U.S. F-86 pilots claimed 792 MiG-15 s shot down and 108 additional aircraft for the loss of 78 Sabres, a ratio in excess of 10:1. Some post-war research has only been able to confirm 379 victories, although the USAF continues to maintain its official credits and the debate is possibly irreconcilable. Recently exposed Stalin-era Soviet documentation claims that only 345 Soviet MiG-15 s were lost during the Korean War.
The Soviets claimed about 1,300 victories and 335 MiG losses at that time. China’s official losses were 231 planes shot down in air-to-air combat (mostly MiG-15) and 168 other losses. The number of losses of the North Korean Air Force was not revealed. It is estimated that it lost about 200 aircraft in the first stage of the war, and another 70 aircraft after Chinese intervention. Soviet claims of 650 victories over F-86s, and China’s claims of another 211 F-86s in air combat, are probably exaggerated. According to a recent U.S. publication, the number of USAF F-86s ever present in the Korean peninsula during the war totalled only 674 and the total F-86 losses due to all causes were about 230.[44]
Direct comparison of Sabre and MiG losses seem irrelevant, as primary targets for MiGs were heavy B-29 bombers, and primary targets for Sabres were MiG-15s. |