During the Vietnam War, thousands of U.S. aircraft were lost to antiaircraft artillery (AAA), surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), and fighter interceptors (MiG)s. The great majority of U.S. combat losses in all areas of Southeast Asia were to AAA. The Royal Australian Air Force also flew combat and airlift missions in South Vietnam, as did the Republic of Vietnam. Among fixed-wing aircraft, more F-4 Phantoms were lost than any other type in service with any nation.
The United States lost 578 Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) (554 over Vietnam and 24 over China). [1]
There were about 11,846 U.S helicopters that served in the Vietnam War. The U.S records show 5,607 helicopter losses. [2]
In total, the United States military lost in Vietnam almost 10,000 aircraft, helicopters and UAVs (3,744 planes, [3] 5,607 helicopters [2] and 578 UAVs [1] ).
The Republic of Vietnam lost 1,018 aircraft and helicopters from January 1964 to September 1973. [4] 877 Republic of Vietnam aircraft were captured at war's end (1975) [5] Of the 2750 [6] aircraft and helicopters received by South Vietnam, only about 308 survived (240 flew to Thailand or US warships [7] and 68 returned to the United States [8] ).
The United States, along with their allies (The Republic of Vietnam, South Korean, Australia, Thailand, New Zealand), lost about 12,500 aircraft, helicopters and UAVs.
North Vietnam lost 150 – 170 aircraft and helicopters.
All told, the U.S. Air Force flew 5.25 million sorties over South Vietnam, North Vietnam, northern and southern Laos, and Cambodia, losing 2,251 aircraft: 1,737 to hostile action, and 514 in accidents. 2,197 of the losses were fixed-wing, and the remainder rotary-wing. The USAF sustained approximately 0.4 losses per 1,000 sorties during the conflict, which compared favorably with a 2.0 rate in Korea and a 9.7 figure during World War II. [9] [10] : 268
Twenty-one aircraft carriers conducted 86 war cruises and operated 9,178 total days on the line in the Gulf of Tonkin. 532 aircraft were lost in combat and 329 more to operational causes, resulting in the deaths of 401 naval aviators, with 64 airmen reported missing and 179 taken prisoner of war.
To increase air support for the SEALORDS Operation in South Vietnam's Mekong Delta, the Navy "borrowed" twenty North American Aviation OV-10A Broncos from the United States Marine Corps. On 3 January 1969 Light Attack Squadron Four (VAL-4) was commissioned at NAS North Island, California and after an intense period of training was transferred to Vietnam. In early April, combat flight operations began from detachments at Binh Thuy and Vung Tau. VS-41 at NAS North Island retained four of the borrowed Broncos to be used for training replacement pilots and maintenance personnel.
U.S. Marine Corps aircraft lost in combat included 193 fixed-wing and 270 rotary-wing aircraft.
Production of a total of 380 Mohawks ended in December 1970. When the Vietnam War ended in 1973, Mohawk losses were: one shot down by a MiG, one destroyed by mortar fire, 27 lost to ground fire and 36 destroyed in operational accidents. U-21 losses need added U-8 losses need added u-6 losses need added all are army fixed wing aircraft
5,195+ (which include not in addition to the above statistics) [2]
North Vietnam captured 877 South Vietnamese aircraft at war's end. [5]
7 total
Claimed by VPAF: 154 MiG aircraft lost through all causes, including 131 in air combat (includes 63 MiG-17s, 8 MiG-19s and 60 MiG-21s) [22] [23]
Russian source: 65 MiG-21s, 5 MiG-19s, 75 MiG-17s lost through all causes. [24] 2 Mi-4, 5 An-2, 5 Il-14, 1 MiG-15UTI, 1 Il-28, 1 L-29, 1 Lisunov Li-2 lost through all causes [25] Total: 159 aircraft and 2 helicopter lost.
McConnell Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located four miles (6 km) southeast of the central business district of Wichita, a city in Sedgwick County, Kansas, United States. The airbase was named in honor of the brothers Fred and Thomas McConnell of Wichita, who had both been Air Force pilots and veterans of World War II. It is the home of Air Mobility Command's 22nd Air Refueling Wing, Air Force Reserve Command's 931st Air Refueling Wing, and the Kansas Air National Guard's 184th Wing.
Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 162 (VMM-162) is a United States Marine Corps tiltrotor squadron consisting of MV-22 Osprey transport aircraft. The squadron, known as the "Golden Eagles", is based at Marine Corps Air Station New River, North Carolina and falls under the command of Marine Aircraft Group 26 (MAG-26) and the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing. HMM-162 officially stood down December 9, 2005 to begin the process of transitioning to the MV-22 Osprey. On August 31, 2006, the squadron was reactivated as the second operational Osprey squadron in the Marine Corps.
Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 364 (VMM-364) is a United States Marine Corps medium-lift tiltrotor squadron consisting of MV-22B Ospreys. The squadron, known as the "Purple Foxes", is based at Marine Corps Air Station Camp Pendleton, California and falls under the command of Marine Aircraft Group 39 (MAG-39) and the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing.
Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base is a base of the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) in northeast Thailand, approximately 200 km (125 mi) northeast of Bangkok and about 4 km (2.5 mi) south of the centre of the city of Nakhon Ratchasima in the Nakhon Ratchasima Province, the largest province in Thailand.
Nguyễn Văn Cốc is a former North Vietnamese MiG-21 fighter ace of the Vietnamese People's Air Force's 921st Fighter Regiment.
Bien Hoa Air Base is a Vietnam People's Air Force (VPAF) military airfield located in South-Central southern Vietnam about 25 km (16 mi) from Ho Chi Minh City, across the Dong Nai river in the northern ward of Tân Phong, and within the city of Biên Hòa within Đồng Nai Province. The boomburb city is densely populated and rings the base, despite significant levels of agent orange toxins simply left there for decades. The base is scheduled to begin cleanup by 2019.
Phan Rang Air Base is a Vietnam People's Air Force (VPAF) (Khong Quan Nhan Dan Viet Nam) military airfield in Vietnam. It is located 5.2 miles north-northwest of Phan Rang – Tháp Chàm in Ninh Thuận Province.
Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base is a Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) facility in central Thailand, approximately 144 miles (240 km) northwest of Bangkok in Takhli District, Nakhon Sawan Province.
Ubon Royal Thai Air Force Base is a Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) facility located near the city of Ubon Ratchathani, in Ubon Ratchathani Province. It is approximately 488 km northeast of Bangkok. The Laos border is about 60 kilometres (37 mi) directly east. The facility is also used as a civil airport.
The 354th Fighter Wing is a United States Air Force wing that is part of Pacific Air Forces (PACAF). It is the host wing at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, and is assigned to the Eleventh Air Force.
The 23rd Wing is a front-line United States Air Force Air Combat Command wing currently assigned to Moody Air Force Base, Georgia.
The United States Air Force 8th Fighter Wing is the host unit at Kunsan Air Base, Republic of Korea and is assigned to Seventh Air Force. Seventh Air Force falls under Pacific Air Forces (PACAF). The Wing's 8th Operations Group is the successor of the 8th Pursuit Group, one of the 15 original combat air groups formed by the Army before World War II.
The 347th Rescue Wing is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the Air Force Special Operations Command, stationed at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia. It was inactivated on 1 October 2006.
The 20th Special Operations Squadron is part of the 27th Special Operations Wing at Cannon Air Force Base, New Mexico. It operates Bell Boeing CV-22 Ospreys on special operations missions. It traces its history back to the activation of the 20th Observation Squadron (Light) at Savannah, Georgia, in March 1942.
The 474th Tactical Fighter Wing is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, where it trained combat-ready aircrews and maintained a rapid-reaction capability to execute fighter attacks against enemy forces and facilities world-wide in time of crisis. A World War II predecessor unit, the 474th Fighter Group, was a Ninth Air Force combat unit of the Army Air Corps which fought in the European Theater. During its operational lifetime, the 474th Fighter Bomber Wing was engaged in combat operations during the Korean War and the 474th Tactical Fighter Wing was engaged in combat operations during the Vietnam War. Through its history, the 474th Wing flew the F-84G, F-86H, F-100D, F-111A, F-4D, and F-16A/B. The 474th Tactical Fighter Wing was inactivated on 30 September 1989.
Helicopter Combat Support Squadron Seven (HC-7) was a helicopter squadron of the United States Navy established on 1 September 1967 and disestablished on 30 June 1975.
Phù Cát Air Base (1966–1975) was a United States Air Force (USAF) and Republic of Vietnam Air Force (RVNAF) facility used during the Vietnam War (1959–1975). It is located north of the city of Qui Nhơn in southern Vietnam.
The 4th Fighter Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Combat Command's Ninth Air Force. It is stationed at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina, where it is also the host unit.
Operation Shufly was a United States Marine Corps operation to improve the mobility of Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) forces in the early phases of the Vietnam War from 1962 to 1965. Beginning on 15 April 1962, Marine helicopter squadrons, associated maintenance units and air traffic control detachments deployed to Sóc Trăng Airfield in the Mekong Delta and later to Da Nang Air Base rotating every four months in order to provide assault support and CASEVAC assistance during combat operations. By early 1965 half of the Marine Corps' medium helicopter squadrons had rotated through a "Shufly" deployment. The operation ended on 8 March 1965, when the 9th Marine Expeditionary Brigade came ashore in Vietnam as the vanguard of the United States' commitment of large numbers of regular combat units into South Vietnam.
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