During the final stages of World War II, Lavochkin began work on an all-metal successor to the La-7, one of the finest Soviet fighters of the war. The result was the La-9 'Fritz' which although superficially similar to its predecessor, was a completely new aircraft which incorporated such improvents as a laminar flow wing, a pressurized cockpit, and an increase in its defensive armament. The result was a fighter which was the equal of the La-7 but inferior to the Yak-3, the USSR's finest fighter of the war. Despite this, the La-9 was ordered into production during the first few years of the post-war era and was perhaps most notable for being a testbed for various engine configurations such as ramjets and pulse-jets which were mounted under the wings. These additions proved unreliable, affecting the aircraft's handling characteristics and thus were never included in production units.

The first experiments with what would end up becoming the all-metal La-9 were done with the La-126 prototype during the war years. These were followed by the La-130 which first flew in August 1946 and was the direct precursor to the La-9. Other variants included the La-9UTI two-seat trainer with further experimiental versions being the La-132 with uprated engines, the La-138 with underwing ramjets, the La-9RD with pulse-jets, and the La-9M long-range fighter which was to become the La-11.