 The prototype was designed and produced by the GAZ-301 factory in Khimki to the North West of Moscow.The design was approved for production in January of 1940 and in the prototype's name the I- prefix stood for "istrebitel" "destroyer" and the number signified the design bureau responsible (which in this case was the GAZ-301 factory).The I-301 was a single-seat, low-wing monoplane, with a semi-monocoque fuselage, and skinned with birch veneer and plywood.