At the beginning of the Vietnam War, the Vietnamese People's Air Force (VPAF) was equipped with slow, old Korean War-generation fighters--a combination of MiG-17s and MiG-19s, types that should have offered little opposition to the cutting-edge fighter-bombers such as the F-4 Phantom II, F-105 Thunderchief, and the F-8 Crusader. Yet when the USAF and US Navy unleashed their aircraft on North Vietnam in 1965, the inexperienced pilots of the VPAF were able to shatter the illusion of U.S. air superiority.
Taking advantage of its jet's unequaled low-speed maneuverability, small size,...
At the beginning of the Vietnam War, the Vietnamese People's Air Force (VPAF) was equipped with slow, old Korean War-generation fighters--a combina...
