How many planes were shot down in the Korean War? Soviet ace pilots in the Korean War. Combat use of vehicles in Korea

April 12, 1951 is known as Black Thursday in the history of American aviation. The Americans have not lost such a large number of strategic bombers in one air battle since the end of the Second World War.

Fighting between North and South Korea began on June 25, 1950. This war lasted exactly three years and one month. The United States acted openly in Korea, under the UN flag on the side of South Korea, and the Soviet Union acted behind the scenes on the side of the DPRK.

The US armed forces in this conflict were represented by all branches of the military, which included several hundred thousand military personnel. The Soviet armed forces were just one separate fighter air corps, which, however, in addition to aviation units, included several anti-aircraft artillery divisions, several anti-aircraft searchlight regiments and several radio battalions of radar operators.

In addition, in units of the DPRK armed forces and Chinese people's volunteers, who also actively took part in this war, there were two to three hundred of our military advisers and several military hospitals.

Only anti-aircraft gunners and pilots actively participated in the hostilities, who, as part of the 64th Fighter Air Corps, opposed the powerful 5th Air Force and the aviation of their allies - Australia, Canada, England, South Korea, South Africa. Soviet pilots of the 64th Fighter Air Corps began combat operations on November 1, 1950, flying MiG-15 jet fighters designed by Mikoyan and Gurevich.

MiG-15 with North Korean insignia

From that moment on, the undivided dominance in the air of the Americans and their allies came to an end. The best aircraft from both sides participated in this air war, and new tactical techniques for conducting air warfare using jet technology were tested for the first time.

Already the first skirmishes in the sky proved that the American jet aircraft F-80 Shooting Star and F-84 Thunderjet are significantly inferior to the MiG-15 in speed, climb rate and armament. The battles ended with their flight.

To rectify the situation, at the beginning of 1951, the US Air Force urgently sent the latest fighters, the F-86 Saber, to the Korean Peninsula. While inferior to the MiG in climb rate and specific thrust, they were superior to it in maneuverability, longer flight range and in gaining speed during a dive.

But the MiG-15 had advantages in armament: three guns (two 23 mm caliber and one 37 mm) with an aiming range of 800 m against 6 12.7 mm machine guns with a firing range of 400 m. However, the MiGs had to deal not only in the air with the Americans, but also with the military of other countries, performing under the UN flag.

Thus, Australia also provided its military forces. However, the fighting qualities of the Australian pilots and the technical equipment of their aircraft were such that after the first meetings with the Soviet aces, only four of the sixteen aircraft survived.

F-86 Saber

The Soviet shield over the Korean sky forced the Americans to reduce the activity of small groups of fighter-bombers. Daytime reconnaissance and bomber flights ceased. The period of air battles between large groups of F-86 fighters and MiGs has begun.

One of the most massive American air raids occurred on April 12, on the so-called Black Thursday of 1951, when the Americans tried to bomb the railway bridge across the Yalu River near the village of Singisiu.

This was the only railway line that supplied North Korean troops.

B-29

More than forty B-29 bombers took part in the battle. This is a huge machine, capable of carrying more than 9 tons of bombs. Its defensive weapons included one and a half dozen heavy machine guns. This is exactly the plane that dropped atomic bombs to Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The B-29s operated under cover of hundreds of F-80 and F-84 fighters, divided into small groups. In addition, groups of F-86 pinning fighters, numbering a total of about fifty aircraft, took part in the raid.

To repel this raid, 36 MiG-15s from the 324th Svir Air Division, commanded by Ivan Nikitovich Kozhedub, were raised from the Andun airfield.

The battle took place at an altitude of 7-8 thousand meters for 20 minutes. MiG-15s attacked groups of B-29s in pairs and fours, not paying attention to the escort groups. As a result, 14 American aircraft were shot down - 10 B-29s and four Sabers.

Although the Americans had a three-fold numerical superiority, the battle on April 12 turned into a complete defeat for them; dozens of parachute canopies opened in the sky over Yalu, the crews of American bombers tried to save their lives, and captivity awaited them. Two Soviet aircraft were damaged, but soon after the problems were fixed they were returned to service. In total, only three American aircraft were able to break through the river in this battle. They dropped three six-ton ​​radio-controlled bombs, the explosion of which damaged one of the bridge supports, but within a few days the strategically important bridge was restored. The American Air Force declared mourning for the fallen pilots for a whole week.

The most successful ace of the Korean War Evgeny Pepelyaev (1918-2013)

In Korea, 46 Soviet pilots became aces. In total, these fifty pilots shot down 416 enemy aircraft. The best Soviet ace of the Korean War is considered to be the commander of the 196th IAP of the 324th Air Division, Lieutenant Colonel Evgeniy Georgievich Pepelyaev, an excellent commander, an excellent fighter pilot and a loyal senior friend to his subordinates.

It is known that when his wingman, senior lieutenant Valery Larionov, was shot down and killed in one of the battles, Pepelyaev, without hesitation, attributed three of his victories to his account.

Thus, the official number of enemy aircraft shot down by the young pilot reached five, and Larionov posthumously received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, which guaranteed his widow, who was left with a baby in her arms, extensive benefits.

Together with these three, the number of enemy aircraft destroyed by Pepelyaev in the skies over the Korean Peninsula reaches 23 (1 F-80, 2 F-84, 2 F-94, 18 F-86).

Nikolai Vasilyevich Sutyagin (May 5, 1923 - November 12, 1986) - Hero of the Soviet Union, Honored Military Pilot of the USSR, Major General of Aviation.

The top American ace, Captain Joseph Christopher McConnell Jr., can only boast of 16 downed aircraft.

In second place among our aces is captain Nikolai Sutyagin from the 17th IAP with 21 victories. The 64th Fighter Wing led fighting in Korea for almost three years.

In total, during this time, 1,525 enemy aircraft were shot down, 1,099 of them were shot down by aviation forces.

Soviet losses amounted to 319 MiG-15 and La-11 aircraft. 120 pilots were killed in battle.

Many of our pilots who died were mostly buried in China, eternal memory to them!

The post was prepared based on materials from the Russian Portal

Americans called April 12, 1951 “Black Thursday.” In an air battle over Korea, Soviet pilots managed to shoot down 12 American B-29 bombers, which were called “superfortresses” and were previously considered virtually invulnerable.

In total, during the years of the Korean War (1950-1953), Soviet aces shot down 1097 American aircraft. Another 212 were destroyed by ground-based air defense systems.
Today is communist North Korea is perceived as some kind of rudiment Cold War, which once divided the world into Soviet and capitalist camps.
However, six decades ago, hundreds of Soviet pilots gave their lives to keep this state on the world map.

More precisely, according to official version During the Korean War, 361 Soviet soldiers died. A number of experts believe that these are underestimated data, since the list of losses did not include those who died from wounds in hospitals in the USSR and China.

Data on the ratio of losses between American and Soviet aviation vary greatly. However, even US historians unconditionally admit that American losses are much higher.

This is explained, firstly, by the superiority of Soviet military equipment. The US Air Force command, in the end, was forced to admit that B-29 bombers were very vulnerable to fire from 23 and 37 mm guns, which were armed with Soviet MiG-15 fighters. Just a few shells hitting the bomber could destroy it. The guns with which the MiGs were armed (37 and 23 mm caliber) had a significantly greater effective fire range, as well as destructive power compared to the B-29 heavy machine guns.

In addition, the machine gun mounts installed on the winged “fortresses” could not provide effective fire and aiming at aircraft that attacked at closing speeds of 150-160 meters per second.
Well, and, of course, the “human factor” played a significant role. Most of the Soviet pilots who took part in air battles had extensive combat experience gained during the Great Patriotic War. Patriotic War.

Yes, and in the post-war years, the training of combat pilots in the USSR was given great importance. As a result, for example, Aviation Major General Nikolai Vasilyevich Sutyagin shot down 19 enemy aircraft during the three years of the Korean War. Not counting the three whose deaths could not be confirmed. The same number (19 confirmed victories) was shot down by Evgeniy Georgievich Pepelyaev.

There were 13 Soviet aces who shot down 10 or more American vehicles.
The average total number of corps personnel as of 1952 was 26 thousand people. Taking turns in Korean War 12 Soviet fighter aviation divisions, 4 anti-aircraft artillery divisions, 2 separate (night) fighter divisions took part aviation regiment, 2 anti-aircraft searchlight regiments, 2 aviation technical divisions and 2 fighter aviation regiments of the Navy Air Force. In total, about 40 thousand Soviet troops took part in the Korean War.

For a long time, the heroism and even simple participation of Soviet pilots in fierce air battles in the skies over Korea was carefully hidden.
All of them had Chinese documents without photographs and wore the uniform of Chinese military personnel.

Air Marshal, the famous Soviet fighter Ivan Kozhedub admitted in one of his interviews that “this whole disguise was sewn with white thread” and, laughing, said that for three years his last name became LI SI QING. However, during the air battle, the pilots spoke Russian, including using “idiomatic expressions.” Therefore, the Americans had no doubt about who was fighting them in the skies over Korea.

It is interesting that official Washington remained silent throughout the three years of the war about the fact that the Russians were at the controls of most of the MiGs that smashed the “flying fortresses” to smithereens.

Many years after the end of the hot phase of the Korean War (officially, peace between North and South Korea has still not been concluded), military adviser to President Truman Paul Nitze admitted that he had prepared a secret document. It analyzed whether it was worth disclosing the direct participation of Soviet pilots in air battles. As a result, the US government came to the conclusion that this could not be done. After all, the large losses of the American Air Force were deeply experienced by the entire society, and indignation at the fact that “the Russians are to blame for this” could lead to unpredictable consequences. Including nuclear war.

Photo: airaces.ru
koreanwaronline.com

Start of negotiations. Having realized the impossibility of the “no alternative to victory” once declared by MacArthur in the Korean conflict, the Americans began to probe the possibilities of a compromise resolution of the situation. Negotiations began with the involvement of all interested parties, including not only the Koreans, who professed different theories of development, but also the USSR and the PRC. However, getting out of the trap turned out to be more difficult than getting into it. Moscow was well aware of its own benefit; the Americans, mired in the conflict, were losing people, money, and authority several times faster than their geopolitical opponent. Demands were formulated that could not be the basis for a compromise.

Stop fighting. The negotiations dragged on for almost 2 years and were completed when the supreme power changed in both Moscow and Washington. Eisenhower, who replaced Truman, being a competent military specialist, correctly assessed possible consequences continuation of the war as destructive for the United States. The White House decided to make concessions. In Moscow, the group that led after Stalin’s death, in turn, considered it necessary to end the conflict. The least acceptable demands that offended the Americans were removed. On July 27, 1953, the fire ceased, the troops were separated, and the war ended in the same place where it began, at the 38th parallel, which became the current border of the two Korean states. Along with it, the permanent air war ended, which did not promise victory for either side.

General results of the conflict. The overall results of the conflict looked sad. According to terrible and far from accurate estimates, the people of both Koreas lost about 8-9 million people, over 80% of whom were civilians. The losses of the Chinese “volunteers” were calculated more accurately, but the information was immediately classified. The “limited war” cost the Americans 54 thousand dead, without taking into account those people who were lost by contingents of other participants in the UN mission. Since the USSR did not formally participate in the conflict, not only information about losses, but even mentions of the 64th Corps and its combat activities did not exist for a long time. They started talking about them quite late, and reliable information appeared only in the late 1980s. However, even today the figures regarding our deaths range from 200 to 1,500 thousand people.

Classification error. Classifying the fact of Soviet participation in the war turned out to be a serious mistake. The Americans, realizing what was happening, used the enemy’s silence to their advantage. Their information policy made it possible in the eyes of the world to turn a failure in the air into a serious propaganda victory with important significance. When comparing assessments of military-political competitors, the role of the “air factor” is always especially high. This makes sense: aviation concentrates everything that the people who created it are proud of. The airplane is a bundle of intelligence and the highest technologies, the latest scientific discoveries, finally, just the concept put into it by the creators. He is the embodiment of the power of the country that created him. Those who serve in aviation personify the image of a nation or a national conglomerate; these are its best representatives. According to American data, military pilots have, on average, the highest “intelligence quotient.” The Americans still have certain reasons to put pilots at the top of the podium.

And so, having silenced the participation of Soviet aviation in the Korean conflict, which everyone in the world knew about without exception, the Soviet leadership gave up the propaganda field to the Americans without a fight. Those, sensing impunity in the information space, had a blast. A lurid figure for the loss ratio began to circulate in the works of American researchers. Some out of guile, and others out of ignorance, replicated data on 802 downed MiGs and 56 Sabers, limiting all military statistics to this information.

Crazy numbers. This figure found its way into domestic research precisely in this form, sometimes more politely - in this case it was about 792 MiGs for 78 sabres. This is a lie, and a blatant one at that. Firstly, it is already clear to everyone that in the Chinese Air Force and the 64th Corps, MiGs were the only type of aircraft, not counting the Korean piston engines. Whereas in the American Air Force, completely modern materiel was divided, as they said, into 40 types, not counting British vehicles. With them there were more varieties. At the same time, we remember that Sabers were not the main object of hunting for MiGs. Obviously, other aircraft, which the 64th Corps was actually hunting for, also suffered losses. But only the most competent Westerners remember this, recognizing the death of another 200 or so aircraft. But this information is known to few people. And in the eyes of the majority, Russians look like “klutzes on coffins.” Which is not entirely true. Just look at the official report on the actions of the US Air Force in Korea, where it is written in white English that they destroyed 184,808 enemy soldiers. The unsophisticated like precise numbers. They are alarming to the interested amateur. He cannot understand how the Yankees managed to count all those they killed with an accuracy of 8 people. The guess suggests itself: “they lie and don’t blush.”

Soviet casualty data. According to Soviet data, aviation losses look completely different over the years: November 1950-December 1951 - 564 aircraft were shot down, 71 were lost. In 1952, 394 were shot down, 172 were lost. In 1953, the enemy lost 139, the 64th Corps - 92. In total, over 4 years, the Americans, that is, the UN, lost 1097 aircraft, not counting those shot down by Chinese and Korean pilots, as well as anti-aircraft gunners. According to the stories of our eyewitnesses, such figures are more consistent with the truth. However, there is no guarantee of accuracy in these calculations, partly for objective reasons. It happens that half the enemy’s wing is torn off, the plane is on fire, but it still makes it to the airfield. But they can also directly exaggerate, with official papers in the 20th century. this happens all the time. And the Suvorov principle in military history no one has canceled and will not cancel.

“Why feel sorry for them, adversaries.” Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov is worthy of all respect and worship, but they say there was such an episode in his biography. The Prince of Italy compiled a report to the sovereign about the past battle together with his adjutant. And take it and ask: “Aren’t we writing a lot of killed enemies, Alexander Vasilyevich?” To which the truly brilliant commander replied: “Why feel sorry for them, adversaries”?! Whether this happened or not, historians have a saying: “He lies like an eyewitness.” And it’s not the person’s great fault, where the memoirist’s memory failed him, he didn’t notice something, but thought it through. That's not the point. To find out the truth, it is advisable to find some piece of information that is neutral and essentially independent.

Rescue statistics. For the Korean conflict, such a “nuance” was the number of sorties carried out by Air Force rescue service helicopters, of which, according to her report, there were about 2,500. The rescue service is American pride. Each pilot, leaving for a mission, had a miniature radio beacon in his pocket. When he got into trouble, the guy pressed the button, and his people knew where to look for him. Helicopters flew in and pulled their own people out of the most remote and dangerous places. This means that the number of flights approximately corresponds to the number of pilots who found themselves on the ground against their own will, and mostly alive, since those who were unlucky did not use the beacon, and such people are usually at least 10% of the total number of downed pilots, often more.

True, this figure is not accurate due to the fact that it is not known how many times the rescuers flew to Busan for beer, reporting the flight as a raid into the communist rear. But in any case, these 2,500 thousand flights give an indicator of American losses closer to Soviet estimates than to the brisk American information about 56-78 Sabers. There are other ways to reasonably disbelieve the Americans, but we won’t go into that for now.

21 victories of Sutyagin. One thing is clear, the 64th Corps in Korea fought fiercely and came out of the fight with honor, in no way inferior to those who considered themselves kings of the air. They have nothing to hide, but they can be proud. In any case, the most successful pilot of that war bore the Russian surname Sutyagin and had 21 victories. You can believe this, this was strictly monitored in the USSR. Sutyagin's American competitor, the already mentioned McDonnell, was well behind with his 16 points.

In terms of military experience, Korea brought closer estimates of air power, which the Soviet Union finally considered a decisive factor. The geostrategic outcome forced the West to recognize the USSR as a militarily comparable superpower. Although the methods for achieving this parity did not yet guarantee equality of opportunity, the balance of power became more discernible. The presence of a force comparable to the American one did not harm the cause of world peace at all.

On June 25, 1950, North Korean troops invaded the territory of the Republic of Korea. Thus began the Korean War. It became a training ground where the USSR and the USA tested their first jet fighters. The MiG-15 won the air battles with a clear advantage.

Initial disposition

Stalin, who planned to make the entire Korean Peninsula an expansion zone socialist camp, began to prepare the ground for this in advance. The preparation consisted of transferring military equipment to Kim's army. And above all artillery, tanks and aircraft. Military advisers also actively trained North Koreans to use “expensive gifts.”

As a result, on June 25, 1950, the DPRK troops, superior in both numbers and armament to the ROK army, began to rapidly advance south. This success was predetermined by the fact that, for example, 150 T-34 tanks of the “northerners” were opposed by no more than 20 armored personnel carriers, and 175 combat aircraft were opposed by 12 training aircraft.

Three days later, Seoul was captured. And in mid-August, 90% of the ROK was controlled by Kim Il Sung’s troops.

The UN, boycotting the vote by the Soviet Union and China, decided to send peacekeeping troops to the peninsula. The first to take part in the “pacification of Kim” operation were US troops stationed in the region mainly on aircraft carriers. Then Great Britain, Canada, Australia, the Philippines and 11 other countries joined.

Gradually, the onslaught of the DPRK was stopped. And then the combined UN troops turned the flywheel of war in the opposite direction.

Stalin foresaw this situation. China and the USSR joined the war. China did it legally. Soviet Union - secretly. The 64th Separate Fighter Aviation Corps, armed with the latest MiG-15 jet fighters, was sent to the Chinese Dandong airfield.

Soviet novelty

The 64th Corps, founded in the fall, was intended specifically to participate in the Korean War. And after its completion, it was redeployed, reorganized and renamed.

The composition of the corps was inconsistent. Over the course of three years, it hosted 12 fighter air divisions, 2 separate fighter air regiments, 2 separate night fighter air regiments, 2 Navy fighter air regiments, and 4 anti-aircraft artillery divisions. At the height of the war, the corps consisted of 320 aircraft. Total number there were 26 thousand privates and officers, more than 500 of them were pilots who gained combat experience during the Great Patriotic War. The corps was commanded by the legendary I.N. Kozhedub.

For the purpose of covert participation in the war, Soviet aircraft had the livery of the Korean Air Force. The pilots wore Korean uniforms and had Korean documents without photographs. In the air they were required to speak only Korean, for which they were given Russian-Korean phrase books. However, communicating in an unknown language distracted attention and in a critical situation could cost lives. Therefore, they soon stopped paying attention to this absurd demand. Even without this, the Americans soon realized that they were dealing not with inexperienced Chinese and Korean pilots, but with Russian aces.

At first, the basis of Soviet fighter aviation was the piston Yak-9 - veterans of World War II, as well as the La-9 and La-11, which appeared shortly after the victory.

It cannot be said that they catastrophically lost in air combat to the piston-powered “Americans” and “British” - P-51 Mustang and Supermarine Spitfire. The UN fleet, which was composed mainly of fighter aircraft from the United States, Great Britain, Australia and Canada, was quite extensive with aircraft based on aircraft carriers. The enemy pressed in mass, having a significant numerical superiority. Looking ahead, we note that during the war more than a thousand “foreigners” were destroyed, while the number of our vehicles “sent” to Korea did not reach five hundred.

The situation needed to be saved. Therefore, in November, MiG-15 jets appeared in the Korean skies. They replaced the not entirely successful first Soviet machine with a turbojet engine, the MiG-9, which was not allowed to enter combat operations.

The Mig-15 was completely new - its introduction into Air Force units began in 1949. At the beginning of the 50s, it had excellent flight performance characteristics, inaccessible not only to piston, but also to jet “foreigners”. Such, for example, as the British Gloster Meteor, which managed to fight for about a year during World War II.

The main difference between the MiG-15 and existing fighters at that time was that it was transonic. One RD-45F turbojet engine, which had a thrust of 2270 kgf, accelerated it to 1042 km/h. The plane had a ceiling inaccessible to others, exceeding 15 thousand meters. No one could compete with him in the rate of climb: 41 m/s at the ground. The MiG-15 climbed to 5,000 thousand meters in 2.4 minutes, while the best “Americans” took 4.8 minutes.

At the same time, Soviet and UN fighters had different tactical missions. The United States relied on massive bombing of the DPRK with the help of “flying fortresses” - B-29s, capable of carrying up to 9 tons of bombs. Our MiGs were supposed to destroy them first of all. The “Americans,” naturally, would escort them and repel attacks by Soviet fighters.

Due to the complete dominance of the MiGs in the air, the United States suffered terrible losses of its strategic bomber aircraft. The apotheosis occurred on October 30, 1951, when 44 MiG-15s attacked 21 B-29s, accompanied by almost 200 fighters of various types. 12 “fortresses”, crewed by 11 people, and 4 F-84s were shot down. We only lost one fighter.

This day went down in the history of the US Air Force as “Black Tuesday.” After that, for three days, not a single American aircraft appeared in the MiG coverage area. And the B-29s resumed their activity only a month later.

American unfired

In the Korean War, three American jet fighters were baptized by fire: the F-80 Shooting Star, F-84 Thunderjet and F-86 Saber. Two of them, as they say, “stayed too long as girls,” the third was completely new.

The F-80 began entering service with the US and British Air Forces two months before the end of World War II hostilities on the European continent. And he didn’t have time to fight until 1950. The plane was good as a fighter-bomber, but was somewhat clumsy in air combat. In connection with this, it sometimes became prey for the Yak-9, not to mention the MiG-15.

The F-84 entered service in 1947. In terms of speed, it was inferior to the MiG-15 at about 80 km/h. And in all other respects too - in terms of rate of climb, maximum altitude. And in terms of maneuverability it was significantly inferior, as objectively evidenced by the difference in such a parameter as the wing load: 340 kg/sq.m. versus 238 kg/sq.m. at the MiG-15.

The plan of the American command to send not the best “product” to Korea was based on the fact that they would have to fight with the piston aircraft of the DPRK and China. However, the reality turned out to be different.

We had to take emergency measures: throw the latest F-86 Saber into the war, also transonic, like the MiG-15. These were cars of the same class, which had both their advantages and disadvantages.

At approximately the same speed, the MiG-15 accelerated faster and had a higher rate of climb and ceiling.

The F-86 had better horizontal maneuverability. But its main advantages lay in the fact that it was equipped with more efficient instrumentation. For example, a radio range finder was installed on it, which allowed for more effective shooting. Soviet pilots used an optical sight. The American pilot was also in more comfortable conditions due to better visibility and the use of an anti-g suit. MiG pilots, in order not to lose consciousness during sharp turns, learned to tilt their heads in a special way, thereby minimizing the outflow of blood.

During the war, the MiG-15 was modernized. After a radar detector was installed on it, its vulnerability was significantly reduced. As a result, the MiG-15 gained an advantage in the number of air battles won against the F-86.

Data on aircraft victories and losses during the Korean War are conflicting. According to official US data, F-86s destroyed 823 enemy aircraft in air battles. Including 805 MiG-15. Soviet official sources claim that we shot down 1,097 enemy aircraft, including 642 F-86s. MiG losses amounted to 335 aircraft.

Independent researcher Robert Futrell estimated that the Americans lost 945 aircraft. At the same time, the losses of the Soviet side of the conflict coincide with those given in official Soviet statistics: 335 MiG-15s, as well as 230 aircraft of other types that were in service with China and the DPRK.

During the war, 120 Soviet pilots and 1,176 enemy pilots (including B-29 crew members) were killed.

Based on the above, we can conclude that the Soviet MiG-15 was the king of the Korean skies. Thanks to the authority he gained in battles with the Sabers, this aircraft, produced in the amount of 15,560 units, was in great demand. At one time it was in service with more than forty countries around the world.

In this regard, the success of the F-86 is somewhat more modest: 9,860 of these aircraft were produced.

Photo: ITAR-TASS/Valentina Soboleva/Archive.