Операция «Пылающий дротик» во Вьетнаме

Military operation

Operation Flaming Dart was a U. S. and South Vietnamese military operation, conducted in two parts, during the Vietnam War.

United States President Lyndon B. Johnson in February 1965 ordered a series of reprisal air strikes after several attacks on U. S. bases by Vietcong units, particularly in reply to the Viet Cong Attack on Camp Holloway.

Forty nine retaliatory sorties were flown for Flaming Dart I on 7 February 1965. Flaming Dart I targeted North Vietnamese army bases near Đồng Hới, while the second wave targeted Vietcong logistics and communications near the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). Among the pilots was Republic of Vietnam Air Force (RVNAF) Air Marshal Nguyễn Cao Kỳ, then a member of Vietnam's ruling junta. In reaction to Flaming Dart the Vietcong attacked a hotel billeting U. S. personnel in Qui Nhơn, prompting the Flaming Dart II air strikes. The U. S. Navy launched 99 fighter bombers from three carriers: Hancock, Coral Sea and Ranger. The A 1 Skyraiders and A 4s from the carriers delivered tons of bombs and rockets to the target area at Chanh Hoa as F 8E Crusaders and F 4B Phantoms rocketed and strafed antiaircraft positions. A total of 33 F 8s, F 4s and A 1s protected the attack force should North Vietnamese MiGs based near Hanoi challenge the mission. Although MiGs did not interfere with the operation, antiaircraft gunners damaged a Coral Sea A 4C, forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing at Da Nang Air Base. Unused bombs still positioned on the wings exploded when the pilot landed at Danang, destroying the aircraft; the pilot survived. Lieutenant Commander Robert H. Shumaker of VF 154 ejected from his stricken F 8 over Chanh Hoa where he was captured by PAVN troops. While the naval aircraft bombed Chanh Hoa, the RVNAF and the U. S. Air Force (USAF) attacked Chap Le. The RVNAF used 28 propeller driven A 1s, while the USAF had an equal number of jet powered F 100 Super Sabres on target. While Americans with Farm Gate had been flying combat with their South Vietnamese counterparts, the USAF strikes in South Vietnam escalated the war by their use of jet aircraft. American reaction to Communist escalation was not restricted to the bombing of North Vietnam. Washington also escalated its use of air power when it authorized the use of U. S. jet attack aircraft to engage targets in the south. On 19 February, USAF B 57s conducted the first jet strikes flown by Americans in support of South Vietnamese ground units. On 24 February, USAF jets struck again, this time breaking up a Viet Cong ambush in the Central Highlands with a massive series of tactical air sorties. Again, this was an escalation in the U. S. use of air power.

The Operation Flaming Dart raids were later followed by Operation Rolling Thunder, which began a 44 month campaign on 2 March 1965. Other aerial campaigns were also waged during the war. By war's end, the American bombing campaigns during the Vietnam War amounted to the heaviest aerial bombardment in history, totaling 7,662,000 tons of ordnance.