Mikoyan MiG-15

The Mikoyan MiG-15 is a Soviet single-engine jet fighter built by the Mikoyan-Gurevich design bureau, entering Soviet Air Force service in 1949 and achieving worldwide notoriety after its unexpected combat debut against United Nations forces in the Korean War, where its swept-wing design and strong high-altitude performance surprised American pilots flying straight-winged jets. Built around a Soviet-manufactured copy of a British Rolls-Royce jet engine design, obtained through a postwar British export sale, combined with wing sweep research drawing partly on captured German wartime aerodynamic data, the MiG-15 outperformed early American jet fighters in several key respects, prompting the rapid American deployment of the swept-wing F-86 Sabre to restore parity over Korean skies. The MiG-15's combat performance and the ensuing MiG-15 versus F-86 rivalry over what became known as MiG Alley in northwestern Korea is widely regarded as the first sustained jet-versus-jet aerial combat in history, shaping fighter aircraft design and doctrine on both sides of the Cold War for years afterward.