Would Britain be able to design and build a counter to the mig 15 in the Korean war in stead of the f86A sabre?
It was a sale not a gift. They were sold for good foreign currency which Britain desperately needed in the absence of solid loans at that point in time. It was sold by Rolls Royce as part of a normal process of marketing it's aero engines. All the government did was allow it. This was in 1946 when the Soviet Union was still supposed to be an ally only 13 months after the end of the war and the British civilian food ration had dropped below the wartime levels. Foreign currency was needed to buy food abroad for one thing.This could have been a reaction to Labor Government and Sir Stafford Cripp's blunder in giving them jet engines manufactured by Rolls Royce which allowed the Soviets to reverse engineer it for the Mig 19
Just as a matter of interest, Britian didn't send a fighter squadron to Korea, the RAAF had a sqn of Mustangs that converted to Meteors in 1951, the SAAF had a sqn of Mustangs that converted to Sabres in 1953, the Canadaisns sent a stack of pilots to fly Sabres with the USAF. the RN RAN both sent carriers flying Sea Furys, which got a couple of kills against the mig 15.
In combat the RAAF Meteor was misused early on in the high altitude fighter and got roughly handled by mig 15s, leading to a negative 1:3 kill ratio. But after changing to the ground attack role and only fighting migs in self defence in the meteors preferred performance envelope the got a 1:1 kill ratio.
If the RAF wanted they could have sent a squadron of Venoms to Korea in 1952 which if properly used would likely get a 1:1 or even 2:1 kill ratio against the mig.
If the RAF wanted they could have sent a squadron of Venoms to Korea in 1952 which if properly used would likely get a 1:1 or even 2:1 kill ratio against the mig.
Would they be the same Venom FB.1's that had big orange bands painted on the wings to remind the pilots not to fly too fast or pull too much G?
I like the Venom, but even once the wing problems above were sorted (in-service, not at the test flying stage where they should have been rectified, see my first post above etc) I'm not sure it's in the same class as the MiG-15.
With hindsight could the Hunter have been able to see service in the Korean War ?Not without a radical culture change in both the Air Ministry and the manufacturers to deal with the inherent conservatism, political meddling, and utter slowness that plagued the British aircraft industry postwar.
The RAF actually wound up operating F-86's as interims while the problems with their homegrown equivalents (Swift and Hunter) were sorted out. It's also worth noting that the F-86 predated the Korean War - it wasn't built as a result of encountering the MiG-15.
An easier alternative to save both the British and US the trouble is to not give the Nene jet engine to the Soviets.
With hindsight could the Hunter have been able to see service in the Korean War ?
No but one of the precursor prototypes like the P1052 might just have been ready. Not sure how effective it would have been though.With hindsight could the Hunter have been able to see service in the Korean War ?
My first thought was a swept wing Attacker.Would Britain be able to design and build a counter to the mig 15 in the Korean war in stead of the f86A sabre?