As seems to be the norm following the end of the Korean War, the war in Vietnam is considered by may to have been started due to a desire to rid the US of a thorn in its side, rather than on any overt aggression by the country with whom it eventually went to war. While such attitudes are often regrettable for a variety of reasons, they are not all that unusual and have been the cause of many conflicts down through the ages.

The war in Vietnam was basically two different wars going on at the same time. In the south is where all the ground fighting took place. US led UN forces never invaded North Vietnam in any meaningful way so the only way to carry the conflict north was by air power. It was felt that the overwhelming superiority in aircraft and pilots would make this a rather short campaign, however, it turned out to be anything but. Often, when things seemed to be heading for a solution, something came up that stopped the US air war in North Vietnam. Usually it was political meddling, which was frustrating for those involved in the attack and a blessing for those on the defense as it gave them time to even further improve those defenses.

By this time, the USAF had gotten rid of the attack plane and instead relied on fighter bombers for precision bombing. This meant the F-105. It was designed to deliver bombs, both conventional and nuclear and was designed with a bomb bay (which was used to hold fuel). It was to this aircraft that the bulk of the bombing missions in North Vietnam were given the mission.

Now the North Vietnamese were not just sitting around. Both the Soviets and Chinese were supplying the Hanoi government with AAA guns, SAMs and aircraft. Mainly MiG-17 and MiG-21 fighters. They were also training North Vietnamese pilots and there were many 'advisors' on the ground to help with technical training.

Thanks to the restrictions put on the military, these planes had to fly specific patterns to various targets and for most of the war, were not allowed to attack North Vietnamese air fields. This allowed the North Vietnamese to place their defensive equipment where it would do the most good. It meant that most of the F-105s lost (and over half the production of these planes was lost in Vietnam) were by AAA and SAMs though a few were shot down.

Not designed as a dog fighter, the F-105 was armed with a gun and did carry Sidewinders from time to time. They mostly did hit and run attacks on attacking MiG's and while they tried, they never shot down a MiG-21. In all, about two dozen MiGs were shot down by F-105s. A small number for sure, but air to air fighting was not their mission and their pilots were not trained for it.

All of this happened in 1966 and 1967 as by 1968 attrition was such that the type was withdrawn from combat and its place taken by the more capable F-4 Phantom II.

In this book, we look at the weapons available to the F-105 pilot and at the North Vietnamese air force at the time. The rest of the book is devoted to the meetings of the Thunderchief and the North Vietnamese air force. All of the successful missions are covered as are many of the near misses. Much of this is through pilot stories, which is a staple for this series. You are also provided with a number of fine photos of both sides and the usual pages of full color profiles that are standard in the series.

In all, it makes for an excellent read and insight into the men who flew these aircraft in what has often been determined to be the most intense aerial combat arena of all time.

December 2014

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