Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Gudkov LaGG-3

The Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Gudkov LaGG-3 (Лавочкин-Горбунов-Гудков ЛаГГ-3) was a Soviet fighter aircraft of World War II. It was a refinement of the earlier LaGG-1 and was one of the most modern aircraft available to the Soviet Air Force at the time of Germany's invasion in 1941. Compared to its opponents the LaGG-3 was underpowered and, despite its wooden construction, overweight. It was unpopular with Soviet pilots, but despite this, at one point in the war, on average 12 LaGG-3s were being completed daily and 6,528 had been built in total when production switched to the Yak-3 in 1944. The LaGG-3 was steadily improved, forming the basis for the more successful La-5 and La-7.

LaGG-3
A LaGG-3 before take off
Role Fighter
National origin Soviet Union
Design group Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Gudkov
Designer V. P. Gorbunov
Built by 21 (Gorky), 31 (Taganrog/Tbilisi), 23/153 (Leningrad/Novosibirsk)
First flight 28 March 1940
Introduction early 1941
Retired 1944
Primary user Soviet Union
Produced 1941–1944
Number built 6,528
Developed into Lavochkin La-5
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.