Air-to-air combat is the engagement of combat aircraft in warfare in which primarily fixed-wing aircraft attempt to destroy enemy aircraft using guns, rockets and missiles. Background

The Korean War saw the greatest amount of air-to-air combat since World War II. During the war the United States claimed to have shot down around 700 fighters. By the end of the war, US F-86 Sabre pilots were initially credited by American sources with having shot down 792 MiGs for a loss of only 78 Sabres in air-to-air combat, a victory ratio of 10:1. After the war the U.S. Air Force reviewed its figures in an investigation code-named Sabre Measure Charlie and downgraded the kill ratio of the F-86 Sabre against the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 by half to a 5:1 ratio.

The research by Dorr, Lake and Thompson claimed an F-86 kill ratio closer to 2:1.Dorr, Robert F., Jon Lake and Warren E. Thompson. Korean War Aces. London: Osprey Publishing, 2005. . A recent RAND report made reference to "recent scholarship" of F-86 v MiG-15 combat over Korea and concluded that the actual kill:loss ratio for the F-86 was 1.8:1 overall, and likely closer to 1.3:1 against MiGs flown by Soviet pilots. However, this ratio did not count the number of aircraft of other types (including the B-29, A-26, F-80, F-82, F-84 and Gloster Meteor) shot down by MiG-15 pilots.

One of the factors inflating US numbers was that most dogfights took place over enemy-controlled area. The only way to confirm kills was through gun camera photography. USAF pilots were credited with a kill if the gun camera showed their guns striking the enemy aircraft even if no one actually saw it go down. Soviet Air Force kill claims were also exaggerated, based upon inherent flaws in their film grading procedures. For instance, the S-13 gun camera was not aligned with either the gunsight or either cannons' ballistics. It ran only while the firing buttons were depressed. Film graders commonly included unit commanders and political commisars who would confirm a "kill"—sometimes even if one had not been claimed by a pilot—when the camera's crosshairs touched the target for two movie frames. During the first 16 months of combat Soviet V-VS units claimed 218 F-86s destroyed when only 36 (35 to the two elite IADs and one to the 50th IAD) had been lost. This results in a 600 per cent inflation rate in victory credits over actual Sabres destroyed. However, these figures are complicated by the fact that the Americans routinely attributed combat losses to landing accidents and other causes.

The Vietnam War saw a move away from cannon fire to air-to-air missiles. Although US forces maintained air supremacy throughout the war, there were still occasional dogfights and US and North Vietnamese aces. The North Vietnamese side claimed the Vietnam People's Air Force had 17 aces throughout the war, including Nguyễn Văn Cốc, who is also the top ace of Vietnam War with nine kills: seven acknowledged by the United States Air Force.

During the 1947 conflict over Jammu and Kashmir, the Indian Air Force did not engage the Pakistan Air Force in air-to-air combat; however, it did provide effective transport and close air support to the Indian Army troops.

On 10 April 1959, an Indian English Electric Canberra was shot down while performing a Reconnaissance mission over Rawalpindi. The Canberra was shot down by a Pakistani F-86 Sabre flown by Flight Lieutenant M Younis of the No. 15 Squadron. The two crew members of the Canberra ejected and were later arrested by Pakistani authorities, this incident also marked the first aerial victory of the Pakistan Air Force.

The Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 was the first time the Indian Air Force actively engaged an enemy air force. By the time the conflict had ended, India had lost 22 aircraft by enemy aircraft fire, while Pakistan lost 9 aircraft. In total India lost 65-70 aircraft by all causes while Pakistan 20.

During the Indo-Pakistani war of 1971, both Air Forces clashed for the second time, in this conflict the Indian Air Force lost 20 aircraft in air-to-air combat, in turn Pakistan Air Force lost 16. In total India lost 45 to 65The Encyclopedia of 20th Century Air Warfare, edited by Chris Bishop (Amber publishing 1997, republished 2004 pages 384–387 ) aircraft by all causes and Pakistan 42.

During the Iran–Iraq War of 1980–88, there were nearly 1,000 air-to-air engagements between Iran and Iraq, including the only known instances of helicopters dogfighting and shooting down other helicopters. The Falklands War of 1982 witnessed air combat between Argentine and British military aircraft. The Falkland Islands' runways were short and thus unable to support fighter jets, forcing Argentina to launch fighters from the mainland, which had an adverse effect on their loiter time. The Argentine forces lost 23 aircraft in air-to-air combat, out of a total of 134 fixed wing aircraft and helicopters lost during the conflict.

During the Persian Gulf War; the Iraqi Armed Forces lost 23 aircraft from their inventory of 750 fixed-wing aircraft, compared to 3 coalition aircraft downed.Desert Storm Air War: The Aerial Campaign against Saddam's Iraq in the 1991 Gulf War. Jim Corrigan, Rowman & Littlefield, 2017. P.59"The First Night" by Cooper, Sadik (IAPR, Vol.26)

Aircraft lost to air-to-air combat Conflict Losing Air Force Aircraft lost to air-to-air combat Reference USAAF 2 Royal Indian Air Force 2 5 7 (Western claim); 0-1 (Israeli claim) Royal Egyptian Air Force 15 Syrian Air Force 2 PLAAF North Korean Air Force Soviet Air Defence Forces 659 MiG-15 lost by all causes (USSR:335, PLAAF:224 and North Korea:100) 796 aircraft of all types shot down by UN aircraft (UN claims)The United States Air Forces in the Korean War US aircraft 2,714 aircraft lost by all causes KOREAN AIR BATTLES 1,106 aircraft (USSR claimed kills by MiG-15), 85 (PRC claimed kills)147 aircraft lost by enemy aircraft (US claim)The United Airforce in the Korean WarPopov, Lavrenyov and Bogdanov, pp, 272–274 UN Coalition aircraft 197 (Soviet claim), 139 (UN claim) South Korean Air Force 135 US aircraft 16 Soviet Air Defence Forces 3 Swedish Air Force 2 1Jackson, A.J. Avro Aircraft since 1908, 2nd edition. London: Putnam Aeronautical Books, 1990, p. 406. USAFE 1 Argentine Naval Aviation 1 Egypt Air Force 7–9 Herzog, The Arab–Israeli Wars, p. 138 1 Nordeen, Lon Fighters Over Israel London 1991, p. 198 1 United States Navy 2 CIA/AUREV 1 PLAAF 32 (ROC claim); 5 (PRC claim) ROCAF 14 (PRC claim); 3 (ROC claim) 1959 Canberra shootdown 1 Vietnam People's Air Force 131 (North Vietnam claim); 195 (US claim)"Aviaciya PVO Rossii i nauchno-technicheskii progress. Boevie kompleksi i sistemi vchera, segodnya, zavtra", E.A. Fedosova, Drofa, 2004 US aircraft 128 (US Claim), 266 (North Vietnam claim)Migs over North Vietnam: The Vietnam People's Air Force in Combat, 1965–75, Stackpole Military History Republic of Vietnam Air Force 72 Republic of China Air Force 1First Iraqi–Kurdish War Iraqi Air Force 2 1 Soviet Air Force 1 Imperial Iranian Air Force 6Chronological Listing of Iranian Air Force McDonnell-Douglas F-4 Phantom II Brigade 2506 10 (Confirmed) 21 Egypt Air Force Syrian Air Force 64–72 22 Pakistan Air Force9 Soviet Air Defence Forces 60 (Egyptian claim);113 (Israeli claim) 4-5 (Soviet MiG-21MFs) 4 (Israeli claim) Salvadoran Air Force 3 20 Pakistan Air Force 16 Turkish Air Force 1 (Greek claim) 7Потери авиаперсонала ВВС Израиля в Войне Судного дня Syrian Air Force 277 (Israeli claim) Libyan Air Force 4–5Gordon, Yefim. MiG-21 (Russian Fighters). Earl Shilton, Leicester, UK: Midland Publishing Ltd., 2008. Egypt Air Force 1 Imperial Iranian Army Aviation + IIAF 2 + 3The Aviation History, Florian Ion Petrescu, Relly Victoria Petrescu, 2012, p. 88 Soviet Air Force 1 Afghan National Army Air Corps 8 (Shot down by Pakistan)4 Rebel fighters (Shot down by Soviets) Pakistan Air Force 1 (Friendly fire) Islamic Republic of Iran Army Aviation 2The Aviation History, Florian Ion Petrescu, Relly Victoria Petrescu, 2012, p. 82 Mojahedin 4 Nicaraguan Air Force 2 Iraqi aircraft 234 (confirmed) Iranian aircraft 73 (confirmed) Soviet Air Force 3 (Iranian claim); 0 (Soviet claim) Syrian Air Force 3 Algerian Government aircraft 1 Turkish Air Force 1 South African Air Force 1Lord, Dick (2000). Vlamgat: The Story of the Mirage F1 in the South African Air Force. Covos-Day. . National Air Force of Angola 2 Libyan Air Force 4"Congressional Research Service Issue Brief for Congress: Libya". (2002, April 10). Foreign Press Centers, U.S. Department of State, Retrieved 20 December 2010. FMLN supply aircraft 1 Argentine Naval Aviation/Argentine Air Force 23 Army Air Corps1Chant, Christopher (2001). Air War in the Falklands 1982 . Osprey Publishing, p. 67. 1 Syrian Air Force 82–86 (Israeli claim) Rabinovich, The Yom Kippur War, Schocken Books (2004) p. 510Herzog, The Arab–Israeli Wars, Random House (1982) pp. 347–48Bruce Walker & the editors of Time-Life books, Fighting Jets: The Epic of Flight, Time Life Books (1983) pp. 162–63 Israeli Air Force 1 (Israeli claim); 42 (Syrian claim); 3 (ACIG claim) Arab MiG-19 and MiG-21 Units in Combat by David Nicolle and Tom Cooper(2004) p. 77MiG-23 na blijnem vostoke. Vladimir Ilinלבטאון חיל-האוויר הישראלי, July 1984, No.141, p. 12 Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam 1 Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force 1 (Iranian claim) 2 (Saudi claim) US aircraft 4 (US claim);1 F/A-18 and 3 UAVs are confirmed 12 (Iraqi claim) Royal Air Force 1 (Iraqi claim)Aviatsya i Vremya 5/2005, Ahmad Sadik & Diego Fernando Zampini " The third day (and beyond...)" Italian Air Force 1 (Iraqi claim) Royal Saudi Air Force 1 (Iraqi claim)Cooper, Tom. "Operation Samarrah", October 2010 Iraqi Air Force 23 (Iraqi claim); 44 (Coalition claim) US aircraft 3One Predator was shot by a MiG-25 on December 27, 2002. Knights, Michael (2005).Cradle of conflict: Iraq and the birth of modern U.S. military power. Naval Institute Press, p. 242. Iraqi Air Force 5 Italian Army1 USA Today, Jan 9, 1992 Bolivarianos 3 Republika Srpska Air Force 5Lista gubitaka/ostecenja vazduhoplova u Ex-JRV od 1945 godine do danas Peruvian Air Force 1 (confirmed), 2 (Ecuadorian claim) Turkish Air Force 1 Eritrean Air Force 2–6 Ethiopian Air Force Up to 7 Yugoslav Air Force 5 + 1 heavily damaged, later destroyed on the ground NATO aircraft 1 + 1 TomahawkMilitary Mi-8 HIP helicopter to fly alongside a Hunter UAV and then have the Door Gunner blast the UAV with his 7.62mm machine gun from Dixon, J.DR (2000) UAV employment in Kosovo: Lessons for the Operational Commander. Naval War College, Newport, p. 10. Pakistan Navy 1 1 Georgian Air Force 1 Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force 1 United States Air Force 1 Syrian Air Force 7 Russian Air Force 2 Pro Assad government forces 4 Turkish Air Force 1 Ukrainian Air Force 1 Turkish Air Force 1 Peace at Home Council 2 Iran 1 1 (confirmed), 2 (Pakistani claim)On Air Force Day, IAF Disproves Pak Claim Of Shooting Down Sukhoi Fighter Armenian Air Force 1 Ukrainian Air Force15 (as of 2 February 2025) Ukrainian Army Aviation 2 Ukrainian Naval Aviation 1 United States Air Force 1 (MQ-9 Reaper UAV) 3 (Neutral claim), 8 (Pakistani claim) United States Air Force 3 (Friendly fire by Kuwait) Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force 3

See also Project Dark Gene Air-to-air combat losses between the Soviet Union and the United States List of airliner shootdown incidents

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External links Air to air victories over drugs smugglers