F 86 Sabre vs MiG 15: Korean War Dogfights

A further 14 MiGs under the command of Captain Konstantin Sheberstov have also taken off from Antung to meet the bombers. After climbing to 36,000 ft, they spot the second wave of American bombers approaching. These are the 12 B-29s from the 307th Bomb Group split into three strung out flights of four bombers each. Sheberstov leads his MiGs against the first flight and easily outmaneuvers the escorting F-84s to get behind the bombers. Captain Grigory Getz is a Soviet ace from the Second World War and damages a B-29 with cannon fire forcing it to leave formation. Despite a heavy volume of defensive firepower, two more Superfortresses are damaged and the formation breaks up. The bombers jettison their bombs and flee to the south. The top cover of F-86 Sabres have been unable to take part in the battle so far because the three bomb groups are so spread out. However, they now spot the enemy MiGs and dive to engage. The premier American fighters of the era join the Thunderjets in attempting to drive the MiGs away. However, the F-86's swept wings are very similar to the MiG-15's which confuses the F-84 pilots. In a confused dogfight, some of the Thunderjets start shooting at the F-86's unaware they are firing at friendly aircraft. Although no Sabres are shot down in the debacle, the MiGs make a clean getaway. >> Another problem with the F-86's as a valid escort was just that they looked too much like MiG-15's. They're the only swept-wing jets in the theater. If you were a nervous B-29 gunner and you looked out and you saw a swept-wing jet approaching, you tended to shoot first and ask questions later. When the F-86 was the most effective against the MiGs, it was when they set up the four-plane teams just to go out and hunt MiGs. I mean, they weren't connected to the bombers. They were on their own. They they weren't restricted that way. And they could go out and kind of hunt. But again, as an escort, they were just either too fast or they just looked too much like the MiG-15s and the bomber crews weren't going to take the time try to determine what they were.