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Air-to-air combat is the engagement of flying machines in warfare in which one or more aircraft tries to destroy one or more other aircraft. The Korean War saw the greatest amount of air to air combat since World War II. During the war the United States claimed to have shot down around 700 USSR fighters. After the war the USAF reviewed its figures in an investigation code-named Sabre Measure Charlie and downgraded the kill ratio of the North American F-86 Sabre against the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 by half from 14:1 to 7:1. One of the factors in the inflated US numbers was that because most dogfights took place over enemy controlled area the only way to confirm kills was the gun camera. USAF pilots were credited with a kill if the gun camera showed their guns striking the enemy aircraft even if no one actually saw it go down. This contrasted with Soviet methodology that required other pilots' testimony, ground evidence, gun camera footage and support from the Chinese and Korean ground forces.

The Vietnam War saw a move away from cannon fire to air-to-air missiles. Although US forces maintained air supremacy throughout the war, there were still occasional dogfights and several US aces. The North Vietnamese side claimed the Vietnam People's Air Force had 17 aces throughout the war, including Nguyen Van Coc, who is also the Top Ace of Vietnam War with nine kills: seven manned aircraft and two UAVs. In just one day, in December 1966 the MiG-21 pilots of the 921st FR downed 14 F-105s without any losses.

The Israeli Air Force has the most experience with air-to-air combat in recent decades. Since the 1948 Israeli War, the IAF has only lost 18 aircraft in air-to-air combat while Arab forces have lost 817.

During the 1947 conflict over Jammu and Kashmir, the Indian Air Force did not engage the Pakistan Air Force in air-to-air combat; however, it did provide effective transport and close air support to the Indian troops. The Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 was the first time the Indian Air Force actively engaged an enemy air force. By the time the conflict had ended, India lost between 65 to 75 aircraft and Pakistan lost 43. The Imbalance in Losses explained by the IAF's higher sortie rate and emphasis on ground attack missions. The Indian Air Force lost 130 aircraft during the Indo-Pakistani war of 1971 and the Pakistani Air Force lost 94 aircraft.

During the Iran-Iraq War of 1980–88, there were nearly 1,000 air-to-air engagements between Iran and Iraq.

The Falklands War of 1982 witnessed air combat between Argentine and British military aircraft. The Falkland Islands' runways were short and thus unable to support fighter jets, forcing Argentina to launch fighters from the mainland, which had an adverse effect on their loiter time. The Argentine forces lost 23 aircraft in air-to-air combat, out of a total of 134 fixed wing aircraft and helicopters lost during the conflict.

During the 1990–91 Persian Gulf War, of Iraq's 750 fixed wing aircraft, 109 fled to Iran, 151 were hit on the ground and 33 were shot down; compared to the single confirmed loss of one coalition F/A-18 Hornet.

Aircraft lost to air to air combat

Conflict	Air Force	Aircraft lost to air to air combat	Reference
Arab–Israeli War (1948–1949)	Royal Air Force	5
	Israeli Air Force	3
	Egypt Air Force	15
	Syrian Air Force	2
Korean War (1950–1953)	Chinese Air Force	379 (Chinese claim); 792 (US claim)
	North Korean Air Force	270 (US claim)
	US Aircraft	78 (US claim); 650 (Soviet-Chinese claim)
	UN Coalition Aircraft	1,097
	South Korean Air Force	135
Revolución Libertadora (1955)	Argentine Naval Aviation	1
Vietnam War (1959–1975)	Vietnam Air Force	195
	US Aircraft	77
	South Vietnam Air Force
Dutch-Indonesian Conflict	Indonesian Air Force	1
Six-Day War	Israeli Air Force
	Egypt Air Force Syrian Air Force Royal Jordanian Air Force	72
War of Attrition	Egypt Air Force	113
	Israeli Air Force
Yom Kippur War	Israeli Air Force	5
	Egypt Air Force Syrian Air Force	277
Iran–Iraq War (1980–1988)	Iraqi Air Force	234 (Confirmed)
	Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force	73 (Confirmed)
US incursions into Soviet airspace (1950–1970)	US Aircraft	16
	Soviet Air Defence Forces	3
Falklands War	Argentine Air Force	23
	Army Air Corps	1
US Freedom of Navigation operations in Gulf of Sidra (1980–1989)	Libyan Air Force	4
Sri Lankan Civil War (1983–2009)	Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam	1
Persian Gulf War (1990–1991)	United States Navy	1
	Iraqi Air Force	33
Indo-Pakistan War of 1965	Indian Air Force	60-75
	Pakistan Air Force	43
Indo-Pakistan War of 1971	Indian Air Force	45-130
	Pakistan Air Force	94 (Indian claims)
1982 Lebanon War	Syrian Air Force	82–86
Soviet war in Afghanistan	Afghan National Army Air Corps	8
	Pakistan Air Force	1
Iraqi no-fly zones enforcement	US Aircraft	3
	Iraqi Air Force	5
Croatian War of Independence (1991–1995)	Italian Army	1
1992 Venezuelan coup d'état attempts	Bolivarianos	3
Operation Deny Flight	Republika Srpska Air Force	5
Cenepa War (1995)	Peruvian Air Force	1 confirmed, 2 Ecuadorian claim
Aegean dispute (1996)	Turkish Air Force	1 (Turkish claim)
Eritrean–Ethiopian War (1998–2000)	Eritrean Air Force	8
Operation Allied Force	Yugoslav Air Force	5 + 1 heavily damaged, later destroyed on the ground
2008 Georgian spy plane shootdowns	Georgian Air Force	1 (Georgian claim)

See also

• Air to air combat losses between USSR and US
• List of airliner shootdown incidents

Footnotes

1. During the Korean War experienced Soviet pilots flew against USAF forces.
2. Differences in numbers is attributed to Soviet vs US claims of planes shot down
3. Differences in numbers is attributed to Soviet vs US claims of planes shot down
4. Soviet claim of planes shot down
5. Since the 1948 Israeli War the IAF have only lost 18 planes in air to air combat while Arab forces have lost 817.
6. Since the 1948 Israeli War the IAF have only lost 18 planes in air to air combat while Arab forces have lost 817.
7. See the US Soviet air-to-air combat article
8. See the US Soviet air-to-air combat article
9. During the Soviet war in Afghanistan the pro-Soviet Afghan government would often fly incursions into Pakistani airspace
10. Friendly fire incident by PAF
11. The 1994 Black Hawk shootdown incident, sometimes referred to as the Black Hawk Incident, was a friendly fire incident over northern Iraq that occurred on April 14, 1994 during Operation Provide Comfort (OPC). The pilots of two United States Air Force (USAF) F-15 fighter aircraft, operating under the control of a USAF airborne warning and control system (AWACS) aircraft, misidentified two United States Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters as Iraqi Mil Mi-24 "Hind" helicopters. The F-15 pilots fired on and destroyed both helicopters, killing all 26 military service members and civilians from the United States (U.S.), United Kingdom, France, Turkey, and the Kurdish community. The third loss was a UAV Predator shot down by a Mig-25 in December 2002.
12. An Italian Army Bell 206 helicopter was shot down by a Serb Mig over Novi Marof, near Varaždin, Croatia, on 7 January 1992. One French and four Italian military observers were killed. The incident prompted the resignation of the Yugoslav Minister of Defence. The helicopter was part of an European Community mission in Croatia.

Bibliography

Notes

1. Brune 1996, p. 215
2. ^ Dorr & Thompson 2003, p. 186
3. ^ Zhang 2004, p. 153
4. Boyne 2002, p. 2
5. http://acepilots.com/vietnam/viet_aces.html
6. ^ Cordesman 2006, p. 119
7. Barua 2005, p. 192
8. Pradhan & Chavan 2007, p. xiv
9. http://www.tribuneindia.com/2007/20070506/spectrum/main1.htm
10. http://orbat.com/site/cimh/iaf/IAF_1971_kills_rev1.pdf
11. http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/pakistan/air-force-combat.htm
12. http://www.paf.gov.pk/history.html
13. http://www.airspacemag.com/military-aviation/persiancats.html
14. ^ Davis 2002, p. 300
15. Aloni 2001, pp. 18, 22
16. ^ Aloni 2001, pp. 6–22
17. ^ Walker 1983, pp. 64–68
18. ^ "F-86A-5 Sabre vs MiG-15". rt66.com. 2010. Retrieved April 3, 2010. {{cite web}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
19. Zhang 2004, p. 152
20. Overseas Operators of the Gloster Meteor
21. ^ Boyne 2002, p. 679
22. ^ Cordesman 2006, p. 168
23. ^ Handleman 2003, p. 146
24. http://www.acig.org/artman/publish/article_211.shtml
25. http://www.acig.org/artman/publish/article_210.shtml
26. http://www.acig.org/artman/publish/article_404.shtml
27. Boyne 2002, p. 215
28. Chant, Christopher (2001). Air War in the Falklands 1982 . Osprey Publishing, p. 67. ISBN 1-84176-293-8
29. "Congressional Research Service Issue Brief for Congress: Libya". (2002, April 10). Foreign Press Centers, U.S. Department of State, Retrieved 20 December 2010.
30. Ministry of Defence 2008
31. ^ The Sunday Tribune – Spectrum. Tribuneindia.com. Retrieved on 2011-04-14. Cite error: The named reference "tribune IAF’s ground reality" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
32. ^ .
33. http://www.paf.gov.pk/history.html
34. Wilson 2002, p. 58 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFWilson2002 (help)
35. Mohan, P V S Jagan (2010). "AIRCRAFT LOSSES IN PAKISTAN −1971 WAR". bharat-rakshak.com. Retrieved April 24, 2010. {{cite web}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
36. Rabinovich, The Yom Kippur War, Schocken Books (2004) p. 510
37. Herzog, The Arab-Israeli Wars, Random House (1982) p347-48
38. Bruce Walker & the editors of Time-Life books, Fighting Jets: The Epic of Flight, Time Life Books (1983) p162-63
39. ^ f-16.net (2010). "Pakistan – Pakistan Fiza'ya – Pakistan Air Force – PAF". f-16.net. Retrieved April 3, 2010. {{cite web}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
40. One Predator was shot by a Mig-25 on December 27, 2002. Knights, Michael (2005).Cradle of conflict: Iraq and the birth of modern U.S. military power. Naval Institute Press, p. 242. ISBN 1-59114-444-2
41. "Yugoslav defense chief resigns after attack" USA today, Jan 9, 1992
42. Cooper, Tom; Sosa, Juan (1 September 2003). "Venezuela". ACIG. Retrieved 14 September 2012.
43. Lista gubitaka/ostecenja vazduhoplova u Ex-JRV od 1945 godine do danas Template:Sr icon
44. Scheina 2003, p. 125
45. http://www.f-16.net/news_article619.html
46. Flankervs Falcrum in Ethiopia vs. Eritrea. What actually happened?
47. Yugoslav & Serbian MiG-29s
48. "Tbilisi Claims Russian Jet Downed its Drone in Abkhazia". Civil Georgia. 2008-04-21. Retrieved 2008-07-06.
49. "Russian Diplomat Slams Tbilisi's Rhetoric". Civil Georgia. 2008-04-23. Retrieved 2008-07-06.

References

• Aloni, Shlomo (2001). Arab-Israeli air wars 1947–82 (2001 ed.). Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1-84176-294-6. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help) - Total pages: 96
• Barua, Pradeep (2005). The State at War in South Asia. University of Nebraska Press. xvi, 437. ISBN 978-0-8032-1344-9. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |nopp= ignored (|no-pp= suggested) (help)
• Boyne, Walter J. (2002). Air Warfare: an International Encyclopedia: A-L (2002 ed.). ABC-CLIO. ISBN 1-57607-345-9. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help) - Total pages: 771
• 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) - Total pages: 460
• Cordesman, Anthony H. (2006). Arab-Israeli military forces in an era of asymmetric wars (2006 ed.). Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 0-275-99186-5. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help) - Total pages: 416
• Davis, Richard G (2002). On target : organizing and executing the strategic air campaign against Iraq (2002 ed.). DIANE Publishing. ISBN 1-4289-9024-0. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help) - Total pages: 385
• Dorr, Robert F.; Thompson, Warren (2003). Korean Air War (2003 ed.). Zenith Imprint. ISBN 0-7603-1511-6. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help) - Total pages: 192
• Handleman, Philip (2003). Combat in the Sky: The Art of Aerial Warfare (2003 ed.). Zenith Imprint. ISBN 0-7603-1468-3. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help) - Total pages: 204
• Khan, J.A. (2004). Air Power and Challenges to IAF. APH Publishing. xxxii, 361. ISBN 978-81-7648-593-7. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |nopp= ignored (|no-pp= suggested) (help)
• Pradhan, R. D.; Chavan, Yashwantrao Balwantrao (2007). 1965 War, the Inside Story: Defence Minister Y.B. Chavan's Diary of India-Pakistan War. Atlantic Publishers & Distributors. xviii, 141. ISBN 978-81-269-0762-5. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |nopp= ignored (|no-pp= suggested) (help)
• Pradhan, R.D. (1999). Debacle to revival: Y.B. Chavan as Defence Minister, 1962–65. Orient Blackswan. xii, 316. ISBN 978-81-250-1477-5. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |nopp= ignored (|no-pp= suggested) (help)
• Scheina, Robert L. (2003). Latin America's Wars: The age of the professional soldier, 1900–2001 (2003 ed.). Brassey's. ISBN 1-57488-452-2. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help) - Total pages: 624
• Ministry of Defence, Sri Lanka (September 12, 2008). "Security Forces crush major terror attack at Vavuniya; 10 LTTE bodies found". Government of Sri Lanka. Ministry of Defence. Retrieved April 6, 2010. {{cite web}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Walker, Bryce S. (1983). Fighting jets (1983 ed.). Time-Life Books. ISBN 0-8094-3362-1. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help) - Total pages: 176
• 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) - Total pages: 320

• Air-to-air combat operations and battles
• Korean War
• Vietnam War
• Cold War