3 ms·
> The B-52 played a significant role in the Vietnam War, particularly during Operation Linebacker II which saw 729 B-52 sorties drop more than 15,000 tons of bo
by ethbr0 4y ago
> The B-52 played a significant role in the Vietnam War, particularly during Operation Linebacker II which saw 729 B-52 sorties drop more than 15,000 tons of bombs on Hanoi and other targets.
Oof. Not a great call-out, as one of the stupidest operational plans and misuse of sophisticated platforms.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Linebacker_II#Initial_phase https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Linebacker_II#Init...
In the initial phase and by design, the B-52s were sent over the same area for a third night in a row, in a manner that negated their strengths and exposed their weaknesses.
As a consequence, 7 planes were shot down by SAMs in a single night.
- egberts1 4y agoyes, and I know two member of the crews of the two cells that perished on that 3rd leg of the operation. I was dumbfounded about the “misplanning” when other crew managed to return and decades later bitched about the planning. then decades later, I read the Vietnam excepts, it was a gamble as these anti-aircraft missile launchers were mobile enough to try for a different flight path. But they didnt change the missile sites. Mentions were made that it would have had taken too long to pack-up/move/recalibrate. I would have faulted on-ground intelligence for that lack of insight. at any rate, modern gaming (Monte Carlos?) theory says always to try different routes.