Mikulin M-34

A V-engine with a centrifugal supercharger designed by a team led by Alexander Alexandrovich Mikulin in 1931. It was created as a result of the USSR’s drive to establish a modern engine industry capable of building high-power aviation engines. After refining the technology, the engine entered production in 1932. The first serial engines appeared in 1933.

The M-34 proved to be a very promising design. In subsequent years it underwent continuous improvements — a reduction gearbox, a metal variable-pitch propeller, an improved supercharger and other technical and technological modifications increasing the engine’s power were introduced. Based on the M-34 engine, the AM-35A, AM-38, AM-42 engines were developed, used in several well-known aircraft of the World War II era. The drawback of the M-34 was its heavy weight, which meant it was only suitable for powering large aircraft.