The U-2 aircraft was designed under N.N. Polikarpov’s supervision from 1923 to1928 as a simple, sturdy, and easy to handle two-seater aircraft for flight schools. Production began in 1929. Flight instructors and pilot candidates liked the plane because it was forgiving of the sorts of mistakes pilot trainees typically made. The U-2 was hard to stall and easy to recover with predictable behavior at high angles of attack. It also had a low landing speed which left a large margin of safety for young pilots. Many future aces learned to fly in this 'flying school-desk' as it was the first aircraft flown by the majority of VVS pilots during the war.

Its military version known as the U-2VS was mainly used as a low altitude light bomber and recon plane. The military variant could carry up to 300kg of bombs and was equipped with a defensive 7.62mm ShKAS machine gun operated by the observer/radioman. One modification allowed it to carry a wing-mounted forward facing ShKAS gun. It was a very hard target for enemy fighters at low altitudes because of its low speed and maneuverability, resulting in its relatively high survivability rate. It was used by the famous all female "Night Witches" of the 46th Guards night bomber regiment which harassed German troops when the sun went down. The U-2 was later renamed the Po-2 to honor N.N. Polikarpov after his passing in 1944.

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