Yakovlev Yak - 2 The Yakovlev Yak - 2 was a short - range Soviet light bomber / reconnaissance aircraft used during World War II . It was produced in small numbers and they were mostly destroyed during the opening stages of Operation Barbarossa . Design and development . The Yak - 2 was initially known as the Ya - 22 , in the Yakovlev OKB numbering sequence , before it was redesignated as the Yak - 2 in 1941 . It was of mixed construction with wooden wings and center fuselage , duralumin forward fuselage , and steel tube framing in the rear fuselage with a wooden upper decking and fabric skin . The cockpit was at the very tip of the nose , but the navigator / gunner was in a compartment behind the trailing edge of the wing . The prototype was unarmed and no bomb shackles were fitted . It also lacked a radio and navigational equipment . It was , however , the fastest multi - engined aircraft in the Soviet Union , able to reach at , not least because it lacked all that heavy military equipment . Stalin rather precipitously ordered it into production , as the BB - 22 ( , " Blizhniy Bombardirovshchik " — short - range bomber ) , on 15 March 1939 before it could be evaluated by the NII VVS ( " Naoochno - Issledovatel ' skiy Institoot Voyenno - Vozdooshnykh Seel " – Air Force Scientific Test Institute ) . Their tests were conducted in the early summer and concluded that the engine cooling systems were inadequate , the brakes were troublesome and the fuel system was unreliable . The task of converting the aircraft to a bomber was formidable and included redesigning the center fuselage to accommodate the gunner / navigator immediately aft of the pilot and provision of two ShKAS machine gun s , one for the gunner and the other fixed in the nose . The rear decking of the fuselage was hinged to pivot down to allow the rear gunner to use his gun . Factory No . 1 produced the first pre - production BB - 22 in December 1939 , although it did not make its first flight until the following February . It was submitted for its service evaluation in March – April 1940 and proved to be a disappointment . Gross weight had increased despite the reduction in fuel from and the maximum speed had declined to at . The engine cooling system was still unsatisfactory and the undercarriage was too weak . Longitudinal and lateral stability was also unsatisfactory which made it suitable only for well - trained pilots . The test programme report concluded that it was not combat - capable and reliable and that flights with a bomb load could be dangerous to the crew . A remediation program was begun which replaced the single - wheel main landing gear with two - wheeled units and the fuselage upper decking was cut down . Around the same time Factory No . 1 ceased production and Factory No . 81 in Moscow continued to work on the aircraft . Aircraft built by Factory No . 81 were of better quality because the surface finish was better and the engine cowlings and doors were more closely fitted to minimize drag . These improvements increased the speed by . Development work continued and resulted in the Yak - 4 when Klimov M - 105 engines were fitted . A grand total of 201 Yak - 2s and Yak - 4s were built before production was terminated in April 1941 . Bill Gunston reports that several prototype variants were built , including the R - 12 reconnaissance aircraft which retained the original positioning of the crew , put three cameras in the fuselage and added a bomb bay for eight FAB - 20 bombs behind the pilot . Another was the I - 29 or BB - 22IS escort fighter with restored fuel and two 20 ShVAK cannon underneath the fuselage . But neither of these can be confirmed by other , post - Cold - War sources . Yefim Gordon does mention a Yak - 2KABB ground - attack variant which might have been confused with the I - 29 because it had two ShKAS in the nose and two ShVAK cannon in a depressible ventral pack . Unfortunately no other details are available , although photos do exist . Another variant mentioned by Gordon was the BPB - 22 ( " Blizhiy Pikeeruyushchiy Bombardirovshchik " — short - range dive bomber ) prototype that was fitted with two Klimov M - 105 engines , dive brakes and an automatic dive entry / exit control system . It was first flown at the end of October 1940 although it crashed during the test programme when fuel unexpectedly cut - out , but not before it was flown to a maximum speed of . Operational history . When the Germans invaded the Soviet Union on 22 Jun 1941 , 73 Yak - 2s were in service , mostly with the 316th Reconnaissance Regiment in the Kiev Military District . Most of these were destroyed in the opening days of the campaign ; the 316th only mustered four on 11 July .