Air skirmish might have taken place on the day of Yeonpyeong conflict

[Rokke]

Korea Times:

Korean fighter jets, including F-15K, along with the fighters off from the U.S. aircraft carrier George Washington, flew high into the sky above the West Sea on Nov. 29 during the second day of South Korea-U.S. joint military drill.

The drill aims to shoot enemy aircraft in case of a war with the North.

In fact, on Nov. 23, the day of the North’s shelling on Yeonpyeong Island, an air fight was in the near verge of outbreak between the South and the North. Soon after the North’s artillery attack, South Korean four KF-16s and F-15s each made an emergency sortie. Around that time, a total of five North Korean MIG 23s were patrolling over the area near the five islands in border waters of the sea. It was a critical moment. If the South Korean fighters fired off against the military base of the North or the MIG-23s, a war couldn’t have been avoided.

Experts assume the goddess of victory would have sided with the South if there were an actual clash. “The radar, equipment, and electronic devices of the South Korean fighters far excel those of the North fighters, so the latters would have been shot down,” said an official from the Korea Air Force.

Former Air Force operations commander Bae Chang-sik agrees with the official on the might of South Korean fighter jets. However, he points out the South military shouldn’t rely too much on its performance. “What is more important is daily preparation. The South Korean military should always be on keen alert against the provocation of the North,” he said.

[Rokke]

Wasted opportunity. The North Koreans are going to have a really hard time accomplishing any military objectives without a useful air force. Shooting down a few of their flying coffins would have helped underscore that fact.

[ErnstBlofeld]

The Slam Eagle would made mincemeat out of the MIG-23