Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Gudkov LaGG-3

Overview

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.