Air operations against North Vietnam
From Citizendium, the Citizens' Compendium
Contents |
Aftermath of the Gulf of Tonkin incident
While aircraft attacked North Vietnamese fast attack craft in international waters, Operation PIERCE ARROW was the formal name for the retaliatory attack against naval bases, and an oil refinery at Vinh.
Intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance
The time of signaling
- Operation FLAMING DART [r]: The first U.S. air attacks on North Vietnam, after the Gulf of Tonkin incident, by the U.S. during the Vietnam War, but before the full Operation ROLLING THUNDER campaign [e]
- Operation ROLLING THUNDER [r]: Initial sustained U.S. air campaign against the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam), based on a controversial model of retaliation and gradually increasing pressure rather than a short and intense campaign intended to destroy, not dissuade and punish [e]
Commitment to major strikes
- Operation LINEBACKER I [r]: A U.S. bombing campaign targeted against the specific North Vietnamese infrastructure of the Ho Chi Minh trail, with the operational-level goal of interrupting the supply line to People's Army of Viet Nam conventional troops in the South. [e]
- Operation LINEBACKER II [r]: The most intense air campaign of the Vietnam War, directed against North Vietnam to force it back to the Paris Peace Talks; a peace agreement was signed one month after the start of the 11 days of attacks [e]
