Kirov Plant

The Kirov Plant, Kirov Factory or Leningrad Kirov Plant (LKZ) (Кировский Завод) is a major Russian machine-building plant in St. Petersburg, Russia. It was established in 1789, then moved to its present site in 1801 as a foundry for cannon balls.

Putilov Company
In 1848 it was purchased by and named the Putilov Company; it initially produced rolling stock for railways. It boomed during the industrialization of the 1890s, with the work force quadrupling in a decade, reaching 12,400 in 1900. The factory traditionally produced goods for the Russian government and railway products accounted for more than half of its total output. Starting in 1900 it also produced artillery, eventually becoming a major supplier of it to the Imperial Russian Army alongside the state arsenals. By 1917 it grew into a giant enterprise that was by far the largest in the city of St. Petersburg.

Political unrest
In February 1917 strikes at the factory contributed to setting in motion the chain of events which led to the February Revolution.

Red Putilovite Plant
After the October Revolution it was renamed Red Putilovite Plant (zavod Krasny Putilovets), famous for its  manufacture of the first Soviet tractors, Fordzon-Putilovets, based on the Fordson tractor. The Putilov Plant was famous because of its revolutionary traditions. In the wake of Sergey Kirov's 1934 assassination, the plant was renamed Kirov Factory No. 100.

Products
In World War II, the T-34 tank was manufactured here. Starting around 2004 the Dartz Kombat T98 luxury armored vehicle, somewhat reminiscent of the AM General Hummer, has been constructed at the Kirov site.

Factory No. 185 (S.M. Kirov)
The Kirov Plant is sometimes confused with another Leningrad heavy weapons manufactory, Factory No. 185 (S.M. Kirov).