What is the MiG Corridor Reflections on the MiG Corridor

On June 25, 1950, the Korean War broke out, and soon the Chinese People's Volunteers entered the Korean battlefield, and after mid-1951, the Chinese and Soviet Air Force MIG-15 successfully intercepted US fighters many times, forming the famous "MiG corridor" over the plain on the south bank of the Yalu River. It is generally believed that the pilots on the "MiG corridor" are the air force of the Chinese People's Volunteers, but in fact the Soviet Union secretly participated in the war as the main force of the air force.

The MiG corridor is a historical term during the Korean War, and is the name given by the United States Air Force to the area around the mouth of the Yalu River in the northwestern part of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, rather than the name of a combat operation. During the Korean War, it was named after the U.S. military's F-86 Sabre fighter jets had many encounters with the Soviet MiG-15. This is the place where large-scale jet battles took place for the first time in history, so the MiG corridor is also considered the birthplace of jet warfare.

The MiG corridor is located south of the Yalu River, east to Heecheon, west to the Yellow Sea, and south to Sinuiju. This area is very close to the Andong Airport in China and is also the main base of operations for MiG aircraft. When the weather is good, the US military pilots can visually see the planes taking off and landing at Andong Airport when flying in this airspace.

Does the "MiG corridor" show that China has mastered air supremacy in the Korean theater?

You may not have noticed that although the MiG-15 fighters of the Chinese Air Force (and the Soviet Air Force with the great assistance) performed well in combat, in the Korean War, air supremacy was actually in the hands of the US military!

The existence of the "MiG corridor" is indeed a fact. However, in fact, it can only show that the MiG-15 of the Chinese and Soviet air forces only had a certain tactical advantage in the Korean War. The Chinese Air Force's fighting spirit is not without courage, and its tactics and tactics are not outstanding.

But even with the assistance of Soviet pilots, who were quite skilled in flight, the MiG fleet was still grossly insufficient in number on the Korean battlefield, and the battle loss rate was also very high. As far as overall battlefield air supremacy is concerned, air supremacy in the Korean theater has always been in the hands of the United States, which has an overwhelming advantage in the number of aircraft and pilot experience.

Taking the famous Battle of Shangganling in the later part of the Korean War as an example, in the battle, in addition to striking with more than 300 heavy artillery pieces, the United States also dispatched a large number of planes to bomb our positions indiscriminately and in turn. Thousands of bombshells have been airdropped. And in such an important battle, in the battle records, our air force has no record of taking to the skies to fight!

In the face of the offensive of the American army, in addition to relying on the tunnel to resist bravely, the only available support is to call our artillery to bombard, and this means is mainly used in the later stage of the battle, when our army strengthens and replenishes heavy artillery and ammunition! In the Korean War, it was not the Air Force's fighter group that made the greatest contribution to the shooting down of US planes, but our antiaircraft artillery units.