The Terror of MiG Alley

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The Terror of MiG Alley

The Terror of MiG Alley by thezackburg

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While the Germans were the first to use the modern jet fighter, it would the Russians who would bring in it into the new era. Using captured Nazi scientists the Soviet Air Force would create the MiG-15 "prick" (Blame NATO for it's unfortunate name) and would bring in the new age of the fighter jet. The MiG-15 would first be used in the final days of the Chinese Civil War in 1949. where the MiG fighters would help the Communists take down the Nationalist Chinese's American supplied P-38 Fighter planes and B-25 Bombers. But the MiG 15 would get it's chance to shine over the skies of Korea. After North Korea invaded the South, the UNited States and it's allies would push back the North Korean advanced using their planes from World War II and even their own jet fighters. Wanting to help out their ally, the USSR would send their newest MiG-15s to North Korea and China who just entered the war. Here the MiGs would take down American planes without any mercy. Above the Yalu River that bordered North Korea with China became MiG Alley where many of the US and UN pilots were shot down. While there were some North Korean and Chinese pilots, the MiG-15 was mainly flown by Russian pilots as the Chinese and North Koreans didn't have experienced pilots and the Soviet Union didn't trust their Asian allies with the fighter as much as they should have. This was suspected when many American pilots heard Russian being spoken through the radios, but the Soviet Union denied any involvement and Russia still does to this day, only for it to be confirmed by former pilots.The United States managed to counterattack with their newest jet fighter the F-86 Sabre which proved to be a challenge for the MiG. After the War, A North Korean pilot by the name of No Kum-sok flown his MiG-15 to enemy lines where he would defect giving the US the MiG and receiving $100,000 ( A million in today's money) The study of the MiG would help America's allies in the future. For the other Soviet Allies the MiG would be the standard fighter for the Warsaw Pact and other allies of the USSR. However they would prove to be unsuccessful with them. With Skirmishes being fought in all of Eurasia, but it would be 1956 that would be the MiG 15's greatest failure. During the Suez Crisis, the Egyptian Migs would go head to head with British, French and Israeli planes and while some managed to get good hits in most were obliterated by the allied forces and in that same year the Communists Chinese in an attempt to take Taiwan would use Mig-15s . And despite outnumbering the Taiwanese forces, the Taiwanese pilots managed to hold their own and fend off their Communists counterparts. It was here that the USSR decided it was time for an upgrade and would retire the MiG-15. Today it is still used by the North Korean Air Force as a training jet.

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Category Real People » Historical
Date Submitted July 18, 2020, 6:36:07 AM
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TeeJay87 on July 18, 2020, 1:09:01 AM

The MiG had better parameters than the F-86 - apart from more powerful weapons (23mm and 37mm guns compared to 0.50 cal MGs) , it also had a better climbing rate, a higher ceiling than the F-86 and could also turn more sharply. The USAF pilots won the battles in the air only because they were better skilled than the Warsaw Pact pilots.

thezackburg on July 18, 2020, 12:35:18 PM

That is true right there. The MiG was the superior plane but it lacked the skilled pilots that was needed.

TeeJay87 on July 18, 2020, 5:14:40 PM

Hopefully, the Americans followed up their plane development after the Korean War and the Soviets kept focusing more on political training than on developing combat skills.