Although considered obsolescent by US pilots at the start of the war in 1965, the diminutive MiG-17 proved to be more than a handful when encountered in the skies over North Vietnam. Slow, lacking air-to-air missile armament and from the Korean War generation of fighters, the MiG-17 should have offered little opposition to cutting edge American fighters when the might of the USAF and US Navy was unleashed on North Vietnam following the commencement of Operation Rolling Thunder in March 1965. However, following exhaustive training in the USSR and China, the inexperienced pilots of the Vietnamese People's Air Force (VPAF) took full advantage of their jet's unequalled low-speed manoeuvrability, small size and powerful cannon armament to more than take the fight to their missile-armed opponents, indeed, a handful of communist pilots achieved ace status in the MiG-17. Some of them went on to fly the supersonic MiG-19 in combat in 1972, a small number of these aircraft being supplied to the VPAF by China. With unlimited access to the VPAF's previously restricted archive, Isrván Toperczer details the tactics employed by the MiG-17 and MiG-19 pilots and the victories they claimed in eight years of bitter fighting. Osprey Aircraft of the Aces® Comprehensive histories of the elite fighter pilots, and the aircraft that they flew, A unique source of information researched by recognised experts, and brought to life by first-hand accounts from the combat veterans themselves, Concise, authoritative text is supported by at least 30 specially commissioned original colour artworks, new scale plans and the best archival photography from around the world Book jacket.