MiG-15 | |
---|---|
A Korean People's Army Air Force MiG-15 at the Chinese Aviation Museum | |
Role | Fighter aircraft |
National origin | Soviet Union |
Manufacturer | Mikoyan-Gurevich |
First flight | 30 December 1947 |
Introduction | 1949 |
Status | In limited service with the Korean People's Army Air Force |
Primary users |
Soviet Air Forces (historical) People's Liberation Army Air Force (historical) Korean People's Army Air Force |
Number built | ~12,000 + ~6,000 under licence |
Developed into | Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 |
The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 (Russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-15; USAF/DoD designation: Type 14; NATO reporting name: Fagot) was a jet fighter aircraft developed by Mikoyan-Gurevich for the Soviet Union. The MiG-15 was one of the first successful jet fighters to incorporate swept wings to achieve high transonic speeds. In combat over Korea, it outclassed straight-winged jet day fighters, which were largely relegated to ground-attack roles, and was quickly countered by the similar American swept-wing North American F-86 Sabre. The MiG-15 is often mentioned, along with the F-86 Sabre, as the best fighter aircraft of the Korean War.
When refined into the more advanced MiG-17, the basic design would again surprise the West when it proved effective against supersonic fighters such as the Republic F-105 Thunderchief and McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II in the Vietnam War of the 1960s.
The MiG-15 is believed to have been one of the most produced jet aircraft; in excess of 12,000 were manufactured. Licensed foreign production may have raised the production total to over 18,000. The MiG-15 remains in service with the Korean People's Army Air Force as an advanced trainer.
The first turbojet fighter developed by Mikoyan-Gurevich OKB was the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-9, which appeared in the years immediately after World War II. It used a pair of reverse-engineered German BMW 003 engines. The MiG-9 was a troublesome design that suffered from weak, unreliable engines and control problems. Categorized as a first-generation jet fighter, it was designed with the straight-style wings common to piston-engined fighters.