USAF Units and Aircraft of The Korean War - Effects

Effects

The Korean War was the last (and only) time large numbers of piston-engine and jet-engine aircraft shared the wartime skies. Also, it was the last US major war without at least some space support.

Korea marked the end of the line for major use of prop-driven combat aircraft of the active-duty USAF and brought the in jet age in real terms. All F-82 Twin Mustangs had been removed from the theater by 1952 and F-51D Mustang strength had been cut in Korea from 190 to 65. First generation straight-winged F-80C Shooting Star and F-84E/G Thunderjet jet aircraft were shown inadequate against the Soviet MiG-15s. However, the swept-wing F-86 Sabre took control of the skies, bringing an entire new generation of swept-wing aircraft into the USAF arsenal in the 1950s.

The exception to the jet revolution was the specialized use of various counterinsurgency aircraft (A-1 Skyraider, A-26A Invader) by the 56th Special Operations Wing which were flown over Laos during the Vietnam War. (The F-51D/H Mustang was used by some ANG units in the Air Defense role, but by 1957 it was out of the inventory).

With the end of fighting in Korea, President Eisenhower, who had taken office in January 1953, called for a "new look" at national defense. The result: a greater reliance on nuclear weapons and air power to deter war. His administration chose to invest in the Air Force, especially Strategic Air Command. The nuclear arms race shifted into high gear. The Air Force retired nearly all of its propeller-driven B-29/B-50s and they were replaced by new Boeing B-47 Stratojet aircraft. By 1955 the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress would be entering the inventory in substantial numbers, as the prop-driven B-36s were phased out of heavy bombardment units rapidly.