Customer Reviews

MIG Alley: The Fight for Air Superiority (008-070-00757-6)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In the four decades of the cold war between the United States and the Soviet Union, there were many wars by proxy in Asia, the Middle East, Central America and Africa. During this time, both sides were very careful in avoiding direct clashes between their military forces. However, there was one exception, the air war over Korea was largely a battle between the American and Soviet military forces. Soviet pilots flew Soviet made aircraft in combat sorties against American pilots most of the years of the war. This was well known to American military and political leaders, yet they chose to keep it a secret for fear of escalating the war to the point where the Soviets would become directly involved. The Soviet leaders were also content to keep the fiction of non-involvement intact, for they too were concerned about an uncontrollable escalation.
This book is a history of the involvement of American air forces in Korea, from the first sorties by prop-driven planes to the ferocious battles involving large numbers of jet fighters and bombers on both sides. Ironically, one of the most effective air weapons in the communist arsenal was an extremely slow prop-driven plane that served as an effective weapon in harassing Allied ground forces. As a short history, it is of course incomplete in describing a war that lasted for three years. Nevertheless, it gives a solid history of the role that air forces played in the battle to a stalemate.