Lisunov

Order of Battle · Aircraft manufacturers · Soviet Union

Lisunov

State Aircraft Plant No. 84 (GAZ-84) · PS-84

A Cossack officer’s son spent two and a half years inside the Douglas factory in California and came home to build almost 5,000 Soviet DC-3s, armed with gun turrets and bomb racks.

1938Founded
Defunct 1954Status
2Aircraft on record
2Air forces flying its types
Photo: Julian Herzog (Website) / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)
CountrySoviet UnionFounded1938FoundersBoris LisunovHeadquartersKhimki, Moscow; Tashkent from 1941StatusDefunct 1954
The story

Lisunov: the company and the aircraft that made its name

A Soviet engineer in Santa Monica

In November 1936 Boris Lisunov, chief engineer of a Kharkov aircraft plant and a friend of Sergei Ilyushin from their student days, arrived at the Douglas works in Santa Monica. The Soviet Union had bought a licence for the DC-3 that July, and for two and a half years Lisunov documented every part, every tool and the after-sales support. In January 1938 he became technical director of Plant No. 84 at Khimki, and after his boss Vladimir Myasishchev was arrested the programme became his.

1,293 changes

Converting the drawings to metric took 1,293 engineering change orders. Skins were slightly heavier, the passenger door moved to the right, and the engines were Shvetsov ASh-62s, a Soviet development of the Wright Cyclone. The PS-84 began leaving the line in 1939, and 237 had been built when Germany invaded in June 1941. Lisunov evacuated the factory to Tashkent, where it was building aircraft again by January 1942.

The DC-3 that dropped bombs

In war service the PS-84 became the Li-2, and unlike the American C-47 it fought: military versions had a dorsal gun turret and could carry bombs, and served as night bombers, partisan supply and ambulance aircraft. In all 4,937 were built between 1940 and 1954, at Tashkent, Kazan and Komsomolsk-on-Amur. Lisunov died of a heart attack in 1946, shortly after receiving the Order of Lenin. One airworthy Li-2 still flies in Hungary.

A Cossack officer’s son spent two and a half years inside the Douglas factory in California and came home to build almost 5,000 Soviet DC-3s, armed with gun turrets and bomb racks.Lisunov · verified 2026-10-03
At a glance

Lisunov in numbers

The company

In short
Design work from 1936

  • Licence for the DC-3 granted 15 July 1936
  • Lisunov technical director of Plant No. 84, Khimki, from 1938
  • Plant evacuated to Tashkent, 1941
  • Boris Lisunov died 1946

Production

Best known for
Lisunov Li-2

  • 4,937 Li-2s built, 1940–1954
  • Built at Khimki, Tashkent, Kazan and Komsomolsk-on-Amur
  • Airliner, transport, bomber, reconnaissance and survey versions

Today

Now
Defunct

  • One airworthy Li-2, HA-LIX, flies in Hungary
  • Tashkent works became the Tashkent Aviation Production Association

The numbers

Li-2 built
4,9371940–1954
Engineering change orders to the Douglas drawings
1,293
PS-84s built before June 1941
237
The aircraft

Every notable Lisunov aircraft

Aircraft Role First flight Built Status Note
Lisunov PS-84 / Li-2 Airliner and military transport (licence DC-3) 1939 4,937 Retired Military versions with dorsal turret and bomb racks; NATO name Cab
Li-2T (Komsomolsk) Transport 353 Retired Built at GAZ-126 before it switched to MiG-15s
Who flies them

Lisunov aircraft in the world’s air forces

2 air forces in the Order of Battle fly or flew Lisunov types. 0 of them still have one in service.

Air force In service Formerly flown
Albanian Air Force Lisunov Li-2
Lao People’s Liberation Army Air Force Lisunov Li-2
Places, people, records

Where Lisunov built, who led it, what it achieved

Factories

  • State Aircraft Plant No. 84 · Khimki, Moscow — Original PS-84 line until the 1941 evacuation
  • Tashkent (GAZ-33/GAZ-84) · Tashkent, Uzbek SSR — Main wartime and post-war Li-2 plant
  • GAZ-126 · Komsomolsk-on-Amur — 353 Li-2Ts, 1946–1950

People

  • Boris Lisunov · engineer, programme head — 1898–1946; Order of Lenin for the Li-2
  • Vladimir Myasishchev · engineer — Led metrication of the drawings before his arrest
Timeline

Lisunov, year by year

1936

Soviet government receives DC-3 production licence

1936

Lisunov arrives at Douglas, Santa Monica

1938

Lisunov made technical director of Plant No. 84

1939

First PS-84s leave the Khimki line

1941

Plant evacuated to Tashkent

1942

Military PS-84s redesignated Li-2

1946

Death of Boris Lisunov

1954

Li-2 production ends

2001

Restored Li-2 HA-LIX returns to flight in Hungary

The family tree

Before and after Lisunov

Came beforeDouglasDC-3 production licence, 15 July 1936Read the Douglas page
Questions & Answers

Everything people ask about Lisunov

What is the Lisunov Li-2?
A licence-built Soviet version of the Douglas DC-3, originally called the PS-84. 4,937 were built between 1940 and 1954.
How is the Li-2 different from the DC-3?
It was redrawn in metric units with 1,293 changes, used Shvetsov ASh-62 engines, had the passenger door on the right, and military versions carried a gun turret and bombs.
Who was Boris Lisunov?
A Soviet engineer (1898–1946) who studied DC-3 production at Douglas from 1936 to 1939 and led the Soviet programme.
Does any Li-2 still fly?
Yes. HA-LIX, built in Tashkent in 1949, was restored in 2001 and flies in Hungary.

Continue the tour

Around Lisunov

RussiaMilA Siberian railwayman’s son who started with autogyros built the design bureau behind the most-produced helicopter in history and the heaviest-lifting rotorcraft…Read the Mil pageRussiaMikoyanTwo engineers handed a disgraced rival’s fighter in 1939 built the bureau whose initials became the West’s word for any Soviet jet — more than 11,000…Read the Mikoyan pageThe indexAll aircraft manufacturersEvery company that built an aircraft flown by the air forces in the Order of Battle, current and historic.Open the list
Sources & Further Reading

Every fact, checked

Verified 2026-10-03.