In April 1946, the Council of People's Commissars ordered several design bureaux (OKB – "Opytnoye Konstruktorskoye Buro"), included that of Alexander Yakovlev, to develop a single-seat jet fighter to be equipped with a single Lyulka TR-1 turbojet engine. The aircraft should have a maximum speed of at sea level and a speed of at an altitude of . It should be able to climb to that altitude in 3.8 minutes or less and should have a maximum range of no less than . Yakovlev and his team were well aware that any derivative of their earlier Yak-15 and Yak-17 fighters, then under development, could not reach the required speed because of their thick wings and chose to begin a "clean-slate" design. Preliminary work used the same "pod-and-boom" layout as had been used in the earlier Yakovlev designs, although the cockpit was located in front of the engine. The TR-1 engine was plagued by delays and Yakovlev devoted most of his efforts to designs that used the RD-10.