Yermolayev

Order of Battle · Aircraft manufacturers · Soviet Union

Yermolayev

Ермолаев (OKB Yermolayev)

A young engineer inherited the design bureau of his arrested mentor Bartini, turned an airliner into a long-range bomber that raided Berlin in 1941, and died of typhus at 36, leaving his bureau to Sukhoi.

Merged into Sukhoi in 1945Status
4Aircraft on record
Photo: Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
CountrySoviet UnionFoundersVladimir Grigoryevich YermolayevHeadquartersMoscow (Plant No. 89, later Plant No. 134); wartime production at IrkutskStatusMerged into Sukhoi in 1945
The story

Yermolayev: the company and the aircraft that made its name

Inheriting Bartini’s bureau

Vladimir Yermolayev, a 1931 graduate of Moscow State University, worked under the Italian-born designer Roberto Bartini on the Stal-7, a fast twin-engined airliner. When Bartini was arrested in Stalin’s purges, Yermolayev took over his design bureau at Plant No. 89 of the civil air fleet and finished turning the Stal-7 into a long-range bomber, the DB-240. The airframe was almost entirely redesigned, with the pilot’s cockpit offset to port for a better view. It first flew on 14 May 1940 and entered production as the Yer-2 in March 1941.

The Yer-2 over Berlin

The Yer-2 was underpowered, slower than promised and short on defensive guns, but it carried a heavy load a long way. On the evening of 10 August 1941 Yer-2s of the 420th Long-Range Bomber Regiment, with Pe-8s, set out from Pushkino near Leningrad to bomb Berlin; the runway was so short that only three fully loaded Yer-2s got off. Production was halted that month after 128 aircraft, to free the factory for the Il-2, and the survivors were thrown into costly ground-attack missions in the Battle of Moscow.

Diesels, typhus and Sukhoi

The bureau was evacuated to Irkutsk, and in 1942 Yermolayev took over experimental Plant No. 134 in Moscow. Work on fuel-efficient Charomskiy diesel engines produced the Yer-2/ACh-30B, which re-entered production at the end of 1943 and flew combat missions again in April 1945, staying with Long-Range Aviation until the Tu-4 arrived. Yermolayev, by then a major general of the engineering service, died of typhus on 31 December 1944, aged 36. His bureau passed to Pavel Sukhoi.

A young engineer inherited the design bureau of his arrested mentor Bartini, turned an airliner into a long-range bomber that raided Berlin in 1941, and died of typhus at 36, leaving his bureau to Sukhoi.Yermolayev · verified 2026-10-03
At a glance

Yermolayev in numbers

The company

In short
OKB formed from Bartini’s bureau

  • Took over Bartini’s bureau after his arrest
  • Evacuated to Irkutsk Plant No. 39 in wartime
  • Plant No. 134, Moscow, from 1942

Production

Best known for
Yer-2 bomber

  • About 360–370 Yer-2 built in two production runs
  • 128 built before production stopped in August 1941
  • Diesel-engined Yer-2/ACh-30B from late 1943

Today

Now
Passed to Sukhoi, 1945

  • Bureau transferred to Pavel Sukhoi after Yermolayev’s death

The numbers

Yer-2 built (all versions)
about 360–370
Yer-2 built in first production run
1281941
Yer-2 in service on 1 October 1941
63, of which 34 operational
The aircraft

Every notable Yermolayev aircraft

Aircraft Role First flight Built Status Note
Yermolayev DB-240 Long-range bomber prototype 1940 2 Retired Derived from Bartini’s Stal-7 airliner
Yermolayev Yer-2 (M-105) Long-range bomber 128 Retired Raided Berlin, August 1941
Yermolayev Yer-2 (AM-37) Re-engined prototype 1941 Retired Reached 505 km/h at 6,000 m
Yermolayev Yer-2/ACh-30B Diesel long-range bomber Retired Side-by-side pilots; combat from April 1945
Places, people, records

Where Yermolayev built, who led it, what it achieved

Factories

  • Plant No. 89 · Moscow — Bartini’s former civil air fleet bureau
  • Plant No. 39 · Irkutsk — Wartime evacuation and Yer-2 production
  • Plant No. 134 · Moscow — Experimental plant led by Yermolayev from 1942

People

  • Vladimir Yermolayev · chief designer (1908–1944) — Major general of the engineering-aviation service from August 1944
  • Roberto Bartini · mentor — Designer of the Stal-7; arrested before the DB-240 was completed
Timeline

Yermolayev, year by year

1931

Yermolayev graduates from Moscow State University

1939

DB-240 preliminary design completed; prototypes begun in July

1940

DB-240 first flight

1941

Yer-2 production begins

1941

Yer-2s attempt to bomb Berlin from Pushkino

1941

Production halted after 128 aircraft

1942

Yermolayev takes over Plant No. 134 in Moscow

1943

Diesel Yer-2/ACh-30B enters production

1944

Yermolayev dies of typhus; bureau passes to Sukhoi

1945

Yer-2 returns to combat

The family tree

Before and after Yermolayev

Came beforeBartiniYermolayev inherited Bartini’s bureau and the Stal-7 designRead the Bartini pageCame afterSukhoiBureau passed to Pavel Sukhoi after Yermolayev’s death, 1945Read the Sukhoi page
Questions & Answers

Everything people ask about Yermolayev

What was the Yermolayev Yer-2?
A Soviet twin-engined long-range bomber developed from Bartini’s Stal-7 airliner, first flown in 1940.
Did the Yer-2 bomb Berlin?
Yes. Yer-2s of the 420th Long-Range Bomber Regiment raided Berlin in August 1941.
How many Yer-2s were built?
About 360 to 370 across two production runs.
What happened to the Yermolayev bureau?
After Yermolayev died of typhus at the end of 1944, his bureau was handed to Pavel Sukhoi.

Continue the tour

Around Yermolayev

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.