The MiG-15 aircraft are successors to the MiG-9 and are rather good planes for their battle ratings. They use swept wings which provide better performance at transonic speed. Another difference compared to the MiG-9 is the use of a single, powerful engine, the Klimov RD-45F. The plane is able to reach 1050 km/h at sea level and 994 km/h at 9,000 m, it makes the plane’s speed very comparable with other jets at a similar battle rating. It also has other variants in multiple nations which play similarly.
| Pros: | Cons: |
|---|---|
| Flaps can be deployed at high speeds | Poor roll rate |
| Capable and useful air brake | Compression at high speeds |
| High rate of climb | Extremely challenging to use when stock |
| Great acceleration | Armament is difficult to aim |
| Deadly armament capable of lots of damage | No G-suit (for non-bis variants) |
| Excellent energy retention | Limited ground ordnance |
| Quite good turn rate compared to other subsonic jets |
Armament:
Both the MiG-15 and MiG-15bis feature very similar armaments, two 23mm NS-23s and one 37mm N-37D with the bis variant swapping out the NS-23s for the NR-23s. These have a much high rate of fire of 900 rounds/minute compared to 600 rounds/minute. Although the cannons have a rather limited amount of ammo with only 40rpg for the 37mm and 80rpg for the 23mm, these cannons are more than powerful enough to shred through fighters and bombers. Unfortunately both guns have different ballistics and a low muzzle velocity of just 690m/s for the 23mm and 675m/s for the 37mm making them rather challenging them to aim even with accuracy modifications.
Suspended armament:
The tech tree MiG-15s are rather lacking in terms of ground ordnance but that does not mean they are unusable, both cannons get armour piercing belts for lighter targets and the roof of some heavier, more armored targets. You also get bombs that are nice to have if you can drop them close to the enemy as they aren’t extremely powerful.
| MiG-15 | MiG-15bis | Mig-15bis ISh |
|---|---|---|
| 2x FAB-100 | 2x FAB-100 | 6x OFAB-100 |
| 2x S21 rockets | 4x OFAB-250 | |
| 16x S-5K rockets | 2x FAB-500 | |
| 16x S-5M rockets | 8x S-1of rockets | |
| 48x S-5M rockets | ||
| 48x S-5K rockets |
However, the same can’t be said with the ISh variant, this aircraft has two pylons sticking out in front of the wings for more ground ordnance options such as larger bombs or more rockets. It also features a ballistic computer to aid in aiming those unguided rockets which is quite rare at this BR.
Survivability:
The aircraft feature okay survivability with a 10mm steel plate behind the pilots head, 64mm of armored glass angled back 56° and two 10mm plates in front of the pilot. You also get EFS across all variants but lack any sort of countermeasures against missiles in uptiers. Fuel tanks are placed in front and behind the engine with the larger tank being self-sealing but lacking a neutral gas pressurization system. While damaged, the aircraft’s control surfaces become unresponsive and the aircraft can be challenging to fly at low speed.
Flight performance:
The Bis and ISh variants handily out perform the standard MiG-15 in terms of speed and in turning ability, being able to turn harder at much faster speeds and providing more thrust. The graphs below show engine performance and turning performance and have been calculated with StatShark. From the graphs we can see the MiG-15bis consistently has higher acceleration and thrust at any speed and that both MiGs have similar turn performance, but the Bis does out turn it at higher speeds of above 800km/h.
Usage in Battle:
Air battles:
The MiG-15 features excellent high altitude performance, being highly effective in vertical maneuvers, very good turn time for a jet and high damage cannons. The MiG-15 is also the first Soviet jet aircraft to feature an air brake which is extremely useful in combat situations especially in dives. The fighter does, however, have its downsides. The lack of an “All-flying tailplane” (such as that featured on the F-86F-25) leads to compression of control surfaces at high speeds around 1,000 km/h. While the MiG is initially faster in acceleration in comparison to the Sabre, this does mean that once both aircraft are up at higher speeds, the Sabre will hold some advantage over the MiG-15 in terms of maneuverability.
Despite this, both variants have incredible turn time and energy retention for being a jet. Being devastating in downtiers and still being competitive in uptiers. Another drawback of the MiG is the lack of flares however this isn’t a huge issue as the majority of missiles around this BR are rather bad and can be easily out-turned. Variants like the bis and ISh can use rockets as makeshift flares which could save you. The bad roll rate can be frustrating at times as most planes you will be facing (such as the Sabres) will easily out roll you to evade your devastating guns. This can be mitigated by trying to predict their defensive maneuvers and prepositioning yourself to shoot as they cross your guns.
In air battles, the MiG doesn’t have very many enemies worth noting apart from other MiG-15s in other nations and the occasional aircraft with missiles such as the G.91 R/4 or Sea Vixen F.A.W Mk.2 and so on.
Ground battles:
The standard MiG-15 is rather limited in a CAS role, however a well placed FAB-100 will take out most tanks and the combination of the 37mm and two 23mms can penetrate lighter vehicles through the roof and engine deck with the 37mm having 47mm of penetration at 100m. The bis variant is mostly the same but with rockets allowing to take out multiple vehicles. With the S21 rocket capable of overpressuring vehicles with a well placed hit. The strike orientated MiG-15bis ISh has all the benefits of the previous aircraft but an even larger payload of up to 500kg bombs and a feature most vehicles at this BR don’t have, a targeting computer. This aids the pilot in hitting vehicles with the rockets and works very well with the eight S-1of making it easy to take out vehicles by overpressuring the crew.