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During October, the major Communist powers – China and the [[Soviet Union]] – commenced unofficial military support of North Korea. The Soviets also committed to supply North Korea and China with its latest [[MiG-15]] fighters, and to train Korean and Chinese pilots to fly them.{{Citation needed|date=August 2011}} China officially entered the war in support of North Korea on October 25, 1950. While its strength in ground forces initially overwhelmed UN forces, the Chinese [[People's Liberation Army Air Force]] (PLAAF) was, at the time, small and no better equipped than the KPAAF.
 
While the Soviet Union never officially entered the war, on November 1, 1950, the [[64th Fighter Aviation Corps]] (64 IAK) of the [[Soviet Air Forces]] was attached to the PLAAF, under the [[1st United Air Army]]. That same day, Soviet-piloted MiG-15s began operating over North Korea and the first clashes between MiG-15s and US aircraft occurred, when eight aircraft from the [[Soviet Air Forces]] intercepted about 15 [[United States Air Force]] P-51 Mustangs flying a ground support mission. [[First Lieutenant]] [[Fiodor V. Chizh]] shot down and killed Mustang pilot First Lieutenant [[Aaron Richard Abercrombie]].<ref name="docstoc.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.docstoc.com/docs/6488080/MiG-15|title=MiG-15|work=Docstoc.com|access-date=February 4, 2015|archive-date=February 4, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150204141236/http://www.docstoc.com/docs/6488080/MiG-15|url-status=live}}</ref> Later in the day, the first air combat between jets occurred, when three MiG-15s attacked about 10 USAF F-80s. While First Lieutenant [[Frank L. Van Sickle Jr.]], in a F-80C, was killed, a US record states that he was shot down by AA fire. First Lieutenant [[Semyon F. Khominich]] (referred to as Jominich in some sources) – was credited with a kill by the Soviet authorities.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.acig.org/artman/publish/article_315.shtml|title=Honchos|access-date=February 4, 2015|archive-date=June 4, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130604071241/http://www.acig.org/artman/publish/article_315.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref> On November 9, 1950, a MiG-15 was destroyed in combat for the first time, when Lieutenant Commander [[William T. Amen]] of the [[US Navy]], in a F9F-2B Panther, shot down and killed Captain [[Mikhail F. Grachev]].<ref name="docstoc.com"/>
 
In response to the deployment of MiG-15s, the UN's P-51 squadrons began to convert to jet fighters. In the case of the USAF, this was the [[F-86 Sabre]].
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On January 1, 1951, a Communist offensive drove UN forces out of the Kimpo area; K-14 was overrun and the 4th F-IW was withdrawn to Japan.<ref name="War Monthly 1976 p. 41">War Monthly (1976). MIG V Sabre, by Rodney Steel (p. 41).</ref> In March 1951, the first two Sabre squadrons, from the 4th F-IW, returned to Korea, just in time to meet a new build-up of Communist air strength designed to secure air superiority over northwest Korea, in a prelude to a major ground offensive.<ref name="War Monthly 1976 p. 41"/>
 
While the Australian government had attempted to order the F-86, to replace Mustangs operated in Korea by [[No. 77 Squadron RAAF]], McDonnell-Douglas North American was required to prioritize re-equipping the USAF. The British [[Gloster Meteor]] F.8 was the only viable alternative. 77&nbsp;Squadron began converting to Meteors in Japan during April 1951.
 
USAF pilots nicknamed April 12, 1951 "Black Thursday",{{citation needed|date=September 2021}} after 30 MiG-15s attacked 48 B-29 bombers escorted by approximately 100 F-80s and F-84s. The MiGs were fast enough to engage the B-29s and extend away from their escorts. Three B-29s were shot down and seven more were damaged, with no casualties on the communist side.<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_bombers/b29_12.html|title=B-29 in Korean War}}</ref> Following this, USAF bomber sorties over Korea were halted for approximately three months. Bomber commanders were forced to discontinue daylight raids, and changed to night missions by small formations.
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Meteor and MiG-15s pilots engaged each other for the first time on August&nbsp;25, without either side scoring hits. Four days later, eight Meteors and 16 Sabres fought 12 MiGs; one Australian ejected after his aircraft was shot down, and a second Meteor was damaged. The following week, a Meteor suffered severe damage in a dogfight with MiGs.<ref name="Solo234">Stephens, ''Going Solo'', p. 234</ref><ref name=Hurst147>Hurst, ''The Forgotten Few'', pp. 147–151</ref> As a result of these losses, senior RAAF commanders decided to focus on escort and air defense sorties.
 
[[File:77 Sqn (AWM JK1025).jpg|thumb|left|No. 77 Squadron pilots and their Meteors at Kunsan, South Korea, June 1954.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.awm.gov.au/visit/post-1945-galleries/meteor/|title=Nose of Meteor jet fighter|publisher=[[Australian War Memorial]]|access-date=November 28, 2014|archive-date=May 8, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160508221912/https://www.awm.gov.au/visit/post-1945-galleries/meteor/|url-status=live}}</ref>|alt=Three men in flying suits walking among twin-jet military aircraft]]
 
Flight Lieutenant R. L. "Smoky" Dawson registered No.&nbsp;77 Squadron's first jet combat claim when he damaged a MiG during an escort mission near [[Anju, South Pyongan|Anju]], North Korea, on September&nbsp;26, 1951.<ref name=Fighter58/><ref>Eather, ''Odd Jobs'', pp. 132–133</ref> On October&nbsp;27, Flying Officer Les Reading was credited with damaging another MiG while covering B-29s over [[Sinanju]]; it was subsequently confirmed as having been destroyed, making it the squadron's first MiG "kill".<ref>Eather, ''Odd Jobs'', p. 136</ref><ref>Hurst, ''The Forgotten Few'', p. 152</ref> The squadron was awarded the [[Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation]] for "exceptionally meritorious service & heroism" on November&nbsp;1.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.awm.gov.au/images/collection/items/ACCNUM_LARGE/RCDIG1068965/RCDIG1068965--827-.JPG|title=Recommendation: Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation|publisher=Australian War Memorial|access-date=September 8, 2014|archive-date=May 9, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160509030919/https://www.awm.gov.au/images/collection/items/ACCNUM_LARGE/RCDIG1068965/RCDIG1068965--827-.JPG|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>Hurst, ''The Forgotten Few'', p. 167</ref>
 
On December&nbsp;1, 1951, [[Battle of Sunchon (air)|over Sunchon]], at least 20 Soviet-piloted MiGs from the [[176th Guards Fighter Air Regiment]] (''176&nbsp;GvIAP'') attacked a formation of 14 Meteors. Both sides apparently overestimated the scale of the battle and the damage inflicted to their opponents: while three Meteors were lost, Soviet pilots claimed nine Meteors destroyed; Australian pilots claimed one MiG shot down and another damaged, from a formation of at least forty MiGs, while Russian sources suggest that all of the MiGs returned to base and less than 25 MiGs were available to ''176&nbsp;GvIAP'' at the time.<ref>Hurst, ''The Forgotten Few'', pp. 171–172</ref><ref>Krylov; Tepsurkaev, ''Soviet MiG-15 Aces of the Korean War'', pp. 48–49</ref>
 
The F86F-As86As and F86EsF-86Es of the 4th F-IW were now getting decidedly battle-worn and it was decided that the [[51st Fighter Wing|51st Fighter-Interceptor Wing]] (51st F-IW) was able to commence operations from [[Suwon Air Base|Suwon]] on December 1 under Colonel [[Gabby Gabreski|Francis S. "Gabby" Gabreski]].<ref>Gabreski was a World War II aces with 28 victories over the ''[[Luftwaffe]]'' to his credit. War Monthly (1976). MiG V Sabre, by Rodney Steel (p. 44).</ref> Nonetheless, the 4th F-IW claimed 13 MiGs in air battles on December 13.<ref>War Monthly (1976). MIG V Sabre, by Rodney Steel (p. 44).</ref>
 
On December&nbsp;26, 1951, the RAAF reassigned 77 Squadron to ground attack sorties,<ref name=Stephens>Stephens, ''The Royal Australian Air Force'', pp. 236–237</ref><ref name=Wilson>Wilson, ''The Brotherhood of Airmen'', pp. 181–182</ref> a role it would pursue until the end of the war. Its pilots continued to encounter MiGs and claimed two more victories over them, both in the [[Pyongyang]] area, on 4&nbsp;and May&nbsp;8, 1952.<ref name=Solo241>Stephens, ''Going Solo'', p. 241</ref><ref>Hurst, ''The Forgotten Few'', pp. 194–195</ref>
 
By August 1952, the tide of battle above "MIG Alley" had turned in favor of the United Nations. During that month 63 MiGs were shot down for the loss of only nine Sabres. An important reason for the increasing superiority of UN air power was the new F86-F-86F, which had been issued to two squadrons of the 51st Wing in June and July and began reaching the 4th Wing in September. This Sabre development had a more powerful [[General Electric J47|J47 engine]] developing {{cvt|5910|lbf|||}} thrust, wing shackles for {{convert|200|usgal|adj=on||}} drop tanks (raising the combat radius to {{convert|463|mi|disp=or}}) and a simplified A4 radar gun sight that was more efficient than the MkXVIII gyro sight used on most of the F86F-As86As and easier to maintain than the rather unreliable A1CM radar sight fitted to late F86F-As86As and Es.<ref name="War Monthly 1976 p. 46">War Monthly (1976). MIG V Sabre, by Rodney Steel (p. 46).</ref>
 
One Meteor was shot down and another damaged by MiGs following a ground-attack mission on October&nbsp;2, 1952.<ref name=Fighter59>RAAF Historical Section, ''Fighter Units'', p. 59</ref><ref>Eather, ''Odd Jobs'', p. 152</ref> No.&nbsp;77 Squadron was credited with downing its last MiG southeast of Pyongyang on March&nbsp;27, 1953.<ref>Hurst, ''The Forgotten Few'', pp. 215–216</ref>
 
A special fighter-bomber variant of the F86-F-86F arrived in Korea during January 1953 – the F86F-86-F-30 with dual stores mountings under each wing. This Sabre could carry either a {{convert|120|usgal|adj=on||}} drop tank or a {{convert|1000|lb|adj=on||}} bomb on the inner fittings, together with a {{convert|200|usgal|adj=on||}} drop tank on each of the outboard points. The new fighter-bombers were issued to the [[18th Wing|18th Fighter Bomber Wing]], which included [[2 Squadron SAAF|2 Squadron]], [[South African Air Force]] (previously a P-51 unit). In February the [[8th Fighter Wing|8th Fighter Bomber Wing]] began to replace its F-80s with Sabre fighter-bombers.<ref name="War Monthly 1976 p. 46"/>
 
On July 27, 1953, the [[ceasefire]] came into effect. By that time there were 297 Sabres in Korea facing an estimated 950 Sino-Korean MiGs. During the conflict the F-86 pilots claimed to have destroyed 792 MiGs in air-to-air combat for a loss of 78 Sabres – a phenomenal 10 to 1 kills-to-losses ratio. In September the defection of a MiG-15 pilot (with his aircraft) enabled US pilots to assess their erstwhile opponent at first hand. The MiG that Lieutenant [[No Kum-sok]] flew into Kimpo on September 21 was one of the later MiG-15SDs.<ref>War Monthly (1976). MIG V Sabre, by Rodney Steel (p. 48).</ref>
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==Aftermath==
{{multiple images
[[File:MiG-15s curving to attack B-29s over Korea c1951.jpg|thumb|MiG-15s curving in to attack USAF [[B-29 Superfortress|B-29s]], 1951.]]
|total_width = 250px
|image1 = EJECTION OF A MIG PILOT - This unusual sequence of photos, taken by gun camera film of a U.S. Air Force F-86 "Sabre"... - NARA - 542261.jpg
|image2 = MiG-15s curving to attack B-29s over Korea c1951.jpg
|footer = F-86 engaging a MiG-15 (left) and MiG-15s engaging a B-29 (right)}}
 
The MiG Alley battles produced many fighter [[Flying ace|aces]]. The top aces were Russian. [[Nikolay Sutyagin]] claimed 21 kills, including nine F-86s, one F-84 and one Gloster Meteor in less than seven months. His first kill was the F-86A of Robert H. Laier on June 19, 1951 (listed by the Americans as missing in action), and his last was on January 11, 1952, when he shot down and killed Thiel M. Reeves, who was flying an F-86E (Reeves is also listed as MIA). Other famous Soviet aces include Yevgeni G. Pepelyayev, who was credited with 19 kills, and Lev Kirilovich Shchukin, who was credited with 17 kills, despite being shot down twice himself.
 
The top UN ace of the war, Capt.Captain [[Joseph C. McConnell]], claimed 16 MiGs, including three onin one day. His story featured in a film called ''[[The McConnell Story]]'', starring [[Alan Ladd]] and [[June Allyson]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048364/|title=The McConnell Story (1955)|author=sargeollie|date=December 2, 1955|work=IMDb|access-date=February 4, 2015}}</ref>
The second-highest-scoring UN ace, Maj.Major [[James Jabara]], was the first UN jet-vs.-jet ace. Another ace, [[Frederick C. Blesse|Frederick C. "Boots" Blesse]], claimed nine [[MiG-15]]s15s in his [[F-86 Sabre]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.acepilots.com/korea_blesse.html|title=Frederick Boots Blesse – Interview with the Korean War Ace and Fighter Pilot|access-date=February 4, 2015|archive-date=March 28, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140328112841/http://acepilots.com/korea_blesse.html|url-status=live}}</ref> and later wrote ''No Guts, No Glory'', a manual of air fighter combat that is still studied today.<ref name="thc"/> [[James P. Hagerstrom]] claimed 8.5 kills. [[George Andrew Davis, Jr.]] became one of the first members of the new U.S. Air Force to receive the [[Medal of Honor]] after being killed while leading his section of two F-86s against 12 MiG-15s when he was trying to shoot them all down.
 
Seven acesAces also emerged from the newly established [[People's Liberation Army Air Force]] of China. Among them, Jiangwas DaopingZhao shot downBaotong, the U.S.first topChinese acepilot [[Josephto C.achieve McConnell]]ace status. [[Hoyt Vandenberg]]<ref>Zhang, theXiaoming. [[Chief''Red ofWings Staff ofover the UnitedYalu: StatesChina, Airthe Force|ChiefSoviet of Staff of the USAF]]Union, stated thatand the PLAAFAir hadWar becomein aKorea''. majorCollege air power.<ref>Ideas conceptsStation, doctrineTexas: basicTexas thinkingA&M inUniversity the United States Air ForcePress, Diane Publishing, p2002. 38 [https://books{{ISBN|1-58544-201-1}}.google.com/books?id=kps2EhXM-lwC&pg=PA338&lpg=PA338&dq=++communist+china+air+force#v=onepage&q=communist%20china%20air%20force&f=false Books Google]</ref>
 
Over thirty Sabre pilots were claimed to have been shot down behind enemy lines and their fatefates hashave never been definitively established. Surviving pilots, captured and later repatriated after the armistice, reported being interrogated by Koreans, Russians, and Chinese. For years after the Korean War ended in 1953, [[POW/MIA|rumoursrumors persisted]] of pilots held captive by the Soviets.<ref>[https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/warplanes/ ''NOVA'': Missing in MiG Alley] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181019205828/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/warplanes/ |date=October 19, 2018 }}, produced by WGBH, Boston (broadcast December 18, 2007)</ref>
 
A number of computer video games based on the combat in MiG Alley have been produced, amongst them ''[[MiG Alley Ace]]'', released by [[MicroProse]] in 1983.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Review – MiG Alley Ace |url=http://www.cyberroach.com/analog/an19/mig_alley.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190622135046/www.cyberroach.com/analog/an19/mig_alley.htm |archive-date=June 22, 2019 |website=www.cyberroach.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.page6.org/archive/issue_18/page_44a.htm|title=Page 6 – Issue 18 – Mig Alley Ace|access-date=February 4, 2015|archive-date=September 24, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924063230/http://www.page6.org/archive/issue_18/page_44a.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>
 
==See also==
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* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080828205228/http://home.att.net/~sallyann4/farrell1.html "The B-29 in MiG Alley," by Bud Farrell]
* [http://www.koreanwar-educator.org/topics/vfw/p_we_wipped_the_russian_af.htm "In Korea, We Whipped the Russian Air Force," by Richard K. Kolb, ''VFW'' magazine, August 1999.]
* {{IMDb title|0048364qid=Q3227676|title=The McConnell Story}}
* {{IMDb title|0051750qid=Q544766|title=The Hunters}}
* [http://www.skywar.ru/korwald.html "Soviet Air Force in Korea: statistics"]
* [http://www.acepilots.com/russian/rus_aces.html"Russian Aces over Korea".]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:MIG Alley}}
[[Category:Aerial operations and battles of the Korean War|*]]
[[Category:AerialAir-to-air combat operations and battles]]
[[Category:F-86 Sabre]]
[[Category:Gloster Meteor]]
[[Category:Mikoyan aircraft]]
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