MiG Alley
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The MiG Alley ( dt. MiG -Gasse ) was in the Korean War (1950-1953) one of the US military about 150 km long area designated along the border river Yalu , the North Korea and China separates. The MiG Alley was the main site of the aerial battles in North Korea, which were mainly fought with North Korean MiG-15s and American North American F-86s .
The MiG Alley got its name because of the MiG fighter planes that maintained North Korean air superiority in the area at the beginning of the war . Most of the North Korean airfields were in the west of this area on both sides of the border. This allowed the North Korean pilots to reach and monitor MiG Alley quickly and regularly . The US pilots, on the other hand , often had long approaches (up to 500 km) from their bases in Kimpo , Suwon and Daegu . In addition, there was the technical superiority of the MiG-15, which could only be compensated by the introduction of the F-86.
Since US pilots were forbidden to fly over the Chinese border so that China would not be provoked and officially enter the war, they patrolled the MiG Alley to intercept any intruding MiGs. Especially when bombers were to be protected, patrols were flown at an interval of only five minutes, which were supposed to cordon off the hinterland against enemy air attacks for a few hours.
When the war turned in January 1951, Chinese and North Korean soldiers pushed south and took, among other things, Kimpo Airport near Seoul . Then the US fighters were moved to Japan . Due to the increased approach route, the patrols in MiG Alley had to be briefly abandoned until the reconquest of Seoul in March of the same year.
See also
literature
- Larry Davis: MiG Alley - Air to Air Combat over Korea , squadron / signal publications, No. 6020, 1978, without ISBN