Guerre Aérienne au Vietnam 1961-1973

Hardcover version of the Combat Aircraft special editions n°14 & 15

After beginning in a very discreet manner in 1961 with the intervention of a few American “advisors” with the very nascent SVNAF, the military aviation of South Vietnam, the air war in Southeast Asia, and particularly in Vietnam, continued to grow to the point that at its peak, in 1968, the US Air Force alone deployed nearly 100,000 men and 1,800 aircraft in the region. The air war in Vietnam, which ended for the United States at the beginning of 1973 with their disengagement for the benefit of South Vietnam alone, saw the involvement of all the air forces of the country's different arms, the USAF of course, but also the 'US Navy with aircraft carriers permanently cruising in the Gulf of Tonkin, the US Marines Corps, without forgetting the US Army, whose helicopters played an unprecedented role, particularly during ground operations, depositing GI's at the closer to combat zones. The Vietnam War was also an opportunity to witness massive strategic bombing raids such as had not been seen since the Second World War, mainly carried out by Boeing B-52s, and which had a certain impact on on the outcome of the battles. It was also during this conflict that the anti-aircraft missile experienced an unprecedented boom, and which profoundly modified the doctrines for the use of combat aircraft, forcing for example the development of tactics as unique as they were dangerous for the suppression of these sites. SAM which caused havoc in the ranks of the United States air forces. Finally, the Vietnam Air War was also the last opportunity to see numerous aerial combats, at the end of which a significant number of pilots, both American and North Vietnamese, obtained the much envied status of ace, by managing to shoot down at least five opposing aircraft, notably with air-to-air missiles, another weapon which underwent unprecedented development during the thirteen years that this terrible conflict lasted.