On 4th July 1941 the State Defence Committee decided to move many industries past the Ural mountains, well beyond Luftwaffe's bombers range. OKB-301 (the factory where the majority of LaGG-3s were manufactured) was evacuated from Khimky (a suburb in Moscow) to GAZ-21 in Niznhy-Novgorod on the Volga river during Autumn 1941. The manufacturing plants of GAZ-301, which were repurposed to manufacture the Yakovlev Yak-7, were transferred to Novosibirsk and mixed with the State Aircraft Factory 153. GAZ-31 which before the Russian Civil War was a subsidiary of Lebedev and Maritime Aircraft Production Facility were dismantled at Taganrog on the Sea of Azov and shipped to the Caucasus to Tiblisi, the capital city of Georgia. Much to the north, in Leningrad, at GAZ-23 production came to an end in September 1941 with only 65 aircraft completed due to the Axis encirclement of the city.
During early 1942 the Series 11 was increasingly used in the low-level close-support and ground-attack roles, where its hardiness was appreciated. During the Battle of Moscow on the Kalinin Front the LaGG-3 saw a lot of action in this role during late 1941 and early 1942. The 129th Fighter Aviation Regiment, equipped with LaGG-3 fighters, was awarded the Guards status for their actions, becoming, on 6th December 1941, the 5th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment.
Regarding the next major series, 23rd ones, in early 1942 it was obvious that the LaGG-3 was inferior to the Yakovlev Yak-1 and Yak-7 due to its superior performance and easiness to manufacture thanks to its Delta-Wood structure. Therefore the Commissariat of the People for Aviation Industry (NKAP) ordered GAZ-153 to reconvert from LaGG-3 to Yak-7. At that time GAZ-153 had produced just 330 LaGG-3s. GAZ-21 converted to produce the Lavochkin La-5 during autumn 1942 and for a while both types, LaGG-3 and La-5 were being produced at the factory, making GAZ-31 the only factory building LaGG-3 fighters. During 1942 alone a total of 2.771 LaGG-3 were manufactured, more than any other year the LaGG-3 was in production.
The Series 35 were produced from August 1942 until spring 1943 at GAZ-31 which was the sole factory producing LaGG-3s in 1943. Regarded as obsolete by the NKAP in early 1942, production continued until the factory was repurposed to built another more modern fighter.
The most successful series of the LaGG-3, series 66, was tested by the Scientific Research Institute of the Soviet Air Force at Sverdlovsk, East of the Urals and it was clear that it was superior in performance to any previous LaGG-3 type. It was, however, slower and worse armed than the German Messerschmitt Bf.109F and G types, which at the time, were its main antagonist.
Its production began in Spring 1943 and ended in September with more than 6.528 LaGG-3 of every series being made. The State Aircraft Factory in Tiblisi, the main manufacturer of the LaGG-3 Series 66, made 1.294 machines.
The Series 66 was involved during April and May 1943 in the Battle of Kuban at the North Caucasus, taking part in one of the major aerial battles of the Eastern Front. The 88th Fighter Aviation Regiment, fully equipped with LaGG-3 Series 66 and raised with funds of the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic, took part in that battle.
The Series 66 was kept in active service well until 1944 with various VVS (Soviet Air Force) units. One such unit was 9th Fighter Aviation Regiment, which operated the type in the Novorossijsk region during spring 1944. In May that unit was transferred to the Baltic Fleet as part of the 11th Ground Attack Division and took part in the Battles for Karelian Isthmus during June 1944 making it the last operational theatre the LaGG-3 was employed on.
Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Gudkov_LaGG-3
2. Signal Squadron - Aircraft In action 163 - LaGG Fighters in Action
3. https://massimotessitori.altervista.org/sovietwarplanes/pages/lagg3/lagg3.html
4. https://www.valka.cz/Lavockin-LaGG-3-t41330
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