MiG ALLEY REMIX; Oh Lord It's On

***Cross posted at News Real Blog***

Bombing of North Korean village August, 1950

Defense Minister-designate Kim Kwan-jin expressed firm resolve to take a strong retaliatory action, including air strike, in the event of another North Korean military provocation during his parliamentary confirmation hearing Friday…Noting that South Korea is in the most serious crisis situation since the 1950-53 Korean War, Kim said that he will set up an operational plan to bolster military capabilities to protect the five border islands in the West Sea…Immediately after the artillery attack, the military sent some 400,000 anti-North leaflets to the North in a reversal of its cautious stance. The military had been cautious about fully resuming the psychological warfare as it could seriously provoke the reclusive state.—Kim warns air strike on North Korea, The Korea Herald

So it’s come to this.  For the first time in 60 years, the specter of air war is a reality over the Land of the Morning Calm.  This is highly significant; it is the first time in almost 6 decades that South Korea has put the option of air strikes back on the table.  The first time this century.

Shelling civilians, hidden under water nuke factories, NoKo tunnels under the DMZ, and the South Korean decision to stage air raids on any further NoKo provocations—at long last—certainly makes for exciting times.  The promise of air strikes opens the possibility of a repeat of history:  the first known jet vs. jet air battles that occurred 60 years ago and came to be known famously as MiG Alley.

Of course, back then the NoKo MiG-15 used during the active phases of the still-going Korean War were piloted by Russian pilots, who went to tremendous efforts to pretend to be Korean.

The USSR masquerade clearly did not work.  Our soldiers often laughed camp-side about the 6ft tall, blond-haired, blue-eyed Koreans, and eventually even the Ruskies gave up on the charade, USSR claims that they were not in Korea be damned.

USAF pilots had great respect for the MiG’s superior maneuverability.  They loved the instant response of the wire-controlled MiG over the slower electronic responses of our F-86 Sabre, and that combined with its swept-wing design made it any pilot’s dream.

The MiG is a plane not to be underestimated, ridiculed, or discounted.  I’m sure ROKAF knows that well.

North Korean Fighters, 2003

Our pilots had an advantage then, and ROKAF has it now, that you will never find in Communist nations:  thinking for themselves, using imagination, creating new maneuvers, and utilizing that ingenuity only free nations know.  The desperate cover-ups and lies of the Soviets led to the Russian pilots not being allowed to pursue the Sabre into the Yellow Sea or any area considered American or South Korean territory.  Their hands were tied by leaders who punished them if they got it wrong and punished them even more if they succeeded without permission.  These are those from whom the NoKo’s learned to fly and whose Stalinist delusions they still follow.

As a result of our free will, USAF made the term “hot pursuit” the coolest catch-phrase of the early days of the Korean War.  The Korean version of that term may soon be the buzz of Seoul.

We may get to see it again, if South Korea keeps their word and it isn’t just more idle threats.  I think we can count on NoKo assuming it’s a bluff and calling it, given the pattern of their behavior in the past 20 years of “threaten, extort, lie, gloat, repeat” and our pattern of “sanctions, letters, bluster, shake fist, cover up, give in, reward, repeat.”  Also in play is that infamous Asian need to save face, even if they believe South Korea means it this time.  Or that God-less hardened Commie attitude that has made NoKo into the thriving black hole of death it continues to be.

There’s a distinct difference now that NoKo will have to consider.  This time they will be facing South Korean pilots, still fuming over the unprovoked and deadly attack on businesses, homes, and civilians.  Even the residents of Seoul, long fearful of the NoKo missiles that can easily hit their capital, are now saying “bring it on.”  They are super pissed; such anger invigorates the body and focuses the mind.

And it won’t be Russians flying those MiG’s; it’ll be emaciated, terrorized, horribly oppressed North Koreans, filled with hateful ideology but not much more, knowing the price for failure could very well be not just their lives, but the lives of three generations of their family.  They have, oddly enough, nothing and everything to lose.  Such fear has a nasty way of paralyzing the mind and body, which makes NoKo even more dangerous—they may skip right to WMD’s if they think they will be humiliated.

No one wants war, no decent person anyway.  But we are not dealing with decent leaders when it comes to North Korea; we are dealing with villains of history whose biographies read like a cold war horror story combined with the continuous Gestapo assault by those who believe they must never be questioned, never outed, and never give people the choice; they know what that choice will inevitably be, and their insecurities will not allow it.  The ROK are the ones who must draw the line and guard it.  It has come to that.

F15K Slam Eagle of the ROKAF

What might a new MiG Alley look like?  Well, given the range and speed of today’s remarkable planes, as well as missile and bombing capabilities, traditional dogfights will be very different; mostly non-existent.  But if South Korea tunes everyone out, and doesn’t fall for the UN’s tactics routinely employed against Israel and the US—the lie of “disproportionate response,” that childish “No fair!” whine always uttered by the impotent Islammunist cowards when our moment of “That is it!” reaches DEFCON 1—then the new MiG Alley will look like victory.

Either way, it’s gonna be an exciting last month of the year.  It’s beginning to look a lot like MiGmas.

Keep the faith, bros, in all things courage, and no substitute for VICTORY.