Following the end of the Korean War, the prevailing myth in the West was that of the absolute supremacy of US Air Force pilots and aircraft over their Soviet-supplied opponents. The claims of the 10:1 victory-loss ratio achieved by the US Air Force fighter pilots flying the North American F-86 Sabre against their communist adversaries, among other such fabrications, went unchallenged until the end of the Cold War, when Soviet records of the conflict were finally opened.
Packed with first-hand accounts and covering the full range of US Air Force activities over Korea, MiG Alley brings the war vividly to life and the record is finally set straight on a number of popular fabrications. Thomas McKelvey Cleaver expertly threads together US and Russian sources to reveal the complete story of this bitter struggle in the Eastern skies.
Packed with first-hand accounts and covering the full range of US Air Force activities over Korea, MiG Alley brings the war vividly to life and the record is finally set straight on a number of popular fabrications. Thomas McKelvey Cleaver expertly threads together US and Russian sources to reveal the complete story of this bitter struggle in the Eastern skies.
Commission Earned
From the comments many readers challenge the writers bias. Also question the wisdom of accepting the reports sent back to Moscow (and Stalin) of Mig superiority.
ReplyDeleteThe author is a USN Vietnam vet. It looks like he writes about U.S. military aviation.
ReplyDeleteI don't know about the claims made by this author, but I do know that early in the military action in Korea, the U.S. did not enjoy air superiority or a high kill rate. The kill rate improved over time, but air superiority remained marginal. That was about to change in time for the next action.
Have not read this book, but I have read and reviewed his book Clean Sweep and it is excellent.
ReplyDeleteVery boring topic. YAWN
ReplyDelete