TSAGI’s Main Contribution to the Victory Or “... We Can’t Get Far On Polikarpov Alone.”

The journey from scientific research to the final result takes time. The amount of scientific and methodological work carried out at TsAGI in the field of design and construction of new aeronautical products enabled creation of dozens of types of modern combat aircraft in the pre-war years. The best of these – the Ils, Yaks, MiGs, LaGG/La, Su, and Tu – were launched into mass production just before the war, and the Red Army aviation used these aircraft throughout the entire war. During the war, TsAGI mainly implemented what had been prepared before the war, including improving these aircraft’s combat properties. Thus, pre-war research and developments, summarized in the scientific and methodological literature published by TsAGI, became the main contribution of TsAGI to the military efforts of the Red Army Air Force during the Great Patriotic War.