Петляков
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: 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.
Petlyakov in numbers
Компания
- Суммируя
- 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
Производство
- Наиболее известен благодаря
- Пикирующий бомбардировщик Пе-2
- 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
Сегодня
- Сейчас
- Прекратил существование
- Taganrog aviation college and streets in Kazan, Taganrog and Moscow bear Petlyakov’s name
- Pe-2s preserved at Monino and elsewhere
Цифры
- Pe-2 built
- 11,070–11,400 (sources differ)1940–1945
- Pe-3 built
- 3601941–1944
- Pe-8 built
- 931936–1944
Every notable Petlyakov aircraft
Photos: U.S. Air Force · Public domain
| Самолёт | Роль | Первый рейс | Построен | Статус | Примечание |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Petlyakov Pe-8 (TB-7, ANT-42) | Four-engine heavy bomber | 1936 | 93 | Ушедший на пенсию | Designed by Petlyakov’s brigade at Tupolev; bombed Berlin in August 1941 |
| Petlyakov VI-100 | High-altitude fighter prototype | 1940 | Ушедший на пенсию | Pressurised cabin and turbo-superchargers; basis of the Pe-2 | |
| Петляков Пе-2 | Пикирующий бомбардировщик | 1940 | 11,070–11,400 | Ушедший на пенсию | Nicknamed Peshka (Pawn); NATO name Buck |
| Petlyakov Pe-3 | Heavy and night fighter | 1941 | 360 | Ушедший на пенсию | Developed after German night raids on Moscow in July 1941 |
Petlyakov aircraft in the world’s air forces
1 air forces in the Order of Battle fly or flew Petlyakov types. Ни у одной из них до сих пор нет ни одного в эксплуатации.
| военно-воздушные силы | В эксплуатации | Ранее летал |
|---|---|---|
| Польские ВВС | Петляков Пе-2 |
Where Petlyakov built, who led it, what it achieved
Заводы
- 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
Люди
- 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
Рекорды и первые достижения
- Pe-8: the only four-engined bomber built by the USSR during the Second World War
Petlyakov, year by year
Petlyakov’s brigade tasked with the TB-7 (ANT-42) long-range bomber
TB-7 prototype first flight
Petlyakov arrested with Tupolev and the TsAGI leadership
Heads the STO (later KB-100) prison design team
VI-100 shown over the May Day parade
Ordered to convert the VI-100 into a dive bomber
Pe-2 first flight
Petlyakov awarded the Stalin Prize; production evacuated to Kazan
TB-7s bomb Berlin
Petlyakov killed in a Pe-2 crash near Arzamas; TB-7 renamed Pe-8
Before and after Petlyakov
Everything people ask about Petlyakov
Who was Vladimir Petlyakov?
How many Pe-2s were built?
How did Petlyakov die?
Why is the Pe-8 named after Petlyakov?
Around Petlyakov
Все факты проверены.
- Vladimir Petlyakov (Wikipedia)
- Petlyakov Pe-2 (Wikipedia)
- Petlyakov Pe-8 (Wikipedia)
- Petlyakov Pe-3 (Wikipedia)
- Petlyakov, Vladimir Mikhailovich (Russian Wikipedia)
Подтверждено 03.10.2026.