On June 25, 1950, the North Korean Peoples Army invaded South Korea by crossing the 38th Parallel. They used T-34/85 tanks and Il-10 Shturmovik ground-attack aircraft, which allowed them to push South Korean and UN troops back quickly. The USAF responded by sending F-80s, F-51s, F-82s, and B-26s to attack the Communist supply lines. These attacks were successful against the outdated Russian-built piston-engined aircraft.

However, the Allies were surprised when the Mikoyan-Guryevich MiG-15 mid-wing monoplane jets arrived. The North Korean advance slowed down to a halt, and on November 1, 1950, UN pilots reported the first sighting of MiG-15s in Korean colors. Although the first victory was reported 12 days later, it soon became obvious that the F-80s, F-84s, and Meteors were obsolete.

The MiGs outclimbed even the F-86s that entered combat in December 1950. The MiGs had an untouchable ceiling of 15,200 meters and could dive down on their prey and climb back up to a safe position with relative impunity. The MiG’s main strength lay in its enormous firepower, offered by one N-37 37mm cannon and two NS-23KM 23 mm cannons, which could pour a devastating 14 kilograms of lead into the enemy plane with a two-second burst. The MiG could withstand a lot of punishment from the Sabres’ .50 caliber guns due to its heavier armor protection.

64th IAK

The VVS (Soviet Air Force) sent their 64th Fighter Aviation Corps (64th IAK) on a secret mission to Korea, with the main objective of stopping the Allied air offensive against North Korea. The 64th IAK was made up of elite fighter divisions that were rotated in and out of the combat zone every six to twelve months.

The commanding officer of the 64 IAK, General Major G.A. Lobov, was a well-known figure in World War II, with 19 air victories to his credit. He added four more kills to his record during the fierce air battles over Korea.

In 1952, the 64 IAK controlled three fighter air divisions and two anti-aircraft divisions (with 85mm and 57mm guns), with a total of 26,000 personnel. Recent information from Russia suggests that a total of 10 fighter divisions were involved in the Korean War at some point.

The pilots of the 64 IAK, who had experience fighting in World War 2, were able to make things difficult for the USAF. In total, 52 Soviet MiG-15 pilots were able to shoot down five enemy aircraft, with thirteen of them shooting down ten or more planes. These pilots are considered the aces of the Korean War for their impressive accomplishments.

Soviet Aces

Squadron leader Nikolaj Sutyagin is considered the top jet ace of all time. He served as a deputy squadron leader with the 17 IAP and earned his first victory on June 19, 1951. Just three days later, he had shot down two F-86s and increased his score to three. He continued to achieve victories regularly and had his best month in December 1951 when he reported destroying five enemy planes in the air. Overall, he had 22 confirmed kills in 149 sorties, with his victories including 15 F-86s, three F-84s, two F-80s, and two Meteors.

The second-highest-scoring jet pilot during the Korean War was the skilled commander of the 196 IAP, Colonel Yevgenij Pepelyaev. While some sources suggest he had 23 kills, this is thought to include shared victories. He achieved an impressive score of 19 kills during only 108 sorties, all of which were against jet aircraft, including 14 Sabres, two F-84s, one F-94, and one F-80. Pepelyaev was also highly regarded as the leader of the regiment, which achieved 100 air victories against 24 enemy aircraft and five pilots between April 1951 and February 1952, despite losing some of its own pilots in the process.

Major Dmitrij Oskin was one of the standout performers during the Korean War. He was able to achieve eight victories in just 23 days of combat between October and December 1951. This impressive run resulted in him becoming an ace with a total of 15 confirmed kills. Another notable pilot was Major S.A. Bakhayev who was credited with 11 victories during the Korean War, as well as shooting down an RB-29 during the cold war period on December 29, 1950, while serving with the 523 IAP.

During the Korean War, a total of 51 Russian fighter pilots achieved the status of ace by downing five or more enemy planes. Some other pilots became aces by combining their records from World War II with those in Korea. The 303 IAD had a remarkable achievement with 12 Heroes of the Soviet Union, who were pilots flying MiG-15s.

Aftermath & Statistics

The end of the Korean War on July 27, 1953, resulted in disputed total losses. In 1993, the VVS General Staff disclosed that the 64 IAK was credited with 1,106 enemy aircraft downed, including 650 F-86s, in 1,872 aerial encounters.

The overall losses of the Soviet forces, excluding non-operational causes or missing in action, were 335 planes and 120 pilots. Soviet sources suggest a final score of around 1,300 for the loss of 345 MiGs, not including Chinese and Korean victories.

The Chinese and Korean air forces claimed a combined total of 231 victories at the cost of 271 of their own aircraft.

The U.S. reported destroying 954 aircraft, 827 of which were MiGs, but they also admitted to losing 78 Sabres, 14 F-80s, and 18 F-84s in air-to-air combat and a total of 971 losses, mostly due to groundfire and non-operational causes.

Tops and Firts

• Top-scoring Soviet ace of the Korean War:
  N.V. Sutyagin (22 victories)
• First Soviet jet-ace of the Korean War:
  S.I. Naumenko (scored his 5th kill on 12-24-1950)
• First Soviet ace of the Korean War to down 5 jets:
  F.A. Shabanov (5-20-1951)
• Most jet kills in a single day:
  M.S. Ponomarev (4 on 9-11-1951)
• Most jet-kills in a single sortie:
  A.N. Karasyov (3 F-84s on 9-19-1950)

Soviet Korean War Aces List

Note: ‘confirmed kills’ do not necessarily reflect the actual outcomes of aerial combat.

Further reading

• The B-29’s Campaign in the Korean War: A chronology
• B-29 Superfortress vs Mig-15: Air Battle results
• Soviet Pilots of the 64th IAK killed in action in Korea

Bibliography

• Soviet MiG-15 Aces of the Korean War by Leonid Krylov & Yuriy Tepsurkaev
• Stalin’s Eagles: An Illustrated Study of the Soviet Aces of World War II and Korea by Hans D. Seidl
• Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15: The Soviet Union’s Long-Lived Korean War Fighter by Yefim Gordon