The State Defense Committee (Russian: Государственный комитет обороны (ГКО), romanized: Gosudarstvennyĭ komitet oborony (GKO)) was an extraordinary organ of state power in the Soviet Union during the German-Soviet War, also called the Great Patriotic War, with complete state power in the country.

The war situation at the front lines required a more centralized form of government.

On 18 June 1942, over a thousand members attended the 9th session of the Supreme Soviet in Moscow.

[1] Geoffrey Roberts described the GKO as "a sort of war cabinet".

On 22 November 1944, Nikolai Bulganin replaced Voroshilov as a member.