From 1964 to 1973, the Air Force paid a terrible price in lives and aircraft. Scherbakov/RIA Novosti photo The CruCible of VieTnam or the past four decades, the The airspace over Vietnam was a Above: The wreckage of a US Navy A-6 Air Force has lost relatively lethal environment for airmen. At times, Intruder draws a crowd of North Viet- namese in 1968. USAF’s aircraft losses few aircraft in combat. This the USAF advantage in air-to-air com- were devastating, and the Navy and level of combat success was bat slipped perilously close to parity. Marine Corps also lost many aircraft. not always the norm. Airmen paid the price in aircraft down, Right: An F-105 “Thud” crash-lands at FAs recently as the Vietnam War, USAF lives lost, and survivors taken prisoner. Udorn RTAB, Thailand, in 1967. Forty and the United States struggled to control Overall, USAF lost 2,254 fixed percent of the F-105 inventory was lost during the war. the air, failed to achieve safety from wing aircraft from February 1962 to enemy air defenses, and struggled to October 1973 in the Southeast Asia overcome an adversary air force. Many theater of operations. Some 1,737 for a week to pass without an aircraft of the problems were self-inflicted, but fixed wing aircraft were combat losses, lost in combat operations. the fact remains that the years 1964 to and another 517 aircraft went down in Some of the cumulative totals were 1973 were tremendously difficult for related noncombat operations. Losses shocking: The Air Force lost 40 per- the Air Force and American airpower. occurred nearly every day. It was rare cent of its total production of F-105s 74 AIR FORCE Magazine / February 2013 to combat in Vietnam. Approximately one out of every eight F-4s ever built by McDonnell Douglas—for all services— was destroyed in Vietnam. The North Vietnamese Air Force (VPAF) had between 60 and 75 aircraft viaVietnamese News Agency in service at most points during the war. Yet the MiG-17s, MiG-19s, and MiG- 21s shot down 67 USAF aircraft against a loss of 137 of their own, leaving the US Air Force with barely a two-to-one exchange ratio over the course of the war. What led a nation with such an enor- mous technological and industrial edge to suffer such air losses? Part of the answer was the mission itself. As the war escalated, more US ground forces deployed. They soon required emergency close air support plus air interdiction, seeking out enemy North Vietnamese pilots from the 923rd Fighter Regiment walk past a MiG-17. Pilots flying MiGs shot down 67 US aircraft. North Vietnam lost 137 of theirs. vehicles and strongholds. Added to this, major separate campaigns attacked handle surface-to-air missiles made in 1954. Several main airbases such fixed targets and war materiel across US aircraft more vulnerable to guns as the new jet field at Yen Bai in the North Vietnam and into Laos. and interceptors. North were built in the late 1950s and Air operations peaked with ground early 1960s. operations from 1966 to 1968. The Air China and Russia China and the Soviet Union supplied Force flew a total of 101,089 combat and The volume of losses tracked with aircraft, air defenses, and fighter train- combat support sorties in 1967, its busi- number of sorties flown. But there were ing. According to Istvan Toperczer’s est year. Losses piled up as airmen took other factors. The lethality of the air war definitive MiG-17 and MiG-19 Units risks to complete ground support mis- derived from the deadly combination of the Vietnam War, pilot training began sions. Ultimately, more than 83 percent of anti-aircraft fire, SAMs, and hand- in the late 1950s and continued through of USAF’s total combat losses were to fuls of MiGs creating a multilayered the war. Vietnamese pilots took Russian ground fire—mostly anti-aircraft guns. problem for strike packages. language lessons and ground school at Now-retired USAF Chief of Staff A small number of MiGs inflicted Bataysk, Russia, then transferred to Gen. Merrill A. McPeak saw it first- some of the most intriguing lessons Primorsko-Akhtarsk for flight train- hand. Many aircraft were lost to gunfire of the war. ing in the Yak-18 or later the L-29. At because they were slow movers, he The aerial combat war in Vietnam had “Ahtari” base, Vietnamese pilots were wrote in his memoir, Hangar Flying. two major phases—from the first kills of forgiven for flight training mishaps and But “guns also bagged lots of modern mid-1965 to 1968, and then again from given preference over comrades from fighters, not all of them flown by care- December 1971 to December 1972. Hungary, Cuba, and other countries less or inept pilots,” he said. In his North Vietnam had begun building because of the urgency of returning view, the compromises required to its air force after driving out the French them to their fight back home. By the early 1960s, North Vietnam also had pilots training on the MiG-17 in The CruCible of VieTnam By Rebecca Grant Photo via Bert Hester, www.preservingourhistory.com AIR FORCE Magazine / February 2013 75 Via Vietnamese News Agency USAF photo Left: In front of Chinese-made MiG-19s, North Vietnamese pilots listen to a briefing on dogfighting tactics. The MiG- 21 superceded the MiG-19. Right: A USAF fighter pilot’s gun camera records the destruction of a MiG as the left wing erupts in flames and disintegrates. China—with Chinese pilots flying and young, inexperienced pilots would be of the MiG-15 of Korean War fame, fighting in North Vietnamese airspace flying obsolete aircraft against a numeri- the MiG-17 also took advantage of at the beginning of the war. cally and technically superior enemy,” the light weight and maneuverability Records indicate that the first air- wrote Toperczer of the regiment. But characteristics of the MiG family. to-air kills by MiGs were credited to they had an advantage: “They would Over time, the numbers added up. Pi- Chinese pilots. Fortunately, these were be flying over their own territory, with lots such as Nguyen Van Bay capitalized kills of the AQM-34 Firebee reconnais- backup, however limited, from radar on the MiG being swift, small, and hard sance drones. and anti-aircraft units.” to spot. Van Bay claimed seven kills in The year 1965 marked the begin- The Vietnamese pilots of the 921st the MiG-17. At least five matched US ning of steady losses to anti-aircraft called the MiG-17s “Silver Swallows” records, making him North Vietnam’s fire, surface-to-air missiles, and MiGs. for their bright metal fuselages. USAF top Fresco ace. Among the first USAF losses were Col. Robin Olds called the MiG-17 “a The US response was to implement more Firebees. By mid-1965, several vicious, vicious little beast.” combat air patrols to keep the airspace manned aircraft were lost due to ground open. Numbers again made the task fire, lack of fuel, mishaps, and other Rules of Engagement harder for the US. Not knowing where causes, and many aircrews were already British historian Christopher M. the MiGs might pop up, combat air prisoners of war. Hobson believed the North made a patrols had to be in place to cover every The increasing pace of flights pro- careful decision about how and when mission from bombing to rescue opera- vided a target-rich environment for to use its precious MiGs. “The MiG tions. For years it took bases in South North Vietnam. On June 20, 1965, a force was held back until the Rolling Vietnam, bases in Thailand, and carriers USAF F-4C based at Ubon RTAB, Thunder strikes began to reach the 20th on station to provide enough fighters Thailand, was shot down. This was parallel,” wrote Hobson in his book to keep airspace open for aircraft on the first F-4C lost in combat. Vietnam Air Losses. interdiction and CAS missions. Navy A-1 Skyraiders from USS Day 1 of the air-to-air war might be Soon, along came the MiG-21. Midway were among those launched traced to April 4, 1965. On that day, The MiG-21 was an all-new super- as part of the rescue air patrol when MiG-17s surprised and mauled flights sonic jet nearly twice as fast as the they, too, encountered MiG-17s. “At of F-105s on a mass raid to bomb the MiG-17. The MiG-21 also carried the 12,000 feet and [196 mph] we looked Thanh Hoa Bridge. Four MiG-17s heat-seeking K-13 Atoll missile, which like Tweetybird to Sylvester the Cat,” dove across a package of F-105s then its pilots used effectively. recalled Navy Reserve pilot Capt. disengaged. Down went two F-105s, The MiG-21 came into use in early Clinton B. Johnson in a widely re- with both pilots killed. 1966. One of the first encounters be- printed memoir. “Our only hope was This was the first blast of the classic tween a USAF F-105 and a MiG-21 to get down low and try to outturn hit-and-run tactics MiGs would use ended as an instructive tale. The USAF the MiGs.” throughout the war. They took shots pilot locked in combat with the MiG-21 Chasing MiGs at low altitude, John- but preserved aircraft for future op- ran out of fuel and had to eject. The son and his wingman flew around a hill portunities, which were sure to come F-105 was chalked up as a victory for to see a MiG-17 ahead of them lining as the US flew more and more sorties.