In the early 1950s, jet war broke out above North Korea, pitting American F-86 Sabres against Soviet MiG-15s in a series of epic dogfights. This conflict, popularly known as the Korean War, pitted the two most formidable fighters at the time against each other in some of the most furious aerial combat, famously referred to as “MiG Alley.”
The Korean War marked a radical change in aerial warfare because jet fighters first made their appearance, touting new technologies in engines and aerodynamic design. Take the case of the MiG-15—it was an astounding collage of borrowed elements, which included a swept-wing design spawned by Nazi high-speed fighters and an engine copied from an advanced Rolls-Royce model. The F-86 Sabrejet, not spectacular by any standard but an excellent foil against these crafts, matched up well.
Air battles over Korea became a technological and human challenge to the pilots’ skills and tactics. The American and Soviet pilots were among the finest in the world, with their training and strategies pointing toward victory or defeat in these deadly encounters. The Sabre and MiG were so evenly matched that human factors often tipped the balance in these high-stakes duels.
Certainly one of the saddest aspects of the air battles of the Korean War was the fate of downed pilots. Many American airmen shot down over enemy territory simply vanished. Massive efforts to trace these missing pilots have continued to this very day, and some families still seek closure. The files remain open on more than two dozen Sabre pilots whose fate has never been definitively established. But rumors persist that some of the pilots were taken captive by the Soviets, a grim possibility that gives the conflict an added layer of tragedy.
Although never formally declared against the North or China, the Soviet Union supplied North Korea and China with the MiG-15. The skill of the pilots in MiGs gave rise to a suspicion among Americans that they were fighting not only Soviet planes but also Soviet pilots. One of the highest-scoring Soviet aces, Sergei Kramarenko, reported that the participation of Soviet pilots in the war had been forbidden to be discussed. That proving ground was meant for the testing of Soviet planes and pilots against the U.S. Air Force in the event of World War III.
Many of the captured Sabre pilots were subjected to rigorous questioning by Soviet interrogators, eager to learn about the performance of U.S. jets. One former POW, Michael DeArmond, remembers his fear of ending up in a Soviet gulag and attempts to act like the “dumbest F-86 pilot” with the Soviet interrogator. Although DeArmond did not have any trouble getting away with this ploy, he believed at least three fellow pilots were dispatched to Russia for further interrogation—never to be seen again.
This technological dogfight between the F-86 Sabre and the MiG-15 became one of the defining characteristics of the Korean War. While the MiG was severely restricted both by altitude and maneuverability, the Sabre became a serious match only in dive speed and radar gunsight. The MiG-15, as designed for bomber-killer duties, had promised to do well against B-29 Superfortresses; the latter were forced to change to night-bombing missions.
The kill ratios between the Sabre and MiG have been very controversial. Early estimates put the ratio at 10:1 in favor of the Sabre, while more recent and realistic analyses put it closer to 5.6:1. Against the best of Soviet WWII flyers, this ratio was much lower, at 1.4:1. Those kill ratios were very impressive, but ultimately, the Sabre-MiG duel made little difference in the outcome of the Korean War.
The legacy of the aerial battles of the Korean War remains impressively large among military historians and those interested in aviation. It was a war that epitomized the rapid growth of jet technology but also showed without exception that pilot ability and tactics were major factors in combat success. It was the first large-scale jet fighter air war, set the stage for future conflicts, and made its mark on the history of military aviation.