Red Devils over the Yalu: A Chronicle of Soviet Aerial Operations in the Korean War 1950-53The Korean War (1950-1953) was the first - and only - full-scale air war in the jet age. It was in the skies of North Korea where Soviet and American pilots came together in fierce aerial clashes. The best pilots of the opposing systems, the most powerful air forces, and the most up-to-date aircraft in the world in this period of history came together in pitched air battles. The analysis of the air war showed that the powerful United States Air Force and its allies were unable to achieve complete superiority in the air and were unable to fulfill all the tasks they'd been given. Soviet pilots and Soviet jet fighters, which were in no way inferior to their opponents and in certain respects were even superior to them, was the reason for this. The combat experience and new tactical aerial combat tactics, which were tested for the first time in the skies of Korea, have been eagerly studied and applied by modern air forces around the world today. This book fully discusses the Soviet participation in the Korean War and presents a view of this war from the opposite side, which is still not well known in the West from the multitude of publications by Western historians. The reason for this, of course, is the fact that Soviet records pertaining to the Korean War were for a long time highly classified, since Soviet air units were fighting in the skies of North Korea "incognito", so to speak or even more so to write about this was strictly forbidden in the Soviet Union right up to its ultimate collapse. The given work is in essence the first major work in the post-Soviet era. First published in a small edition in Russian in 1998, it was republished in Russia in 2007. For the first time, the Western reader can become acquainted with the most detailed and informative work existing on the course of the air war from the Soviet side, now in English language. The work rests primarily on the recollections of veterans of this war on the so-called 'Red' side - Soviet fighter pilots, who took direct part in this war on the side of North Korea. Their stories have been supplemented with an enormous amount of archival documents, as well as the work of Western historians. The author presents a literal day-by-day chronicle of the aerial combats and combat work of Soviet fighter regiments in the period between 1950 and 1953, and dedicates this work to all the men on both sides who fought and died in the Korean air war. |
Contents
| vii | |
| xi | |
| xii | |
| xiv | |
| xvii | |
| xviii | |
| 21 | |
2 The Superfortresses throw in their cards before the Guards | 90 |
7 The Soviet High Commands mistake | 331 |
8 Another hot summer | 380 |
9 The fighting intensifies | 409 |
10 The third winter of the war | 454 |
11 Spring 1953 new Sabres enter the fighting | 487 |
12 The Soviet pilots take the back seat | 512 |
13 Outcomes of the air war | 557 |
Epilogue | 565 |
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Common terms and phrases
17th IAP 18th GIAP 1st Lieutenant 334th Fighter Squadron 4th FIW 51st FIW 64th IAK 64th IAK’s pilots acknowledged the loss action aerial combat airfield altitude American pilots Andong Anju area attack began bombers burst cannons Chinese pilots climbing turn cockpit combat missions combat operations combat sorties command post cover crashed damaged Dapu dive dogfight downed eight MiGs ejected encountered enemy aircraft F-86 Sabres Fifth Air Force fighter-bombers FIW’s flew flying formation GIAP’s Gloster Meteors group of F-86s IAD’s intercept killed kilometers Korea Bay landing leader Lieutenant Colonel managed maneuver meters Miaogou MiGs Mustangs North Korean ofwhich opened fire Pulov Pyongyang raid regiment commander returned to base Sabre element Sabre pilots score Shooting Stars shot Singisiu Sinuiju six MiGs skies of Korea Sonchon Soviet pilots Soviet Union spotted squadron commander Sutiagin Taechon target Thunderjets took USAF victory wingman Senior Lieutenant Yalu River