Project CHECO Southeast Asia Report. Air-to-Air Encounters Over North Vietnam 1 January

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Project CHECO Southeast Asia Report. Air-to-Air Encounters Over North Vietnam 1 January - 30 June 1967

J. C. Heffron

Air-to-air engagements over North Vietnam (NVN) during the first six months of 1967 were marked by an intensity of battle unmatched in the entire two previous years of air strikes to the north. In this one six-month period, USAF pilots downed 46 MIG aircraft, which represents 75 percent of the total kills to date. As evidence of the increased use of MIG-17 and MIG-21 aircraft, five more USAF planes were downed bringing the total USAF air-to-air losses to 12. The period is significant not only for the rise in MIG activity but for the marked desire to use the MIG weapons systems for active air defense. Noteworthy developments in fighter aircraft tactics by the North Vietnamese Air Force (NVNAF) and the United States resulted from the lessons learned during these engagements. To leave the description of air encounters to a comparison of kills, would slight many other factors that influence air-to-air combat. Evaluating the expanded NVNAF commitment to air defense, along with other defense capabilities, gives a perspective for the actual threat posed by MIG aircraft to the U.S. Air Force.