Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The United States Air Force (USAF) Strategic Air Command (SAC) B-52D Stratofortress (serial number 55-0103) of the 4252d Strategic Wing had a full bomb load and broke up and caught fire after the aircraft aborted takeoff at Kadena Air Base while it was conducting an Operation Arc Light bombing mission to South Vietnam during the Vietnam War. [4]
[6] 877 Republic of Vietnam aircraft were captured at war's end (1975) [7] Of the 2,750 [8] aircraft and helicopters received by South Vietnam, only about 308 survived (240 flew to Thailand or US warships [9] and 68 returned to the United States [10]). In total, the US, South Vietnam and Australia, lost about 12,500 aircraft, helicopters and UAVs.
B-52s were instrumental in destroying enemy concentrations besieging Khe Sanh in 1968, [2] and in 1972 at An Loc and Kontum. Bombs from B-52 Arc Light strike exploding. Arc Light was re-activated at Andersen on February 8, 1972, when President Richard Nixon resumed bombing of North Vietnam in an effort to move peace talks along. Operation ...
B-52s are periodically refurbished at USAF maintenance depots such as Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma. [225] Even while the USAF works on the new Long Range Strike Bomber , it intends to keep the B-52H in service until 2050, which is 95 years after the B-52 first entered service, an unprecedented length of service for any aircraft, civilian or ...
B-52s at Andersen AFB, Guam during Operation Linebacker II. Operation Linebacker II was a strategic bombing campaign conducted by the United States against targets in North Vietnam from 18 to 29 December 1972, as part of the Vietnam War. This operation was a particularly dangerous and destructive two weeks for the B-52 and its crews.
In total, the U.S. lost 3,374 fixed wing aircraft in combat during the war; in both North and South Vietnam. According to the North Vietnamese, 31% were shot down by S-75 missiles (1,046 aircraft, or 6 missiles per one kill); 60% were shot down by anti-aircraft guns; and 9% were shot down by MiG fighters.
To reassure Thieu of American resolve, Nixon ordered a massive bombing campaign against North Vietnam utilizing B-52s and tactical aircraft in Operation Linebacker II, which began on December 18 with large raids against both Hanoi and the port of Haiphong. Nixon justified his actions by blaming the impasse in negotiations on the North Vietnamese.
Provisional wing at Andersen for Linebacker I, II 1972–1973 (Vietnam War) 91st Bombardment Wing (Heavy), Glasgow AFB, Montana; Activated to replace: 4141st Strategic Wing B-52D, 1963–1968 322nd Bombardment Squadron Inactivated in 1968; Glasgow AFB closed; Became 91st Strategic Missile Wing in 1968 at Minot AFB