Product Description

The Soviet Union began assisting the People's Republic of China in its establishment of a modern air force in 1950, when Soviet Air Force regiments were sent to train local pilots. China's involvement in the Korean War in late October 1950 inevitably drew Soviet pilots into the war. A total of 52 Soviet pilots scored five or more victories in the Korean War. The history of these covert actions has been a long-buried secret and this book will be the first English publication to detail the only instance when the Cold War between Russia and the US became "hot." This book uncovers Soviet combat experiences during the Korean War from detailed unit histories and rare first-hand accounts. With access to extensive Russian archives, the authors offer an enthralling insight into an air war that has been largely covered up and neglected, illustrated with previously unpublished photographs and detailed full-color profiles.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #228926 in Books
• Published on: 2008-05-20
• Released on: 2008-05-20
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: .65 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 96 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781846032998
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Review
"Leonid Krylov and Yuriy Tepsurkaev's Soviet MiG-15 Aces of the Korean War joins others in Osprey's 'Aircraft of the Aces' series, providing a comprehensive survey of how the USSR's top plane performed and made a big difference in Korea, surveying the first generatio of jet fighters in Korea. Pilot exploits are covered in black and white and color here." -The Bookwatch (September 2008)

"...it seems astonishing that now Osprey is able to publish a complete-very complete- book on the subject. Remarkable pilot accounts provide an inside look beyond anything that I thought I would ever be ale to read, allied with a detailed history of the units, aircraft and men involved." Scale Aircraft Modelling (August 2008).

"Soviet MiG-15 Aces of the Korean War is well-written and organized very nicely. It is extremely well researched and documented, and provides an insight into the Soviets previously well-hidden involvement during the Korean War. This book could be a valuable historical reference for anyone who chooses to model aircraft from this historical period, and I recommend it highly to anyone interested in the air war in Korea."- Keith Pruitt, International Plastic Modellers' Society (July 2008).

"In addition to the excellent photos, there are several pages of color profiles of the planes flown by the various aces involved. It is a superlative book on the subject and one that I can recommend to you without reservation."- Scott Van Aken, modelingmadness.com (June 2008).

About the Author
Leonid Krylov and Yuriy Tepsurkaev have been researching the covert Soviet Air Force participation in the air war over North Korea for almost 20 years, and they have published several articles and books on the subject in Russia. Their research, started in 1989, is based on Soviet documents stored at the Central Archive of the Russian Defence Ministry and recollections of veterans of the 64th IAK. During 17 years of research, the authors have accumulated recollections from over 100 participants in the Korean War, and studied several thousand archive documents ranging from debriefing and combat reports to documents drawn up by the Air Force Commander-in-Chief and the Air Force General Staff. The author lives in Russia.

Customer Reviews

And Now You Know the Rest of the Story: Russian MiGs in the Korean War!
Back in September 2006, when I reviewed Warren Thompson's F-86 SABRE ACES OF THE 4TH FIGHTER WING, I commented that it would be great if Osprey had a "MiG-15 Aces of the Korean War" book in the works. Well, here 'tis...and not only is Leonid Krylov's book interesting but it's sure to be controversial as well.

Russia committed many MiG-15 units to the Korean conflict. It's only recently that details of this large-scale but top-secret involvement has been documented. SOVIET MiG-15 ACES OF THE KOREAN WAR is based on 17 years of research in Russian archives and interviews with 64th Fighter Air Corps pilots.

First of all, Krylov does an admirable job of relating the Korean air battles from the Soviet side including many first-hand reminiscences and combat reports. By war's end 52 Soviet MiG-15 pilots claimed five or more kills, 13 of those claimed ten or more victories. In terms of F-86s alone, those MiG pilots were credited with downing 574 Sabres while losing 335 MiGs in return...and therein lies the rub.

According to USAF sources, F-86s downed over 790 MiG-15s while losing 78 Sabres in return. 78 losses vs. 574 claims; 790 claims vs. 335 losses; hmm!?! If you factor in Chinese MiGs downed by F-86s, you'll probably get close to the 790 American claims but how to reconcile the 78/574 figures?!? In truth, Krylov's book could be subtitled: "Few of These Losses Tally with USAF Figures." To his credit, Krylov, time and again, points out the disparity between Soviet and American claims/loss figures but the overall impression is one of tremendous overclaiming by the Soviets.

Pilots such as Oskin, Pepelyaev, Sutyagin, Shchukin and Kramarenko were obviously skilled pilots; some had been aces in WWII. They obviously triumphed over some USAF F-86 pilots - including a few top aces - but it will take monumental research to come to a final, accurate Korean air war tally.

In the meantime, SOVIET MiG-15 ACES OF THE KOREAN WAR is a good start; an obviously well-researched and well-written overview of the topic. It includes over 70 rare photographs of pilots, aircraft and gun-camera scenes. (Given the awful footage MiG-15 gun-cameras produced, it's no wonder there is such overclaiming!) Yuriy Tepsurkaev also contributes nine pages of nicely done color profiles. I would have loved an index and also a map since the MiG pilots kept referring to Korea Bay, Cape Unzenly, etc.

Short and sweet summary: Highly recommended.

The decision to send Russian Pilots to Korea
I enjoy see the gun pictures of the MIG when they are engaging American aircraft. The authors do an execllent job explaining how difficult it was for the Russians to verified the kills. However, there was nothing about in the book about the Russians getting together with the North Korean authorities to strengthen the radar stations and ground observers system, to help verified the air kills easily and quickly for the pilots. The Germans had a such system in World War I and World War II. In addition, the Germans had to maintain visual sight of their victims crashing to the ground while at the same time they had to avoid being shot down. Furthermore, the German pilots had to fill out very detailed combat reports in order to get confirmation of the victories.

Finally, the book does not given the political, social, and military circumstances why the Russian government send its pilots to fight in Korea. The Russian pilots just did not decide to go to Korea on their own free will for the heck of it. In addition, there was no mention of how many of the Russian MIG aces were aces from World War II.

An exhaustive view of the "Honcho's" War
Although a wide literature can be found about the USAF heroes in the Korean War, the Soviet paper was secret till recent years, but it included several pilots with over 20kills in that war.
This book offers an exhaustive view of the "Honchos" in that war, written unit by unit, day by day.
All kills are discussed, comparing gun camera footage, Soviet and North Korean papers and compares it to USAF accounts.
The book also includes a lot of contemporary footage (B/W, of course) and a lot of colour profiles of great interest for the modeller.
A must for every enthusiastinc in History (Both sides must be accounted), Modellers and MiG and VVS fans.