Description
The Korean War, 19501953, was the first war in which jet aircraft played a central role. Once-formidable fighters such as the P-51 Mustang, F4U Corsair, and Hawker Sea Fury, relinquished their air superiority roles to a new generation of faster, jet-powered fighters. For the initial months of the war, the P-80 Shooting Star, F9F Panther, and other jets under the UN flag dominated North Korea's prop-driven air force of Soviet Yakovlev Yak-9 and Lavochkin La-9s. The Chinese intervention in late October 1950 bolstered the Korean People's Air Force of North Korea with the MiG-15 Fagot, one of the world's most advanced jet fighters. The fast, heavily armed MiG out flew first-generation UN jets. The United States Air Force moved quickly to counter the MiG-15, with three squadrons of its most capable fighters.Lt. Gen. George G. Loving, USAF, also flew 151 combat missions in World War II, becoming a P-51 ace. He later served as commander of the Sixth Allied Tactical Air Force and the U.S. Fift