Post–World_War_II_air-to-air_combat_losses

Post–World War II air-to-air combat losses

Post–World War II air-to-air combat losses

Add article description


Air-to-air combat is the engagement of combat aircraft in warfare in which primarily fixed-wing aircraft attempt to destroy enemy aircraft using guns, rockets and missiles. The Korean War saw the greatest amount of air-to-air combat since World War II. During the war the United States claimed to have shot down around 700 fighters.[A 1][2] After the war the U.S. Air Force reviewed its figures in an investigation code-named Sabre Measure Charlie and downgraded the kill ratio of the North American F-86 Sabre against the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 by half from 14:1 to 7:1.[2] One of the factors inflating US numbers was that most dogfights took place over enemy-controlled area. The only way to confirm kills was through gun camera photography. USAF pilots were credited with a kill if the gun camera showed their guns striking the enemy aircraft even if no one actually saw it go down.[3] However, Soviet Air Force kill claims were also highly exaggerated, based upon inherent flaws in their film grading procedures. For instance, the S-13 gun camera was not aligned with either the gunsight or either cannons' ballistics. It ran only while the firing buttons were depressed. Film graders commonly included unit commanders and political commisars who would confirm a "kill"—sometimes even if one had not been claimed by a pilot—when the camera's crosshairs touched the target for two movie frames. During the first 16 months of combat Soviet V-VS units claimed 218 F-86s destroyed when only 36 (35 to the two elite IADs and one to the 50th IAD) had been lost. This results in a 600 per cent inflation rate in victory credits over actual Sabres destroyed. However, these figures are complicated by the fact that the Americans routinely attributed combat losses to landing accidents and other causes.[4]

The last moments of a U.S. Air Force recon C-130 Hercules in gun camera of the Soviet MiG-17. 2 September 1958.
Gun camera sequence photos showing a North Vietnamese MiG-17 being hit and shot down by 20 mm shells from a U.S. Air Force F-105D Thunderchief during the Vietnam War 3 June 1967

The Vietnam War saw a move away from cannon fire to air-to-air missiles.[5] Although US forces maintained air supremacy throughout the war, there were still occasional dogfights and US and North Vietnamese aces. The North Vietnamese side claimed the Vietnam People's Air Force had 17 aces throughout the war, including Nguyễn Văn Cốc, who is also the top ace of Vietnam War with 9 kills: seven acknowledged by the United States Air Force.

During the 1947 conflict over Jammu and Kashmir, the Indian Air Force did not engage the Pakistan Air Force in air-to-air combat; however, it did provide effective transport and close air support to the Indian Army troops.[6]

On 10 April 1959, an Indian English Electric Canberra was shot down while performing a Reconnaissance mission over Rawalpindi. The Canberra was shot down by a Pakistani F-86 Sabre flown by Flight Lieutenant M Younis of the No. 15 Squadron. The two crew members of the Canberra ejected and were later arrested by Pakistani authorities, this incident also marked the first aerial victory of the Pakistan Air Force.[7][8][9]

The Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 was the first time the Indian Air Force actively engaged an enemy air force.[10] By the time the conflict had ended, India had lost between 65 and 75 aircraft while Pakistan lost 20 aircraft.[11][12]

During the Indo-Pakistani war of 1971, the Indian Air Force lost 45 aircraft while the Pakistani Air Force lost 75.[13]

During the Iran–Iraq War of 1980–88, there were nearly 1,000 air-to-air engagements between Iran and Iraq, including the only known instances of helicopters dogfighting and shooting down other helicopters.[14] The Falklands War of 1982 witnessed air combat between Argentine and British military aircraft. The Falkland Islands' runways were short and thus unable to support fighter jets, forcing Argentina to launch fighters from the mainland, which had an adverse effect on their loiter time. The Argentine forces lost 23 aircraft in air-to-air combat, out of a total of 134 fixed wing aircraft and helicopters lost during the conflict. During the 1990–91 Persian Gulf War 33 of Iraqi Armed Forces' 750 fixed wing aircraft were claimed as downed (23 were confirmed), compared to 14 coalition aircraft claimed as downed (4 losses are confirmed, one F/A-18 Hornet and three UAVs[15]).[16][17]

Aircraft lost to air-to-air combat

More information Conflict, Air Force ...

See also

Footnotes

  1. During the Korean War experienced Soviet pilots flew against USAF forces.[1]
  2. Two US C-47s shoot down by Yugoslavian Yak-3 over Northern Yugoslavia.
  3. First combat instance of a jet shooting down a jet happened during this war.
  4. Soviet claim of planes shot down
  5. US F-84E shot down by Czech Mig-15 over Merlín.
  6. RAF Canberra reconnaissance aircraft shot down by Syrian fighter jet near Homs.
  7. First combat use of guided air-to-air missiles occurred during this war.
  8. First aerial victory of the Pakistan Air Force
  9. First combat instance of a manned aircraft shooting down a UAV happened during this war.
  10. Numbers include unconfirmed losses
  11. The last war in which piston-engined fighter planes fought each other.
  12. In 1978, a Soviet Mig-23 Flogger intercepted 4 Iranian CH-47 Chinook helicopters over Karakum Canal inside Soviet airspace, shooting one of them down and damaging another. The damaged helicopter managed to land inside the Soviet Union and its crew was captured by Soviet forces. Later, the crew was released and the helicopter was allowed to be repaired and return to Iran.
  13. In 1988, two Soviet Mig-23 Floggers shot down a pair of Iranian AH-1J SuperCobra attack helicopters over western Afghanistan.
  14. The 1994 Black Hawk shootdown incident, sometimes referred to as the Black Hawk Incident, was a friendly fire incident over northern Iraq that occurred on April 14, 1994 during Operation Provide Comfort. The pilots of two United States Air Force (USAF) F-15 fighter aircraft, operating under the control of a USAF airborne warning and control system (AWACS) aircraft, misidentified two United States Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters as Iraqi Mil Mi-24 "Hind" helicopters. The F-15 pilots fired on and destroyed both helicopters, killing all 26 military service members and civilians from the United States, United Kingdom, France, Turkey, and the Kurdish community. The third loss was a Predator UAV shot down by a MiG-25 in December 2002.
  15. An Italian Army Bell 206 helicopter was shot down by a Serb Mig over Novi Marof, near Varaždin, Croatia, on 7 January 1992. One French and four Italian military observers were killed. The incident prompted the resignation of the Yugoslav Minister of Defence. The helicopter was part of a European Community mission in Croatia.
  16. On the night of 8th June 2002, a pair of IAI Searcher II UAV of Indian Air Force were detected inside Pakistan by "mobile observation units". Pakistan Air Force scrambled 2 Mirage III's and 4 F-7P fighter jets which failed to detect and intercept the drones. Finally a pair of F-16 B's of Pakistan Air Force succeeded to intercept and shoot down one of the drones using their Aim-9Ls.
  17. According to U.S and Iraqi sources, in February 2009 a USAF F-16 intercepted and shot down an Iranian UAV that had violated Iraqi airspace.
  18. According to U.S sources, in September 2009 a USAF fighter intercepted and shot down an out of control armed MQ-9 Reaper UAV, near Afghan border.
  19. On June 8, 2017, an American F-15E shot down a Shahed-129 UCAV, which the US military said was attacking American-backed forces. The US military said the drone, which appeared to be made by Iran, was being operated by "pro-Syria regime" forces.[124] A second pro-regime Shahed-129 was shot down by an American F-15E on June 19.[125] A third UAS was shot down by an American F-15E on August 21, 2021, in eastern Syria. The type of UAS was not disclosed.[126][127]

References

Notes

  1. Brune 1996, p. 215
  2. Zhang 2004, p. 153
  3. "Welcome to the Air Combat Information Group". Archived from the original on 2013-06-04.
  4. Barua 2005, p. 192
  5. PAF Over the Years (Revised ed.). Pakistan: Directorate of Media Affairs, Pakistan Air Force. June 2007. p. 34.
  6. "Propellers to the jet age". PAF Museum Karachi. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
  7. "The Sunday Tribune - Spectrum". Tribuneindia.com. Retrieved 2013-08-09.
  8. Thomas M. Leonard (2006). Encyclopedia of the Developing World. Taylor & Francis. p. 806. ISBN 978-0-415-97663-3. Retrieved 14 April 2011.
  9. Leonard, Thomas M. (18 October 2013). Encyclopedia of the Developing World. Routledge. ISBN 9781135205089. Retrieved 6 May 2018 via Google Books.
  10. "Persian Cats | Military Aviation". Air & Space Magazine. Retrieved 2013-08-09.
  11. Desert Storm Air War: The Aerial Campaign against Saddam's Iraq in the 1991 Gulf War. Jim Corrigan, Rowman & Littlefield, 2017. P.59
  12. "The First Night" by Cooper, Sadik (IAPR, Vol.26)
  13. Aloni 2001, pp. 18, 22
  14. Aloni 2001, pp. 6–22
  15. "Egyptian Air-to-Air Victories since 1948". acig.info. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  16. "Syrian Air-to-Air Victories since 1948". acig.info. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  17. Walker 1983, pp. 64–68
  18. "The Russians in MiG Alley". Air Force Magazine. Retrieved 2022-05-14.
  19. Popov, Lavrenyov and Bogdanov, pp, 272–274
  20. Jackson, A.J. Avro Aircraft since 1908, 2nd edition. London: Putnam Aeronautical Books, 1990, p. 406.
  21. "Overseas Operators of the Gloster Meteor". historyofwar.org. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  22. Herzog, The Arab–Israeli Wars, p. 138
  23. Nordeen, Lon Fighters Over Israel London 1991, p. 198
  24. "The shooting down of Whisky Hotel 799". aerialcombat.co.uk. 2 August 2016. Retrieved 15 November 2021.
  25. "Cold War Museum". coldwar.org. Archived from the original on 28 April 2017. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  26. HALI, SULTAN M. "PAF Sabre Draws First Blood". DefenceJournal. Archived from the original on 11 January 2001.
  27. Husseini (June 2007). PAF Over the Years (Revised ed.). p. 34.
  28. "Aviaciya PVO Rossii i nauchno-technicheskii progress. Boevie kompleksi i sistemi vchera, segodnya, zavtra", E.A. Fedosova, Drofa, 2004
  29. ACIG Team (16 September 2003). "Vietnamese Air-to-Air Victories, Part 1". Indochina Database. Air Combat Information Group.
  30. ACIG Team (16 September 2003). "Vietnamese Air-to-Air Victories, Part 2". Indochina Database. Air Combat Information Group.
  31. Migs over North Vietnam: The Vietnam People's Air Force in Combat, 1965–75, Stackpole Military History
  32. "Project Ibex and Project Dark Gene". spyflight.co.uk. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  33. "Iranian_F_4_Phantom_LOSSES". Archived from the original on 2015-07-10. Retrieved 2015-02-07.
  34. "Iran". Archived from the original on 2013-07-25. Retrieved 2014-01-12.
  35. "Cuban Air-to-Air Victories". Archived from the original on 2014-01-16. Retrieved 2014-01-14.
  36. "Iraqi Air-to-Air Victories since 1967". acig.info. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  37. "Israeli Air-to-Air Victories in 1967". acig.info. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  38. Don Hollway (2 July 2017). "Air War Over Kashmir". Historynet.com. Archived from the original on 23 August 2018.
  39. "Central & South American Air-to-Air Victories". Archived from the original on 2019-12-25. Retrieved 2014-01-15.
  40. "IAF COMBAT KILLS - 1971 INDO-PAK AIR WAR" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-01-13. Retrieved 2011-12-20.
  41. Leonard, Thomas M. (2013-10-18). Encyclopedia of the Developing World. Routledge. ISBN 9781135205089.
  42. Gordon, Yefim. MiG-21 (Russian Fighters). Earl Shilton, Leicester, UK: Midland Publishing Ltd., 2008.
  43. The Aviation History, Florian Ion Petrescu, Relly Victoria Petrescu, 2012, p. 88
  44. "Soviet Air-to-Air Victories of the Cold War". Archived from the original on 2016-04-17. Retrieved 2014-01-14.
  45. The Aviation History, Florian Ion Petrescu, Relly Victoria Petrescu, 2012, p. 82
  46. "Chronological Listing of Afghan Ejections". ejection-history.org.uk. Archived from the original on 17 June 2014. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  47. "Nicaragua, 1980-1988". Archived from the original on 2014-01-16. Retrieved 2014-01-15.
  48. "Iranian Air-to-Air Victories, 1982-Today". Acig.org. 19 May 2006. Retrieved 2013-08-09.
  49. "Iranian Air-to-Air Victories 1976–1981". Acig.org. 19 May 2006. Retrieved 2013-08-09.
  50. "Iraqi Air-to-Air Victories since 1967". Acig.org. 20 May 2006. Retrieved 2013-08-09.
  51. Ivanov, Grigory. "WINGS PALETTE - MiG MiG-25 Foxbat - Iraq". wp.scn.ru. Archived from the original on 9 April 2017. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  52. Cenciotti, David (2012-09-06). "30 years later, Ankara admits Turkish Air Force jet was shot down by Iraq". The Aviationist. Retrieved 2018-05-06.
  53. Lord, Dick (2000). Vlamgat: The Story of the Mirage F1 in the South African Air Force. Covos-Day. ISBN 0-620-24116-0.
  54. "Congressional Research Service Issue Brief for Congress: Libya". (2002, April 10). Foreign Press Centers, U.S. Department of State, Retrieved 20 December 2010.
  55. "El Salvador, 1980-1992". acig.info. Archived from the original on 16 January 2014.
  56. Chant, Christopher (2001). Air War in the Falklands 1982 . Osprey Publishing, p. 67. ISBN 1-84176-293-8
  57. Rabinovich, The Yom Kippur War, Schocken Books (2004) p. 510
  58. Herzog, The Arab–Israeli Wars, Random House (1982) pp. 347–48
  59. Bruce Walker & the editors of Time-Life books, Fighting Jets: The Epic of Flight, Time Life Books (1983) pp. 162–63
  60. Arab MiG-19 and MiG-21 Units in Combat by David Nicolle and Tom Cooper(2004) p. 77
  61. MiG-23 na blijnem vostoke. Vladimir Ilin
  62. לבטאון חיל-האוויר הישראלי, July 1984, No.141, p. 12
  63. Richard Halloran (6 June 1984). "2 IRANIAN FIGHTERS REPORTED DOWNED BY SAUDI AIR FORCE". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  64. Smith, William E. (18 June 1984). "The Gulf: Pushing the Saudis Too Far". Time. Retrieved 6 May 2018 via content.time.com.
  65. 1 F/A-18 and 3 UAVs are confirmed
  66. Aviatsya i Vremya 5/2005, Ahmad Sadik & Diego Fernando Zampini " The third day (and beyond...)"
  67. Cooper, Tom. "Operation Samarrah", October 2010
  68. One Predator was shot by a MiG-25 on December 27, 2002. Knights, Michael (2005).Cradle of conflict: Iraq and the birth of modern U.S. military power. Naval Institute Press, p. 242. ISBN 1-59114-444-2
  69. Cooper, Tom; Sosa, Juan (1 September 2003). "Venezuela". ACIG. Retrieved 14 September 2012.
  70. "Deadly 1996 Aegean clash is confirmed". F-16.net. Retrieved 2013-08-09.
  71. Cenciotti, David (2012-09-06). "30 years later, Ankara admits Turkish Air Force jet was shot down by Iraq". The Aviationist. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  72. "Flankervs Falcrum in Ethiopia vs. Eritrea. What actually happened?". worldaffairsboard.com. Archived from the original on 16 May 2012. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  73. Šafařík, Jan Josef. "Jan J. Safarik: Air Aces Home Page, Eritrea - Ethiopian-Eritrea Conflict 1999-2000". aces.safarikovi.org. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  74. "II Ethiopian Eritrean War, 1998–2000". acig.info. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  75. "Yugoslav & Serbian MiG-29s". acig.org. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  76. "European Air-to-Air Victories". acig.org. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  77. Military Mi-8 HIP helicopter to fly alongside a Hunter UAV and then have the Door Gunner blast the UAV with his 7.62mm machine gun from Dixon, J.DR (2000) UAV employment in Kosovo: Lessons for the Operational Commander. Naval War College, Newport, p. 10.
  78. "India-Pakistan: Tit for Tat". CNN. 23 August 1999. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  79. "Pakistani Air-to-Air Victories". Archived from the original on 2012-12-21. Retrieved 2014-01-18.
  80. "IAF's Searcher-II Loss on June 07, 2002". vayu-sena-aux.tripod.com. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  81. Lappin, Yaakov (6 October 2012). "IAF shoots down UAV in northern Negev". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  82. Lappin, Yaakov (25 April 2013). "IAF shoots down drone from Lebanon off Haifa". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  83. "Tbilisi Claims Russian Jet Downed its Drone in Abkhazia". Civil Georgia. 2008-04-21. Archived from the original on 2016-04-30. Retrieved 2008-07-06.
  84. "Russian Diplomat Slams Tbilisi's Rhetoric". Civil Georgia. 2008-04-23. Archived from the original on 2015-09-23. Retrieved 2008-07-06.
  85. "Iranian drone 'shot down in Iraq'". BBC News. 16 March 2009. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  86. "Air Force Shoots Down Runaway Drone Over Afghanistan". popsci.com. 14 September 2009. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  87. Fahim, Kareem; Arsu, Sebnem (16 September 2013). "Turkey Says It Shot Down Syrian Military Helicopter Flying in Its Airspace". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  88. Cenciotti, David (1 March 2020). "Two Syrian Su-24 Fencer Jets And A Turkish Drone Shot Down Over Idlib Region, Syria". theaviationist.com. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  89. MacFarquhar, Neil; Erlanger, Steven (24 November 2015). "NATO-Russia Tensions Rise After Turkey Downs Jet". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  90. Gordon, Michael (8 June 2017). "U.S. Says It Shot Down Drone That Attacked Fighters in Syria". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 June 2017.
  91. Browne, Ryan; Starr, Barbara (20 June 2017). "First on CNN: US shoots down another pro-regime drone in Syria". CNN. Retrieved 22 June 2017.
  92. "US forces down Iranian drone in eastern Syria". The Times of Israel. 22 August 2021. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  93. "US-Led Coalition Aircraft Shoots Down Drone Over Syria". military.com. 23 August 2021. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  94. "Sirens, clashes in north after IDF shoots down infiltrating Iranian drone". The Times of Israel. 10 February 2018. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  95. "Russia 'shot down Ukraine jet'". BBC News. 17 July 2014. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  96. "Coalition jets destroy two Houthi drones in Yemeni air space". Al Arabiya. 22 June 2019. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
  97. Axe, David (19 July 2016). "How Fighter Jets Almost Killed a President". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  98. Khan, Zarar (20 June 2017). "Officials: Pakistan shoots down Iranian drone near border". The Washington Post. Associated Press. Archived from the original on 20 June 2017. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  99. "Pakistan confirms shooting down Iranian drone". The Express Tribune. 22 June 2017.
  100. "An unexpected air-to-air battle is raging over Ukraine. Here's what we know about the losses on both sides". Insider. 5 September 2022. L-39 jet trainer...MiG-29 of 40th TAB piloted by Lt. Col. Yerko Vaycheslav Vladimirvoich...MiG-29 of 40th TAB piloted by Vladimir Kokhansky...Su-27 lost on February 28 on a defensive mission over Koprivnitsky battling Russian fighters...MiG-29 of Maj. Oleksandr Brynzhal, KIA after shot down over Kyiv Oblast in duel...MiG-29 on March 13 downed over Chernihiv...MiG-29 on March 23 piloted by Maj. Dmitry Chumachenko
  101. "An unexpected air-to-air battle is raging over Ukraine. Here's what we know about the losses on both sides". Insider. 5 September 2022. an Su-35 was recorded attempting to gun down a Ukrainian Mi-14 utility helicopter over Odessa Bay, only to miss. Subsequently, it downed the chopper with a missile, killing a high-ranking naval officer.

Bibliography


Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Post–World_War_II_air-to-air_combat_losses, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.