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88-540: Development begun in 1947 along with a related ground-launched missile, the SSC-2B "Samlet" (S-2 Sopka), both missiles using aerodynamics derived from the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 fighter aircraft, and developed under the anti-ship missile codename "Komet". The KS-1 was designed for use against surface ships. It resembled a scaled-down MiG-15 with the cockpit and undercarriage removed. Its main fuselage

176-745: A Captain Kalinikov shot down a ROCAF P-38 , in the first aerial victory for a MiG-15 pilot. Another followed on 11 May, when Captain Ilya Ivanovich Schinkarenko downed a B-24 Liberator flown by Li Chao Hua, commander of the 8th Air Group, ROCAF. For many years, the Soviet Union actively denied that its pilots flew in Korea during the Korean War; only China and North Korea took responsibility for Korean War operations. After

264-579: A B-29A beyond repair, forcing it to make an emergency landing at Kimpo Air Base . A few minutes later, Major Anatoly Karelin added two more Superfortresses to his tally. Studilin and Karelin's wingmen, Major L. A. Boykovets and 1st Lieutenant Zhahmany Ihsangalyev, also damaged one B-29 each. Anatoly Karelin eventually became an ace with six kills (all B-29s at night). In the aftermath of these battles, B-29 night sorties were cancelled for two months. Originally conceived to shoot down rather than escort bombers, both of America's state-of-the-art jet night fighters –

352-643: A MiG-15 entering a spin in combat, resulting in at least 25 crashes and ten ejections. The large-scale introduction of the MiG-15 occurred during the last phases of the Chinese Civil War . During the first months of 1950, aircraft of the Nationalist ROCAF , operating from bases in Taiwan , attacked mainland China , including Shanghai . Mao Zedong requested assistance with air defense from

440-591: A Superfortress on each of 22, 23 and 24 October. Samoylov added two F-86As to his tally on 24 October 1951, and on 27 October shot down two more aircraft: a B-29A and an F-84E. These losses among the heavy bombers forced the Far East Air Forces High Command to cancel the precision daylight attacks of the B-29s and only undertake radar-directed night raids. From November 1951 to January 1952, both sides tried to achieve air superiority over

528-406: A US/South Korean team to the crash site. They photographed the wreck and removed the turbine blades, combustion chamber, exhaust pipe and horizontal stabilizer. The overloaded helicopter then flew the team and samples back to Paengyong-do, where they were transferred to an SA-16 and flown south and then to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base , Ohio, for evaluation. Day fighter A day fighter

616-506: A beach during the summer of 2001 just miles from the Kunsan base. Captain James B. Brown is still missing in action. In a Royal Navy Sea Fury flying from a light fleet carrier FAA pilot Lieutenant Peter "Hoagy" Carmichael downed a MiG-15 on 8 August 1952, in air-to-air combat. The Sea Fury would be one of the few piston-engined fighter aircraft following World War II's end to shoot down

704-686: A captured US B-29, as well as the later Soviet B-29 copy, the Tupolev Tu-4 . To ensure the destruction of such large bombers, the MiG-15 carried autocannons : two 23 mm (0.91 in) with 80 rounds per gun and a single 37 mm (1.46 in) with 40 rounds. These weapons provided tremendous punch in the interceptor role, but their limited rate of fire and relatively low velocity made it more difficult to score hits against small and manoeuvrable enemy jet fighters in air-to-air combat. The 23 mm and 37 mm also had radically different ballistics , and some United Nations (UN) pilots in Korea had

792-460: A decisive performance advantage over straight-winged jet fighters when it was introduced into combat over Korea. The design that emerged had a mid-mounted 35° swept wing with a slight anhedral and a tailplane mounted up on the swept tail. Western analysts noted that it strongly resembled Kurt Tank 's Focke-Wulf Ta 183 , a later design than the Me 262 that never progressed beyond the design stage. While

880-582: A formidable air-to-air adversary; its airframe has relatively few vulnerable areas, and shooting one down using the relatively fast-firing but less potent M2 Browning machine guns common in American aircraft almost invariably required multiple hits. An improved variant, the MiG-15 bis ("second"), entered service in early 1950 with a Klimov VK-1 engine, another version of the Nene with improved metallurgy over

968-868: A jet fighter. On 10 September 1952, Captain Jesse G. Folmar shot down a MiG-15 with an F4U Corsair but was himself downed by another MiG. The figures given by the Soviet sources indicate that the MiG-15s of the 64th IAK (the fighter corps that included all the divisions that rotated through the conflict) made 60,450 daylight combat sorties and 2,779 night ones and engaged the enemy in 1,683 daylight aerial battles and 107 at night, claiming to have shot down 1,097 UN aircraft over Korea, including 647 F-86s, 185 F-84s, 118 F-80s, 28 F-51s, 11 F-94s, 65 B-29s, 26 Gloster Meteors and 17 aircraft of different types. According to US, 57 B-29s and reconnaissance variants were lost in combat during

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1056-573: A leader and a wingman: After the MiG-15 entered the war, it was shown to be clearly superior to the best straight-wing jets operated by other countries, including the Gloster Meteor , Lockheed F-80 , Republic F-84 and Grumman F9F . In most measures of performance, the North American F-86 Sabre – which was also a swept-wing design – was the only close contemporary that could match the MiG-15. The USAF has claimed that

1144-658: Is a fighter aircraft equipped only to fight during the day. More specifically, it refers to a multi-purpose aircraft that does not include equipment for fighting at night (such as a radar and specialized avionics ), although it is sometimes used to refer to some interceptors as well. The term is an example of a retronym : before the development of effective dedicated night fighter aircraft early in World War II , in effect, all fighter aircraft that were not specifically modified for night combat were day fighters. Examples of planes that were classified as day fighters were

1232-744: The Bristol Beaufighter and Messerschmitt Bf 110 as dedicated night fighters , at which point the term day fighter began to be used. Some lighter designs like the Hawker Hurricane and Focke-Wulf Fw 190 were also adapted to night fighting after a fashion, lacking radar and relying on searchlights or fires on the ground to illuminate their targets. These were preferred over the Spitfire and Bf 109 largely due to their wide-track landing gear , which made landing at night somewhat safer. Although such designs were in service throughout

1320-748: The F-5 Freedom Fighter/Tiger II are still used by nations that lack the money to acquire advanced fighter aircraft. The last of the purpose-designed day fighters were the original American General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon and the Northrop YF-17 that competed for the Lightweight Fighter contract, which had the goal of providing the USAF with an inexpensive day fighter that could be purchased in great numbers to establish air superiority. The designs originated in

1408-726: The F-94 Starfire and the F3D Skyknight – were committed to protecting the Superfortresses against MiGs. The MiG-15 was less effective in getting past the Marine Corps ground-based two-seat F3D Skyknight night fighters assigned to escort B-29s after the F-94 Starfires proved ineffective. What the squat aircraft lacked in sheer performance, it made up for with the advantage of a search radar that enabled

1496-572: The Grumman F6F , Vought F4U , as well as more agile twin-engine planes such as the Lockheed P-38 , with some success. As the size and weight of night-fighting equipment remained considerable in comparison to airframe size and engine power, the day fighter remained a part of front-line air forces into the 1960s. In the immediate post-war era, designs like the North American F-86 Sabre , Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 and Hawker Hunter typified

1584-603: The Klimov RD-45 to be incorporated into the MiG-15. To take advantage of the new engine, the Council of Ministers ordered the Mikoyan-Gurevich OKB to build two prototypes for an advanced high-altitude daytime interceptor to defend against bombers. It was to have a top speed of 1,000 kilometres per hour (620 mph) and a range of 1,200 kilometres (750 mi). Designers at MiG's OKB-155 started with

1672-549: The NATO reporting name "Fagot". Early production examples had a tendency to roll to the left or to the right due to manufacturing variances, so aerodynamic trimmers called nozhi (knives) were fitted to correct the problem, the knives being adjusted by ground crews until the aircraft flew correctly. The MiG-15 was originally intended to intercept American bombers like the B-29 . It was even evaluated in mock air-to-air combat trials with

1760-480: The Supermarine Spitfire and Messerschmitt Bf 109 . Both were excellent interceptors, but were also found in roles such as fighter-bomber and reconnaissance . However, the weight of the radar systems needed to effectively track down enemy bombers at night was such that these smaller aircraft simply couldn't carry them given the electronics of the day. This led to the use of twin-engine aircraft like

1848-410: The 133rd and 216th IADs, arrived in Korea. They would replace the 97th and 190th by July 1952, and if they could not take aerial superiority away from the now well-prepared Americans, then they certainly neutralized it between September 1952 and July 1953. In September 1952, the 32nd IAD also started combat operations. Again, the figures of victories and losses in the air are still debated by historians of

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1936-493: The 151st and 28th IADs plus the veteran 50th IAD were reorganized into the 64th Fighter Aviation Corps (64 IAK). Initially, the Soviet fighters operated close to their bases, limited by the range of their aircraft, and were guided to the air battlefield by good ground control, which directed them to the most advantageous positions. For political, security and logistical reasons, they were not allowed to cross an imaginary line drawn from Wonsan to Pyongyang , and never to fly over

2024-507: The 50th IAD joined the war with its MiG-15s – their noses painted red and in North Korean markings. That day, eight MiG-15s intercepted about 15 USAF F-51D Mustangs, and First Lieutenant Fyodor V. Chizh shot down Aaron Abercombrie, killing the American pilot. The first-ever jet-versus-jet combat occurred that same day when three MiG-15s from the 50th IAD intercepted ten F-80 Shooting Stars. The F-80C piloted by 1st Lt Frank Van Sickle USAF

2112-702: The F-86 had the advantage in combat kills over Korea between 1950 and 1953. It has been acknowledged that many individual Soviet pilots had larger individual tallies than their UN counterparts, due to a number of factors, although the aggregated claims made by Soviet pilots were probably overstated. According to Soviet/Russian sources, 335 Soviet-piloted MiG-15s were lost in Korea to all causes, including accidents, AA fire and ground attacks. Chinese sources claim that 224 Chinese-piloted MiG-15s were lost over Korea. North Korean losses are not known, but according to North Korean defectors, their air force lost around 100 MiG-15s during

2200-449: The Korean War, claimed 1,106 aircraft shot down by MiG-15s. The records of USAF units confirm 139 US aircraft were shot down by MiGs, with another 68 lost due to unknown causes, 237 aircraft listed as missing due to unknown causes, and 472 aircraft classified as "other losses". Data-matching with Soviet records suggests that US pilots routinely attributed their own combat losses to "landing accidents" and "other losses". On 1 November 1950,

2288-663: The Korean war, almost all by MiG-15s. The Soviet VVS and PVO were the primary users of the MiG-15 during the war; it was also used by the PLAAF and KPAF (unified under an organizational structure called 1st United Air Army ). Despite complaints from the Soviet Union, which repeatedly requested that the Chinese accelerate the introduction of MiG-15, by 1951 there were only two regiments flying MiG-15bis as night fighters. Being not completely trained and equipped, both units were used only for

2376-648: The MiG design bureau's own 1945–46 attempt at a Soviet-built version of the Messerschmitt Me 263 rocket fighter in the appearance of its fuselage. The new MiG retained the previous straight-winged MiG-9's wing and tailplane placement while the F-86 employed a more conventional low-winged design. To prevent confusion during the height of combat the US painted their aircraft with bright stripes to distinguish them. The resulting prototypes were designated I-310 . The I-310

2464-475: The MiG-15 forced the Sabre to fight in the vertical plane or in the horizontal one above 10,000 m (33,000 ft), it gained a significant advantage. Furthermore, a MiG-15 could easily escape from a Sabre by climbing to its ceiling, knowing that the F-86 could not follow. Below 8,000 m (26,000 ft), however, the Sabre had a slight advantage over the MiG in most aspects excluding climb rate, especially if

2552-691: The MiG-15 gained aerial superiority over northwestern Korea. US strategic bombers returned in the week of 22–27 October to neutralize the North Korean aerodromes of Namsi, Taechon and Saamchan, taking further losses to the MiG-15. On 23 October 1951, 56 MiG-15bis intercepted nine B-29s escorted by 34 F-86s and 55 F-84Es . In spite of their numerical inferiority, the Soviet airmen shot down or damaged beyond repair eight B-29As and two F-84Es, losing only one MiG in return and leading Americans to call that day "Black Tuesday". The most successful Soviet pilots that day were Lieutenant Colonel Aleksandr P. Smorchkov and 1st Lieutenant Dmitriy A. Samoylov. The former shot down

2640-760: The MiG-15 was not to dogfight the F-86 but to counter the USAF Boeing B-29 Superfortress bombers. This mission was assigned to the elite of the Soviet Air Force (VVS), in April 1951 to the 324th IAD of Colonel Ivan Kozhedub, and later to the 303rd IAD of General Georgiy A. Lobov, who arrived in Korea in June of the same year. On 12 April 1951, 44 MiG-15s took on a USAF formation of 48 B-29 Superfortresses escorted by 18 F-86 Sabres, 54 F-84 Thunderjets and 24 F-80 Shooting Stars heading towards

2728-704: The MiG-15, three squadrons of the F-86 Sabre, America's only operational jet with swept wings, were quickly rushed to Korea in December. On 17 December, Lt Col. Bruce H. Hinton forced Maj. Yakov Nikanorovich Yefromeyenko to eject from his burning MiG. Five days later, Capt. Nikolay Yefremovich Vorobyov shot down the F-86A of Captain Lawrence V. Bach in his MiG-15bis. Both sides exaggerated their claims of aerial victories that month. Sabre fliers claimed eight MiGs, and

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2816-602: The MiG-15, was already based near Shanghai, as it had taken part in the Chinese Civil War (see previous section). A detachment from the 50 IAD was moved to Antung, next to the border with North Korea in August 1950. They formed the 29th Guards Fighter Regiment (29 GvIAP). When China entered the war in support of North Korea, the Soviets agreed to provide 16 operational air regiments of MiG-15s, including combat pilots. In

2904-561: The MiG-15. The Soviets trained alongside Chinese and Korean pilots. Both regiments of the 324th IAD redeployed to the forward airbase in Antung and entered combat in early April 1951. The 303rd IAD of General Georgiy A. Lobov arrived in Korea in June of that same year and commenced combat operations in August. Soviet MiG pilots were trained to attack enemy formations in coordinated attacks from different directions, using both height and high speed to their advantage. The first encounters established

2992-1051: The PLAAF did not see action until 25 September 1951, when 16 MiG-15s engaged Sabres, with pilot Li Yongtai claiming a victory, but losing a MiG and its pilot. The North Korean unit equipped with the MiG-15 got into action a year later, in September 1952. From then until the end of the war, units in the 1st United Air Army claimed to have shot down 211 F-86s, 72 F-84s and F-80s, and 47 other aircraft of various types, losing 116 Chinese airmen and 231 aircraft: 224 MiG-15s, three La-11s and four Tupolev Tu-2s . Several pilots were credited with five or more enemy aircraft, such as Zhao Baotong with seven victories, Wang Hai with nine kills, and both Kan Yon Duk and Kim Di San with five. Based on Soviet archival data, 335 Soviet MiG-15s are known to have been admitted as lost over Korea. Chinese claims of their losses amount to 224 MiG-15s over Korea. North Korean losses are not known, but according to North Korean defectors their air force lost around 100 MiG-15s during

3080-630: The RD-45, plus minor improvements and upgrades. Visible differences were a headlight in the air intake separator and horizontal upper edge airbrakes. The 23 mm cannon were placed more closely together in their undercarriage. Some "bis" aircraft also adopted under-wing hardpoints for unguided rocket launchers or 50–250 kg (110–550 lb) bombs. Fighter-bomber modifications were dubbed "IB", "SD-21", and "SD-5". About 150 aircraft were upgraded to SD-21 specification during 1953–1954. The MiG-15 arguably had sufficient power to dive at supersonic speeds, but

3168-643: The Skyknight to see its targets clearly, while the MiG-15's directions to find bomber formations were of little use in seeing escorting fighters. On the night of 2–3 November 1952, a Skyknight with pilot Major William Stratton and radar operator Hans Hoagland damaged the MiG-15 of Captain V. D. Vishnyak. Five days later, Oliver R. Davis and radar operator D.F. "Ding" Fessler downed a MiG-15bis; the pilot, Lieutenant Ivan P. Kovalyov, ejected safely. Skyknights claimed five MiG kills for no losses of their own, and no B-29s escorted by them were lost to enemy fighters. However,

3256-561: The Soviet pilot made the mistake of fighting in the horizontal. The MiG also had more powerful weaponry – one 37 mm N-37 cannon and two 23 mm NR-23 cannons, versus the six 12.7 mm (.50 in) machine guns of the Sabre. However, the Soviet World War II-era ASP-1N gyroscopic gunsight was less sophisticated than the accurate A-1CM and A4 radar ranging sights of the F-86E and -F. The main mission of

3344-493: The Soviets 12 F-86s; the actual losses were three MiGs and at least four Sabres. The British Chief of the Air Staff , Air Chief Marshal Sir John Slessor , commented: "not only is it faster than anything we are building today, but it is already being produced in very large numbers [...] The Russians, therefore, have achieved a four year lead over British development in respect of the vitally important interceptor fighter". At

3432-470: The US and the former Soviet Union, but on at least three occasions, Soviet MiG-15 aces gained the upper hand against Sabre aces: The MiG-15 threat forced the Far East Air Forces to cancel B-29 daylight raids in favor of night radar-guided missions from November 1951 onward. Initially, this presented a threat to Communist defenses, as their only specialized night-fighting unit was equipped with

3520-542: The USAF lost 250 F-86 fighters in Korea: 184 were lost in combat (78 in air-combat, 19 by Anti-aircraft gun, 26 were "unknown causes" and 61 were "other losses") and 66 in accidents. More recent research by Dorr, Lake and Thompson has claimed the actual ratio is closer to 2 to 1. The Soviets claimed to have downed over 600 Sabres, together with the Chinese claims. A recent RAND report made reference to "recent scholarship" of F-86 v MiG-15 combat over Korea and concluded that

3608-567: The USSR buy the reliable, fully developed, Rolls-Royce Nene (having been alerted to the fact that the UK Labour government wanted to improve post-war UK-Russia foreign relations) for the purpose of copying them in a minimum of time. Stalin is said to have replied, "What fool will sell us his secrets?" However, he gave his consent to the proposal and Mikoyan, engine designer Vladimir Yakovlevich Klimov  [ ru ] , and others travelled to

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3696-669: The USSR. In February 1950, the 50th Fighter Aviation Division ( 50 IAD ) of the Soviet Air Defence Forces , equipped with the MiG-15bis, was deployed to southern China, to support the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) and begin training Chinese pilots in the MiG-15. In April 1950, MiG-15s flown by Soviet pilots began operating over Shanghai, thwarting the Nationalist bombing campaign. On 28 April 1950,

3784-625: The United Kingdom to request the engines. To Stalin's amazement, the British Labour government and its Minister of Trade, Sir Stafford Cripps , were perfectly willing to provide technical information and a license to manufacture the Rolls-Royce Nene. Sample engines were purchased and delivered with blueprints. Following evaluation and adaptation to Russian conditions, the windfall technology was tooled for mass-production as

3872-824: The Yalu, or at least tried to deny it to the enemy, and in consequence, the intensity of the aerial combat reached peaks not seen before between MiG-15 and F-86 pilots. During the period from November 1950 to January 1952, no fewer than 40 Soviet MiG-15 pilots were credited as aces , with five or more victories. Soviet combat records show that the first pilot to claim his fifth aerial victory was Captain Stepan Ivanovich Naumenko on 24 December 1950. The honor falls to Captain Sergei Kramarenko , when on 29 July 1951, he scored his actual fifth victory. Approximately 16 out of those 40 pilots actually became aces,

3960-486: The actual kill:loss ratio for the F-86 was 1.8 to 1 overall, and likely closer to 1.3 to 1 against MiGs flown by Soviet pilots. However, this ratio did not count the number of aircraft of other types (B-29, A-26, F-80, F-82, F-84...) that were shot down by MiG-15s. In April 1951, a crashed MiG-15 was spotted near the Chongchon River . On 17 April 1951, a USAF Sikorsky H-19 staging through Baengnyeongdo carried

4048-684: The air forces that would come under United Nations Command (UNC) – such as the North American P-51 Mustang , Vought F4U Corsair and Hawker Sea Fury . Initially, the numerical and technical superiority of UNC fighter units gave them air supremacy, and laid North Korean targets bare to the destructive power of United States Air Force (USAF) Boeing B-29 heavy bombers. During 1950, the Kremlin agreed to supply China and North Korea with MiG-15s, as well as train their pilots. The 50th Fighter Aviation Division (50 IAD), equipped with

4136-417: The aircraft would buffet heavily above Mach 0.92 and would pitch up at Mach 0.95. During a high-altitude, full-power dive to determine if the MiG-15 could exceed Mach 1, Chuck Yeager reached Mach 0.98, but the MiG would go no faster, and he lost roll control and did not begin to regain it until flying into denser air at 12,000 ft (3,700 m) of altitude; he had descended to 3,000 ft (910 m) by

4224-537: The battle was started. They could decide to fight or stay out as they wished. The advantage of radar control from the ground also allowed the MiGs, if desired, to pass through the gaps in the F-86 patrol pattern. At the end of January 1952, the 303rd IAD was replaced by the 97th (16th and 148th IAP) and in February the 324th IAD was replaced by the 190th IAD (256th, 494th and 821st IAP). These new units were poorly trained,

4312-734: The bridge linking North Korea and Red China over the Yalu River in Uiju . The experienced Soviet fliers shot down or damaged beyond repair 10 B-29As, one F-86A and three F-80Cs for the loss of only one MiG. The Soviet air units claimed to have shot down 29 American aircraft through the rest of the month: 11 F-80s, seven B-29s and nine F-51s. 23 out of these 29 claims match acknowledged losses, but US sources assert that most of them were either operational or due to flak, admitting only four B-29s (a downed B-29, plus two B-29s and an RB-29 that crash-landed or were damaged beyond repair). US historians agree that

4400-627: The bulk of the pilots having only 50–60 hours flying the MiG. Consequently, those units suffered great losses from the now better-prepared American Sabre pilots. At least two Soviet fliers became aces during that period: Majors Arkadiy S. Boytsov and Vladimir N. Zabelin, with six and nine victories respectively. During the six months of February to July 1952, they lost 81 MiGs, and 34 pilots were killed by F-86s, and in return, they only shot down 68 UN aircraft (including 36 F-86s). The greatest losses came on 4 July 1952, when 11 MiGs were downed by Sabres, with one pilot killed in action. Contributing to all this

4488-485: The day-fighter role. These were followed by similar supersonic designs in the early 1960s, including the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter and Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 . However, as the size of basic fighters grew, along with their engine power, the relative cost of carrying night-fighting equipment fell until most designs carried such equipment. Lightweight fighters without full night equipment such as

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4576-457: The defence of China, but they became involved in the interception of USAF reconnaissance aircraft, some of which went very deep over China. By September 1951, with enough MiG-15s in the Yalu area, Soviet and Chinese leaders were confident enough to begin planning the deployment of Chinese and new North Korean MiG-15 regiments outside Chinese sanctuaries. Excluding a brief episode in January 1951,

4664-537: The duel was not one-sided: on the night of 16 January 1953, an F3D almost did fall to a MiG, when the Skyknight of Captain George Cross and Master Sergeant J. A. Piekutowski suffered serious damage in an attack by a Soviet MiG-15bis; with difficulty, the Skyknight returned to Kunsan Air Base. Three and a half months later, on the night of 29 May 1953, Chinese MiG-15 pilot Hou Shujun of the PLAAF shot down an F3D-2 over Anju; Sgt. James V. Harrell's remains were found on

4752-512: The earlier MiG-9 jet fighter. The new fighter used Klimov's British-derived engines, swept wings , and a tailpipe going all the way back to a swept tail. The German Me 262 was the first fighter fitted with an 18.5° wing sweep, but it was introduced merely to adjust the center of gravity of its heavy Junkers Jumo 004 pioneering axial-compressor turbojet engines. Further experience and research during World War II later established that swept wings would give better performance at transonic speeds. At

4840-550: The end of 1950, the Soviet Union assigned a new unit to support China, the 324th IAD (made up of two regiments: the 176th GIAP and 196th IAP). At that time, a MiG-15 interceptor regiment had 35 to 40 aircraft, and a division was usually composed of three regiments. When the new unit arrived at air bases along the Yalu River in March 1951, it had undergone preliminary training at Soviet bases in the neighboring Maritime Military Districts and started an intense period of air-to-air training in

4928-450: The end of World War II, the Soviets seized many of the assets of Germany's aircraft industry. The MiG team studied these plans, prototypes and documents, particularly swept-wing research and designs, even going so far as to produce a flying testbed in 1945 to investigate swept-wing design concepts as the piston-engined "pusher" -layout, MiG-8 Utka (Russian for "duck", from its tail-first canard design). The swept wing later proved to have

5016-516: The end of the Cold War , Soviet pilots who participated in the conflict began to reveal their roles. Books by Chinese, Russian and ex-Soviet authors, such as Zhang Xiaoming, Leonid Krylov, Yuriy Tepsurkaev and Igor Seydov revealed details of the actual pilots and operations. From the beginning, Soviet pilots were ordered to avoid flying over areas in which they might be captured. Soviet aircraft were adorned with North Korean or Chinese markings and even

5104-402: The lack of an "all-flying" tail greatly diminished the pilot's ability to control the aircraft as it approached Mach 1. As a result, pilots had to take care not to exceed Mach 0.92, where the flight surfaces became ineffective. The instrument panel had a red warning light that would illuminate when this speed was reached, and during post-Korean War flight tests, American test pilots found that

5192-522: The main features of the aerial battles of the next two and a half years. The MiG-15 and MiG-15bis had a higher ceiling than all versions of the Sabre – 15,500 m (50,900 ft) versus 15,000 m (49,000 ft) of the F-86F – and accelerated faster than F-86A/E/Fs due to their better thrust-to-weight ratio – 1,005 km/h (624 mph) versus 972 km/h (604 mph) of the F-86F. The MiG-15's 2,800 m (9,200 ft) per minute climbing rate

5280-475: The majority of Focke-Wulf engineers (in particular, Hans Multhopp , who led the Ta 183 development team) were captured by Western armies, the Soviets did capture plans and wind-tunnel models for the Ta 183. The MiG-15 does bear a resemblance in layout, sharing the high tailplane and nose-mounted intake, although the aircraft are different in structure, details, and proportions. The MiG-15's design understandably shared features and some appearance commonalities with

5368-438: The meantime, more MiG-15 pilots were recruited; the squadrons earmarked for Korea were drawn from elite units. The pilots had to be younger than 27, and priority was given to World War II veterans. The first large Soviet aviation unit sent to Korea, the 324th IAD, was an air defense interceptor division commanded by Colonel Ivan Kozhedub , who, with 62 victories, was the top Allied (and Soviet) ace of World War II. In November 1950,

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5456-519: The more advanced MiG-17 , the basic design would again surprise the West when it proved effective against supersonic fighters such as the Republic F-105 Thunderchief and McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II in the Vietnam War of the 1960s. The MiG-15 is believed to have been one of the most produced jet aircraft with more than 13,000 manufactured. The MiG-15 remains in service with the Korean People's Army Air Force as an advanced trainer. The first turbojet fighter developed by Mikoyan-Gurevich OKB

5544-424: The most successful being Major Nikolay Sutyagin , credited with 22 victories, 13 of which were confirmed by the US; Colonel Yevgeny Pepelyaev with 19 claims, 15 confirmed; and Major Lev Shchukin with 17 credited, 11 verified. The MiG leaders, enjoying the advantage from the ground and the tactical advantage of an aircraft with superior altitude performance were able to dictate the tactical situation at least until

5632-606: The participation of Soviet aircrews, and intercepted radio traffic appeared to include combat pilots speaking Russian. In addition, USAF pilots claimed to have recognized techniques and tactics used by Soviet pilots, whom they referred to as " honchos ". When the Korean War broke out on 25 June 1950, the North Korean People's Air Force (KPAF) was equipped with World War II-vintage Soviet propeller-driven fighters, including 93 Il-10s and 79 Yak-9Ps , and "40–50 assorted transport/liaison/trainer aircraft". Propeller-driven, single-engine fighters were also numerically dominant amongst

5720-433: The pilots inside the aircraft wore either North Korean uniforms or civilian clothes to disguise their nationality. For radio communication, they were given cards with common Korean words for various flying terms spelled out phonetically in Cyrillic letters. These subterfuges did not long survive the stresses of air-to-air combat, however. Pilots often inadvertently reverted to their native language. UN forces widely suspected

5808-400: The prop-driven Lavochkin La-11 , inadequate for the task of intercepting the B-29. Part of the regiment was re-equipped with the MiG-15bis, and another night-fighting unit joined the fray, causing American heavy bombers to suffer losses again. Between 21:50 and 22:30 on 10 June 1952, four MiG-15bis attacked B-29s over Sonchon and Kwaksan . Lieutenant Colonel Mikhail Ivanovich Studilin damaged

5896-401: The sea. The MiG-15s always operated in pairs, with an attacking leader covered by a wingman. The northwestern portion of North Korea where the Yalu River empties into the Yellow Sea was dubbed " MiG Alley " and became the site of numerous dogfights . MiG-15 pilots also proved very effective in the specific role for which the type was originally designed: intercepting formations of B-29s. At

5984-407: The tactical level, large formations of MiGs would wait on the Chinese side of the border. When UN aircraft entered MiG Alley, the MiGs would swoop down from high altitude to attack. If they ran into trouble, they would try to escape back over the border into China. Soviet MiG-15 squadrons operated in big groups, but the basic formation was a six-aircraft group, divided into three pairs, each composed of

6072-460: The time he fully regained control and recovered from the dive. Additionally, the MiG-15 tended to spin after it stalled , and often the pilot could not recover. According to American test pilots, this behavior was exacerbated by the lack of a noticeable stall warning. The MiG's proclivity towards sudden spins was deduced by UN pilots before the US was able to test one; during the Korean War, there were 56 recorded instances of UN pilots witnessing

6160-480: The underpowered Lavochkin La-160 , which was otherwise more similar to the MiG-9. The Lavochkin La-168 , which reached production as the Lavochkin La-15 , used the same engine as the MiG but used a shoulder-mounted wing and t-tail; it was the main competitive design. Eventually, the MiG design was favoured for mass production. Designated MiG-15 , the first production example flew on 31 December 1948. It entered Soviet Air Force service in 1949 and subsequently received

6248-425: The unnerving experience of 23 mm shells passing over them while the 37 mm shells flew under. The cannon were fitted into a simple pack that could be winched out of the bottom of the nose for servicing and reloading, allowing pre-prepared packs to be rapidly swapped out. Despite the shortcomings of its armament, the MiG-15's simplicity, ruggedness, and particularly the absence of fuel tanks in its wings made it

6336-424: The war, they proved to have little real effectiveness compared to the dedicated night fighter designs. Late in the war the considerable advances in radar technology, notably the introduction of the cavity magnetron , allowed for much smaller radar sets. At the same time, aircraft engines had roughly doubled in performance over the same period. This led to the late-war introduction of single-engine night fighters like

6424-622: The war. Thus a total of 659 MiG-15s are admitted as being lost by all causes, while USAF claims of their losses amount to 78 F-86 Sabres in air-to-air combat. Overall UN losses to MiG-15s are credited as 78 F-86 Sabres and 75 aircraft of other types. However, one modern source claims that the USAF has more recently cited 224 losses (circa 100 to air combat) out of 674 F-86s deployed to Korea. Conversely, data-matching with Soviet records shows that US pilots routinely attributed their own combat losses to "landing accidents" and "other causes". According to official US data ("USAF Statistical Digest FY1953"),

6512-428: The war. Thus, around 659 MiG-15s are admitted as being lost. While an overwhelming majority of the losses to UN fighters involved F-86 pilots, several MiG-15s were lost in, or immediately after, combat with each of several other UN fighters: F-80s, F-84s, F9Fs, Gloster Meteors and even propeller-driven F4Us and Sea Furies. The Soviet 64th Fighter Aviation Corps (64 IAK), which controlled all Soviet-piloted aircraft in

6600-472: The weapons were present and it is argued that if pressured, Soviet soldiers might have used them. Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 This is an accepted version of this page The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 ( Russian : Микоян-Гуревич МиГ-15 ; USAF/DoD designation : Type 14 ; NATO reporting name : Fagot ) is a jet fighter aircraft developed by Mikoyan-Gurevich for the Soviet Union . The MiG-15

6688-663: Was a swept-wing fighter with 35° sweep in wings and tail, with two wing fences fitted to each wing to improve airflow over the wing. The design used a single Rolls-Royce Nene fed by a split-forward air intake. A duct carried intake air around the cockpit area and back together ahead of the engine. Its first flight was 30 December 1947, some two months after the American F-86 Sabre had first flown. It demonstrated exceptional performance, reaching 1,042 kilometres per hour (647 mph) at 3,000 metres (9,800 ft). The Soviet Union's first swept-wing jet fighter had been

6776-507: Was a conventionally armed variant which attached a SPRD-15 jet assisted rocket to launch the missile from fixed launchers. After attaining sufficient velocity, the AS-1 turbojet would carry the missile to the target. The system was designed for land based attacks on sea targets and widely deployed in eastern bloc countries such as Poland and East Germany during the Cold War. One Sopka regiment

6864-503: Was a nuclear capable mobile launching system designed for ground combat. With a 12 kiloton warhead and 180 km range it entered the equipment of Soviet and DDR forces in 1957. It carried nuclear warheads with yields from 5 to 14 kilotons. Like the Sopka, cruising speed was achieved with a strap on SPRD-15 rocket, but the FKR system allowed launch directly from the transporter, and the missile

6952-504: Was also greater than the 2,200 m (7,200 ft) per minute of the F-86A and -E (the F-86F matched the MiG-15). A better turn radius above 10,000 m (33,000 ft) further distinguished the MiG-15. The MiG was slower at low altitude – 935 km/h (581 mph) in the MiG-15bis configuration as opposed to the 1,107 km/h (688 mph) of the F-86F. All Sabres could also turn tighter below 8,000 m (26,000 ft). Thus, if

7040-696: Was carried. The AS-1 is believed to have entered service in 1955, initially being deployed on the Tu-4 and later on the Tu-16KS 'Badger-B' strategic bomber , on two under-wing pylons. The missile was also exported to Egypt and Indonesia . Sources indicate that most of the AS-1 "Kennel" missiles were replaced by the AS-5 'Kelt' (KSR-2/Kh-11), which was first deployed in 1966. The last KS-1s were withdrawn from service in 1969. The S-2 Sopka coastal defense system (Russian GRAU code 4K87) ( NATO code : SSC-2b Samlet )

7128-475: Was cigar-shaped with swept wings and an aircraft type tail. It was propelled by a Klimov RD-500K turbojet engine, reverse-engineered from the Rolls-Royce Derwent . Guidance was provided by an inertial navigation system (INS) in the midcourse phase, and by a semi-active radar in the terminal phase which directed the missile to its target. A 600 kg high explosive (HE) armour-piercing warhead

7216-555: Was far behind the West's. The Germans had been unable to develop airworthy turbojets with thrust over 1,130 kilograms-force (11,100 N; 2,500 lbf) capable of running for more than a few hours at the time of the surrender in May 1945, which limited the performance of immediate Soviet postwar jet aircraft designs. The Soviet aviation minister Mikhail Khrunichev and aircraft designer A. S. Yakovlev suggested to Premier Joseph Stalin that

7304-615: Was modified to accept tactical nuclear warheads. Its range was 150 kilometers. Unknown to the US military during the Cuban Missile Crisis , two FKR regiments (the 561st and 584th) armed with 80 fourteen kiloton warheads were positioned in Cuba — one to attack the American base at Guantanamo with the second positioned near Havana to destroy any units attempting landings. Although some authorities dispute whether local commanders had authority to use these theater nuclear weapons,

7392-556: Was one of the first successful jet fighters to incorporate swept wings to achieve high transonic speeds. In aerial combat during the Korean War , it outclassed straight-winged jet day fighters , which were largely relegated to ground-attack roles. In response to the MiG-15's appearance and in order to counter it, the United States Air Force rushed the North American F-86 Sabre to Korea. When refined into

7480-554: Was shot down by 1st Lt Semyon Fyodorovich Khominich, and Van Sickle was killed. However, the USAF falsely attributed the loss to North Korean AA artillery. However, on 9 November, the Soviet MiG-15 pilots suffered their first loss when Lieutenant Commander William T. Amen off the aircraft carrier USS  Philippine Sea shot down and killed Captain Mikhail F. Grachev while flying a Grumman F9F Panther . To counter

7568-467: Was stationed in Cuba as part of Operation Anadyr . The Samlet was deployed to Alexandria and fired at Israeli ships during the Yom Kippur War . The Samlets saw long service despite their obsolescence and were finally retired from the Soviet arsenal in 1980. The Frontline Combat Rocket ( Russian : фронтовая крылатая ракета , Soviet pact nickname: Meteor ) ( NATO code : SSC-2a Salish )

7656-501: Was the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-9 , which appeared in the years immediately after World War II . It used a pair of reverse-engineered German BMW 003 engines. The MiG-9 was a troublesome design that suffered from weak, unreliable engines and control problems. Categorized as a first-generation jet fighter , it was designed with the straight-style wings common to piston-engined fighters. In 1946 Soviet engine technology

7744-480: Was the secret "Maple Special" Operation, a plan by Colonel Francis Gabreski to cross the Yalu River into Manchuria (something officially forbidden) and catch the MiGs unaware during their takeoffs or landings, when they were at disadvantage: flying slow, at a low level, and sometimes short of ammunition and fuel. Even under these circumstances, MiG-15 pilots would score at least two important victories against US aces: In May 1952, new and better trained PVO divisions,

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