Air War in Vietnam

[oldpop2000]

I've been reticent to start a discussion on the Air War in Vietnam because I don't believe many are interested and I can understand this. It was not a naval war except for the carriers stationed off of Vietnam, on Yankee Station, providing attack and fighter support. There was no submarine involvement and ground operations were such that even if we won a battle, the Viet Cong and NVA would simply retreat across the parallel and return home. The Air War was the primary combat operation in the war and its success or failure on each side did have an effect on a possible war in Europe against the Russians. The technology and tactics used in Vietnam were very important to both sides.

The Air War in Vietnam was the first modern air war using integrated air defenses in all operations. Radar guided surface to air missiles, radar directed AA guns and ground control intercept-controlled fighters. The fighters were almost all supersonic, with missiles and some with guns. Many did not have guns, and this was recognized as a mistake early on. The USAF was designed for nuclear retaliation against a superpower, not for a conventional war against jungle insurgents. They had the wrong aircraft, wrong weapons, and the wrong training. The Air War in Vietnam triggered the development of air combat maneuver training both for the Navy and USAF; Top Gun and Red flag. Both the Navy and USAF adapted to the realization of this conventional war. As one author states, "it was a complete make-over. "

The Air War in Vietnam was very important to both the Navy and the USAF. There were many political issues, and I am not going get into a discussion over these issues. I will say that in the initial air operation, Rolling Thunder, The pilots had to fly with one hand tied behind their backs. It was a terrible mistake for these men. . There were many named combat operations in the Viet Nam Air war, but I am only going to focus on three: Rolling Thunder, Linebacker 1 & 2.

I hope this thread will generate an interest in this Air War. I wonder if the later versions of RTW2 might migrate into  this time period and the information we provide might be helpful.

[oldpop2000]

Rolling Thunder

On August 2 and August 4 two US Navy destroyers were attacked by North Vietnamese (NV) patrol boats in the Gulf of Tonkin. This action initiated subsequent attacks on five NV naval bases by the US Navy. It was after these and other attacks, that a deployment of air units was initiated. The attacks on North Vietnamese targets following these attacks and it named ROLLING THUNDER. The four objectives of the operation (which evolved over time) were to boost the sagging morale of the Saigon regime in the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam); to persuade North Vietnam to cease its support for the communist insurgency in South Vietnam without sending ground forces into communist North Vietnam; to destroy North Vietnam's transportation system, industrial base, and air defenses; and to halt the flow of men and materiel into South Vietnam. The targets for this operation were Bridges, rail yards, docks, barracks, and supply dumps. The initial operations were against the lines of communications just above the demilitarized zone between North and South Vietnam. However, slowly the campaign moved north toward Hanoi and Haiphong. It then struck the petroleum, oil and lubricants (POL), electrical power and some of the industrial targets. The attacks lasted about four years with periods of bombing pauses to allow the NV to consider the consequences of further prosecution of the war. Unfortunately, these pauses just allowed the NV to recover and strengthen their defenses. This cost the USAF and the Navy more pilots.

It began in March 1965. The first mission was on 2 March 1965 against the ammunition storage unit near Xom Bang. This mission lost two F-105D pilots, one body was recovered at sea, but his parachute had opened too late. These were the first losses in the Air War in Vietnam. Most of the combat missions during Rolling Thunder were from four air bases in Thailand. Initially they were from bases in South Vietnam, but with the increase in deployed aircraft for the USAF, Thailand offered the USAF bases: Korat, Takhli, Udorn, and Ubon. The majority of the aircraft deployed were F-105D Thunderchief’s, F4C’s, EB-66’s, along with some RF-4s and RF-101s. Aerial refueling was accomplished by KC-135, these were stationed at many of the bases but primarily at U-Tapao Royal Thai Airfield near Bangkok. I’ve provided a good article by Walter Boyne on Route Package 6 of Rolling Thunder.

www.airandspaceforces.com/article/1199pack/

[oldpop2000]

I've included a map of the Southeast Asia area for reference.

Vietnam War Map.docx (197.59 KB)

I am using two official sources: Project Checo and "A Systems Analysis View of the Vietnam War 1965-1972. The latter was twelve volumns dealing with the war. Project Checo was top secret report on the air operations over Vietnam. Many of these reports were declassified and I have them on my server. I also have books and other articles from the Air University and other official sources.

USAF Doctrine

Doctrine is the fundamental set of principle that guides military forces as they pursue nation security objectives. USAF doctrine defines three basic combat missions for tactical air power.

1. Counter Air

2. Close air support

3. Air interdiction

Counter air are conducted to gain and maintain air supremacy by attacking the enemy’s combat aircraft, air bases, AAA, SAM sites

Close air support applies aircraft to directly support ground forces. Targets that threaten ground forces in the immediate battle area are the targets with a coordination with the ground forces.

Air interdiction is a system attack on the enemy’s logistic network. It is designed to destroy, neutralize, or delay his manpower and material before it can be applied against friendly forces.

Operation Rolling Thunder, Linebacker 1 and 2 are considered air interdiction but all three missions can be integrated. One problem is assessing the effectiveness of air indiction is the lack of clear evidence that it is working effectively. Without actual documents like after WW2, you might never know how effective the air indiction was. We will never know how effective air interdiction over Korea or North Vietnam was, just a judgement of the success of land operations.

[oldpop2000]

Air interdiction has been the subject of historical studies and discussions since the end of the Vietnam War. Nobody can agree on how effective it actually was. Air interdiction’s main mission was supply-denial which was designed to restrict the enemy’s ability to supply his troops and this would impact the outcome of the campaign. But how do we judge whether we have actually impacted his campaign? If we don’t know his intended strategy, it is very difficult to judge whether the supply denial was, in fact, successful.

In 1968, bombing was halted in North Vietnam. The NV had agreed not to move men and material directly through the demilitarize zone between North and South Vietnam. However now they decided to shift to the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos. This was where the supplies for the south moved through. Now another air interdiction campaign was begun and it continued until the invasion of South Vietnam by the NV in the spring of 1972.

[oldpop2000]

The campaign to interdict the movement of supplies through the Ho Chi Minh Trail, named Commando Hunt, and it was initiated on 1 November 1968, after the agreement with NV. This continued until the invasion of SV in the spring of 1972. The NV used the passes through the Annam Mountain Range to the Ho Chi Minh Trail. The roads through the passes were concealed by clouds and on the trail, there was almost a continuous roof of concealment by the tropical forests. This really impeded the detection and destruction of targets by air interdiction. There was two monsoon times, a wet season from June to October and a dry season from November to May. The latter aided the NV movement of supplies and thus, the NV concentrated his supply movements during this time. Our interdiction operation was geared to this time period.

All movement of supplies was conducted at night and had to be well coordinated. It was accomplished in short shuttles not long-distance hauling. In order to detect movement, a electronic detection system with seismic and acoustic sensors was laid along the roads by US. They were dropped by fighters. The fighters would circle the area and the information transmitted to the Infiltration Surveillance Center. They were analyzed and developed into truck movements. I've included the stats.

[oldpop2000]

The linebacker operations began on May 9, 1972 and ended on Oct 23, 1972. They were the first continuous bombing effort since the end of Rolling Thunder in November 1968. The overall objectives of the campaigns were the same, but Linebacker II was focused on targets in the military-industrial center of North Vietnam. Linebacker I attacked areas in the southern portion of the country and the expanded very quickly. The B-52 bombers  were stationed at Anderson AFB in Guam. They would fly SW to their IP or initial point, which was the geographic location where they would turn and begin their bombing runs. They would have ECM planes like the EB-66 to escort and pickup fighters when closing the coast. I've included a drawing of the flight paths.

B-52 Flight Plan.pdf (73.94 KB)

This campaign would either prove or disprove long ranged bomber missions as it was the longest bomber missions in history. SAC was testing their concepts of stategic bombing that was to be used in case of a war in Europe. It was also a very big surprise to North Vietnam. On December 18, 1972, 129 B-52 bombers made the initial attack and at 7:43 PM in Hanoi the bombs would fall on Hoa Lac Airfield only 15 miles from Hanoi.  It was a very big shock to them. But it did prove the concept of strategic bombing.

[oldpop2000]

Unless someone has a question, this will end this brief thread about the Air War in Vietnam.

[seawolf]

Mar 28, 2023 7:48:59 GMT -6 oldpop2000 said:

Unless someone has a question, this will end this brief thread about the Air War in Vietnam.

I've been doing some research on the size and scope of aircraft operations in Vietnam, do you have data on how many sorties were going out, or how many aircraft were in theatre?

[oldpop2000]

Mar 28, 2023 19:21:59 GMT -6 seawolf said:

Mar 28, 2023 7:48:59 GMT -6 oldpop2000 said:

Unless someone has a question, this will end this brief thread about the Air War in Vietnam.

I've been doing some research on the size and scope of aircraft operations in Vietnam, do you have data on how many sorties were going out, or how many aircraft were in theatre?

I believe that I do, let me get into my data.  You may have to be more specific as to which timeframe you want. I've put a link for you to download. Its the Systems analysis View of the Vietnam War Volume 5. You can download the file from the line "full view of this Report". This report is very complete and it is about the air war. I hope this helps.

apps.dtic.mil/sti/citations/ADA051611

Here is another link to a document. It is just for the USAF. secure.afa.org/Mitchell/reports/1204vietnam.pdf

[oldpop2000]

Here is some data for you, USAF aircraft in Thailand and South Vietnam. To get USN aircraft, you have to find out how many carriers were on Yankee Station at any one time, then find out which carriers they were, and they how many aircraft those carriers could carry. Most would be Essex class with two Midway classes. Forrestals would be later. Add in USS Enterprise also.

USAF aircraft.rtf (631.87 KB)

There were 17 carriers deployed from 1964-1973. There were 16 air wings with 71 cruises. Typical air wing size was about 70 aircraft. Two fighter squadrons, three attack squadrons, 1 photographic squadron, 1 carrier airborn early warning squadron. At the end of the war, the squadron size increased to 90 aircraft. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrier_air_wing

Hancock
Oriskany
Ranger
Constellation
Coral Sea
Bonhomme Richard
Enterprise
Kittyhawk
Ticonderoga
America
Midway
Intrepid
Forrestal
Independence
F.D. Roosevelt
Saratoga
Shangri-la

[vonfriedman]

I'd be interested to know something about the mining campaign of North Vietnamese ports. Was it performed by aircraft or by naval assets? And what is the opinion current today on the reasons why this operation was not undertaken earlier?

[oldpop2000]

Mar 29, 2023 9:23:57 GMT -6 vonfriedman said:

I'd be interested to know something about the mining campaign of North Vietnamese ports. Was it performed by aircraft or by naval assets? And what is the opinion current today on the reasons why this operation was not undertaken earlier?

The target lists for Vietnam were micromanaged by the defense department. One of the targets off of the list was the harbors. Mining was considered in 1965 but it was considered by civilians as an unacceptable act of war. Civilians believed that mines could be swept easily but that was not true. The North Vietnamese did not have the capability to perform such a mission.

Mining began in May of 1972 of Haiphong Harbor and other ports. No aircraft were lost during the missions. On May 8, 1972 A-6s and A-7s from three carriers mined Haiphong and six other port. On February 26 of the same year, five NV waterways were mined and operations continued until Mid-April. Total number of mines reportedly laid was 11,000.