The contrast between the Korean War’s kill ratios and those of Vietnam are unfair comparisons for a number of reasons.įirst and foremost, the Korean War kill ratio was drawn from nearly 900 decisive combats (those resulting in an aircraft loss), a large number that seemed to provide statistical validity to conclusions drawn from that data. Joseph McConnell shot down 16 MiG-15s over Korea in 1953 making him the top American Ace of the War.
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That is the view put forward in blockbuster movies such as Tom Cruise’s 1986 Top Gun, History Channel TV programs, and countless books, but is it an accurate account of what happened? The answer is no, not even close. Air Force eschewed that route and was thoroughly shamed by wily North Vietnamese pilots. Navy, however, was able to rack up better scores after creating the Topgun Fighter Weapons School in March 1969, the theory goes, while the U.S. It seemed that American fighter pilots had lost all knowledge of air-to-air combat in the decade between the Korean and Vietnam wars, according to the conventional wisdom. In contrast, kill ratios in the first half of the Vietnam War barely exceeded a humiliating 2-1. In Korea, F-86 Sabre pilots swept the skies and ran up amazing kill ratios, ending the war with about 10 victories for every F-86 lost.
In the early years of the Vietnam War, the performance of American fighter pilots in dogfights appeared to lag far behind their counterparts in the Korean War.
The Vietnam Air War's Great Kill-Ratio Debate Close
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