What did the declassified documents reveal?

This is Declassified. Today, we're examining a declassified United States Air Force record concerning the Communist I-L-28 threat and proposed counter-action. This document, dated February tenth, nineteen-fifty-three, offers a strategic intelligence analysis during the Korean War. You can find this record at documents2.theblackvault.com. This document was released through an unknown Freedom of Information Act request, with a declassification authority not publicly specified. Its release date is also not noted. We are reading the text as found on The Black Vault, a public archive of declassified government documents. MEMORANDUM FOR GENERAL WHITE. SUBJECT: Analysis and Implications of the Communist I-L-28 Threat and Proposed Counter Action. One. The D slash I U-S-A-F believes that approximately one hundred I-L-28 jet light bombers are now located in Manchuria and assigned to Chinese Communist and slash or North Korean Air Forces. Approximately one regiment (about forty) of these aircraft could be committed to combat operations at the present time, and the remainder should be combat ready by the period March fifteenth through April first of this year. In addition to this force of jet light bombers, the Communist Air Forces are estimated to consist of units whose organizational strength comprises one thousand four hundred jet fighters, two hundred forty piston fighters, two hundred forty piston light bombers, two hundred ground attack aircraft, and one hundred seventy transports. The differences between these figures and those cited by General Clark are not of any significance in the consideration of the problem he presents. Two. The I-L-28 force, recently added to Communist air strength, provides the Communists with a preemptive capability not previously available to them. The I-L-28 is estimated to have a maximum speed of four hundred sixty knots, and can carry a four thousand four hundred pound bomb load to a combat radius of five hundred ninety nautical miles, or six hundred ninety nautical miles with external fuel tanks. The bomb load can be increased to six thousand eight hundred pounds to a combat radius of ninety nautical miles. Four twenty-three M-M guns are carried, two fixed forward firing guns in the nose, and two in a flexible tail turret. At the present time the I-L-28 is the highest priority aircraft in the Soviet Air Force. The only other Soviet modern combat aircraft is the M-I-G-15 of which nearly seventeen thousand have been produced, while only about one thousand seven hundred I-L-28's have been manufactured. Many Soviet bomber units are still equipped with conventional bomber types and are awaiting re-equipment with I-L-28's. In this light the transfer of I-L-28's to the C-C-A-F and slash or N-K-A-F takes on added significance, and suggests specific Soviet objectives. Three. Committed in concert with existing M-I-G-15 strength, the I-L-28 force could be committed in an all-out air attack designed to wrest air superiority from…

Why was this case declassified?

This material entered the public record through the U.S. declassification and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) process. The originating source document is linked on this page so the citation chain is auditable.

Today, We're Examining A Declassified United States Air Force Record

◆ BLUF — The short version

This is Declassified. Today, we're examining a declassified United States Air Force record concerning the Communist I-L-28 threat and proposed counter-action. This document, dated February tenth, nineteen-fifty-three, offers a strategic intelligence analysis during the Korean War. com. This document was released through an unknown Freedom of Information Act request, with a declassification authority not publicly specified.

Date: OCT 8 · 2026
Release: Declassified · U.S. public record (FOIA)
Source document: View the primary source document

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What was Today, We're Examining A Declassified United States Air Force Record about?: This is Declassified. Today, we're examining a declassified United States Air Force record concerning the Communist I-L-28 threat and proposed counter-action. This document, dated February tenth, nineteen-fifty-three, offers a strategic intelligence analysis during the Korean War. com. This document was released through an unknown Freedom of Information Act request, with a declassification authority not publicly specified.
Why was this case declassified?: This material entered the public record through the U.S. declassification and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) process. Storyflo narrates it directly from the public release.

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Today, We're Examining A Declassified United States Air Force Record

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