Air-to-air combat losses between the Soviet Union and the United States

A Soviet Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21

After World War II, there were many instances of air-to-air combat between the Soviet Union and the United States.

Korean War

During the Korean War formally the air forces did not meet, as the Soviet Union was not a combatant in the conflict. In August 1945 the USSR declared war on Japan and commenced their offensive campaigns against the Japanese Army. Moving into Japanese occupied Korea, the Soviets gained a foothold in that region, ultimately making it North Korea, and an ally to the Soviet Union. Nearly 72,000 Soviet personnel served in North Korea and their presence was suppressed by both the Soviet and American governments; air dogfights between USSR and US pilots were numerous. The Soviets flew planes that had Chinese or North Korean markings and were initially forbidden from speaking in Russian over the airwaves. The ban was soon lifted due to obvious problems with using Korean to communicate in critical battle situations.

Vietnam War

Unlike North Korea, China invaded French Indochina (Vietnam) in 1945 to regain the region from the occupying Japanese military at the end of World War II. Unable to gain a foothold in North Vietnam, as they had done in North Korea, the Soviets were highly restricted in conducting military functions in North Vietnam. Student North Vietnamese MiG pilots were sent to China and the Soviet Union for up to three years for training. Student North Vietnamese SAM operators were sent to the USSR for about six to nine months of training. Soviet and Chinese Communist pilots were restricted to test flying MiGs which had been exported to North Vietnam from their countries. Due to the urgency brought on by Operation Rolling Thunder, and until North Vietnamese missilemen could be trained, Soviet PVO SAM Anti-Aircraft Missile operator/instructors were quickly deployed to North Vietnam in 1965, and through 1966 were responsible for downing approximately 48 US aircraft during the course of defending North Vietnam.

Cold War

Main article: Post–World War II air-to-air combat losses

During the Cold War many nations including the Soviet Union and the United States were fiercely protective of their respective airspaces. Aircraft which entered an opposing nation's airspace were often shot down in air-to-air combat. The incidents produced a heightened sense of paranoia on both sides that resulted in the downing a number of innocent civilian craft. Please note that many of the aircraft listed at that link were not shot down as a result of Cold War paranoia by US or USSR aircrews; but rather direct action by active combatants (for example, the two Air Rhodesia flights).

Table lists air combat losses outside of the war zones, such as Korean War or Vietnam War. It does not include losses to ground-based defenses, and it does not include civilian aircraft.

Date	Location	Plane shot down	Interceptor	Reference
April 8, 1950	Baltic Sea	US Navy PB4Y-2 Privateer	Soviet Air Defence Forces
September 4, 1950	Near Vladivostok	Soviet Naval Aviation A-20 bomber	US Navy
November 6, 1951	Near Vladivostok	US Navy P2V-3 Neptune	Soviet Air Defence Forces
June 13, 1952	Sea of Japan	US Air Force RB-29 Superfortress	Soviet Air Defence Forces
October 7, 1952	Over the Kurile Islands	US Air Force RB-29 Superfortress	Soviet Air Defence Forces
November 18, 1952	Near Vladivostok	Soviet Air Defence Forces MiG-15	US Navy
July 27, 1953	People's Republic of China	Aeroflot Il-12 "Coach"	US Air Force
July 29, 1953	Sea of Japan	US Air Force RB-50G Superfortress	Soviet Air Defence Forces
September 4, 1954	Off the coast of Siberia	US Navy P2V-5	Soviet Air Defence Forces
November 7, 1954	Near the coast of Hokkaido, Japan	US Air Force RB-29 Superfortress	Soviet Air Defence Forces
April 17, 1955	Near the coast of Hokkaido, Japan	US Air Force RB-47E	Soviet Air Defence Forces
June 22, 1955	Near the St. Lawrence Island, Bering Sea	US Navy P2V-5 Neptune	Soviet Air Defence Forces
June 27, 1958	Armenia, USSR	US Air Force C-118	Soviet Air Defence Forces
September 2, 1958	Armenia, USSR	US Air Force C-130A	Soviet Air Defence Forces
July 1, 1960	Near the Kola Peninsula, USSR	US Air Force RB-47H	Soviet Air Defence Forces
January 28, 1964	Erfurt, East Germany	US Air Force T-39 Sabreliner	Soviet Air Defence Forces
March 10, 1964	Gardelegen, East Germany	US Air Force RB-66 Destroyer	Soviet Air Defence Forces
October 21, 1970	Armenia, USSR	United States Army RU-8 Seminole	Soviet Air Defence Forces

See also

• Post–World War II air-to-air combat losses
• T-39 Aircraft Incident

References

Bibliography

• Brune, Lester H. (1996). The Korean War: Handbook of the literature and research (1996 ed.). Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 0-313-28969-7. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Davies, Peter. F-105 Wild Weasel vs SA-2 "Guideline" SAM, Vietnam 1965–73. Osprey 2011. ISBN 978-1-84908-471-0.
• Michel III, Marshal L. Clashes, Air Combat Over North Vietnam 1965–1972. Naval Institute Press, 1997. ISBN 978-1-59114-519-6.
• Toperczer, Istvan. MiG-17 and MiG-19 Units of the Vietnam War. Osprey Combat Aircraft #25. ISBN 978-1-84176-162-6.
• Toperczer, Istvan. MiG-21 Units of the Vietnam War. Osprey Combat Aircraft #29. ISBN 978-1-84176-263-0.
• Polmar, Norman (2001). Spyplane: the U-2 history declassified (2001 ed.). Zenith Imprint. ISBN 0-7603-0957-4. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Samuel, Wolfgang W. E. (2001). I always wanted to fly: America's Cold War airmen (2001 ed.). University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 1-57806-399-X. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Zhang, Xiaoming (2004). Red Wings Over the Yalu: China, the Soviet Union, and the Air War in Korea (2004 ed.). Texas A&M University Press. ISBN 1-58544-340-9. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)