Issue No 21 THE AVIATION HISTORIAN 65
increased by 60 per cent with the arrival of newly
graduated pilots returning from training in the
Soviet Union, and air combats became a daily
occurrence during October–December. Nearly a
quarter of the Thunderchiefs delivering attacks
in the RP-VIA area aborted their missions and
were forced to drop their bombs off-target when
intercepted. Most of the effort was undertaken
by the MiG-17s but the MiG-21s also increased
their attacks, claiming some 13 kills during
September–December. (The Americans, however,
acknowledged only three aircraft destroyed and
two probables due to the Fishbeds.)
During the same period, the MiG-21s made
efforts to bring down Douglas EB-66 Destroyer
electronic countermeasures (ECM) aircraft tasked
with jamming North Vietnamese radar and radio
communications. Although the MiG-21s were not
successful — these precious assets were zealously
guarded by a barrier of Phantoms — the USAF
was forced to move its jamming orbits further
back, decreasing their efficiency.
Various American and South Vietnamese
air units participated in strikes against North
Vietnam, but the main effort was undertaken by
the two USAF Wings of Thunderchiefs based in
Thailand and two Wings of F-4 Phantoms, the
latter comprising the 366th Tactical Fighter Wing
(TFW) at Da Nang, South Vietnam, and the 8th
TFW “Wolf Pack” at Ubon, Thailand. The 8th
was also assigned escort duties for the fighter-
bombers, which meant gaining and maintaining
air superiority over North Vietnam. However, the
unit was becoming increasingly distracted from
this important task because of a growing demand
for bombing missions.Setting the trap
To sustain the increasing mission rate required
by the Pentagon, it was decided that the 8th TFW
should be engaged on night-attack missions as
part of Operation Rapid Roger. Up to this point,
night operations had been assigned to specialised
USAF Martin B-57 and US Navy Grumman A-6The upgraded MiG-21PF Fishbed-D was introduced into VPAF service in April 1966. One of the first was “4225”, an
early production example completed with the original fin — a broader version was fitted to later production aircraft
to improve stability. The PF variant incorporated extra fuel tanks behind the cockpit, giving it a “fatter neck”.
ABOVE The F-105D undertook the lion’s share of Rolling Thunder missions against North Vietnam, the type being
able to carry an impressive bomb package, but lacking the agility of the Phantom. This example wears the “JJ”
tailcodes of the 34th TFS, based at Korat in Thailand, and carries an AN/ALQ-71 ECM pod on its outboard pylon.
BERNARD RECK VIA WARREN THOMPSONALBERT GRANDOLINI COLLECTION