Evening star., 1951-09-24
Superior Airmanship
Causes 0ne-Sided Jei
Score, Air Force Says
By Elton {. Fay

Associated Press Military Affairs Reporter
Better American airmanship
rather than airplanes, is keeping
the United States ahead in the
almost daily duels with Soviet
made jet fighters in Korea.
Air Force headquarters here
said today that from last Febru-
airy, when the first enemy jet was
shot down, through September II,
the air score in Korea has been
this:
MIG-l5 shot down-72.
United Nations jets destroyed
16.
This is a curiously lopsidec
score, particularly so In view OF
communiques indicating that
many, perhaps majority OF al
the air encounters have involved
superior numbers of the Red jets
Shoots Heavier Weapons.
The testimony of both American
pilots who fight the MICS and OF
high officials here who now have
had opportunity to see technical
engineering reports on the enemy
jets presumably based in part on
study of at least one crashed or
captured MIG is that the MIG Is
an excellent airplane.
1t can, say the pilots and tech-
nical analysts. fly as fast and
maneuver as we'll as the best of
American Jets in operation in
Korea, although not as well as jet
fighters still in the development
stage or in actual production at
home. In f1repower, the MIG can
shoot heavier caliber weapons, but
the American jets can fire faster,
so that seems to balance.
In answer to questions, the Air
Force says these factors are why
the Red flyers are being shot
down:
/. Superior gunnery by U. N.
pilots" Ut is possible that in
addition to shooting better, United
States pilots have. in this instance.
an advantage of better design.
Some reports say the MIG-l5
uses an obsolete type of gunsight,
popular in World War II, but in
adequate for the fast-action, high
speed flight of jet plane combat0
Flyers With Experience.
2. Many U. N. pilots are World
War II combat veterans and aces,
while it is doubtful that many of
the enemy pilots have had similar
or equal experience. (There is
a general belief, although not yet
proved, that Russian pilots may
fly some of the MICS in the Ko-
rean action with others piloted by
Russian trained Asiatic Commu-
niStS.O
3. The U. N. has maintained
the same units in Korea. On the
other hand the varied techniques
and tactics of the enemy suggests
that different units are put into
fights" (This could reflect a
shifting of units with consequent
loss of combat experience, as the
Air Force says, or mean that the
Soviet tutors are trying out new
combat ideas in an effort to find
weaknesses in the U. N. air COM
bat patternsD
Engines British Designed.
American designers see the MIG
airframe as a Russian improve
ment on two or three of the final
models of jet fighters developed in
the closing months of the war by
the Germans, Planes. blueprints
and aeronautical brains were cap
tured by the Russians. The MICS
encountered in Korea are armed
with a 37-millimeter cannon and
two cannons of 20 or 23-milli-
meter caliber.
The MICS are essentially a
product of German skill, but the
engines that drive them at speeds
approaching that of sound are
British-designed. They are copies
of the Rolls Royce Meme" rated
as one of the worlds best turbo-
jet engines. Several years ago,
before the cold war. about so of
these engines were sold by Britain
to the Soviet government.
The total of American jet
fighter strength in the war zone
may not be stated. However, it
may be assumed the figure is well
below that of the Red Air Force
operating out of Manchurian
bases. There, it is estimated. are
between 1000 and 1900 planes,
the majority of them jets.
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