Special: MiG Alley

Pilots,

The introduction of MiG-aircraft with Version 1.6 last year has enabled us to mount a second Korean War-themed special which includes planes from both sides of the conflict. As such, we have chosen this weekend to remind our players of 12 April 1951 – otherwise known as ‘Black Thursday’ – on which one of the most important aerial battles involving MiG jet fighters occurred. Delve into the history of this dramatic encounter in our dedicated flashback below or jump straight ahead to the amazing bonuses and Tier X discounts that this special holds in store for you! 

In-Game Offers

Triple XP for the first victory on each plane

Supplement the excitement of heated dogfights in the air with cold, hard XP in your game account!

50% discount on consumables

Prepare for the worst, hope for the best – but whatever you do, don’t fly without your trusted consumables!

10% discount on the following planes:

		X		Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15bis
		X		North American F-86A Sabre

Save over a million credits when picking up the two jet superstars of this special!

Special Missions

Use the weekend to secure a massive Crew XP bonus and grab a helpful consumable resupply when dishing out damage to your foes!

History Flashback

The end of WWII, and most notably the conclusion of the conflict in the Pacific, left the Korean peninsula divided into two parts along the 38th parallel. While the northern part was controlled by Soviet forces, the southern part went to the U.S. When the country failed to hold unified elections in 1948, the divide between the two parts deepened, leading to the establishment of a Soviet-oriented communist regime in the north and a right-wing western government in the south. Political tensions between the two halves continued until their escalation on 25 June 1950 when North Korea, supplied by the Soviets and supported by China, invaded the south. 

21 countries of the newly established United Nations, including the likes of the U.S., the U.K., Turkey, Canada, Australia, France, New Zealand and others, sprang into action to defend South Korea. Their help couldn't have come soon enough, as the North Koreans had surprised the South Korean government and managed to conquer almost the entire peninsula. What ensued was a series of heavy back-and-forth battles during which territories often changed hands in engagements between infantry, tank divisions, naval units and aircraft. 

The North-Korean Airforce initially only consisted of left-over Soviet WWII-fighters such as the Yak-9 or La-9. These propeller-driven planes had a tough time competing against the superior P-51D Mustangs, F-80 Shooting Star and F9F Panthers that the UN forces were using. However, everything changed in October 1950 with Stalin's decision to supply North Korea with the newest Soviet invention: the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15. Squads of this legendary jet fighter reigned supreme in the skies over Korea, taking out aircraft after aircraft of their outdated competition. The U.N. forces were forced to largely retire their piston-driven aircraft and replace them with evenly matched F-86 Sabres. 
 

These two historic jet-fighters would go on to clash many times throughout the war, most notably in the northwestern portion of North-Korea which got nicknamed "MiG Alley" by UN pilots. The area gained notoriety for being the first zone in which large-scale jet-vs-jet air battles would take place. Both sides claim to have held air superiority in the region with loss and victory numbers varying heavily depending on the source. There are an estimated 100 pilots between the four involved parties that are said to have become Aces during the conflict which ended on 27 July 1953.

 Duke it out in the game with both jets this weekend, pilots!