Showing posts with label North Korea 1960-1969. Show all posts
Showing posts with label North Korea 1960-1969. Show all posts

Tuesday, 11 August 2020

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19, Asian and Middle-East users

The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19 is a Soviet-made single-seat twin-engined second generation supersonic jet fighter which is capable of maintaining supersonic speeds in level flight. The MiG-19S has been the most produced and exported variant with more than 1.000 exemplars manufactured it was exported to, among many others, to these next countries:

  • Iraq: In spite of the contradictory reports about the MiG-19's career in Iraq, it seems that 15 MiG-19S were delivered to the Iraqi Air Force (IAF) in 1960. Other reports claim that they were complemented with 30 MiG-19s of unspecified origin, most probably, if those reports are right, from North Korea in 1983.
    Anyway, they were based at Al Rashed, Amarah, Karbalah and Jalibah Air Bases. A number of MiG-19 and its Chinese copy, the Shenyang F-6 were destroyed on the ground during Operation Desert Storm in January-March 1991, as Saddam Hussein ordered them to be strategically placed on his air bases as decoys in an attempt to save his real combat aircraft.
    Other reports claim that they were sold to Uganda, Afghanistan and North Korea.
  • North Korea: After the mutual assistance and military co-operation treaty the the USSR and North Korea signed in 1961, an unknown number of MiG-19Ss was supplied to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). Some sources claim 15 of them but it's most probably that there were at least twice as many.
    Thirty original MiG-19Ss were sold to Iraq in 1983. Given the high secrecy surrounding North Korea, the MiG-19S depicted below is speculative. 
  • Syria: Syria became the second non Warsaw-pact nation to operate the MiG-19S as they received 40 from the USSR in 1958-1962. However, according to some report, they were acquired second-hand from Egypt. Many of them were destroyed on ground in 1967 during the Six Days War.
  • North Vietnam: Forty-four MiG-19S fighters were supplied to the North Vietnam Democratic Republic Air Force (NVDRAF) in 1968-1969 to equip the 925th Fighter Regiment. They were based at Yen Bai Air Base, close to Hanoi, and saw very active service through the second phase of the Vietnam War.
    Just like any other type of fighter in service with the NVDRAF the MiG-19S was mostly used for point air defence os strategically important targets against USAF bombing raids.  









Sources: 
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoyan-Gurevich_MiG-19
2. Midland Publishing - Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19. The Soviet Union's First Production Supersonic Fighter
3. https://www.valka.cz/Mikojan-Gurevic-MiG-19S-kod-NATO-Farmer-C-t12470
4. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters

Tuesday, 24 September 2019

Shenyang J-5/F-5.

The Shenyang J-5/F-5 is a Chinese-built single-seat jet fighter interceptor which is a license-built Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17. It was exported to many countries under the denomination of Shenyang F-5.
It was originally designated as Dongfeng 101 and also as Type 56 before it was definitely named as J-5 in 1964.
It was built in China from 1956 until the 1960s when production ceased. It's believed that around 767 machines just of the regular version, the copy of the MiG-17F, were manufactured at Songling State-Owned Machinery Factory in the city of Shenyang, located in the province of Liaoning, in Manchuria. Initially, the Chinese obtained a license for the regular version of the MiG-17, which would retroactively be called Shenyang J-4 in the early 1950s. In order to introduce modern production methods to Chinese industry the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) obtained plans for the MiG-17F in 1955, along with two completed pattern aircraft, 15 knockdown kits and parts for ten aircraft. The first Shenyang J-5 flew for the first time on 19th July 1956 with test pilot Wu Keming as the pilot.
It was powered by a Wopen WP-5 engine (a copy of the Klimov VK-1) that yielded 25.5 kN (5700 lbf) of thrust and 33.8 kN (7600 lbf) with afterburner. It was armed with a single 37mm Type 37 cannon and two 23mm Type 23-1 cannons placed in the lower part of the nose, just like the regular MiG-17F.
It became the main PLAAF's fighter during the mid-to-late 1950s and even the first part of the 1960s and was also exported to many countries.
It served with the Cambodian Air Force, as ten F-5 were sent to the back then called Royal Khmer Aviation in 1965 as military aid. By 1970 only six of them were operational and those six remaining ones were lost on the ground in 1971 when the North Vietnamese Air Force conducted their "Sapper" attack.
It's also serving with the North Korean Air Force (NKAF). It's believed that at least 107 F-5s are still in active service with the NKAF. However, more than half of them are supposed to not be airworthy as they acquired back in the late 1960s and have been in active since then.









Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shenyang_J-5
2. https://www.valka.cz/topic/view/80747
3. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters