome identified as Kharkiv North Airport

  [1]Kharkiv State Aircraft Manufacturing Companyen.wikipedia.org

  The factory's aviation infrastructure included Kharkiv North Airport, also known as Kharkiv Sokilnyky Airport, with ICAO code UKHV.

A state-owned Ukrainian aircraft-production enterprise with roots in Soviet aviation manufacturing and a broad historical portfolio spanning military, transport, passenger, trainer, and experimental aircraft.

• Fighters and military aircraft

  Military aircraft

  The factory's military-aircraft associations include the Grigorovich I-Z, Grigorovich IP-1, Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15, and Sukhoi Su-2. These aircraft represent different phases of Soviet fighter and military-aircraft development and illustrate the plant's role in the Soviet defense-industrial system.

• Trainer aircraft

  Yakovlev Yak-18

  The Yakovlev Yak-18 was a Soviet trainer aircraft associated with the Kharkiv factory. Its inclusion in the plant's historical portfolio reflects the enterprise's role in producing aircraft for pilot training as well as combat and transport applications.

• Transport and regional aircraft

  Antonov An-72, An-74, and An-140

  The factory was associated with production of Antonov transport and regional aircraft, including the An-72, An-74, and An-140. These programs placed KhAZ within Ukraine's and the former Soviet Union's network for manufacturing larger utility, cargo, and passenger airframes.

• Passenger and special-purpose aircraft

  Tupolev Tu-104, Tu-124, Tu-134, and Tu-141

  The Kharkiv plant's historical product associations include several Tupolev aircraft, spanning early Soviet jet passenger aircraft and the Tu-141 special-purpose unmanned aircraft. These programs demonstrate the breadth of the plant's manufacturing responsibilities across civil and military aviation.

• Experimental and research aircraft

  Experimental aircraft

  Aircraft associated with the factory's experimental tradition include the Kalinin K-7 and the Kharkiv KhAI-1, KhAI-4, and KhAI-5. These projects are part of the wider Kharkiv aviation-design and engineering history rather than a clearly documented current commercial product line.

• Ultralight aircraft

  KhAZ ViS-3

  The KhAZ ViS-3 is listed among the ultralight aircraft associated with the Kharkiv aviation factory. Available reference material does not provide sufficient detail to establish its production scale, commercial positioning, or current availability.

1. 1Kharkiv State Aircraft Manufacturing Companyen.wikipedia.org