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Vietnam War era/American
involvement: 1964 - 1973
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French Indochina was formed in October
1887 from Annam, Tonkin, Cochinchina (who
together form modern Vietnam) the Kingdom
of Cambodia; Laos was added after the
Franco-Siamese War of 1893.
The years following the Second World
War saw the countries of French Indo
China begin a series of guerrilla wars to
avoid being taken back under French rule.
France’s defeat in the Indo China
war in 1954 led to the Geneva Conference
awarding power to the nationalist
governments of Cambodia, Laos, North
Vietnam and South Vietnam.
The Vietnam War, also known as the
Second Indochina War, was fought between
the communist Democratic Republic of
Vietnam (North Vietnam), supported by its
communist allies, and the U.S. supported
Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam).
January 15 1973, President Nixon of
the U.S. announced the suspension of
offensive action against North Vietnam.
The Paris Peace Accords on "Ending the
War and Restoring Peace in Vietnam" were
signed on January 27th 1973, officially
ending direct U.S. involvement in the
Vietnam War.
The war ended with approximately
58,000 U.S. soldiers killed, 3 - 4
million Vietnamese from both sides, and
1.5 to 2 million Laotians and
Cambodians.
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Mikoyan-Gurevich
MiG-17 1952, Soviet, 711 mph
The MiG-17 design was an upgrade of the
668 mph MiG-15 that served in the Korean
War. The MiG-17 scored its first
victories during the Vietnam War, when
they frequently worked in conjunction
with MiG-21s and MiG-19s. Some North
Vietnamese pilots stated they preferred
the MiG-17 over the MiG-21 as it was more
agile, though not as fast.
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The American fighter community
was shocked in 1965 when elderly,
subsonic MiG-17s downed
sophisticated Mach-2 class F-105
Thunderchief fighter-bombers over
North Vietnam. This led to the
Americans establishing air combat
training programs such as TopGun.
MiG-17s shot down about 17 x F-105
Thunderchief, 8 x F-8 Crusader and
33 x F-4 Phantom II mainly with
their 23mm or 37mm cannon.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MiG-17
home.comcast.net/~anneled/usloss.html
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Mikoyan-Gurevich
MiG-19 1955, Soviet, 909 mph
Most of North Vietnam's MiG-19's were
supplied by China, only seeing action in
the 1970s, much later than the MiG-17 and
MiG-21. Many North Vietnamese pilots
stated they preferred the MiG-17 for
maneuverability, or the MiG-21 for
speed.
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A-4 Skyhawk
1956, US, 673 mph
The Douglas A-4 Skyhawk was the US Navy's
primary light bomber over North Vietnam
during the early years of the Vietnam War
while the USAF was flying the supersonic
F-105 Thunderchief. Skyhawks carried out
some of the first air strikes by the US
during the conflict and a Marine Skyhawk
is believed to have dropped the last US
bombs on the country.
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A notable naval aviator who flew
the Skyhawk was Cdr. John McCain.
May 1st 1967, an A-4C Skyhawk
piloted by LCDR Theodore R. Swartz,
shot down a MiG-17 with an unguided
Zuni rocket in the Skyhawk's only
air-to-air victory of the
war.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A-4_Skyhawk
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F-105
Thunderchief 1956, US, 1,390
mph
The Republic F-105 Thunderchief was the
largest single seat fighter/bomber ever
built. The Mach 2 capable F-105 bore the
brunt of strike bombing over North
Vietnam during the early years of the
war. Of the 833 F-105 Thunderchiefs built
before the end of the Vietnam War, almost
half were lost to anti-aircraft artillery
(AAA) and surface-to-air missiles
(SAM).
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F-8 Crusader
1957, US, 1,225 mph
The F-8 Crusader was a single-engine
aircraft carrier-based fighter aircraft
built by Chance-Vought of Dallas/ Texas.
Some experts believed the era of the
dogfight was over with the introduction
of air-to-air missiles. Aerial combat
over North Vietnam soon proved the
dogfight was not over as many aircraft
were still having to use their guns and
cannon in certain accounters with the
enemy.
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The F-8 Crusader was credited 19
aircraft shot down, 16 were MiG-17s
and 3 were MiG-21s, four victories
with cannon, the remainder with
AIM-9 short-range, heat-seeking
Sidewinder missiles. North Vietnam
claimed 11 x F-8 Crusader kills by
MiGs.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F-8_Crusader
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F-104
Starfighter 1958, U.S., 1,328
mph
The Lockheed F-104 Starfighter was an
American single-engined,
high-performance, supersonic interceptor
aircraft that served with the United
States Air Force (USAF) from 1958 until
1967. Although it saw little aerial
combat and scored no air-to-air kills,
Starfighters were successful in deterring
MiG interceptors.
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The US procured only 296 104s as
they placed little importance on
air superiority and the Starfighter
was deemed inadequate for either
the tactical fighter-bomber role,
lacking both payload, capability
and endurance compared to other
U.S. aircraft. Its U.S. service was
quickly wound down after 1965, and
the last USAF Starfighters left
active service in 1969.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F-104_Starfighter
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Mikoyan-Gurevich
MiG-21 1959, Soviet, 1,385 mph
The MiG-21 first saw action in the
Vietnam War where it was one of the most
advanced aircraft at that time. Many
North Vietnamese aces however preferred
flying the MiG-17 as it was more
maneuverable. Although the MiG-21 lacked
the long-range radar and missiles of its
contemporary multi-mission U.S. fighters,
it proved a real threat to US aircraft,
especially when used in high speed hit
and run attacks. MiG-21 intercepts of
1,390 mph F-105 strike groups were
effective in downing US aircraft or
forcing them to jettison their bomb
loads.
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F-4 Phantom II
1960, U.S., 1,472 mph
The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is a
two-seat, twin-engined fighter-bomber
developed for the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps
and Air Force. From the initial
deployment to Vietnam in 1965, Phantoms
performed both air superiority and ground
attack roles in South Vietnam and
conducted bombing sorties into Laos and
North Vietnam. As the F-105 force
underwent severe attrition between 1965
and 1968, the bombing role of the F-4
proportionately increased until after
November 1970 (when the last F-105D was
withdrawn from combat) it became the
primary U.S. fighter-bomber.
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General Dynamics
F-111 1967, U.S., 1,650 mph
The General Dynamics F-111 is a
medium-range strategic bomber and
tactical strike aircraft. September 1972
saw the F-111 begin aerial offensive
against North Vietnam. F-111 missions did
not require tankers and could operate in
weather that grounded most other
aircraft. One F-111 could carry the bomb
load of four F-4 Phantom IIs. The worth
of the new aircraft showed when over
4,000 combat F-111A missions were flown
over Vietnam with only six combat losses.
There seems to be little information on
the six losses as to whether they had
been downed by surface to air fire, or,
crashing due to the F-111 flying high
speed, low level missions.
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The F-111 was originally
intended to be a fighter-bomber but
was rarely fitted with the intended
M61 Vulcan 20 mm gatling cannon or
Air-to-Air Missiles so would just
out-run any MiGs it
encountered.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FB-111_Aardvark
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SR-71
Blackbird 1968, U.S., 2,200 +
mph
The Lockheed SR-71 is an advanced,
long-range, Mach 3 strategic
reconnaissance aircraft. From the
beginning of the Blackbird's
reconnaissance missions over North
Vietnam, Laos, etc. in 1968, the SR-71s
averaged approximately one sortie a week
for nearly two years. By 1970, the SR-71s
were averaging two sorties per week, and
by 1972, they were flying nearly one
sortie every day. The Soviet built S-75
SAM missiles used by North Vietnam had a
maximum altitude of around 60,000ft and
speed of about 1,864 mph, so were not
capable of hitting the SR-71 flying at
85,000 ft and 2,200 mph. U.S.
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Air to Air missiles of the time
of the Vietnam War flew at about:
AIM-9 Sidewinder 1,300 mph, AIM-7
Sparrow 3,000 mph. The Soviet
designed Vympel K-13 Air to Air
missiles fitted to MiGs during the
Vietnam War were thought to fly at
about 1,900 mph.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SR-71_Blackbird
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Vietnam War era aircraft that
never took part in the war
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English Electric
Lightning 1959, British, 1,518
mph
The English Electric Lightning was a
British supersonic fighter aircraft of
the Cold War era, remembered for its
great speed for the time and rate of
climb few modern fighters can surpass.
RAF pilots described it as "being saddled
to a skyrocket". Never being involved in
combat, this aircrafts claim to fame was
beating the mighty F-15 Eagle in a race
to 30,000 feet. From 1974, RAF Lightning
squadrons began to re-equip with the
Phantom FGR.2.
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Tupolev Tu-28
1963, Soviet, 1,150 mph
The Tupolev Tu-128 was a long-range
interceptor, the world's largest
production fighter aircraft. A dedicated
interceptor fighter intended for the
high-altitude patrol of sections of the
Soviet periphery unprotected by
surface-to-air missile screens. Equipped
with a large I-band radar, the Tu-128 had
a primary armament of two radar-homing
and two infra-red homing Bisnovat R-4
missiles.
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Progressively withdrawn from the
Voyska PVO home defense fighter
force through the 'eighties, the
Tu-128 was succeeded by the MiG-31
in late 1990. The Tu-28 never
engaged another aircraft in battle
during its service life.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tu-28
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BAC TSR-2
1964, British, 1,630 mph?
The BAC TSR-2 was an ill-fated Cold War
strike aircraft developed to penetrate a
well-defended forward battle area at low
altitudes and very high speeds. On its
fist supersonic flight, the TSR-2, with
one afterburner lit, accelerated away
from the chase Mach 2 Lightning despite
it engaging full afterburner on both
engines. Only one TSR-2 flew before the
project was cancelled due to the cost of
development.
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XB-70 Valkyrie
1964, U.S., 2,056 mph
Although this aircraft never made it into
service, the thought of its exsistance
led to the Soviets building exceptionally
fast fighters capable of matching its
performance. North American Aviation's
B-70 Valkyrie was a nuclear-armed,
six-engined bomber aircraft able to fly
Mach 3 at high altitudes.
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The proposed cost of the
aircraft, along with changes in the
technological environment due to
the introduction of the first
effective anti-aircraft missiles
led to the cancellation of the
program in 1961. On 4 February
1969, Valkyrie number one was
retired and flown to the National
Museum of the United States Air
Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base near Dayton/ Ohio.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XB-70
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Mikoyan-Gurevich
MiG-25 Foxbat 1970, Soviet, 2,115
mph
The MiG-25 is a very high-speed
interceptor with a top speed of Mach 3.2,
a powerful radar and four air-to-air
missiles, none were deployed to the
Vietnam War. The MiG-25 forced the U.S.
to develope the 1,875 mph F-15 Eagle.
With its speed advantage, on the few
ocasions the MiG 25 has encountered
western aircraft in the Israeli and Gulf
wars, it has caused considerable concern
with its high speed.
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In 1981, Israeli F-15A's shot
down 2 Syrian MiG 25s with AIM-7F
Sparrow missiles. Two MiG-25s were
shot down by U.S. F-15Cs during the
Gulf War. After the war, in 1992, a
U.S. F-16 downed a MiG-25 that
violated the no-fly zone in
southern Iraq. One U.S. Navy F/A-18
Hornet was shot down on the first
night of the Persian Gulf War by an
air-to-air missile, most likely
fired from a MiG-25.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MiG-25_Foxbat
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