30 FLYPAST March 2018
VIETNAM MiGs
turned off in the attack and attack
on visual. This will eliminate the
jamming equipment, this we are
agreed upon.
“However, two questions remain:
firstly, how do we judge the distance
between MiG and B-52; and secondly,
how does the pilot find his way to
the bomber without radar? The pilots
have already stated that they can see
an object as far as 200m at night as all
American aircraft are lighted to avoid
collision.
“We have also gathered from
our intelligence reports that
American pilots have
confirmed the existence ofseven standard lights and two yellow
ones on the B-52’s tail. There are two
red lights on the left wing and two
green ones on the right wing. We have
heard from Nguyen Dang Rang that,
based on the lights, we can calculate
the distance between MiG and B-52.”Blind side
The night of December 26 witnessed
the greatest number of aircraft to
date used by the Americans to bomb
Hanoi. During the night MiGs
from the 921st FR flew
six missions to intercept
B-52s.
The next morning atthe most notable being Nguyen Van
Coc, Nguyen Nhat Chieu, Pham
Ngoc Lan and Pham Tuan.
It had been realised that all B-52s
had eight jamming devices to thwart
MiG radar sets whenever they were
turned on. The VPAF was also
aware that each Phantom carried
missiles that could be used against
any attacking MiG.
An extract from a diary written
by someone who was present at
the meeting noted the thoughts of
the chairman, Commander Dao
Dinh Luyen: “We must assume that
our radars
must bePhantom killer
With a host of victory tallies on its nose, MiG-21PFM ‘Red 5020’ is
displayed at the Museum of the Air Defence and Air Force at Hanoi.
This MiG was attached to the 927th FR. On July 5, 1972 Nguyen Tiem
Sam shot down two F-4 Phantoms in this aircraft. Others who fl ew
it included Le Thanh Dao (six kills), Nguyen Van Nghia
(fi ve) and Nguyen Doc Soat (six).Above right
Sgts Robert E Sloan
(right) and Vincent M
Glasener of the 559th
Tactical Fighter Squadron
adjust an F-4 bomb rack
at Cam Ranh Bay in
December 1968.Below
North Vietnamese anti-
aircraft artillery proved
the biggest threat to
aircraft, accounting
for 1,580 US machines
downed during the
course of
the war.