OKB (Russian: ОКБ) is a transliteration of the Russian initials for "Опытно-Конструкторское Бюро" (Opytno-Konstruktorskoye Byuro), which translates to "Experimental Design Bureau". It could also mean Osoboye konstruktorskoye byuro or "Special Design Bureau" in English. During the Soviet era, OKBs were closed institutions working on design and prototyping of advanced technology, usually for military applications. The corresponding English language term for such a bureau's activity is R&D or "research and development".
For security, each bureau was only officially identified by a number, but were often semi-officially referenced by the name of its lead designer. For example, OKB-51 was led by Pavel Sukhoi, and it eventually became known as simply Sukhoi. Successful and famous bureaus often retained these names after the departure of their founding designer.