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 most of them were 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.

Stalin 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 unreliable.

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 were built before production was terminated in April 1941.

Aviation historian 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.

Russian aviation historian 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.

Variants

;Ya-22

:Prototype.

;BB-22

:Initial production with flush rear canopy

;Yak-2

:(VVS designation used in service of izdeliye 70 / BB-22 2M-103) Two-seat light bomber/reconnaissance aircraft.

;BPB-22

:(aka BPB-22 2M-105, BB-22PB) Blizhiy Pikeeruyushchiy Bombardirovshchik — short-range dive bomber. Prototype only.

;Yak-2KABB

:Prototype ground-attack aircraft fitted with the KABB-MV gun/bombing installation (KABB-MV - kombineerovannaya artillereeysko-bombardirovochnaya batareya Mozharovskovo i Venevidova - combined gun/bomb battery designed by Mozharovskiy and Venevidov), composed of a ventral cannon pack and a special glazed nose for bomb aiming equipment.

;R-12

:Prototype photographic reconnaissance aircraft.

;I-29 or BB-22 IS

:Experimental long-range fighter aircraft.

;Yak-2bis / BB-22bis / izdeliye 70bis)

:Prototype of the Yak-4 2M-105

Users

;

  • VVS

Specifications (Yak-2)

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See also

References

Notes

Bibliography

  • Bergström, Christer. Barbarossa — The Air Battle: July-December 1941. Hersham: Midland Publishing, 2007
  • Gordon, Yefim. Soviet Airpower in World War 2. Hinckley: Midland Publishing, 2008
  • Gunston, Bill. The Osprey Encyclopaedia of Russian Aircraft 1875–1995. London, Osprey, 1995
  • Description page on aviation.ru
  • airwar.ru page describing the Yak-2 KABB