Korean air war statistics from sources of USA and USSR

Data from:
USA
Overall losses of American planes

2837
1097+271 *

Combat losses of American planes

Combat losses of F86 Sabres

USSR

103 ? LoL! 651+181 *

Combat losses of B29 Super Fortress

17

69

Combat losses of F84 Thunder Jet

18

186+27 *

Combat losses of F80 Shooting Star

15

117+30 *

Combat losses of F51 Mustang

12

28+12 *

Combat losses of Meteor G.8

28+7 *

Rescued US pilots

(it's interesting to c o m pare with the num ber o f lo s t planes .

Ho w m any crafts need to lo se in co m bats to manage to res c ue o ver 1000 s urvived?)

1000++

Kills by B29

34

Kills by Sabres

810

Losses of MiGs by Sabres

792

Losses of MiGs

885

Combat losses of other Communist planes

69

Not-combat losses of Communist planes

1800

335+231 *
~10+? *

* The 1st number is for the Soviets, the 2nd number is for United Air Army of China and Korea

MiG-15

The MiG-15 was an unpleasant surprise to the West when it appeared over Korea, because its performance was superior to that of any
Western fighter. The configuration: the high-set swept wing, high tailplane. The MiG-15 is the most built jet fighter, with over 15000
produced.
climb ,
engine
weight , kg
speed , kmph
min
ceiling , range, km (w/o
take off land run
version
km
dro p. tank s )
run , m
,m
at
at 5
5
10
design. kgs empty ready
landing
sealevel
km
km km
MiG-15 , 1948 RD-45F 2270 3382 4806

1050

1031

160

2.5

7.1

15.2

1420 *

600

710

MiG-15bis ,
VK-1 2700 3681 5044
1076
1044
178
2.1 5.3
15.5
1330 **
500
880
1950
* in case of mounting of dropping fuel tanks 2x250 liters (2x 400 lbs.), range was increased by 400 km (250 miles), also available were
2x300 liters (500 lbs) and 2x400 liters (700 lbs) tanks.
** option to mount up to 2x600 liters (2x 1000 lbs) dropping tanks.

Armament : 37mm cannon N-37 + two 23mm cannons NR-23

Ammoload: 40 rpg 37mm, 80 rpg 23mm
Name Caliber Shell weight Muzzle speed Firing rate
N-37

37mm 735 g

690 m/s

400 s/s

NR-23 23mm 200 g

690 m/s

850 s/s

Along with the MiG-15 and MiG-15bis, the communist side used the piston fighters Yak-9P and La-9 and La-11 , attacker Il-10M , light night
bomber Po-2 ;
the tanks T-35/85, IS-2, SU-76.
The Americans used tanks: M24 Chaffie, M4 Sherman (M4A3E8), M26 Pershing, M46 Patton ; the bombers B26 Invader, B29 Super
Fortress, AD4 Skyraider, the piston fighters F51D Mustang, F82F and F82G Twin Mustang, F4U-4 Corsair, the jet fighters F84G
Thunderjet, F94B Starfire, F2H-2 Banshee, F3D-2 Skyknight, F86A and F86E and F86F Sabre, F9F-2 Panther, F80 Shooting Star.
The British (and the Australians) used the tanks: Churchill Mk.VII Crocodile, Cromvell Mk.VII, Centurion Mk.III, A34 Comet and the fighterbombers Sea Fury Mk.11, Meteor Mk.8, Firefly.

Aces of Korean war

Some Air Combats
The world 1st jet-vs-jet kill . On November 1st, 1950 was the encounter of MiG-15 and F80 flights. The Soviet pilot Khominyh shot down
one of the Shooting Stars. The Americans hide this loss, and did so in future. Many shot down planes were writen-off as "not-combat
losses".

MiG-15 guncamera shots : aimed enemies

F80 shot down

F84 shot down

Sabre shot down

B29 shot down

12th April 1951. 48 escorted B29 tried to attack a bridge over Yalutsyan river. 36 MiG-15 shot down 9 bombers. The Americans said 3 lost
and 7 damaged SuperFortresses, and claimed 9 MiGs from 64..72 attackers, plus 6 probablies and 4 damaged. In fact, all Soviet fighters
returned safety.
12th September 1951. 80 MiG-15 attaked about 150 F80, which strafed ground targets between Anchzu and Phenian. 15 Shooting Stars
were shot down, 3 MiGs were damaged.

"The Black Tuesday" . 30th October 1951. 21 B29 escorted by about 200 F86 and F84, tried to attack Namsi airfield. They were
intercepted by 44 MiGs, which shot down 12 B29 and 4 F84. 1 MiG-15 was shot down by Sabres. The rest of SuperFortresses were
damaged, but managed to escape. According the American sources, were lost 8 bombers.