GKO was created on June 30, 1941, a week after the invasion of the Soviet Union by the Nazi Germany and by a compound decision of the Presidium of Supreme Soviet of USSR, Council of People's Commissars of USSR, and the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
The GKO and the NKAP issued decrees in August 1941 for the Yak-7 to be produced by Factories N°301 and N°153, but the Factory 301 had to be evacuated to Novosibirsk where it merged with N° 153.