Dux (russian: Завод «Дукс», Zavod "Duks") was a bicycle/

automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded ...

aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines. ...

factory A factory, manufacturing plant or a production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with t ...

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

before and during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. The factory was founded in 1893. The name comes from the Latin word (leader). Julius Möller (also written Juli Meller) was owner of the factory, which was primarily focused on the building of French aircraft designs.

History

Plant #1

The factory was established in Moscow in 1893 as a bicycle production plant. Production shifted to aircraft manufacturing in 1910. During World War I Dux produced Voisin LAS,

Nieuport 17 The Nieuport 17 C.1 (or Nieuport XVII C.1 in contemporary sources) was a French sesquiplane fighter designed and manufactured by the Nieuport company during World War I. An improvement over the Nieuport 11, it was a little larger than earlier Ni ...

Nieuport 24 The Nieuport 24 (or Nieuport XXIV C.1 in contemporary sources) was a World War I French sesquiplane fighter aircraft designed by Gustave Delage as a development of the successful Nieuport 17. The Nieuport 24 had the misfortune to be the penult ...

Farman Farman Aviation Works (french: Avions Farman) was a French aircraft company founded and run by the brothers Richard, Henri, and Maurice Farman. They designed and constructed aircraft and engines from 1908 until 1936; during the French nationa ...

family of aircraft including models IV,

VII VII or vii may refer to: the Roman numeral 7 Art and entertainment * The Vii, a video game console * vii, leading-tone triad, see diminished triad * ''VII'' (Blitzen Trapper album) * ''VII'' (Just-Ice album) * ''VII'' (Teyana Taylor album) * ...

, XVI, XXX, as well as a large number of military bicycles. After the

October Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key mome ...

the plant was named "Aircraft plant #1 named after OSOAVIAKHIM" or "GAZ No. 1". Farmans and Nieuports were left in production. In 1923 a design bureau was established at the plant, headed by

Nikolai Nikolaevich Polikarpov Nikolai Nikolaevich Polikarpov (russian: Никола́й Никола́евич Полика́рпов; – 30 July 1944) was a Soviet aeronautical engineer and aircraft designer, known as the "King of Fighters". He designed the I-15 series o ...

; this would later become known as the

Polikarpov Design Bureau Polikarpov Design Bureau was a Soviet OKB (design bureau) for aircraft, led by Nikolai Nikolaevich Polikarpov. Dux Factory was acquired by the USSR and became part of Polikarpov. After the death of Polikarpov on 30 July 1944 at the age of ...

. Production models included

I-5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels through the states of Californi ...

I-15 I15 may refer to: * Interstate 15, a north–south Interstate Highway in the United States of America * Polikarpov I-15 The Polikarpov I-15 (russian: И-15) was a Soviet biplane fighter aircraft of the 1930s. Nicknamed ''Chaika'' (''russian: � ...

, I-15bis,

I-153 The Polikarpov I-153 ''Chaika'' (Russian ''Чайка'', "Seagull") was a late 1930s Soviet biplane fighter. Developed as an advanced version of the I-15 with a retractable undercarriage, the I-153 fought in the Soviet-Japanese combats in Mongo ...

I-16 I16 may refer to: * Interstate 16, an interstate highway in the U.S. state of Georgia * Polikarpov I-16, a Soviet fighter aircraft introduced in the 1930s * Halland Regiment * , a Japanese Type C submarine * i16, a name for the 16-bit signed integ ...

, R-5, and R-Zet aircraft. Polikarpov also built Airco DH.9A (which later became

Polikarpov R-1 The Airco DH.9A was a British single-engined light bomber designed and first used shortly before the end of the First World War. It was a development of the unsuccessful Airco DH.9 bomber, featuring a strengthened structure and, crucially, repl ...

Polikarpov R-2 The Airco DH.9A was a British single-engined light bomber designed and first used shortly before the end of the First World War. It was a development of the unsuccessful Airco DH.9 bomber, featuring a strengthened structure and, crucially, repl ...

) and

Airco DH.4 The Aircraft Manufacturing Company Limited (Airco) was an early British aircraft manufacturer. Established during 1912, it grew rapidly during the First World War, referring to itself as the largest aircraft company in the world by 1918. Ai ...

during the 1920s and 1930s. Plant #1 produced the

MiG-3 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-3) was a Soviet fighter-interceptor used during World War II. It was a development of the MiG-1 by the OKO (opytno-konstruktorskij otdel — Experimental Design Departme ...

before evacuation in October 1941. Plant #1 was evacuated to

Samara Samara ( rus, Сама́ра, p=sɐˈmarə), known from 1935 to 1991 as Kuybyshev (; ), is the largest city and administrative centre of Samara Oblast. The city is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Samara rivers, with a population ...

in 1941, becoming the

Kuibyshev Aviation Plant The Progress Rocket Space Centre (russian: Ракетно-космический центр «Прогресс»), formerly known as TsSKB-Progress (russian: ЦСКБ-Прогресс), is a Russian joint-stock company under the jurisdiction ...

. In 1958 it shifted its production to rockets, and became known as the

Samara Progress plant The Progress Rocket Space Centre (russian: Ракетно-космический центр «Прогресс»), formerly known as TsSKB-Progress (russian: ЦСКБ-Прогресс), is a Russian joint-stock company under the jurisdiction ...

Plant #30

Plant #30 was established in 1939 in

Dubna Dubna ( rus, Дубна́, p=dʊbˈna) is a town in Moscow Oblast, Russia. It has a status of '' naukograd'' (i.e. town of science), being home to the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, an international nuclear physics research center and one ...

. In December 1941 it was relocated to the former site of Plant #1, where it manufactured the

Ilyushin Il-2 The Ilyushin Il-2 ( Russian: Илью́шин Ил-2) is a ground-attack plane that was produced by the Soviet Union in large numbers during the Second World War. The word ''shturmovík'' ( Cyrillic: штурмовик), the generic Russian ter ...

. In 1950 it merged with Plant #381, to produce the Il-28 in larger volumes. In 1953 Lukhovitsy Machine Building Plant was established as a subsidiary of the plant. Plant #30 became known as the ''Znamya Truda Machine-Building Plant'' in 1965, and as the

Moscow Aircraft Production Organisation MAPO - the Moscow Aircraft Production Association (russian: Московское авиационное производственное объединение, Moskovskoye aviatsionnoye proizvodstvennoye obyedineniye) was a major Russian state-own ...

in 1973. The

MiG-29 The Mikoyan MiG-29 (russian: Микоян МиГ-29; NATO reporting name: Fulcrum) is a twin-engine fighter aircraft designed in the Soviet Union. Developed by the Mikoyan design bureau as an air superiority fighter during the 1970s, the ...

was put in production. Civil programs include

MiG-AT The Mikoyan MiG-AT (russian: МиГ-АТ) is a Russian advanced trainer and light attack aircraft that was intended to replace the Aero L-29 and L-39 of the Russian Air Force. Designed by the Mikoyan Design Bureau and built by the Moscow Aircr ...

, T-101, T-411, and Aviatika MAI-890 aircraft. After this the following aircraft were produced:

Su-9 The Sukhoi Su-9 ( NATO reporting name: Fishpot) was a single-engine, all-weather, missile-armed interceptor aircraft developed by the Soviet Union. Development The Su-9 emerged from aerodynamic studies by TsAGI, the Soviet aerodynamic center, ...

Yak-25 The Yakovlev Yak-25 (NATO designation Flashlight-A/Mandrake) was a swept wing, turbojet-powered interceptor and reconnaissance aircraft built by Yakovlev and used by the Soviet Union. Design and development The Yak-25 originated from a ne ...

, Il-14, Il-18 with modifications,

MiG-21 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-21; NATO reporting name: Fishbed) is a supersonic jet fighter and interceptor aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau in the Soviet Union. Its nickn ...

, and

MiG-23 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-23; NATO reporting name: Flogger) is a variable-geometry fighter aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich design bureau in the Soviet Union. It is a third-gener ...

Plant #32

Plant #32 was established in 1932, when it was separated from Plant #1. In 1941 it was evacuated to Kirov, becoming the

Kirov Machine-Building Plant Kirov may refer to: *Sergei Kirov (1886–1934), Soviet Bolshevik leader in Leningrad after whom all other entries are named * Kirov (surname) Places Armenia *Amrakits or Kirov * Taperakan or Kirov Azerbaijan * Kirov, Baku * Kirov, Lankaran * Kir ...

in 1960 and the

Vyatka Machine Building Enterprise AVITEK Avitek (russian: Вятское машиностроительное предприятие „АВИТЕК“) is a Russian defense company based in the city of Kirov. It manufactures guided anti-aircraft missiles, aircraft armaments and subsyst ...

in the 1990s.

Plant #39

Plant #39 produced the DB-3F before evacuation in October 1941. Plant #39 was moved to Irkutsk in 1941, where it was merged with the

Irkutsk Machine-Building Plant Irkutsk ( ; rus, Иркутск, p=ɪrˈkutsk; Buryat and mn, Эрхүү, ''Erhüü'', ) is the largest city and administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia. With a population of 617,473 as of the 2010 Census, Irkutsk is the 25th-larges ...

, ultimately establishing the Irkutsk Aviation Plant.

Plant #43

Plant #43 was established in 1941 on the former site of the evacuated Plant #32. Between 1963 and 1992 it was known as the

Moscow Kommunar Machine-Building Plant Open Joint Stock Company Dux (formerly Moscow Kommunar Machine-Building Plant; russian: Московский машиностроительный завод «Коммунар») is a company based in Moscow, Russia. It produces air-to-air missile ...

. It focuses on air-to-air missile production and some aircraft sub-components. In 1992 it became the Open Joint Stock Company Dux.

Plant #381

Plant #381 produced the

Lavochkin La-5 The Lavochkin La-5 (Лавочкин Ла-5) was a Soviet fighter aircraft of World War II. It was a development and refinement of the LaGG-3, replacing the earlier model's inline engine with the much more powerful Shvetsov ASh-82 radial eng ...

and later the La-7. Plant #381 also produced the Il-12, a small series of I-250, and the first 75

MiG-15 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 (russian: Микоя́н и Гуре́вич МиГ-15; USAF/DoD designation: Type 14; NATO reporting name: Fagot) is a jet fighter aircraft developed by Mikoyan-Gurevich for the Soviet Union. The MiG-15 was one o ...

s. In 1950 it was merged into Plant #30.

Aircraft

The majority of types built by Dux were French and other Western aircraft designs. The first aircraft made was a licensed

IV with ENV engine, which made its first flight on 18 August 1910. From there, in addition to copies, some improvements were designed for existing models. The first of these was a Farman VII in 1912 with some improvements that were put into production. A more ambitious project was the

Dux Meller I ''Dux'' (; plural: ''ducēs'') is Latin for "leader" (from the noun ''dux, ducis'', "leader, general") and later for duke and its variant forms (doge, duce, etc.). During the Roman Republic and for the first centuries of the Roman Empire, ''dux' ...

which combined a Bleriot main fuselage with a Farman XV nacelle added, all driven by a 100 hp Gnome-Rhone in

pusher configuration In an aircraft with a pusher configuration (as opposed to a tractor configuration), the propeller(s) are mounted behind their respective engine(s). Since a pusher propeller is mounted behind the engine, the drive shaft is in compression in no ...

. A modified Farman XVI was later produced under the name Dux Meller II and flown in 1913. The following Dux Meller III was a failed attempt to produce a single-engine twin-propeller chain-driven monoplane. Further work went into the

Dux No 2 ''Dux'' (; plural: ''ducēs'') is Latin for "leader" (from the noun ''dux, ducis'', "leader, general") and later for duke and its variant forms ( doge, duce, etc.). During the Roman Republic and for the first centuries of the Roman Empire, ...

but this was also a failure.

References

Bibliography

External links

Official website of Duks Group
{{Authority control Aircraft manufacturers of Russia Defence companies of Russia Defence companies of the Soviet Union Guided missile manufacturers Aircraft manufacturers of the Soviet Union Manufacturing companies based in Moscow Golden Idea national award winners