Air war losses in the Vietnam War

During the Vietnam War (1957-1975), military aviation played a significant role, being used to perform a variety of tasks. The most intensive use of aviation was the Air Force (Air Force), the Navy (Naval Forces ) and the Marine Corps (ILC) of the United States of America . The American Army also had its own aircraft, but these were mainly non-combat aircraft (light reconnaissance aircraft, transport aircraft). The Democratic Republic of Vietnam , the Republic of Vietnam , and Australia used their aviation much less intensively.

The following is information on the loss of aircraft by the parties to the conflict. It should be remembered that, as in the case of other military losses, the figures quoted do not claim absolute accuracy. As the history of wars shows, the calculation of losses is always complicated by the incompleteness of information, the mistakes of researchers or officials when compiling documents, and sometimes by intentional distortions of objective data. However, for all possible errors and inaccuracies, existing sources provide a significant amount of information regarding air casualties during the Vietnam War.

These figures include both military (as a result of enemy actions or from "friendly fire" ), and non-military (accidents and catastrophes for technical reasons, due to pilot error, in bad weather conditions, etc.) losses. There is no territorial division - all losses in the region of Southeast Asia ( North Vietnam , South Vietnam , Laos , Cambodia , losses over water) are shown, one way or another connected with the hostilities of 1957-1975. If the aircraft modifications did not have their own name, their losses, as a rule, are included in the losses of the basic version. For example, the losses of scouts RF-4 “Phantom II” are indicated in the sum of losses of F-4 “Phantom II”. On the contrary, the Grumman EA-6 "Prauler" electronic warfare aircraft is driven separately from the Grumman A-6 "Intruder" attack aircraft, as it has its own name.

Content

U.S. Air Force Losses

Douglas A-1 Skyrader

- Air Force: 191 aircraft in the years 1964-1972

- Navy: 69 aircraft in the years 1964-1968

- Total: 260 aircraft

Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

- Navy: 282 aircraft in 1964-1972

- KMP: 91 aircraft

- Total: 373 aircraft

Grumman A-6 Intruder

- Navy: 62 aircraft in the years 1965-1973

- ILC: 25 aircraft

- Total: 87 aircraft

LTV A-7 Corsair II

- Air Force: 6 aircraft in 1972

- Navy: 100 aircraft in the years 1967-1973

- Total: 106 aircraft

Douglas A-26 Invader

- Air Force: 22 aircraft in the years 1962-1969

Cessna A-37 Dragonfly

- Air Force: 22 aircraft in the years 1967-1972

Douglas AC-47 Spooky

- Air Force: 19 aircraft in the years 1965-1969

Fairchild AC-119 Shadow / Stinger

- Air Force: 6 aircraft

Lockheed AC-130 Spectrum

- Air Force: 6 aircraft

Boeing B-52 Stratofortress

- Air Force: 48 aircraft in the years 1965-1973;
According to other (official US data) data, the losses amounted to: 31 aircraft, of which 17 were shot down in military operations, 1 decommissioned due to military damage, 11 crashed in flight accidents, 1 decommissioned due to non-combat damage and 1 burned down at the airport in Japan. ^[one]

Martin B-57 Canberra ^[2]

- Air Force: 56 aircraft in the years 1964-1970

Douglas B-66 Destroyer

- Air Force: 14 aircraft in the years 1965-1972

Lockheed C-5 Galaxy

- Air Force: 1 aircraft in 1975 (non-combat loss)

De Haviland C-7 Caribou

- Air Force: 20 aircraft ^[3]

Douglas C-47 (C-117) Skytrain

- Air Force: 21 aircraft in the years 1961-1973

- Navy: 1 plane

- KMP: 2 aircraft

- Total: 24 aircraft

Fairchild C-123 Provider

- Air Force: 53 aircraft in the years 1962-1971

Lockheed C-130 Hercules

- Air Force: 55 aircraft in the years 1965-1972

- KMP: 4 aircraft

Lockheed C-141 Starlifter

- Air Force: 2 aircraft in 1967

Lockheed E-2 Hokai

- Navy: 2 aircraft in 1970-1971 (non-combat losses)

Grumman EA-6 Proler

- Navy:?

- KMP: 2 aircraft

- Total: ?

Lockheed EC-121 Warning Star

- Air Force: 2 aircraft

- Navy:?

- Total: ?

Douglas EF-10 Skyline

- ILC: 5 aircraft

McDonnell-Douglas F-4 Phantom II

- Air Force: 658 aircraft in the years 1965-1973

- Navy: 138 aircraft in the years 1964-1973

- ILC: 99 aircraft

- total: 895

Northrop F-5A Freedom Fighter

- Air Force: 9 aircraft in the years 1965-1967

Vout F-8 Cruzader

- Navy: 147 aircraft in the years 1964-1972

- KMP: 22 aircraft

- Total: 169 aircraft

North American F-100 Super Saber

- Air Force: 243 aircraft in 1964-1971

Conver F-102 Delta Dagger

- Air Force: 14 aircraft in the years 1965-1967

Lockheed F-104 Starfighter

- Air Force: 14 aircraft in the years 1965-1967

Ripablik F-105 Thunderchief

- Air Force: 382 aircraft in the years 1964-1972

General Dynamics F-111 ^[4]

- Air Force: 11 aircraft in the years 1968-1973

Grumman HU-16 Albatross

- Air Force: 4 aircraft in the years 1965-1966

Boeing KB-50 Superfortress

- Air Force: 1 aircraft in 1964

Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker

- Air Force: 3 aircraft in the years 1968-1969 ^[5]

Cessna O-1 Bird Dog

- Air Force: 172 aircraft in the years 1963-1972

- ILC: 7 aircraft

- Total: 179 aircraft

Cessna O-2 Skymaster

- Air Force: 104 aircraft in the years 1967-1972

North American OV-10 Bronco

- Air Force: 63 aircraft in the years 1968-1973

- Navy: 7 aircraft

- ILC: 10 aircraft

- Total: 80 aircraft

North American RA-5C Vigillent

- Navy: 27 aircraft in the years 1965-1972

Lockheed RF-101C Voodoo

- Air Force: 39 aircraft in 1964-1968

Lockheed SR-71 ^[6]

- Air Force: 2 aircraft in 1970-1972 (both non-combat losses)

North American T-28 Trojan

- Air Force: 23 aircraft in the years 1962-1968

Lockheed U-2 "Dragon Lady"

- Air Force: 1 aircraft in 1966 (non-combat loss)

Cessna U-3B

- Air Force: 1 aircraft in 1968

De Haviland U-6 Beaver

- Air Force: 1 plane in 1966

Helio U-10 Super Courier

- Air Force: 1 aircraft in 1969

Total: 3374 aircraft.

In addition, 578 unmanned aircraft were lost. ^[7] ^[8]

Australia Aviation Losses

English Electric Canberra

- Air Force: 2 aircraft in 1970-1971

South Vietnam Aviation Losses

From January 1, 1964 to September 30, 1973, South Vietnam lost 1,018 aircraft and helicopters. ^[9]

In 1974, South Vietnam lost 299 aircraft and helicopters. From the United States made up for these losses. ^[ten]

The Army of North Vietnam in 1975 captured at the airfields 877 aircraft and helicopters of South Vietnam. The number of downed and crashed is unknown. At the Tan Son Nath airport, several dozen aircraft and helicopters were destroyed. ^[eleven]

North Vietnam Aviation Losses

MiG-17

- at least 68–71 aircraft (excluding non-combat losses) ^[12]

MiG-19

- at least 5-9 aircraft (excluding non-combat losses) ^[13]

MiG-21

- at least 66–69 aircraft (excluding non-combat losses) ^[14]

Notes

↑ [1] //artofwar.ru
↑ Contrary to some sources, the B-57 did not carry the name “Invader”.
↑ At the beginning of the war, the Caribou, under the designation CV-2, was used by the US Army and also suffered losses. Subsequently, all “Caribou” were transferred to the Air Force.
↑ Unofficial name - “Ordvark”, had no official name.
↑ Probably, another aircraft that crashed in Japan in 1966 was not included in the loss figure of KC-135.
↑ The unofficial name is “Blackbird,” it did not have an official name.
↑ Wagner, William: Lightning Bugs, and other Reconnaissance Drones (1982). Armed Forces Journal International in cooperation with Aero Publishers, Inc. pg. 200,213
↑ Dark Eagles: A History of the Top Secret US Aircraft (1999). Peebles Curtis. Presidio Press. p. 39
↑ The Air Force in The Vietnam war (2004). Jonh T. Corell. p.26
↑ Su-7 fighter-bomber (unopened) (inaccessible link) . Date of treatment July 5, 2014. Archived July 14, 2014.
↑ Toperczer, Istvan. MiG-21 Units of the Vietnam War. Osprey 2001, No. 29. p. 80-81
↑ According to the publication “Fighters” (V. Ilyin, M. Levin), before 1970, 59 aircraft were lost in air battles. According to the book by V. Ilyin “Phantom F-4, in 1972 12 MiG-17s were lost.
↑ A figure of 5 aircraft is given in the book “Phantom F-4” by V. Ilyin.
↑ According to the publication Fighters (V. Ilyin, M. Levin), before 1970, 32 aircraft were lost in air battles, and in 1972 - 34 aircraft. At the same time, V. Ilyin, in a later book, Phantom F-4, indicates that 37 MiG-21s were lost in 1972.

Bibliography

Ilyin V.E., Levin M.A. Fighters. - M .: Victoria, AST, 1996.- S. 288. - ISBN 5-89327-003-7 .
Ilyin V.E. Phantom F-4. - M .: Astrel, AST, 2001 .-- S. 224.

Links

Vietnam War Almanac (BBC Magazine, September 2004) (pdf)

[1] [1] //artofwar.ru

[2] Contrary to some sources, the B-57 did not carry the name “Invader”.

[3] At the beginning of the war, the Caribou, under the designation CV-2, was used by the US Army and also suffered losses. Subsequently, all “Caribou” were transferred to the Air Force.

[4] Unofficial name - “Ordvark”, had no official name.

[5] Probably, another aircraft that crashed in Japan in 1966 was not included in the loss figure of KC-135.

[6] The unofficial name is “Blackbird,” it did not have an official name.

[7] Wagner, William: Lightning Bugs, and other Reconnaissance Drones (1982). Armed Forces Journal International in cooperation with Aero Publishers, Inc. pg. 200,213

[8] Dark Eagles: A History of the Top Secret US Aircraft (1999). Peebles Curtis. Presidio Press. p. 39

[9] The Air Force in The Vietnam war (2004). Jonh T. Corell. p.26

[10] Su-7 fighter-bomber (unopened) (inaccessible link) . Date of treatment July 5, 2014. Archived July 14, 2014.

[11] Toperczer, Istvan. MiG-21 Units of the Vietnam War. Osprey 2001, No. 29. p. 80-81

[12] According to the publication “Fighters” (V. Ilyin, M. Levin), before 1970, 59 aircraft were lost in air battles. According to the book by V. Ilyin “Phantom F-4, in 1972 12 MiG-17s were lost.

[13] A figure of 5 aircraft is given in the book “Phantom F-4” by V. Ilyin.

[14] According to the publication Fighters (V. Ilyin, M. Levin), before 1970, 32 aircraft were lost in air battles, and in 1972 - 34 aircraft. At the same time, V. Ilyin, in a later book, Phantom F-4, indicates that 37 MiG-21s were lost in 1972.