Yakovlev Yak-2

The Yakovlev Yak‑2 was a Soviet twin‑engine fighter‑bomber developed in the late 1930s by the Yakovlev Design Bureau. First flown in 1939, the aircraft entered service in 1940 as the USSR’s initial attempt to field a modern, high‑performance, two‑seat combat plane capable of both air‑to‑air and ground‑attack missions. Powered by two Klimov M-105 V‑12 engines delivering 1,100 hp each, the Yak‑2 could reach 540 km/h at altitude and carried a modest load of 400 kg of bombs plus a forward‑firing 20 mm cannon and two 7.62 mm machine guns for the pilot, with an additional rear defensive gun. Its all‑metal stressed‑skin construction, retractable main landing gear and twin tail configuration gave it a sleek silhouette and improved handling compared with earlier Soviet designs.

Although production numbers remained limited—about 1,300 airframes—and early service revealed reliability problems, the Yak‑2 formed the basis for later successful types such as the Yak‑4 and Yak‑9. Its development marked a turning point in Soviet aviation, introducing twin‑engine tactics and influencing post‑war fighter‑bomber concepts throughout the Eastern Bloc. By the end of the war only a handful survived, but the Yak‑2’s design lessons helped shape the successful Yak‑9 series that became one of the produced Soviet fighters of World War II.

Yakovlev

Classification

Production & History

Design & Classification