Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15bis, Korean war. Part four.

As we previously mentioned, the MiG-15's menace forced the USAF to cancel the daytime raids in favour of night radar-guided missions fron November 1951 onwards. That supposed a threat for Communist defenses as their only specialized night-fighting unit was equipped with the outdated propeller-driven Lavochkin La-11 which was totally inadequate for intercepting the B-29. Therefore, part of the regiment was re-equipped with the MiG-15bis and another night-fighting unit joined the Soviet forces in Manchuria, causing American bombers to suffer losses again.
On 10th June 1952, between 21:50 and 22:30 four MiG-15bis attacked a formation of B-29s over Sonchon and Kwaksan. Lt. Col. Mikhail I. Studilin seriously damaged a B-29A, forcing it to land at Kimpo Air Base, close to Seoul. Some minutes later Maj. Anatoly Karelin shot down two more superfortress. Their wingmen also managed to damage one B-29 each. Eventually Karelin achieved the ace status by shoting down six B-29, all of them at night. After those actions, the B-29's nightly raids were cancelled for two months.
The MiG-15 wasn't as effective against the Marine Corps' ground-based F3D Skynight which overtook the role of the F-94 Starfire after proving its ineffectiveness. The F3D had some concers regarding performance, however it compensated with their search radar that allowed the Skynight to see their targets clearly, while the MiG-15's directions to find bomber formations were of little use in detecting escorting fighters. On the night of 2-3rd November 1952 a Skynight piloted by Maj. William Stratton and Hans Hoagland as radar operator damaged a MiG-15bis piloted by Cpt. V. D. Vishnyak. Shortly later, on the night of 8-9 November another Skynight shot down the MiG-15bis of Lt. Ivan P. Koyalov who ejected safely. During that first months of operations of the F3D, the Skynights claimed five MiGs for no losses on their own and no B-29 escorted by them were lost to the enemy. However, on the night of 16th January 1953 a Skynight almost was shot down by a MiG-15bis when the Skynight of Cpt. George Cross and Master Sgt. J.A. Piekutowski was seriously damaged in an attack by a Soviet MiG-15bis. The Skynight made it back home in Kunsan Air Base with difficulty. Later, on the night of 29th May 1953 Chinese MiG-15 pilot Hou Shujun shot down a F3D over Anju killing the radar operator (whose remains were found in the year 2001) and making the pilot, Cpt. James B Brown to go MIA.
The MiG-15bis also had to face planes from the Royal Navy. In fact, on 8th August 1952 a Hawker Sea Fury belonging to the Royal Navy and piloted by Peter "Hoagy" Carmichael shot down a MiG-15bis making the Sea Fury one of the few propeller aircraft to shot down a jet fighter after the end of the World War II. On 10th September 1952 a Vought F4U Corsair shot down another MiG-15bis but the F4U was shortly later shot down by another MiG.
According to Soviet sources, the MiG-15s of the 64th IAK (the fighter corps which included all the subordinated units that took part in the conflict) made a total of 60450 daylight combat sorties, 2779 night ones, engaged the enemy in 1683 aerial battles and 107 of them at night claiming to have shot down a total of 1097UN aircraft over Korea including 647 F-86s, 185 F-84s, 118 F-80s, 28 F-51s, 11 F-94s, 65 B-29, 26 Gloster Meteors and 17 aircraft of various types.
The Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force and the North Korean Air Force (the union of those two air forces received the name of United Air Army) had also the MiG-15 and MiG-15bis in their rows. Despite the complains of the USSR about the Chinese being too slow on introducing more MiG-15 regiments into the conflict, by 1951 there were only two Chinese fighter regiments operating over Korea, both of them in the night-fighter duties. As they weren't completely trained and equipped, they were commited to the defence of China, but saw some action against USAF's recon aircraft, some of which went very deep into China.
As by September 1951 the aerial supremacy was almost in Communist hands, plans were laid down to deploy Chinese and North Korean fighter regiments into Korean soil, outside of China. Except for some brief period in January 1951, it wasn't until 25th September 1951 that the PLAAF's MiG-15s saw action. That day 16 MiG-15s engaged a formation of F-86s with pilot Li Yongtai claiming a victory at the cost of a MiG and its pilot. The North Korean fighter regiment got into action one year later, in September 1952 and, from then until the end of the war, the United Air Army claimed to have shot down 211 F-86s, 72 F-84s and F-80s and 47 aircraft of other types at the cost of 116 Chinese pilots and 231 aircraft including 224 MiG-15s, three Lavochkin La-11s and 4 Tupovlev Tu-2s. Many Chinese pilots achieved the ace status, among them Zhao Baotong with 7 victories, Wang Hai, with 9 and both Kan Yon Duk and Kim Di San with 5 each.
It's not known the number of North Korean MiG-15s lost during the conflict but, according to defectors, it should be at around 100 for the whole war. Therefore a total of 659 MiG-15s were lost during the Korean War at the cost of 224 F-86 Sabres. However numbers are not completely clear and they could vary.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoyan-Gurevich_MiG-15#The_Korean_War_(1950–1953)
2. https://forum.valka.cz/topic/view/53180
3. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15bis, Korean war. Part three.

In the end of January 1952, the 303rd IAD was replaced with the 97th IAD which was composed of 16th and 148th IAP. The next month, the 324th IAD was replaced by the 190th IAD which was composed of 256th, 494th and 821st IAP. These new units were poorly trained with most of the pilots having only 50-60 hours flying the MiG. Therefore, those units suffered higher losses by the now better prepared American Sabre pilots. During this period, at least two Soviet pilots achieved the ace status, Major Arkadiy S Boytsov and Vladimir N Zabelin with six and nine victories respectively.
From February 1952 to July 1952 a total of 81 MiG-15s were lost and 34 pilots were killed by F-86 Sabres, at the cost of only 68 UN aircraft, including 36 F-86s. The greatest losses came on 4th July 1952 when a total of eleven MiGs were shot down by Sabres with one pilot KIA. This was done in the context of the secret "Maple Special" Operation which was a plan conceived by Col. Francis Gabreski to cross the Yalu river (which marked the border between North Korea and China and was strictly forbidden, at least officially) and catch the MiGs unaware when they were taking off or landing, as they were in disadvantage, flying slow, at low level and, depending on the situation, short on ammo and fuel.
Even under those circunstances, the MiG pilots managed to score two important victories against American aces, like when on 10th February 1952 Maj. George Andrews Davis Jr. , an ace credited with 14 victories, 10 of which confirmed by communist forces, was shot down and killed. It's not clear who shot down him and it's authorship was disputed between 1st Lt. Mikhail A Averin and the Chinese Zhang Jihui. Later, during that same 4th July 1952, some few seconds after shooting down 1st Lt. M. I. Kosynkin, Cpt. Clifford D. Jolley (who would achieve ace status later in the war) was forced to eject from his crippled F-86E after being caught by surprise a MiG-15bis flown by 1st Lt. Vasily R. Krutkikh.
In May 1952 new and better trained Soviet units arrived in Korea, the 133rd and 216th IADs. They replaced the 190th and 97th IADs by July 1952 and, even if they couldn't achieve aerial superiority, as the American forces were well prepared now, they certainly neutralized American air superiority in the area between September 1952 and July 1953 when the cease-fire was signed. In September 1952 another Soviet unit, the 32nd IAD also started combat operations. As usual, the victories/losses numbers are debated both by American and Russian historians, but on at least three occasions Soviet MiG-15 pilots gained the upper hand against Sabre aces.
The first one took place on 7th April 1953 when the ace Cpt. Harold E. Fischer was shot down over Manchuria shortly after damaging a Chinese and Soviets MiGs over Dapu airbase. The attacker's identity is disputed between 1st Lt. Grigory N. Berelidze and the Chinese pilot Han Dechai.
The second one took place some few days later, on 12th April 1953 when Cpt. Semyon A Fedorets who was a Soviet ace with 8 credited victories, shot down the F-86E of Norman E Green, but was however, shortly attacked by the future American top ace of the Korean war Cpt. Joseph McConnell. In the ensuing dogfight, they shot each other down, ejecting and being rescued safely.
The third one took place on the days prior to the armistice, on 20th July 1953 when, during a raid deep into Manchuria, and after having shot down two Chinese MiGs, Majors Thomas M Sellers and Stepehn L Bettinger (who was an ace credited with 5 kills), tried to catch by surprise two Soviet MiG-15s that were landing in Dapu. The Soviet pilots skillfully forced the Americans to overshoot, reversed direction and shot both down. Cpt. Boris N Siskov forced Bettinger to bail out and his wingman 1st Lt. Vladimir M. Klimov killed Major Sellers. That was Siskov's fifth victory, making him the last ace of the Korean War and those were also the two last Sabres shot down by Soviet aircrafts during the war.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoyan-Gurevich_MiG-15
2. https://forum.valka.cz/topic/view/53180
3. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15bis, Korean war. Part two.

After those first encounters, the main characteristics of the main aerial battles for the rest of the war were shown. Both MiG-15 and MiG-15bis had higher ceiling than the Sabre and could also accelerate faster than the F-86A/E/Fs thanks to its better thrust-to-weight ratio. The MiG-15's climbing rate was also better than the F-86A and the F-86E one, however the F-86F matched the MiG-15's rate. The MiG-15 had also a better turn radius above 10.000m (33.000ft) and, with its 37mm N-37 cannon and two 23mm NR-23 cannons, was better armed than the F-86.
However, the MiG was slower at low altittudes and had a less sophisticated World War II-era gyroscopic gunsight than the Sabre.
Therefore, if the MiG-15bis managed to engage the Sabre in the vertical plane, or in the horizontal one above 10.000m, it gained a significant advantage and could easily escape from the Sabre by climbing to its ceiling knowing that the Sabre couldn't. Anyway, below 8000m (26.247ft) the Sabre had a slight advantage over the MiG in most aspects except for the climb rate, especially if the Soviet pilot decided to fight in the horizontal plane.
That's why the main mission of the MiG-15, during the Korean war, wasn't to fight the F-86 Sabre, but to intercept the formations of B-29 Superfortress. That task was assigned to elite VVS (Soviet Air Force) units in April 1951 like the 324th IAD leaded by Colonel Ivan Kozhedub or, in June that same year, the 303rd IAD of General Georgiy A. Lobov.
Due to the Black Thursday, the USAF stopped their strategic bombing campaign until they decided to resume them in October 22 when a mission was launched to neutralize the North Korean aerodromes of Namsi, Taechon and Saamchan in order to inflict more losses to the MiG-15. On 22nd October 1951 a formation of 56 MiG-15bis intercepted nine B-29s which were escorted by 34 F-86s and 55 F-84Es. Despite their numerical inferiority, the Soviet pilots managed to shot down eight B-29s and two F-84Es, for the price of a single MiG-15. The USAF called that day "Black Tuesday". That and the Black Thursday, forced the USAF to abandon the precision day-bombing campaign and switch to radar-oriented night raids.
From November 1951 to January 1952 both UN and Communist forces tried to achieve aerial superiority or, at least, deny it to the enemy, over the Yalu river. Therefore the intensity of aerial combats reached peaks not seen yet between MiG-15 and F-86 pilots. During the period from November 1950 to January 1952 no less than 40 Soviet pilots were credited as aces, with five or more victories. The first Soviet pilot to achieve that status was Cpt. Stepan I. Naumenko on 24th December 1950 with Cpt. Sergei Kramarenko being the second one to achieve it on 29th July 1951. Around 16 more Soviet pilots became eventually aces and the most successful one was Maj. Nikolay Sutyagin with 22 victories, 13 of them confirmed by the USAF. He was followed by Col. Yevgeny Pepelyaev with 19 claims, 15 confirmed and Maj. Lev Shchukin with 17 claimed and 11 verified.
Thanks to the technical advantage of the MiG specially at high altittudes, the MiG leaders were able to dictate the tactical situation at least until the battle was started. They could decide to fight or to stay out. The advantage of the radar control from the ground also allowed the MiGs to pass through the gaps in the F-86 control pattern.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoyan-Gurevich_MiG-15
2. https://forum.valka.cz/topic/view/53180
3. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15bis, Korean war. Part one.

The Soviets had secretly been deploying MiG-15 squadrons close to the North Korean border, in the Manchurian province of Antung in August 1950 and were already training Chinese pilots in mainland China when China entered the war supporting North Korea. By October, the Soviet Union had agreed to provide state-of-the-art MiG-15 fighters together with trained crews to flight them. At the same time, agreed to supply both the Chinese and North Koreans with their own MiG-15s and train their pilots.
In November, the 50th IAD (Soviet Fighter Regiment) joined the war with its MiG-15s and their noses painted red and in North Korean Markings and more units were moved to the Far East Theatre.
Despite many successful clashes where the MiG-15 appeared victorious, on 9th November the first loss of a MiG-15 took place when a Grumman F8F that had took-off from the USS Philippine Sea carrier shot down a MiG-15.
In order to counter the MiG-15 menace, three squadrons equipped with the F-86 Sabre, America's only swept-wing fighter of the time, were rushed to the Far East in December 1950. On 17th December Lt.Col. Bruce H. Hinton forced Major Yakov N. Yefromeyenko to eject from his burning MiG. During the following days both sides clashed with both sides exaggerating their claims on aerial victories. The USAF claimed eight MiGs and the Soviets claimed twelve F-86s when actual losses were three MiGs and at least four F-86s.
That same month, the Soviet 324th IAD Division arrived to Antung, the main base of the Soviet units, formed mainly with elite units, among them Col. Ivan Kozhedub, who was the top Soviet ace of the World War II and it wasn't until April 1951 that they entered into action.
The main mission of the MiG-15 wasn't to clash against the F-86 but to intercept the large formations of B-29 Superfortress. One of those action took place on 12th April 1951 when a formation of 44 MiG-15s faced an USAF formation of three squadrons of B-29 Superfortress (44 bombers) escorted by 96 F-80 and F-84 fighters. The Soviets managed to lure the escorts away and shot down three B-29 and badly damage 7 bombers more and 11 F-80 shot down. Due to that action, which is known as the "Black Thursday" in the USAF, bomber operations were put on hold for three months, switching from day bombings in large formations to night bombing in small formations.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoyan-Gurevich_MiG-15#The_Korean_War_(1950–1953)
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MiG_Alley
3. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15, Chinese and Korean users

The MiG-15 was widely exported, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) receiving in 1950 an amount of Mikoyan-MiG-15. In fact, it saw action first during the closing stages of the late period of the Chinese civil war, at the opening months of 1950.
During the early part of 1950, the Chinese Nationalist Air Force was attacking Chinese Communist positions in mainland China from their bases in Taiwan, concentrating their efforts specially on the Shanghai region.
That's why Mao Zedong requested military aid from the USSR, and therefore the 50th IAD (Fighter Regiment) which was equipped with the earlier version of the MiG-15 was deployed in the southern region of mainland China. Shortly later the first aerial victory was achieved when a MiG-15 shot down a Nationalist P-38 Lightning on 28th April 1950 and shortly later, on 11th May, Cpt. Ilya I. Schinkarenko shot down the B-24 Liberator commanded by Li Chao Hua, who was the commander of the Nationalist 8th Air Group.
Later, from late June 1950 the first jet-against-jet dogfights took place in the Korean war where the MiG-15 with its swept wing proved superior to the first generation of the western powers which had straight-wings, like the F-80 Shooting Star or the Gloster Meteor. They also proved to be superior to the piston-powered fighters like the P-51 or the F-4 Corsair. The first jet-to-jet dogfight in history was won by First Lieutenant Semyon F. Fyodorovich Khominich when he shot down the F-80C of Frank Sickle who died in the dogfight, although the official USAF credits the loss to North Korean flak.
When the People's Republic of China entered the Korean war, after having formed the People's Volunteer Army, whose Air Corps was equipped with the MiG-15 which showed as a very unpleasant surprise for the United Nations pilots and against the F-80 and Gloster Meteors. Only until the F-86 came in, the MiG-15 had a worthy contender.
Some Soviet units flew the MiG-15 in North Korean colours (whose Air Force, equipped with a mixture of vintage World War II Soviet and captured Japanese aircraft like the Yakovlev Yak-9P was almost destroyed on the ground). The 324th IAD, which was comprised of two regiments, the 176th GIAP and 196th IAP were rebased to airfield along the Yalu river in late 1950 where they engaged many UN forces.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoyan-Gurevich_MiG-15
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Volunteer_Army
3. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters