1918 

History of Nizhny Novgorod Factory named after M.V.Frunze started when in Russia Nizhny Novgorod radiolaboratory (NRL) was founded. On the 2nd of December 1918 the chairman of the Council of People’s Commissars V.I.Lenin signed a decree called «Regulations about radiolaboratory with a workroom of People’s Commissariat for Post and Telegraph» with the aim to set up in Russia a State radio technical institute.
The initial objective of NRL was engineering development and embodiment of long-range radiotelegraph and radiotelephone transmitters.

 In 1924 a broadcasting station of 12 kW power was developed, produced and mounted in Moscow, the station was called «Bolshoy Komintern». At that time this station was the most powerful in the world, its power surpassed the total power of the broadcasting stations in New York, Paris and Berlin.
During the period from 1924 to 1925 a standard radio station «Maly Komintern» of 1,2 kW power was developed. In two years NRL built 27 such stations for cities of the Soviet Union.
Nizhny Novgorod radiolaboratory became the first radio manufacturing plant and the first broadcasting studio in the country. Within the walls of NRL the most powerful radio valves in the world at that time, short waves technique were developed, as well as the foundation for the semiconductor electronics was laid down.

For success in development of the radio industry and building of the first radio stations in the country NRL was in 1922 and 1928 twice decorated with the order «To Hero of Labour of RSFSR» and named after V.I.Lenin.

1929  

Central Military and Industrial Radiolaboratory (ZVIRL) was established on the basis of Nizhny Novgorod Radiolaboratory for the purpose of army radio stations development. Among the brightest projects of ZVIRL for the Ministry of Defense the following ought to be noticed:

• first radio homing beacons, which ensured a super long-distance flight from Moscow via North Pole to America;
• 12-RP radio station for partisans and scouts, which provided communication at a distance of up to 50 km;
• 12-RT tank radios, which in many respects contributed to the victory in the tank battle of the Kursk Bulge;
• “RSB-3” radio station, which supported heavy bombardments aircraft in the night raids on Berlin in August 1941;
• powerful aerodrome ground radio stations.

In 1932 the first in the country resonance wave meters (types KV-5, DV-2, UV-3) were developed in the wave laboratory of ZVIRL, these wave meters were intended for frequency measuring, transmitter calibration and calibration testing.

In 1933 at the collective’s request ZVIRL was named after Mikhail Vasilyevich Frunze. In 1934 the first home-produced generator of standard signals GSS-1 was developed and in 1935 – the first AC-mains-operated valve voltmeter VKS-1, which allowed measuring of voltage with frequency as little as some hundreds kilohertz.

1939

By the decision of the Aircraft Industry People's Committee ZVIRL was transformed into Gorky State Union Factory № 326 named after M.V.Frunze. During the Great Patriotic War the factory made a valuable contribution to providing the troops with radio communications. It organized 48 front teams, more than 500 persons worked in these teams. Only in 1943 the factory produced 2928 radio measuring devices of seven types. In the same year the factory № 326 gave the army 7601 radio stations of 12-RP-type and 5839 radio stations of 12-RT type.

In post-war years the Factory named after M.V.Frunze completely switched over to production of radio metrology controlling and measuring means, which was decisive of the profession and the fate of the factory for many decades. The enterprise mastered the production of such difficult products as high-frequency and ultrahigh-frequency generators, modulation, power, and capacitance meters.

1946

Central Designing Bureau (ZKB-326) was established in the factory on the basis of the design manager team and the technical and engineering personal of the workshop laboratories. Research Institute №11 (NNIPI «KVARZ») was established on the basis of ZKB-326. After the reorganization of ZKB-326 two design departments were formed in the factory:
№4, which specialized in development and modernization of radio measuring devices (later designing Bureau «KVAZAR»);
№20, which developed special products (later Research Institute named after Yu.E. Sedakov).

1971

In 1971 the factory was rewarded with the USSR Labour Red Banner Medal. Multiple scientific and state enterprises in Russia and in the former Soviet republics have been clients of the factory. In 1992 a new period in history of the Factory began. We began to diversify our production, to manufacture products for the civilian population. Therefore an own special design bureau was set up.
According to the results of the 8th five-year plan execution Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR decorated the Gorky Factory named after M.V.Frunze with the Order of the Red Banner of Labour for successful five-year plan execution and organization of new equipment production.
In accordance with the Program of military production conversion Nizhny Novgorod Factory named after M.V.Frunze opened up a new line of activity – development and production of energy consumption metering devices meeting the International Electrotechnical Commission standards which can be used either independently or as a part of the automated systems of energy accounting (ASKUE). The factory continues to develop the traditional line of activity – development and production of radio measuring devices:

• standard signal generators, operating over a broad frequency range;
• multifunction amplitude and frequency modulation meters;
• standardizing machines for attenuator loss calibration;
• precision calibrators for modulation meters testing.

1999

Together with the Nizhny Novgorod research institute of radio technology (Federal Scientific and Production Centre “NNIIRT” JSC) we started the production of antenna and hardware complexes and hardware complexes of the radar stations 59N6, E801.

2002

Together with “Russian railways” JSC and Applied Physics Institute of Academy of Sciences we finished development and started full-scale production of the automated ultrasonic flaw detector ADS-02.

2003

We started development and production of modern wireless broadband communication facilities in DECT, CDMA,GSM, Bluetooth, WiMax standards.

Today Nizhny Novgorod factory named after M.V.Frunze is a modern scientific and production complex of radioelectronic profile, main lines of activity of the factory are development and production of:

• radio-measuring devices;
• automated information-measuring systems of commercial energy accounting complex of technical means «MICRON» on the basis of modern accounting meters, different data collection and transfer modems;
• radio relay stations and multi-user radio access systems based on DECT, CDMA, WiMax technologies;
• automated outside lighting control systems;
• adaptors (STB) for reception of terrestrial broadcast, satellite broadcast and cablecast digital TV of the MPEG-2/MPEG-4 compression standards with different conventional access systems;
• automated vehicle navigation control system “MICRON-NAVITEL”, operating in GPS, GPS-GLONASS systems;
• components of radar stations 59N6, E801,1L122 and others.

2011

Federal State Unitary Enterprise «Nizhny Novgorod Factory named after M.Frunze» was transformed into Open Joint Stock Company «Nizhny Novgorod Research and Production Association named after M.V.Frunze» in compliance with order from 27 of June 2011 of Rosimushestvo in Nizhni Novgorod Region.