It was intended to develop reconnaissance and bomber versions but these plans were disrupted by Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion in June 1941.

The NKAP (Narodnyy komissariat aviatsionnoy promyshlennosti—People's Ministry of the Aircraft Industry) requested on 7 October 1940 that the OKO (opytno-konstrooktorskiy otdel—Experimental Design Department) of Factory (Zavod) No.

1, which would later become the Mikoyan-Gurevich design bureau (OKB) begin work on a twin-engined long-range, single-seat escort fighter intended to use the AM-37 engine, then under development by Mikulin.

Three days later Mikoyan and Gurevich were ordered to produce three prototypes to undergo State acceptance trials on 1 August, 1 September and 1 November 1941.

The center section was metal, but the outer panels were wooden with fabric-covered ailerons and veneer-covered Schrenk flaps.

The German advance on Moscow in October 1941 forced the Institute and the DIS to evacuate to Kazan while the OKO and its factory went to Kuibyshev.

Its tailcone was split vertically to use as an air brake and the armament was revised to consist of two VYa cannon in the undernose pod with 150 rounds each and four Berezin UBK machine guns mounted in the wing roots.

Flight testing was stopped on 10 February when the floatless carburetors had to be sent to TsIAM (Tsentrahl'nyy Institoot Aviatsionnovo Motorostroyeniya—Central Institute of Aviation Motors) for adjustment.

[1] The service designation MiG-5 was reserved for the production version of this aircraft, as demonstrated in the NKAP order of 2 October 1941, which instructed Zavod No.

[4] Data from OKB Mikoyan: A History of the Design Bureau and its Aircraft[1]General characteristics Performance Armament