Aces of the Korean War

The book "Aces of the Korean War" is dedicated to one of the largest armed conflicts of the Cold War period - the Korean War, which lasted for three years and resulted in huge human and material losses for the opposing sides. At a critical moment for the DPRK, on October 25, 1950, Chinese volunteers joined the fight against the interveners, and in November, units of the Soviet jet fighter aviation also entered the battle. The history of this war still contains many gaps, as Soviet archives related to events in Korea almost half a century ago and the USSR's involvement in them were closed. The book offered to the reader helps to partially lift this veil and imagine the very challenging conditions in which Soviet, Chinese, and North Korean pilots fought, often bravely attacking the enemy despite their numerical superiority (mostly well-trained American pilots) and achieving victory in the air, thus saving many lives on the ground. The first air battles of the MiGs against the B-29s showed that its loud name "super fortress" did not correspond to reality. The praised "Sabres" and "Thunderjets" also suffered significantly. The lessons of the Korean War significantly cooled the bellicose fervor of the overseas "hawks." The particular value of the book lies in the accuracy of the events reproduced based on extensive factual materials and memories of the direct participants in those battles. This book consists of two parts: "Soviet Aces of the Korean War" by I. Seydov and "North Korean and Chinese Aces in Battles with the UN Aviation" by I. Seydov based on materials by A. Dyomin. The second part is based on new extensive material and interesting facts about the combat actions of the United Air Army of Chinese and North Korean pilots, collected by the author bit by bit from various sources, showing the significant role of Soviet pilots in the training and organization of Chinese and North Korean pilots, many of whom, like their Soviet mentors, became aces of the Korean War. The book includes a significant amount of exclusive photo material.