"Until recently, use of Russian military equipment abroad was rarely openly discussed in the media. However, it is a fact that Russian combat planes, land and naval military equipment was actively used in combat in Korea, Vietnam, the Middle East, and other of the world’s hotspots.

MiG-15 against the "Sabre"

The pause in combat use of fighter aircraft lasted for only five years. The historians were still analyzing the past war, when the new war begun in the skies over Korea. This war was the first of many large-scale local conflicts to shake the world in the decades to come.

Many experts regard these wars as a kind of testing grounds for the new combat equipment. This would be quite true in regard to the Korean war that started in November of 1950. For the first time jet fighters, reconnaissance aircraft, fighter-bombers tested their capabilities in combat. Particular attention was paid to the competition between the Soviet MiG-15 and the American F-86 "Sabre."

During the three years of the Korean war, pilots of the 64th IAK (Istribityelno Aviatsionny Korpus, or Fighter Aviation Corps) flew 1,872 combat sorties and shot down 1,106 US-made aircraft, of which 650 were "Sabres."Some 335 MiGs were lost during the war.

The MiG-15 and the "Sabre" represented the first generation of jet fighters and had very similar combat capabilities. The MiG-15 was 2.5 tons lighter (take-off weight of 5,044 kg), however, "Sabre’s" extra weight was compensated by the higher thrust of its engine (4,090 kgf compared to MiG-15's 2,700 kgf of thrust). The two aircraft had a very similar thrust-to-weight ratio: 0.54 for the MiG-15 and 0.53 for the "Sabre" and the identical maximum speed near the ground: 1,100 km/h. At high altitudes the MiG-15 had a better acceleration and could gain altitude faster, while the "Sabre" had a better maneuverability at low altitudes. The "Sabre" also had longer flight endurance thanks to the 1.5 tons of "extra" fuel.

The use of jet engines in the aircraft designs incorporating the latest advancements in aerodynamics, enabled to extend the operational flight envelope into the speed range approaching the speed of sound. The fighter aircraft now were able to operate in the stratosphere (the operational ceiling for the "Sabre" was 12,000 m and for the MiG-15 - 15,000 m).

The only area, where the two aircraft differed considerably, was their armaments. The MiG-15 had one 37-mm and two 23-mm cannons, while the "Sabre" was armed with six 12.7-mm machine guns (later in the war late-model "Sabres" were armed with four 20-mm cannons). Not even the most experienced of experts could have determined the potential winner by looking at the technical characteristics of the two aircraft. The answer could be obtained only through actual combat.

The first combat encounters showed that the art of aerial combat experienced no substantial changes in form or substance since the age of propeller fighters, despite of many predictions to the contrary. Aerial combat retained all the traditional elements of the past. It remained close, maneuverable, close combat.

The main reason for that was the relatively unchanged armaments of the fighters. The same machine-guns and cannons migrated from the propeller fighters of the Second World War-era onto the new jet fighters. This meant that the "kill" range and the attack envelop remained essentially the same. The relative weakness of a single attacking aircraft was compensated by the large number of aircraft participating in the attack.

The tree-time Hero of the Soviet Union, division commander during the Korean War, Ivan Kozhedub wrote: "The main thing is to master the piloting and shooting skills. If the pilot’s attention is not entirely consumed by the process of piloting the aircraft, he will be able to perform the right maneuver, to quickly approach the enemy, and to launch a precision attack."

The MiG-15 was created for the aerial combat, this means the aircraft fully corresponded to its single task. The MiG-15's designers retained the ideas first incorporated in the MiG-1 and the MiG-3: high speed, acceleration, altitude; an approach which allowed the pilot to assume highly aggressive tactics. There was never any doubt among the Soviet pilots that their fighter is the best in the world.

One of the MiG-15' strongest sides was the high destructive potential of its armaments, allowing the aircraft to gain early victory during the main part of any aerial combat - the initial attack. However, for a successful attack the pilot had to gain the information and positional advantage during the previous stages of the attack.

The group leader could take the initiative and to dictate his conditions to the "Sabres," if he was the first to gain the necessary information about the enemy. Available free time was used to outline the battle plan, to assume an advantageous initial position, and to establish the correct flight formation. The pilot received help from a ground control center, which was equipped with early detection systems. Before the visual contact with the flight of "Sabres" was established, the control center informed the group leader about the current situation and the location of all detected targets. The MiG-15 used its better acceleration rate at high altitudes to quickly approach the enemy. Stealth of the approach was provided by the camouflage: a "terrain" paint scheme on the top and a "sky" scheme on the bottom. The tactical situation demanded that the pilots use the sun and clouds to maintain the element of surprise, as well as to be able to quickly change the density of the attack formation.

A level flight in a straight line, combining a head-on approach to the enemy fighter and the attack, became possible only in about thirty years, after the fighters were equipped with radars and medium-range missiles. The MiG-15 combined its approach with a sharp maneuver into the real semi-sphere of the enemy fighter. If the "Sabre" detected the MiG at a safe distance, then it tried to force the MiG into a maneuverable combat (especially at low altitudes), which was not in the MiG’s best interests.

Even though the MiG-15 somewhat lagged behind the "Sabre" in horizontal maneuverability, this was not enough of a problem to prevent the pilot from relying on such maneuvers, when it was necessary. The active defense of a pair of MiGs was based on the mutual experience of the two pilots and the correct performance of "the sword and the shield" tactical principle, when the first aircraft attacked the enemy, while the second aircraft covered the first one. Experience showed that connected and well-balanced actions of a pair of MiG-15s made the two aircraft invulnerable in close combat.

In a three-element flight structure the pair or the group had an additional multipurpose function: build-up of forces, acting as a reserve, and performing free maneuvers. This pair of fighters stayed above the rest of the flight and had a good view of the situation, which allowed it to deflect a sudden attack as well as to render assistance to either "the sword" or "the shield" groups. During the Korean War the Soviet pilots came up with a new attack group structure, which consisted of six aircraft with a separation of roles as in an entire squadron. This approach was later adopted and successfully used by Syrian pilots flying MiG-21s during the October of 1973 war in the Middle East.

During the Korean War Soviet ground control centers were the real participants of any aerial combat. The ground control center would usually send the fighters into action after detecting the enemy at the limit of the effective range of it radars located mainly in China. The navigation officer used the radar data to guide the fighters to the initial attack position. The flight leader was first given general information about the enemy and, later, specific orders for an attack. The control center’s goal was ensure the best possible tactical position for the MiG-15s before visual contact with the "Sabres" was established. After the "Sabres" were sighted, the flight leader assumed all control of the situation, leaving the control center with the task of providing any additional information that may be useful in combat.

The particular attack sequence depended on the the distance to the enemy and the distribution of enemy forces. "Sabres" rarely followed conventions and frequently changed their flight formation. This meant that usually the best attack sequence - strike, cover, reinforce - could be a losing tactics. The attackers had to be able to modified their attack plans nearly instantly, for there was not much time left to think.

After the MiGs broke through the formation of the "Sabres," the combat would continue between separate groups and, later, between pairs of aircraft. The squadron commander, being preoccupied with his own target, was no longer able to control the actions of his subordinates, which led to a deliberate decentralization of control. Group commanders had a right to make their own decisions depending on the situation. The ground control center informed the MiGs about any approaching enemy reserves, tracked the remaining fuel, and had the authority to withdraw the fighters from combat. Additional forces could be directed to the combat zone to provide cover during a withdrawal.

It is important to mention, that all of the division commanders and most of the fighter regiment commanders fought in the Second World War and had considerable tactical command experience. "Experience never becomes outdated, it only being re-evaluated and adapted to the current situation," - wrote famous Soviet ace, A.I. Pokryshkin. Re-evaluating the tactics did not take long. The "bookshelf" flight formation was adopted from the aerial engagements over Kuban in 1943, retaining all the functions of the squadron’s groups. Principles of a group combat also remained unchanged.

Success of the MiG-15 pilots was determined by:

the equipment, which fully corresponded to the requirements of combat

the use of the available weapons to the maximum of its capabilities

rational tactics (in both theory and practical applications of combat)

close cooperation between pilots and the ability of commanders to control all available resource in the air

It is also important to mention the reasons for combat losses. Out of 335 MiG-15s shot down during the war, pilots of over fifty percent of the downed aircraft successfully ejected. Almost all of the pilots later returned into active service with a very high opinion about the reliability and simplicity of the MiG-15's ejection system.

A large percentage of losses was sustained by the MiGs during landing. The frontline airfields (Andun, Dapu, Myaogou) were located near the sea and the MiGs were not permitted to fly over the sea. That’s exactly where the "Sabres" gathered specifically to attack the MiGs over the airfields. During landing the MiG-15 was flying at a low speed in a straight line with its flaps and gear extended. This was a position when the MiG could not deflect an attack or escape from it. The quality of the aircraft and all the training of the pilot were quite useless in such situations.

Most MiG-15s downed in actual combat were single aircraft that got separated from their group and were left without cover. Statistics shows that about fifty percent of all losses among pilots account for the first ten combat flights. Thus, survivability of the pilot in combat directly depended on his experience.

Close evaluation of the past experience, adaptation of everything useful that did not lose its value in the jet age is the distinctive quality of the approach to aerial combat taken by out fighter pilots in Korea."



"The MiG-15 came as a surprise to the Allies during the Korean War, where it was a match for any fighter it met, including early versions of the United States' famed North American F-86 Sabre. Fast, agile, and reasonably well armed, the MiG-15 was a dangerous foe when flown by an experienced, aggressive pilot. During the course of the Korean War, the telling difference between the performance of the MiG-15 and the F-86 was attributed to pilot training and the more advanced weapon system of the American aircraft. The first mass-produced Soviet jet fighter, the MiG-15 was powered by a Klimov turbojet developed from the Rolls-Royce Nene engine. Today, some MiG-15s continue to serve in several of the world's air forces, nearly a half-century after the prototype's first flight."

(source: Knowledge Adventure)

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