At one time, the fourth largest air force in the world was that of the South Vietnamese Air Force. This was made up of predominately US supplied aircraft. None of it was top of the line stuff, but it was still a very viable force. The VNAF was also quite professional and very capable. However, it relied exclusively on the United States for things like training and spare parts. These in turn were reliant on funding, also from the United States.

In 1973, the US pulled out all of its troops from South Vietnam in what was then called the 'Vietnamization' of the war. In other words, the nation of South Vietnam was hung out to dry and left on its own to battle the North Vietnamese. North Vietnam was not interested in sticking with the Paris Peace Treaty and openly continued its warfare against the south. Only this time, the South did not have the same level of abilities to fight the war as did the US. There was no night operations against the HoChiMinh trail as the pilots were not trained in night operations and did not have the sensors used by the USAF. It also was unable to take the war to the North as they did not have the long range, or high altitude bombers required. Nor were its fighter pilots really trained in air to air combat.

Add to this the refusal of the US Congress to continue to fund the South Vietnamese and provide the parts and support it required, and South Vietnam's outlook was all but sealed. Slowly the North Vietnamese invaded the South with its 'guerilla army' (actually regular North Vietnamese army). The situation was made worse by a South Vietnamese president who would rather give ground in hopes of a settlement than go on the offensive and things quickly went from bad to worse, resulting in the total collapse by mid-1975.

Despite these sorts of issues, the VNAF continued to fight to the best of its abilities, consolidating its units and bases as their territory shrank. Say what you would, there was no lack of bravery in any of the military forces of South Vietnam, only a lack of proper support and proper leadership.

In this book we get a brief history of the South Vietnamese Air Force from its formation until the US started bolstering its abilities in the early 1960s. This started with pretty much prop driven aircraft like the A-1, B-26, C-47, and T-28. We next see the build-up of forces through the introduction of better transports like the C-7, C-130, fighter bombers like the A-37 and F-5, observation types like the O-1, O-2 and U-17, and a huge influx of H-1 and H-47 helicopters. This build up peaked when the US left as many of the specialized types such as the AC-47 and AC-119 were turned over to the VNAF. This included some recce and electronic types.

Once the US left, things went down hill as a lack of funding meant that not as many aircraft were serviceable so the number of missions dropped. A reduction in weapons provided meant smaller loads and later fewer sorties. Through all this the VPAF stayed home. The VPAF was strictly an interceptor-based operation and its pilots were not trained in ground attack. It was also felt that overt air to ground operations would be something the US would not overlook and might bring them back into the war. Still, the North Vietnamese had plenty of SAMs and these brought down a lot of VNAF planes. The losses may have been less, but the USAF did not supply jammers or warning systems to the VNAF to use in their strike aircraft.

When the war got close to Saigon, things deteriorated severely. The last part of the book covers the last week or so of the war when there was as much emphasis on getting out as there was with continuing the war.

The book is superbly written and thanks to a considerable amount of primary research through archives both in Vietnam and among those who fled the country, we get a most complete story of these final two years. There are hundreds of photographs, many of them in color. Maps help to orient the reader to the situation and we are provided with page after page of full color profiles of the aircraft involved.

In all, it is the best book I've read on the subject and if you have any interest in the air force of South Vietnam or that conflict it is one you simply have to have.  

August 2015

Review book courtesy of  Casemate Publishing, where you can order your copy at this link.

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