The Yak-2 is notable for being the first aircraft desigend by Alexander Yakovlev, which despite the designation, began development and first flew before his more famous Yak-1 fighter. The Yak-2 was designed as a mixed-construction light bomber and reconnaissance aircraft, with a streamlined fuselage and twin M-103 inline engines. It's main feature was to be its speed, which in its prototype staged impressed Stalin so much that it was immediately ordered into production. Unfortunately, numerous teething troubles (particularly regarding its engine cooling systems and its stability in flight) resulted in the final design being somewhat underwhelming, to which was added a relatively small payload and weak defensive armament of just two 7.62-mm ShKAS guns. The majority of Yak-2 aircraft (along with the slightly improved Yak-4) in service were destroyed on the ground in the opening weeks of the German invasion in 1941 with the handful of surviving aircraft serving in secondary roles like reconnaissance for a few more years.

The prototype Ya-22 first flew on 22 February 1939 and was ordered into production as the BB-2, a designation that was soon changed to Yak-2. A more powerful M-105 engine was installed on the subsequent Yak-4 (initially known as the B-22bis) along with modifications to the troublesome cooling system and additional internal fuel. No other variants were built.