Air operations in the Vietnam War: Difference between revisions
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Before the partition of French Indochina, '''air operations''' played a relatively small part in the '''Vietnam War'''. While there were some notable exceptions, the main effort was by the United States. During the fighting between the French and the Viet Minh, there was certainly [[close air support]] and [[air mobility]] for the French, with the most significant successful air operation being the [[Battle of Vinh Yen]] in 1951<ref name=Fall>{{citation | Before the partition of French Indochina, '''air operations''' played a relatively small part in the '''Vietnam War'''. While there were some notable exceptions, the main effort was by the United States. During the fighting between the French and the Viet Minh, there was certainly [[close air support]] and [[air mobility]] for the French, with the most significant successful air operation being the [[Battle of Vinh Yen]] in 1951<ref name=Fall>{{citation | ||
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Revision as of 09:53, 23 March 2024
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Before the partition of French Indochina, air operations played a relatively small part in the Vietnam War. While there were some notable exceptions, the main effort was by the United States. During the fighting between the French and the Viet Minh, there was certainly close air support and air mobility for the French, with the most significant successful air operation being the Battle of Vinh Yen in 1951[1] and the most disastrous the attempt to supply Dien Bien Phu in 1954. In the period from the early 1960s until the fall of South Vietnam, the United States conducted air operations against North Vietnam. Some of these missions were information-gathering intelligence missions that might not actually cross into North Vietnamese airspace. Others were intended to fight the North Vietnamese, usually attacking specific ground targets or sometimes aspects of the increasingly integrated air defense system (IADS). There were also various covert air operations against the north, with a general goal of increasing internal stress, pressure, and diverting resources. Prior to these attacks, there were increasingly extensive support operations in the South. The combat operations against the North several into four rough phases, perhaps separated by cease-fires during which intelligence collection and other support missions (e.g., weather reporting, search and rescue, transport would continue. Those phases were:
These efforts were generally separate from combat and noncombat air support to combat in the South, with overlap involving attacks on the Trail between the North and South, or supply distribution in the South. Indeed, the early emphasis on air interdiction was in Laos, with Operation FARMGATE, partially based in South Vietnam but nt fighting there. Combat operations against the NorthRetaliatory raidsFrom roughly August 1964 to began with the response to the Gulf of Tonkin incident, followed by a pair of responses in February 1965, under the Operation FLAMING DART, to Communist attacks against allied facilities and troops in the South. [2] SignalingEssentially starting in March 1965 and extending until the Nixon Administration took control in January 1969, Operation Rolling Thunder attacks were intended to signal implacable U.S. determination to the Northern Government.Cite error: Invalid There were also covert air operations by MACV-SOG against the North, with goals of psychological pressure, possible intelligence collection, and diverting defenses.[3] Counter-infiltrationAir support of VietnamizationGrand strategic pressureCombat operations against forces moving to, and in, the SouthClose air support to ARVN troopsAir mobilityU.S.-led air assaultCounter-infiltrationReferences
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