Petlyakov

Order of Battle · Aircraft manufacturers · Soviet Union

Petlyakov

V. M. Petlyakov Design Bureau · OKB Petlyakova · KB-100

Its chief designer drew the Soviet Union’s most important bomber of the war while a prisoner of the NKVD, was freed when it flew, and died in one of his own aircraft barely a year later.

1940Founded
DefunctStatus
4Aircraft on record
1Air forces flying its types
Photo: Aeroprints.com / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
CountrySoviet UnionFounded1940FoundersVladimir Mikhailovich PetlyakovHeadquartersPlant No. 22, KazanStatusDefunct
The story

Petlyakov: the company and the aircraft that made its name

Designing behind bars

In October 1937 Vladimir Petlyakov, the man running Tupolev’s heavy-bomber brigade, was arrested with Andrei Tupolev and the whole TsAGI leadership on invented charges of sabotage and espionage. Many colleagues were shot. Petlyakov was too useful: after months in prison he was sent to an NKVD sharashka, a prison design office, and put in charge of a team called STO, later KB-100. On May Day 1940, his new VI-100 high-altitude fighter flew over Red Square while Petlyakov and his team watched from the roof of their prison.

From fighter to dive bomber

The VI-100 was what the air force had asked for, but not what it needed. The war in Finland and the success of the German Stuka changed priorities, and in May 1940 Lavrentiy Beria ordered it turned into a dive bomber, with freedom promised on success. The result, first flown on 15 December 1940 at Plant No. 39, was the Pe-2. Petlyakov was released, given a Stalin Prize in 1941, and evacuated with production to Kazan. Between 11,070 and about 11,400 Pe-2s were built, depending on the count, plus 360 Pe-3 heavy fighters.

The Pawn and the Berlin bomber

Petlyakov’s name also went on the TB-7, the four-engined bomber his Tupolev brigade had designed in the mid-1930s and the only four-engined bomber the USSR built during the war; it bombed Berlin in August 1941. Only 93 were made. On 12 January 1942, flying to Moscow in a Pe-2 to argue with the aviation ministry about falling production standards in Kazan, Petlyakov was killed when the aircraft crashed in low cloud near Arzamas. The TB-7 was renamed Pe-8 in his honour, and the bureau’s work on the Pe-2 continued under his successors, including Vladimir Myasishchev.

Its chief designer drew the Soviet Union’s most important bomber of the war while a prisoner of the NKVD, was freed when it flew, and died in one of his own aircraft barely a year later.Petlyakov · verified 2026-10-03
At a glance

Petlyakov in numbers

The company

In short
Design bureau from 1940

  • Grew out of KB-100, an NKVD prison design office, 1938–1940
  • Petlyakov appointed chief designer at Plant No. 39, Moscow, in 1940
  • Evacuated to Kazan in late 1941
  • Led after Petlyakov’s death in 1942 by successors including Myasishchev

Production

Best known for
Pe-2 dive bomber

  • Pe-2: 11,070–11,400 built (sources differ)
  • Pe-3 heavy fighter: 360 built
  • Pe-8 heavy bomber: 93 built
  • VI-100 high-altitude fighter prototype

Today

Now
Defunct

  • Taganrog aviation college and streets in Kazan, Taganrog and Moscow bear Petlyakov’s name
  • Pe-2s preserved at Monino and elsewhere

The numbers

Pe-2 built
11,070–11,400 (sources differ)1940–1945
Pe-3 built
3601941–1944
Pe-8 built
931936–1944
The aircraft

Every notable Petlyakov aircraft

Petlyakov Pe-2Dive bomber · first flight 1940 · 11,070–11,400 built

Photos: U.S. Air Force · Public domain

Aircraft Role First flight Built Status Note
Petlyakov Pe-8 (TB-7, ANT-42) Four-engine heavy bomber 1936 93 Retired Designed by Petlyakov’s brigade at Tupolev; bombed Berlin in August 1941
Petlyakov VI-100 High-altitude fighter prototype 1940 Retired Pressurised cabin and turbo-superchargers; basis of the Pe-2
Petlyakov Pe-2 Dive bomber 1940 11,070–11,400 Retired Nicknamed Peshka (Pawn); NATO name Buck
Petlyakov Pe-3 Heavy and night fighter 1941 360 Retired Developed after German night raids on Moscow in July 1941
Who flies them

Petlyakov aircraft in the world’s air forces

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

Air force In service Formerly flown
Polish Air Force Petlyakov Pe-2
Places, people, records

Where Petlyakov built, who led it, what it achieved

Factories

  • Plant No. 39 · Moscow — Where Petlyakov became chief designer in 1940 and the Pe-2 first flew
  • Plant No. 22 · Kazan — Main Pe-2 production plant
  • Plant No. 124 · Kazan — Pe-8 and Pe-2 production

People

  • Vladimir Petlyakov · chief designer, 1891–1942 — Arrested 1937, released 1940, Stalin Prize 1941, killed in a Pe-2 crash 1942
  • Vladimir Myasishchev · designer — Designed improved Pe-2 variants after Petlyakov’s death
  • Andrei Tupolev · Petlyakov’s mentor and former chief at TsAGI

Records and firsts

  • Pe-8: the only four-engined bomber built by the USSR during the Second World War
Timeline

Petlyakov, year by year

1934

Petlyakov’s brigade tasked with the TB-7 (ANT-42) long-range bomber

1936

TB-7 prototype first flight

1937

Petlyakov arrested with Tupolev and the TsAGI leadership

1938

Heads the STO (later KB-100) prison design team

1940

VI-100 shown over the May Day parade

1940

Ordered to convert the VI-100 into a dive bomber

1940

Pe-2 first flight

1941

Petlyakov awarded the Stalin Prize; production evacuated to Kazan

1941

TB-7s bomb Berlin

1942

Petlyakov killed in a Pe-2 crash near Arzamas; TB-7 renamed Pe-8

The family tree

Before and after Petlyakov

Came beforeTupolevPetlyakov led Tupolev’s heavy-aircraft brigade until his arrest in 1937; the Pe-8 began thereRead the Tupolev page
Questions & Answers

Everything people ask about Petlyakov

Who was Vladimir Petlyakov?
A Soviet aircraft designer (1891–1942) who designed the Pe-2 dive bomber while imprisoned by the NKVD.
How many Pe-2s were built?
Between 11,070 and about 11,400 depending on the source, plus 360 Pe-3 fighter versions.
How did Petlyakov die?
In the crash of a Pe-2 near Arzamas on 12 January 1942, flying from Kazan to Moscow.
Why is the Pe-8 named after Petlyakov?
It was designed by his brigade as the TB-7 and renamed Pe-8 after his death in 1942.

Continue the tour

Around Petlyakov

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.