why did operation rolling thunder fail
Under these conditions, measures to observe the regime of camouflage and radio silence became especially important. From beginning to end, Rolling Thunder was hampered by a policy of gradual escalation, which robbed air strikes of their impact and gave North Vietnam time to recover and adjust. [27] Five of the downed crewmen were rescued, but it was a portent of things to come.[28]. This massive bombardment was intended to put military pressure on North Vietnams communist leaders and reduce their capacity to wage war against the U.S.-supported government of South Vietnam. Another 370,000500,000 civilians worked part-time. Pilots from Takhli and Korat Airbases shot down between 19651972, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Operation_Rolling_Thunder&oldid=1142278521, This page was last edited on 1 March 2023, at 14:38. [58][o], Compounding these issues was the one-year rotation policy adopted by the Pentagon in Southeast Asia. [45], On 29 June 1965, airstrikes against the North's petroleum, oil, and lubricants (POL) storage areas were authorized by Johnson. The North Vietnamese guerrillas knew the jungle and made use. [16] The civilians and the military were divided, however, on the manner of affecting Hanoi's will to support the southern insurgency. By the beginning of 1965, the policy was reversed in the belief that without further American action the Saigon government could not survive. Due to altered tactics and the increased use of electronic radar jamming, the record of SAM kills decreased over time. Operation Rolling Thunder, one of the most famous engagements in the history of the "Americanized" period of the Vietnam War, came to an end after negotiations gave way to a mutual agreement to conclude it. Operation Rolling Thunder's strategic objectives were never met. However, what most people don't know or simply fail to recognize is that despite the massive scale of Rolling . Although the first aircrews arriving in-theater were highly experienced, the rapidly growing tempo and ever-expanding length of the operation demanded more personnel. A repeat the next day resulted in a classic dogfight with F-100 Super Sabres and F-105s fighting with more MiG-17s. In total, the USAF lost eleven aircraft to air and ground forces, while the VPAF lost three of their fighters. By comparison, air-defense guns brought down 60% and 9% were shot down by MiG fighters. 3 Why was Operation Rolling Thunder was a failure? - Approved on February 24, 1965, by President Lyndon Johnson, implementation was delayed until March 2, 1965. [22], These actions led to the plans for a sustained air campaign being reconsidered. There was widespread concern that an air campaign could lead to a wider conflict involving the Chinese or Soviets. The operation had the aim of destroying North Vietnam's transportation network, industrial base, and air defenses to support ground operations in South Vietnam. Attainment of these objectives was made difficult by both the restraints imposed upon the U.S. and its allies by Cold War exigencies, and the military aid and assistance received by North Vietnam from its communist allies, the Soviet Union, the People's Republic of China and North Korea. [30], Although some of these restrictions were later loosened or rescinded, Johnson (with McNamara's support) kept a tight rein on the campaign, which continuously infuriated the American military commanders, right-wing members of Congress, and even some within the administration itself. For various reasonsincluding fear of provoking a confrontation with North Vietnam's Russian and Chinese alliesall sorts of restrictions and constraints were imposed. [95][v] The limited goals entailed in American foreign policy and the military's goal of total victory were simply not reconcilable. The first is hcw the Ame ican policy-making 3 ,.,tam perceived the problem. The Americans were shocked when six of their aircraft were shot down during the mission. Operation Rolling Thunders strategic objectives were never met. [15] Constantly affecting this decision-making process were fears of possible counter moves or outright intervention by the Soviet Union, China, or both. Destroying industry didn't have an effect, as China and the USSR were sending military supplies to North Vietnam. [88], Although the MiG-21 lacked the long-range radar, missiles, and heavy bomb load of its contemporary multi-mission U.S. fighters, with its RP-21 Sapfir radar it proved a challenging adversary in the hands of experienced pilots, especially when used in high-speed hit-and-run attacks under GCI control. [43], On 5 April 1965, U.S. reconnaissance discovered that the North Vietnamese were constructing positions for what could only be surface-to-air missile (SAM) batteries. [127], From April 1965 to November 1968, in 268 air battles conducted over North Vietnam, VPAF claimed to have shot down 244 US or RVNAF's aircraft, and they lost 85 MiGs. [25] The military was still not satisfied, since, for the time being, the bombing campaign was to be limited to targets below the 19th parallel, each of which would have to be cleared individually by the President and McNamara. The Air Force, however, saw its ratio stagnate and actually decrease, for a short time being less than one. [55] Lack of adequate all-weather and night-bombing capability made it necessary for the majority of U.S. missions to be conducted during daylight hours, thereby easing the burden on the air defense forces of North Vietnam. These command and control complexities grew even more tangled with the division of the aerial effort into four competing operational areas (those in South Vietnam, North Vietnam, and Laos (both north and south). en.wikipedia.org 28 27 27 comments Best Add a Comment NoDoze- 5 yr. ago The Pacific Theater in WW2 is not a very good comparison. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. It should be self-evident that in order to moun Continue Reading VanDeMark, p. 69. Why was Operation Rolling Thunder was a failure? They continuously claimed that the campaign was working, yet they also had to continuously demand greater latitude in order to make the campaign succeed. Operation Rolling Thunder was a gradual and sustained aerial bombardment campaign conducted by the United States (U.S.) 2nd Air Division (later Seventh Air Force), U.S. Navy, and Republic of Vietnam Air Force (RVNAF) against the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) from 2 March 1965 until 2 November 1968, during the Vietnam War.. Airborne early warning aircraft had difficulty detecting the fighters at low altitudes and the aircraft themselves were difficult to see visually. Failure of Operation Rolling Thunder The bombing campaign failed because the bombs often fell into empty jungle, missing their targets. The civilians thought in terms of changing the regime's behavior while the military men were more concerned with breaking its will. [66] That estimate was later revised downward from a high of 7,000 in early 1967 to less than a thousand by 1972. Failure of Operation Rolling Thunder The bombing campaign failed because the bombs often fell into empty jungle, missing their targets. June 29, 2022; seattle seahawks schedule 2023; psalms in spanish for funeral New ECM devices had hurriedly been deployed to protect aircraft from missile attacks, but they remained subject to frequent breakdowns because of climate conditions in Southeast Asia. why did operation rolling thunder fail. The operation continued, with occasional suspensions, until President Johnson, under increasing domestic political pressure, halted it on October 31, 1968. It was followed by Operation Steel Tiger (April to November 1965). [123], Studying the outcome of the events in Rolling Thunder, the Air Force and Navy came to very different conclusions on how to adapt. [3] Figures on U.S. Navy and Marine Corps casualties were harder to come by. In the more heavily bombed southern panhandle, entire villages moved into tunnel complexes for the duration. "By denying Momyer, they were really denying Westmoreland and keeping air operations against the DRV under their control. In 1968 the Navy introduced the TOPGUN program, a move that was welcomed by the F-8 pilots who had been campaigning for this all along. Operation Rolling Thunder was a gradual and sustained aerial bombardment campaign conducted by the United States (U.S.) 2nd Air Division (later Seventh Air Force), U.S. Navy, and Republic of Vietnam Air Force (RVNAF) against the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) from 2 March 1965 until 2 November 1968, during the Vietnam War. [20] Johnson later noted: By keeping a lid on all the designated targets, I knew I could keep the control of the war in my own hands. The daily target selection meetings were soon replaced by weekly sessions and finally by the creation of bi-weekly "force packages. The Air Force simply could not effectively interdict North Vietnams supply routes to the South. This was published at the end of August as CINCPAC OPLAN 37-64, which included the "94 target list". The operation consumed numerous resources. [49], Rolling Thunder exposed many problems within the American military services committed to it and tended to exacerbate others. Among these issues was the question of who would command and who These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads. After attacking their targets (usually by dive-bombing) the strike forces would either fly directly back to Thailand or exit over the relatively safe waters of the Gulf of Tonkin. Operation Rolling Thunder. Airpower itself is far from controversial. How much did Operation Rolling Thunder cost? 1. What was Operation Rolling Thunder did it work? 153154. The POL attacks were halted on 4 September, after U.S. intelligence admitted that there was "no evidence yet of any shortages of POL in North Vietnam. Westmoreland referred to "an almost paranoid fear of nuclear confrontation with the Soviet Union" and a "phobia" that the Chinese would invade. It cost the United States nearly 900 million in aircraft damage while only costing North Vietnam 300 million dollars worth of damage. There was also little consultation between Johnson and the military chiefs during the target selection process. Tet merely served notice to the administration that the public wanted either victory or an end to the open-ended commitment of American resources and manpower. [104], Disappointed by perceived political defeats at home and hoping that Hanoi would enter into negotiations, President Johnson announced on 31 March 1968, that all bombing north of the 19th parallel would cease. The Johnson administration cited a number of reasons. This "guerrilla warfare in the air" proved very successful. By clicking Accept All, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. In the same period, only 31 MiGs killed were claimed by U.S. aircraft and things worsened in the summer with 13 U.S. aircraft lost to MiGs and only 11 MiGs shot down were claimed. [107] The North Vietnamese responded by doubling the number of anti-aircraft batteries in the panhandle, but most of their SAM batteries remained deployed around Hanoi and Haiphong. The Operation Rolling Thunder bombing campaign began on March 2, 1965, partly in response to a Viet Cong attack on a U.S. air base at Pleiku. First into the target areas were specialized Iron Hand flak suppression missions. The American military had advocated such strikes since the inception of the operation, believing that to deny North Vietnam its POL would cause its military effort to grind to a halt. "[24], It was believed that selective pressure, controlled by Washington, combined with diplomatic overtures, would prevail and compel Hanoi to end its aggression. [114] 45 percent of casualties in 1965 were civilians and logistics workers while that figure was 80 percent in 1966. [85], VPAF flew their interceptors with superb guidance from ground controllers, who positioned the MiGs in perfect ambush battle stations. [112], The CIA privately estimated that damage inflicted in the north totaled $500million in total damage. [57] Air Force Chief of Staff John P. McConnell also opposed sending the bombers into the air defense environment in the north and limited B-52 strikes to Route Package One. Operation Rolling Thunder was a demonstration of America's near total air supremacy during the Vietnam War. Linebacker saw the implementation of the strategy that US military leaders had advocated to President Johnson in 1965, and the commanders were given the necessary latitude by the Nixon administration to get the job done. The trigger for the operation was the Vietcong attack on the US base, Camp Holloway, which killed 8 American soldiers and injured hundreds more. [33], Navy strikes were launched from the aircraft carriers of Task Force 77, cruising off the North Vietnamese coast at Yankee Station. This was the first time that U.S aircraft had been attacked by SAMs. One was shot down and three were damaged by SA-2 missiles. At first, the strikes appeared highly successful, destroying tank farms near Hanoi and Haiphong and leading the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to estimate that 70 percent of North Vietnam's oil facilities had been destroyed for the loss of 43 aircraft. [130] It was not until 1975, however, that the Air Force introduced Exercise Red Flag to match the performance of the Navy's TOPGUN.[131]. It was disturbed by the magnitude of the offensive only in that its military and civilian leadership had constantly reassured them that American goals were being achieved and that there was "a light at the end of the tunnel." Failure of Operation Rolling Thunder: The bombing campaign failed because the bombs often fell into empty jungle, missing their Vietcong targets. [68], Backing up the guns were the fighter aircraft of the VPAF, which originally consisted of only 53 MiG-17 fighter aircraft. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. It lasted much longer than expected and resulted not only in the loss of military significance for the United States but also damaged the reputation of its leaders as the protectors of democratic values and freedoms in general. Aftermath With imports into North Vietnam down 35-50% and with PAVN forces stalled, Hanoi became willing to resume talks and make concessions. They were fast enough for hit and run ambush operations and they were also maneuverable enough to shock the American fighter community by shooting down more advanced F-8 Crusaders and F-105 Thunderchiefs, which had to quickly develop new tactics. Rolling Thunder lasted until the end of October. [77], North Vietnam's deployment of SAMs forced American pilots to make hard choices: either approach targets at higher altitudes (to avoid anti-aircraft fire) and become prey to SAMs, or fly lower to avoid the missiles and become the target of anti-aircraft batteries. Forty years ago today, the U.S. launched Operation Eagle Claw to rescue 52 U.S. Embassy staff personnel held hostage in Iran. From March 1965 through October 1968, naval aviators flew over 140,000 sorties from Yankee Station. These anti-aircraft guns were lethal at close range, the Vietnamese shot down six aircraft, and more than half of the remaining U.S aircraft suffered damage from groundfire. The Vietcong guerrillas knew the jungle and. A further refinement of the plan was developed by William and McGeorge Bundy on 29 November 1964, with a more moderate target list, which the Joint Chiefs opposed. [74] When the nation's lines of communication came under attack, railroad supply trains and truck convoys were split into smaller elements which traveled only at night. However, after an SA-2 shot down some U.S aircraft, the U.S bombers began to descend below three kilometers. Instead it had the opposite effect. The MiGs made fast and devastating attacks against US formations from several directions (usually the MiG-17s performed head-on attacks and the MiG-21s attacked from the rear). If China reacted to our slow escalation by threatening to retaliate, wed have plenty of time to ease off the bombing. During 1965, 97,000 North Vietnamese civilians volunteered to work full-time in repairing the damage inflicted by U.S. bombs. [37] Slowly moving away from the destruction of fixed targets, "armed reconnaissance" missions, in which small formations of aircraft patrolled highways, railroads, and rivers, searching for targets of opportunity, were authorized. First, to halt the invasion of the South; second, to force Hanoi to resume peace negotiations. Supported by its communist allies, the Soviet Union and China, North Vietnam fielded a potent mixture of MiG fighter-interceptor jets and sophisticated air-to-air and surface-to-air weapons that created one of the most effective air defenses ever faced by American military aviators. As a result, President Johnson declared that a complete bombing halt over North Vietnam would go into effect on 1 November 1968, just prior to the U.S. presidential election. "[63] The communist leadership declared "a people's war against the air war of destructioneach citizen is a soldier, each village, street, and plant a fortress on the anti-American battlefront. The North's airfields, which, according to any rational targeting policy, should have been hit first in the campaign, were also off-limits. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Background The purpose of the Operation was to slow down the transportation of any kind of supplies for the Nguyer Hue Offensive (known as the Easter Offensive), an invasion of the Republic of South Vietnam, that had been launched on the 30th of March 1972. ", Only one South Vietnam-based squadron (based at. Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features. [103] Within months Clifford too began to adopt the views of the man he had replaced, gradually becoming convinced that the U.S. had to withdraw from an open-ended commitment to the war. See full answer below. The Chinese reaction would be instant and total. [116] At the end of 1967, the CIA estimated 27,900 military and 48,000 civilians killed and wounded. Food shortages in North Vietnam became widespread, especially in the urban areas, as rice farmers went into the military or volunteered for service repairing bomb damage. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". It does not store any personal data. These missions increased from two to 200 sorties per week by the end of 1965. The North Vietnamese guerrillas knew the jungle and made use of elaborate underground bases and tunnels to shelter from US bombs, and often re-used unexploded American bombs against US soldiers. As the bombing campaign approached its final stage during 1967 and 1968, its chief purpose had slowly transformed from psychological and strategic persuasion to the interdiction of supply and material flows in North Vietnam and the destruction of military infrastructure. The Operation Flaming Dart raids were later followed by Operation Rolling Thunder, which began a 44-month campaign on 2 March 1965.: 59 Other aerial campaigns were also waged during the war. During Operation Rolling Thunder, the first major air campaign of the Vietnam War, the Navy and Air Force aimed to limit North Vietnam's ability to support the Viet Cong and other Communist groups in Southeast Asia. 2 How much did Operation Rolling Thunder cost? The brutal tactics used by US troops often drove more Vietnamese civilians to support the Vietcong. It was started in an effort to demoralise the North Vietnamese people and to undermine the capacity of the government in North Vietnam to govern. Both SAM sites were devoid of missiles and equipment, as the Vietnamese had substituted white-painted bundles of bamboo for the fake SA-2s. [42] Until the third week of April, Rolling Thunder had enjoyed at least equal status with air missions conducted in the south. FOREWORD awakened when the Air Force was forced to adapt some of its resources and doctrine to a jungle war in South Vietnam. This dilemma was further compounded by an Air Force policy which dictated universal pilot training while proscribing involuntary second combat tours, which combined, had the effect of rotating personnel to different aircraft. On 13 February a new plan was approved and given the name Rolling Thunder, merging targets and priorities from the lists produced by the Bundys and the JCS. [87], The U.S. Air Force and the US Navy continued to have expectations of the F-4 Phantom, assuming that the massive arms, the perfect on-board radar, the highest speed and acceleration properties, coupled with the new tactics would provide "Phantoms" an advantage over the MiGs. "[100], It had now become clear to President Johnson that McNamara had become a liability to the administration. It was estimated that the damage done to North Vietnam by the bombing raids was $300 million. This policy compounded already existing tensions between airmen and their Army and Navy counterparts. Naval aircraft, which had shorter ranges (and carried lighter bomb loads) than their air force counterparts, approached their targets from seaward with the majority of their strikes flown against coastal targets. [119], Rolling Thunder had begun as a campaign of psychological and strategic persuasion, but it changed very quickly to interdiction, a tactical mission. A sophisticated cat and mouse game then ensued between North Vietnamese radar operators and the Wild Weasel pilots. [79], The Wild Weasels also carried electronic countermeasures (ECM) equipment to protect themselves. 275277; Morocco, pps. [76], On 24 July 1965, four USAF F-4C Phantoms took part in an airstrike against the Dien Bien Phu munitions storage depot and the Lang Chi munitions factory west of Hanoi. Operation Rolling Thunder had had. The system proved to be durable, well built, easily repaired, and practically impossible to shut down. "[13][c], Questions then arose among the U.S. administration and military leadership as to the best method by which Hanoi (the perceived locus of the insurgency) could be dissuaded from its course of action. Johnson refused to take such a provocative action, however, and such an operation was not implemented until 1972. But this controlso essential for preventing World War IIIwould be lost the moment we unleashed a total assault on the Northfor that would be rape rather than seductionand then there would be no turning back. They directed flak suppression strikes and carried AGM-45 Shrike anti-radiation missiles (another Navy development), which homed in on the radar systems of the SAMs. This could distract enemy pilots, or even occasionally cause them to drop ordnance prematurely to lighten their aircraft enough to dodge the nonexistent missile. Also struck were the Thai Nguyen steel complex (origin of the Pardo's Push), thermal and electrical power plants, ship and rail repair facilities, and warehouses. [46] The loss of the oil storage tank farms and refineries proved to be only a short-term inconvenience for North Vietnam, however, since Hanoi had anticipated just such a campaign and had during that time dispersed the majority of its POL stocks in 190-litre (50USgal) drums across the length of the country.