Until recently, residents of Rostov-on-Don knew little about the activities of the open joint-stock company "Plant Kvant", which is part of the Russian Space Agency. This circumstance, however, is easily explained by the fact that the enterprise belongs to the Russian military-industrial complex, which in itself to a certain extent limited information about it.

Initially, the plant was created as a branch of the Azov Optical and Mechanical Plant and was intended for the production of dual - use products, civil and military, in the interests of aviation and the aviation industry.

- Our plant can be called a "child of the century" without much stretch, - says Vyacheslav Motin, General Director of JSC "Plant Kvant", Candidate of Technical Sciences.

And it's hard to argue with him. The company launched its first products, two on-board instruments for spacecraft orientation on the Ground, in July 1980. At least the fact that the plant was put into operation just a month before this memorable event for the team indicates the high demand for products.

The Moscow NGO Neofizika, whose structural structure included Kvant, commissioned it to produce small-scale and single production of devices for astronavigation and orientation of spacecraft on the Earth, on the Sun and on the stars, according to its scientific and technical documentation. Since then and to this day, almost all Soviet and Russian spacecraft have been equipped with "quantum" navigation equipment, which is characterized by high reliability and a large margin of safety.

If earlier the factory workers were only manufacturers of these products, now, due to the changed economic conditions, they also started developing their own scientific and technical documentation, creating a research department at the enterprise for this purpose. New developments of Kvant are involved in serious international space projects, such as Globalstar, in which eight American communications satellites equipped with orientation devices of JSC Zavod Kvant were launched into orbit with two launches of Soyuz rockets. Its products have also proven themselves well in servicing the international communication system CASPAS, which is aimed at emergency detection of ships in distress in the world's oceans.

The optoelectronic solar orientation device participates in the largest international space project Alpha, as well as in such international space projects as Express and Coupon, and is part of the Hals and Arkos space objects.

Original design solutions made it possible to use a unique scanning mechanism with high-precision stabilization of the angular speed of rotation, multilayer printed circuit boards, and flexible printed cables.

No less well-known among specialists of the highest class is the "quantum" universal infrared builder of the local vertical, designed for use in the orientation system of spacecraft orbiting in elliptical orbits with an altitude range from 140 to 600 kilometers. The device provides generation and output to the control system of control signals about the deviation of the natural axis of the device from the local vertical along the channels of roll and pitch. The product is actively used in many joint space projects. In particular, in the Russian-French "Icarus". It is part of the Mir-Soyuz-Progress orbital complex.

It is clear that the current economic turmoil has not spared the Kvant team, even despite the introduction and development of the most advanced technologies.

"Alas, although our devices are soaring in the sky-high distance, we have to live and work in a sinful Land ," sighs Alexander Kapustyansky, First Deputy General Director.

The space industry, like many other branches of the military - industrial complex, is going through hard times. In the early 90s, the portfolio of orders for space equipment significantly "lost weight", the company began to experience financial difficulties. The plant's management was faced with the most serious task - not just to defend the enterprise as such, but not to allow best practices to be leveled, to preserve the backbone of personnel.

One of the solutions designed to support the enterprise in a difficult period for it was the organization of the production of consumer goods and applied products. Factory workers experimentally developed two directions.

The first is based on the rational use of the technological capabilities that the team has at its disposal. It is quite natural: their "hobby" is the production of good optics, both glass and metal. The factory makes electronics, radio installation, and tuning quite well. Rostov residents do not have to blush for

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performing mechanical processing of materials, developing precision mechanics.

In particular, "kvantovtsy" together with one of the Russian research institutes managed to develop and produce industrial samples of new-generation devices for environmental specialists. These products are manufactured using the most advanced technologies in the field of ecology and have no analogues in the world practice.

Thus, it has been certified by the State Standard of the Russian Federation and is included in the Register of devices of the Russian Federation PFKD-1000 (portable photocolorimeter densitometer). Currently, interested organizations have only stationary equipment for this purpose, which is also cumbersome and not always reliable.

PFCD-1000 is designed to detect the presence of various impurities in water, except biological ones. Moreover, the device not only accurately recognizes whether, say, lead or antimony is in the water, but also indicates their percentage in the shortest possible time. A specialist can easily determine whether the maximum permissible concentrations are exceeded or not. The great advantage of the device is its portability and portability. It will fit freely in a car, can be powered by a battery. Therefore, it can be used to study almost any reservoir.

Another product, ONP - 1, also has excellent parameters. This device is designed to detect even the minimum amount of petroleum products in the aquatic environment. Now it is at the stage of certification in the State Standard of the Russian Federation, and there is no reason to doubt that it will pass it.

Interest in the products of" Kvant " is great. They can and should become a serious help in the work of sanitary and epidemiological stations, environmental organizations, structures of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and industrial enterprises. The range of possible customers is quite wide. However, as it is easy to see, they primarily include state and non-profit organizations. That's the catch: their financial resources are currently limited. PFKD-1000, for example, taking into account its production using modern advanced technologies, also has a relatively high price - about 20 thousand rubles. Not every interested organization can afford to allocate such an amount, although the self-sufficiency and competitiveness of products are obvious.

Here is an aspect: hundreds of Russian industrial enterprises are forced to spend huge amounts of money out of their own pockets from month to month in the form of fines for environmental pollution. It is easy to see that using these environmental devices would help them avoid such troubles.

The situation at the plant is sometimes paradoxical. It now has a profitable production facility. But the management cannot use the funds to upgrade the equipment, because all the profit instantly settles on various kinds of" file cabinets", which the company is surrounded on all sides by fiscal state bodies. This is despite the fact that the debt owed to Kvant by the state is three to four times higher than its own debts to the budget. From all sides, the company is "pulled" by the tax police, the tax inspectorate, the Treasury, and sometimes the mass media do not create the best atmosphere for the factory workers... How well-thought-out are these steps? And why is the government's assistance to the real sector of the domestic economy being postponed until better times? There are probably some points here that are better to look for in the sphere of big politics, rather than in the field of economy and law.

The second strategic direction of improving the current situation at the plant can be considered the production of products used primarily in agriculture, in everyday life and in transport. In the early 90s, Kvant created a marketing service that studied the need for products that could potentially be produced at the enterprise. At that time, the farming movement was becoming quite active. Accordingly, there is a demand for aggregates and equipment for the so-called small-scale mechanization of agricultural production. The team of "Kvant"has established the production of good grain crushers, useful in a small farm. They are still in demand.

The food processors produced by the company, which are necessary in everyday life, are not inferior in consumer properties to their foreign counterparts. Although it would be nice to improve their appearance, improve the design.

Recently, the Kvant team has been fulfilling orders from the state space center - TSSKB Progress. They are aimed at modernizing Earth exploration satellites in the interests of the national economy and international projects related to biological research in space. New spacecraft are being developed-accordingly, they will have new orbits, and this requires devices with changed orientation characteristics on the Ground.

In short, the "space" plant now has plenty of problems on Earth. And "kvantovtsy" intend to solve them skillfully.

Lieutenant Colonel Yuri SELEZNEV, permanent correspondent of Orientir magazine for the North Caucasus Military District

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