Air Campaign 008 - Operation Linebacker I 1972 - The First High-Tech Air War (2019) COMP.pdf

(9046 KB) Pobierz
C A M P A I G N
A I R
OPERATION
LINEBACKER I
1972
The first high-tech air war
MARSHALL L. MICHEL III
|
I L LU S T R AT E D B Y A D A M TO O B Y
A I R C A M PA I G N
OPERATION
LINEBACKER I
1972
The first high-tech air war
MARSHALL L. MICHEL III |
ILLU S TR ATED BY ADAM TOO BY
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
CHRONOLOGY
ATTACKERS’ CAPABILITIES
DEFENDERS’ CAPABILITIES
THE PRELUDE
THE CAMPAIGN
ANALYSIS AND CONCLUSIONS
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX
4
6
8
11
12
19
90
92
95
4
INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
Nixon and Kissinger,
photographed at New
York’s Waldorf Astoria
Hotel discussing obstacles
to a peace deal in
Vietnam. Achieving a
settlement was key to
Nixon’s 1972 re-election
campaign. (Bettmann/
Getty)
At the beginning of 1972, the United States and North Vietnam had entirely different plans
for the year. For the Americans it was an election year and President Richard Nixon, who
would be running for a second term, and his National Security Advisor, Henry Kissinger,
had a number of initiatives planned that they hoped would guarantee a victory. The most
critical issue was the Vietnam War. While the Paris peace talks were at a stalemate it seemed
probable that the war would continue winding down. The Vietnamization program – under
which South Vietnamese forces were being trained and equipped to take over their own
defense – was proceeding well and before the election the final withdrawal of American
ground combat troops would be complete. At the same time, there were two diplomatic
initiatives that stood on their own but could also influence the peace process. Nixon planned
on becoming the first US President to visit Communist China in February, and in May he
would sign the SALT (Strategic Arms Limitation Talks) treaty with General Secretary Leonid
Brezhnev of the Soviet Union.
The North Vietnamese thought otherwise, although in their own way they also sought
an end to the Vietnam War. They had steadily built up strong ground forces in three areas
along the South Vietnamese border, in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) in North Vietnam
proper, in the Central Highlands, and on the Cambodian border across from Saigon in
preparation for a full-scale invasion in the spring. The North Vietnamese diplomatic
sources and their anti-war friends in the United States all agreed that because of public
opinion and the upcoming election any US response would be muted, especially since
much of America’s air power had been withdrawn and US ground troops would not be
used in combat.
American intelligence had watched the build-up and noted that it seemed to be much
greater than normal, so Nixon launched some bombing raids on the supply areas and ordered
more B-52s sent to the region. However, given the importance of the upcoming meetings
with China and the Soviet Union, the patrons of North Vietnam, these responses were
restrained.
5
On March 30 the North Vietnamese began a three-pronged attack against South Vietnam.
The first attacks came across the DMZ by three People’s Army of Vietnam (PAVN) divisions,
followed by another major push thorough the Central Highlands, and then by an attack from
Cambodia aimed at Saigon. For the first time the PAVN used a large number of tanks, and
quickly began to rout many South Vietnamese units.
But the North Vietnamese badly miscalculated. Having never fought a conventional war,
they did not realize how exposed a conventional attack – with its supply lines and massed
troops and armor – would be to air power, and they underestimated how rapidly the US could
move large numbers of aircraft to the region. They also did not realize that the US now had
several new systems designed to transform the effectiveness of air attacks, from laser-guided
bombs to the first helicopter-mounted wire-guided missiles. Perhaps most importantly they
underestimated Nixon’s willingness to use air power in an almost unrestrained way. For the
next six and a half months the PAVN was pounded by American air power, both in South
Vietnam and in North Vietnam, suffering over 100,000 casualties with little military progress
to show for it. The campaign was
Linebacker,
and the technology it brought to bear was the
start of an air power revolution.
Despite the invasion,
Nixon continued and even
increased the pace of
America’s withdrawal
from Vietnam. Here, US
Secretary of Defense
Melvin Laird holds a press
conference to explain the
reduction in US troop
levels, the so-called
“Vietnamization Record,”
in Washington DC, on
October 16, 1972.
(Consolidated News
Pictures/Keystone/Getty
Images)

Plik z chomika:

Inne pliki z tego folderu:

Inne foldery tego chomika:

Zgłoś jeśli naruszono regulamin