AIRFRAME PLANT NO. 31 IN TBILISI (PLANT FACILITIES INCLUDING AIRFIELD SECURITY, INSPECTION, EXPANSION, & MANPOWER)

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80T00246A055000320001-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 12
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 2, 2010
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: July 15, 1960
• Content Type: REPORT

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/09/02 : CIA-RDP80T00246A055000320001-5
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
This material contains information affecting the National Defense of the United States within the meaning of the Espionage Laws, Title
18, U.S.C. Secs. 793 and 794, the transmission or revelation of which in any manner to an unauthorized person is prohibited by law.
INFO.
PLACE &
USSR (Georgian SSR)
i
TE DISTR. 176
STATE X jARMY NAVY X AIR
X NSA X I FBI
I (Note: Washington distribution indicated by "X"; Field distribution by "#".)
NIC X
INFORMATION REPORT INFORMATION REPORT
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/09/02 : CIA-RDP80T00246A055000320001-5
 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/09/02 : CIA-RDP80T00246AO55000320001-5
9 W*
USSR (Georgian SSR)
Airframe Plant No. 31 in Tbilisi
itrov" Plant No. 31, the only aircraft factory in Tbilisi
L l-L 2, E44-49, was called D mitrov Aircraft Plant No. 31
(Aviatsionniy Zavod Im. DAmitrova No. 31) until 1953/1954. At
that time the name of the plant was changed, for cover purposes,
D nitrov
toAiachine Construction Plant No. 31 (Mashinostroiteln~y Zavod
,Im. DLtinitrova No. 31), although it continued to manufacture
aircraft. The plant had P. 0. Box No. Si.
2. Plant No. 31 had been transferred to Tbilisi from Taganrog
N47-12, E38-S] in 1912, together with all its employees. Rather
than return to its former location after the war, the plant remained
in Tbilisi.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/09/02 : CIA-RDP80T00246AO55000320001-5
 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/09/02 : CIA-RDP80T00246AO55000320001-5
50X1-HUM
Page 2
3. The plant occupied a large area in the vicinity of the Kura
River, on ulitsa.lm. 26 Komisarov at the eastern end of town.
The machine tool plant at the western end of town and the
aircraft factory were the largest industrial concerns in Tbilisi.
Plant No. 31 could be reached by Streetcar Line 1o. 9 from
Prospekt Rustaveli, in the center of town; it was a 30-minute
trip with a number of intermediate stops. The distance from
the center of town via No. 16 bus line took 20 minutes.
4. The site of the plant was surrounded by a board fence, which
was well above the height of an average man. Within the board
fence there was another, wire mesh, fence equally as high as
the other, which surrounded the factory buildings. Between the
two fences there was a large (?) gap, and at each corner of the
plant there w?s a watchtower manned by MVD troops, armed with
submachine guns and pistols.
5. The plant area was almost entirely covered with trees, but was
bisected by an internal asphalt road wide enough to be used by
cargo trucks. The road connected the plant's West ,Gate -(- .apadniye
4erotoa) with the East Gate. -Vostoehniye--Vorota). Both gates were
used by pedestrians and vehicles, and the distance between the two
gates constituted a 20-minute walk. The employees who lived in the
11-1 .. 1 50X1-HUM
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/09/02 : CIA-RDP80T00246AO55000320001-5
 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/09/02 : CIA-RDP80T00246AO55000320001-5
Page 3
center of Tbilisi entered the plant through the west oate.
Asphalt paths branched off both sides of the internal road
to the main factory buildings. The majority of the plant's
buildings were constructed of stone and were three stories high.
All had dark gray, plastered walls and red tile roofs, covered
with brown-colored tin sheets.
6. One of the asphalt roads branching off the main internal road,
at a distance of about one kilometer inside the West sate, led
[SEE `?KE (-f h to T b~ y
to a large, main building housing the machine shops1.(.mekhanicheskce
#~e}~ where various aircraft components were manufactured. Shops
Nos. 1, 3, 7, 8, 9, 15 and 25 were located on the ground floor of
this building. The planning department, various laboratories
including that for the physical and chemical analysis of materials,
Y
the secret archives (sekretnly otdel), the accounts department,
and the pay office were located on the second floor. On the third
floor were the director general's office, the chief mechanic's
offices, and various other administrative offices.
7. On the same side of the main internal road, about 700 meters from
the machine shop building, there was an identical three-story building
known as the assembly and inspection departments--kontrolno -
sekha) building: Actually, only the ground floor was
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/09/02 : CIA-RDP80T00246AO55000320001-5
 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/09/02 : CIA-RDP80T00246AO55000320001-5
Page 4
occupied by the aircraft assembly department (sborochnie
tsekha) and the inspection department.--kontrolnie tsekha
'~J the latter,e aircraft were inspected prior to undergoing
test flights. The second floor of the building was occupied
by various other departments, including the technological
department, and the third floor was occupied by the plant's
technical library.
8. Another three-story building, located about 700 meters beyond
the assembly and inspection building, on the same side of the
[~ ey Sic.' (~! Poi Ct
internal road, was occupied by production departments (-io iz-
zLQds?Yennia tsekha), on the first floor, and by various admin-
istrative offices and laboratories (no details) on the second
and third floors. A single-story mechanical workshop (purpose
unknown) was situated behind this building, in the vicinity of
~4 c~ ~cu ('L`1 1 971
the perimeter fence.
9. A new building was under construction almost exactly opposite the
machine shops building, on the left-hand side of t:ze main internal
road. This building was to serve as an extension of the designers
1jCE. `Wi~ ?01y1 IS,]
departments. Construction work was begun in 1957 and, judging
by the size of its foundation, it appeared to be smaller than the
existing designers department.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/09/02 : CIA-RDP80T00246AO55000320001-5
 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/09/02 : CIA-RDP80T00246AO55000320001-5
S ~'~FT
Page 5
10. An employees restaurant was located just behind the new building
and, just beyond the restaurant, there was a three-story building
)`;i( KCtr=! P01 ?4T 123
containing the aircraft component spraying department"kkTaei4-
-..trek), which was located on the ground floor, and the
spraying technology departments, located on the second and
third floors. A small single-story building close to the spray-
ing departments was occupied by aircraft components testing and
,~ S',(, 51, 1, tct Pot 13]
inspection departments (ispitateiriy tsekh dla detaley). Also
in close proximity to the spraying departments was the three-story
building occupied by the designers department ~konstruktorskiy
o e1- On the ground floor of this building were a technical
library and a refreshment stand. Departments
3 (3-oy otdel) and
6 (6-oy otdel), which were designing departments for minor air-
craft components, were located on the second floor, while the main
components design department was located on the third floor. The
third floor was also occupied by the chief constructor's and
chief technologists offices and the plant's central archives.
The plant's stores, all single-story buildings, were located
from nortn to south along the perimeter fence.
11. The plant was said to employ about 6,000 to 7,000 workers. Some
60 to 70 persons, of whom 20 were engineers, were employed in the
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/09/02 : CIA-RDP80T00246AO55000320001-5
 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/09/02 : CIA-RDP80T00246AO55000320001-5
SFC~FT
Page 6
designers department alone. The administrative offices of the
plant worked in one shift, from 0930 to 1830 hours. Only the
machine shops and inspection departments worked in two shifts.
12. The plant produced only transport planes, complete with engines,
which were apparently used for carrying cargo and equipment.
The plant did not produce one specific type of aircraft in
large quantities over a long period of time. It manufactured
small series of a certain type according to various designs, and
then went over to the production of another type of transport
aircraft, and again manufactured a number of different designs
of the new type before going on to the next. The changeover to
a new type of aircraft occurred more or less at regular intervals.
From 1955-1959, a number of types of "IL" aircraft were produced,
and when they were completed the plant went over to the production
of various other types (no further details)
STAT
13. The plant's airfield, where the completed aircraft were tested,
was located about six kilometers east of the plant itself. From
the East Gate, an asphalt road lined by orchards led directly to
the airfield. The aircraft which were to be tested were towed by
trucks along the connecting road (details on the airfield unknown).
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/09/02 : CIA-RDP80T00246AO55000320001-5
 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/09/02 : CIA-RDP80T00246AO55000320001-5
14.
Page 7
A military commission ee rrectstvo3 attached to the plant
comprised many air force officers, tirho were employed either
in the inspection department or as test
pilots at the above airfield. The majority of the officers
were young lieutenants who were under the command of either a
general or a colonel. New officers were transferred to the
plant every year, although the chief test pilot, Fokin (fnu),
3o
age 50-55, had been employed at the plant for about -t irty years.
15. The Tbilisi plant maintained close connections with No. 81
1
Aircraft Factory at Kuybyshev and another aircraft factory
at Saratov. 2 There was close cooperation among these three
plants, and they often exchanged workers, engineers, and designers.
16. Plant No. 31 had no railroad spur. LsIQ
17. The following officials at Plant No. 31 were reported:
a. Akhvldyani (fnu), director general since 1948,
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/09/02 : CIA-RDP80T00246AO55000320001-5
 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/09/02 : CIA-RDP80T00246AO55000320001-5
SF1 FT
Page 8
b. I. M. Kochlavashvili, deputy director of the
plant for many years
c. Sidorenko (fnu), chief designer at the plant,
18. Attached is a sketch, with legend, of Aircraft Factory No. 31
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/09/02 : CIA-RDP80T00246AO55000320001-5
 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/09/02 : CIA-RDP80T00246AO55000320001-5
SECRET
Page 9
Legend to Sketch of Plant No. 31
1. vie s t Gate , 4Zapadni7e-- Vrota }-.
2. Entry permit issuing office.
3. Jain internal road.
It. Idatchtower.
5. Paths.
6. Machine shops,-(,makcheskie tsekha).
7. Assembly and Inspection Departments,~rolno-sborochrie tsekha).
8. Administration building.
9. Mechanical workshop.
10. Garage.
11. Designers Department.
12. Aircraft components spraying department.
13. Components testing and inspection department.
14. Restaurant.
L5. Designers department, under construction.
16. Stores.
17. East ,,Gate, uestacY~ni ~re_ yoresttaj`.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/09/02 : CIA-RDP80T00246AO55000320001-5
 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/09/02 : CIA-RDP80T00246AO55000320001-5
SECRET
Possibly Kuybyshev Airframe Plant No. 18.
2. Probably Saratov Airframe Plant No. 292.
Page 10
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/09/02 : CIA-RDP80T00246AO55000320001-5
 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/09/02 : CIA-RDP80T00246AO55000320001-5
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/09/02 : CIA-RDP80T00246AO55000320001-5