Wonder how LeMay reacted when his SAC started losing many of their precious B-29s to the Soviet's best flying Mig 15s.
(Fun fact, the first jet on jet kill in history was a pair of USAF F80's shot down by Mig 15s, however the US claimed them as missing (Or shot down by AAA) while the first US claim on a jet came several days later and de-classified Russian reports show the aircraft returned to base with little damage. Source: Osprey's Aircraft of the Aces 'Mig 15 Aces over Korea' which if you have an interest in the Korean Air War is a must.
Also Footnote 2, At least the top 2 aces (Possibly 3) of the Korean War flew under the Red Star.
Another even funner story of the Mig 15 in Korea is that of April 12, 1951 or 'Black Thursday' as the Americans called it, where 30 Mig 15s attacked 48 B29 Bombers escorted by around 100 F-80 Shooting Star and F84 Thunderjet fighters and shot down 3 B29s and damaged 7 more with no losses of their own (The USAF however had a habit of claiming that aircraft too severely damaged to fly again or that crashed as a result of battle damage suffered 'Mechanical failures' or 'Landing Accidents'. Soviet sources claimed 12 B29 kills, however both sides had a habit of overclaiming victories.)
The USAF ceased all B29 raids for 3 months, and even after restarting raids only flew in small numbers at night. The Soviets gave the B29 the nickname 'The Burning Barn' as a result of their operations against them.
As an actual fun footnote, this may have also reduced the risk of nuclear war, as the US command MUST have realized that there was no way in hell an unescorted B-29 would be able to reach its target in Russia without getting slaughtered.
A lot of it is quite recent, from the fall of the Soviet Union and declassification of various archives at the earliest, The whole 'The Americans actually got the First Jet Kill' is something that I was sold in all the (Admittedly American or English) aviation and history books I had growing up
Wonder how LeMay reacted when his SAC started losing many of their precious B-29s to the Soviet's best flying Mig 15s.
(Fun fact, the first jet on jet kill in history was a pair of USAF F80's shot down by Mig 15s, however the US claimed them as missing (Or shot down by AAA) while the first US claim on a jet came several days later and de-classified Russian reports show the aircraft returned to base with little damage. Source: Osprey's Aircraft of the Aces 'Mig 15 Aces over Korea' which if you have an interest in the Korean Air War is a must.
Also Footnote 2, At least the top 2 aces (Possibly 3) of the Korean War flew under the Red Star.
deleted by creator
Another even funner story of the Mig 15 in Korea is that of April 12, 1951 or 'Black Thursday' as the Americans called it, where 30 Mig 15s attacked 48 B29 Bombers escorted by around 100 F-80 Shooting Star and F84 Thunderjet fighters and shot down 3 B29s and damaged 7 more with no losses of their own (The USAF however had a habit of claiming that aircraft too severely damaged to fly again or that crashed as a result of battle damage suffered 'Mechanical failures' or 'Landing Accidents'. Soviet sources claimed 12 B29 kills, however both sides had a habit of overclaiming victories.)
The USAF ceased all B29 raids for 3 months, and even after restarting raids only flew in small numbers at night. The Soviets gave the B29 the nickname 'The Burning Barn' as a result of their operations against them.
As an actual fun footnote, this may have also reduced the risk of nuclear war, as the US command MUST have realized that there was no way in hell an unescorted B-29 would be able to reach its target in Russia without getting slaughtered.
deleted by creator
A lot of it is quite recent, from the fall of the Soviet Union and declassification of various archives at the earliest, The whole 'The Americans actually got the First Jet Kill' is something that I was sold in all the (Admittedly American or English) aviation and history books I had growing up