Vietnam's air defense posture changes war perception

The Vietnam War, especially the “Dien Bien Phu in the air” battle in December 1972, changed the perception of the role of Air Defense forces in war.

Russian experts directly "demonstrated" and shot down an American plane.

On July 24, the Vietnam Air Defense Missile Corps celebrated its 50th anniversary of establishment and combat. On this day exactly half a century ago, as we often say, there was a "trial by fire" of the youngest force of the Vietnam People's Army at that time.

The anniversary of the founding of a military branch that has achieved world-shaking feats has a direct contribution from veterans of the Soviet Air Defense Forces (now part of the Air Defense Forces in the Anti-Missile-Space Defense Service of the Russian Federation).

In Vietnam in 1965, Soviet military experts began training Vietnamese air defense missile soldiers how to "work" with one of the most modern air defense weapons at that time, the S-75 "Dvina" missile.

More than 5 years before its presence in Vietnam, the S-75 had demonstrated its combat performance. On May 1, 1960, this type of missile shot down the American Lockheed U-2 spy plane, which was still considered invincible, at an altitude of 22km, in the sky of the Ural-Soviet Union.

Currently, Vietnam is still using S-75 Dvina air defense missile systems.

In the context of the air war that the United States waged, with American planes fiercely bombing North Vietnam, the training cycle of missile troops for Vietnam was carried out by Soviet officers and non-commissioned officers using the direct demonstration method.

At first, Soviet military experts also directly participated in combat in the Vietnamese air defense-air force formation.

On July 24, 1965, from an ambush site 60 km northeast of Hanoi, the 63rd and 64th battalions of the 236th Missile Regiment (which, to keep it secret, was then called the 236th Anti-Aircraft Regiment) under the command of Majors Mozhayev and Ilyinykh shot down three F-4 "Phantom" fighter-bombers.

The American F-4 "Phantom" flew at an altitude of 5 km, beyond the effective range of anti-aircraft guns. Therefore, the missile attack was completely unexpected, leaving the American pilots no time to react or orient themselves. This was the first victory of the famous Soviet anti-aircraft missile against American aircraft.

Later, according to the Decree issued by President Ho Chi Minh, this day was recognized as the Traditional Day of the Vietnam Air Defense Missile Corps.

American F-4 "Phantom" fighter bomber wrecked in Vietnam

After the heavy failure of the "Rolling Thunder" campaign from March 1965 to November 1968, the US Air Force built the Differential Air Combat Training (DACT) project in the TOPGUN training program to specifically deal with Vietnamese interceptor fighters.

After that, the US continuously conducted air strikes in the North, especially the two campaigns Linebacker 1 (April to October 1972) and Linebacker 2 (December 1972). This was an opportunity for the Vietnamese air defense missile force to train, mature and achieve glorious feats.

Vietnamese student surpasses teacher, makes earth-shaking feat

At that time, Vietnamese missile soldiers were all carefully selected students, highly educated, deeply patriotic and very diligent. Of course, there were mistakes that led to unnecessary losses, but the Vietnamese missile soldiers made rapid progress.

By the late 1960s, Vietnamese air defense missile soldiers had mastered combat skills no less than their Soviet teachers.

American aircraft attacked the Cau Gie intersection (photo taken from A-4 Skyhawk aircraft)

As for the art of camouflage and the speed of deploying the S-75 battlefield, the Vietnamese soldiers were even more skillful and intelligent than what Soviet experts had conveyed. Reality proved this: Instead of 3 hours, the Vietnamese missile troops only needed 40 minutes!

In December 1972, Vietnamese air defense missile regiments, along with artillery and fighter pilots, coordinated to smash the large-scale "Laynbekker-2" air campaign deployed by the US Air Force in the skies over Hanoi and Hai Phong.

During this campaign, the US lost 34 B-52 strategic bombers, of which 15 "flying fortresses" (according to official US data) were destroyed by anti-aircraft missiles. As a result, the Paris Agreement was signed in 1973 with the most favorable terms for Vietnam.

But in reality, the American defeat was terrible. According to the announcement of the Vietnamese side, the air defense and air force shot down 81 aircraft of all types, including 34 B-52s and 5 F-111s.

The US side only acknowledged the loss of 15 aircraft, which were those shot down on the spot and those whose pilots parachuted and were captured alive (that is, only acknowledged cases of shooting down with clear witnesses and evidence).

If we calculate the percentage of planes that were hit by bullets and tried to fly out to sea and then crashed (most B-52 planes shot down in Hai Phong tried to escape to sea and parachute to be rescued by the US Navy) or crashed in Laos and Thailand, then the data from the Vietnamese side is more reliable and well-founded.

The historical feat that the Vietnamese people created, before and after that no air defense force of any country could do. Even the experts of the Soviet Union and China at that time also thought that no weapon could take down the B-52, but the Vietnamese people did what seemed impossible.

On the Vietnam battlefield, for the first time the B-52 participated in a real war and was also the first time it was shot down by two weapons that up until then the US had not considered anything: the Mig-21 aircraft and especially the SAM-2 (S-75 Dvina) anti-aircraft missile.

The achievements of the Vietnamese air defense and air force shattered the illusions of the US Air Force about an unrivaled "super flying fortress". Vietnam's valuable experiences were later acknowledged by Soviet experts as "the most creative in the world".

Vietnam's missile force has defeated the prestige of the US B-52 bombers.

Vietnamese experienceMalechange war perception

Today, 50 years after the first Soviet anti-aircraft missile batteries opened fire from the outskirts of Hanoi, Vietnam's skies are more securely protected by S-300 missiles, part of a more modern air defense weapons system produced by Russia - the successor to the Soviet Union.

Obviously, these missiles cannot be compared with the legendary "Dvina" system: these are weapons of different generations, with different combat characteristics. It is possible to believe that the most powerful Russian missiles will demonstrate their full potential in the hands of Vietnamese soldiers.

Today, the Russian members who participated in that glorious event are all retired and demobilized soldiers. But all of them still retain their military titles and proudly wear their medals and preserve the awards of the Soviet Union and Vietnam that they were awarded during the war half a century ago.

In the exhibition gallery of the Russian Air Defense Forces Museum in the village of Zarya, on the outskirts of Moscow, documents and artifacts about the Vietnam War occupy a particularly solemn place.

Moreover, “the experience of using missiles in Vietnam half a century ago forced us to change our perception of the role of air defense forces in modern warfare,” said retired Lieutenant General and doctor of military sciences Anatoly Nogovitsyn.

B-52 wreckage crashed at Huu Tiep Lake, Ngoc Ha village (Hanoi)

General Nogovitsyn emphasized that Vietnam is the only country in the world that has won the fight against American imperialism. It is a special event in modern human history, the feat of the Vietnamese people is closely linked to the people, weapons and equipment of the Soviet Union.

Previously, it was thought that air defense forces were purely defensive systems and could not have a major impact on the outcome of the war.

However, the war in the skies over North Vietnam proved the opposite: with a strong, well-organized air defense system equipped with advanced anti-aircraft missiles, we can win the war, even in a defensive position, and still defeat a more powerful enemy!

Later, the Yugoslav air defense force learned and successfully applied this valuable experience, becoming the first country in the world to shoot down an American F-117A stealth aircraft on March 27, 1999 with another Soviet missile, the S-125 Neva/Pechora (SA-3 Goa).

In fact, Vietnam has forced the world's great powers to comprehensively and thoroughly reconsider a series of theories and postulates on the art of military campaigns and tactics.

Also through the reality of the Vietnam War, especially in the "Dien Bien Phu in the air" campaign against the American B-52 bombers, the importance of air defense systems and the understanding of the role of missile forces have increased many times over!.

According to Dat Viet Newspaper