This twin-engine reconnaissance aircraft demonstrated during tests a speed unprecedented even for fighters - higher than that of the Messerschmitt Bf.109. For this plane, A. S. Yakovlev was awarded the Order of Lenin, a ZIS car and a prize of 100 thousand rubles. But, according to the reviews of pilots who fought on the Yak-2 and Yak-4, “this aircraft could hardly be called a combat aircraft. The small bomb load and unreliable operation of machine guns made it unsuitable for combat operations. The defects identified before the war were never corrected. True, it had high speed, which made it easy to evade the Messers, and burned rather poorly if hit by enemy shells. By the end of 1941, almost all of these machines were destroyed...” Why did Yakovlev’s first combat aircraft become the main failure in the career of the great aircraft designer? Should we believe the accusations of “intrigue” and “adventurism” made against him? Whose fault was it that the magnificent high-speed reconnaissance aircraft, which our troops so lacked, turned into an unsuccessful short-range bomber? Why was the frankly “crude” car hastily put into production? And how did the first “Yaks” fight? This book not only answers the most pressing and controversial questions about the Yak-2/Yak-4, but also provides a professional analysis of Yakovlev’s other attack aircraft - the Yak-6NBB, UT-2MV and Yak-9B.