The Korean War (1950-1953) was the first - and only - full-scale air war in the jet age. It was in the skies of North Korea where Soviet and American pilots came together in fierce aerial clashes. The best pilots of the opposing systems, the most powerful air forces, and the most up-to-date aircraft in the world in this period of history came together in pitched air battles. The analysis of the air war showed that the powerful United States Air Force and its allies were unable to achieve complete superiority in the air and were unable to fulfill all the tasks they'd been given. Soviet pilots and Soviet jet fighters, which were in no way inferior to their opponents and in certain respects were even superior to them, was the reason for this. The combat experience and new tactical aerial combat tactics, which were tested for the first time in the skies of Korea, have been eagerly studied and applied by modern air forces around the world today.

This book fully discusses the Soviet participation in the Korean War and presents a view of this war from the opposite side, which is still not well known in the West from the multitude of publications by Western historians. The reason for this, of course, is the fact that Soviet records pertaining to the Korean War were for a long time highly classified, since Soviet air units were fighting in the skies of North Korea "incognito", so to speak or even more so to write about this was strictly forbidden in the Soviet Union right up to its ultimate collapse. The given work is in essence the first major work in the post-Soviet era. First published in a small edition in Russian in 1998, it was republished in Russia in 2007. For the first time, the Western reader can become acquainted with the most detailed and informative work existing on the course of the air war from the Soviet side, now in English language. The work rests primarily on the recollections of veterans of this war on the so-called 'Red' side - Soviet fighter pilots, who took direct part in this war on the side of North Korea. Their stories have been supplemented with an enormous amount of archival documents, as well as the work of Western historians. The author presents a literal day-by-day chronicle of the aerial combats and combat work of Soviet fighter regiments in the period between 1950 and 1953, and dedicates this work to all the men on both sides who fought and died in the Korean air war.

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of illustrations
• List of tables
• List of abbreviations
• Editor’s note
• Translator’s note
• Introduction and acknowledgements
• Chapter 1: The beginning of the war in the skies of Korea
  • The start of the war in the skies of Korea
  • The USAF reigns supreme in the skies of Korea
  • An unequal contest
  • The preparations of the Soviet Air Force for combat operations in Korea
  • Soviet pilots enter the fighting
  • Then alone in battle
  • A temporary lull
• Chapter 2: The Superfortresses throw in their cards before the Guards
  • The “Kozhedub Boys” enter the fighting
  • Black Thursday
  • The creation of the Unified Air Army
  • The failure of Operation “Lasso”
• Chapter 3: The 64th IAK gathers strength
  • The beginning of Operation Strangle
  • The hot autumn of 1951
• Chapter 4: Black October – the Superfortresses recede into the shadows
  • Struggle in the Anju area
  • The Debacle of Australia’s No. 77 Squadron; First Combats with the New F-86s
• Chapter 5: The results of the aerial conflict in 1951
• Chapter 6: The final combats of the “parade” divisions
• Chapter 7: The Soviet High Command’s mistake
  • The new shift acquires combat experience
• Chapter 8: Another hot summer
  • The 64th IAK is reinforced
  • A fatal day for the 190th IAD
  • The new shift enters the fighting
• Chapter 9: The fighting intensifies
  • Another black day for the Fifth Air Force
  • The “sailors” enter the fighting: the first victories of the maritime pilots
  • Wingtip to wingtip: the tenacious autumn battles
• Chapter 10: The third winter of the war
  • A new year – new battles, old equipment
• Chapter 11: Spring 1953 – new Sabres enter the fighting
  • Changes in the 64th IAK’s order of battle
  • “We’ll shoot rarely – but accurately”
• Chapter 12: The Soviet pilots take the back seat
  • May 1953
  • A hard June, or a test of resolve
  • July 1953: the guns of war fall silent
• Chapter 13: Outcomes of the air war
• Epilogue
• Appendices
  • Appendix I: Non-combat Pilot Losses of the 64th IAK
  • Appendix II: Pilots of the 64th IAK Killed in Action
• eBooks Published by Helion & Company