"Panther vs. MiG — Inside the Cold War Dogfight That" Topic

…. Officially Never Happened

"BY NOVEMBER 1952, the air and ground war in Korea had been raging for two years and five months. The People's Republic of China (PRC) had committed hundreds of thousands of soldiers to help their North Korean allies.

Four Soviet air force fighter divisions of the 64th Fighter Aviation Corps — 28th, 50th, 151st, and 324th Fighter Divisions — deployed to air bases People's Republic of China near the mouth of the Yalu River on the western edge of the peninsula. Equipped with state-of-the-art MiG-15s, they were there to support the North Korean People's Army (KPA) as well as the PRC's People's Liberation Army (PLA)…"

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Armand

Good article!

Happy you enjoyed it…

Armand

Thanks for sharing.

Really surprised to see the USA's kill to loss ratio vs. the Mig-15, especially since the Panther was deemed to be so inferior to the Mig, which of course it is, in terms of top speed and climb rate.

A 3.5:1 kill ratio, and after this encounter, a 5.5:1 one, is pretty astounding. I know the Migs had trouble turning tightly at high speeds, but presumably the Russian pilots were better trained and more experienced than their Chinese and North Korean allies. Either that is not the case, or the turn rates are even more critical than we've been led to believe in air combat.

Of course, perhaps the US pilots were simply much better than their opponents. The kill ratios seem to indicate that.

Note – the Mig has a lower wing-loading than the Panther, so perhaps if they'd just slowed down when fighting their enemy, they might have performed better. Theoretically, given that, they should be better at turning than the Panthers – then again, perhaps the straight wings of the USN jets makes them superior at that than the swept wings of the Soviet ones.

A votre service mon ami…

Armand