Operation Bolo

Operation Bolo
Part of Vietnam War
8th TFW F-4C Phantom II, circa in 1967
Date January 2, 1967 (1967-01-02) Location North Vietnam Result American Victory
Belligerents
United States Air Force	Vietnam People's Air Force
Commanders and leaders
Robin Olds Daniel James, Jr.	Tran Manh
Strength
56 F-4C Phantom IIs (28 participated)	16 MiG-21 'Fishbeds' (8 or 9 engaged)
Casualties and losses
None	US claim: 7 MiG-21s confirmed destroyed VPAF claim: 5 MiG-21PFL lost (c/n 1812, 1908, 1909, 2106, 2206)

Operation Bolo was a United States Air Force mission during the Vietnam War, considered to be a successful combat ruse.^[1]

The mission was a response to the heavy losses sustained during the Operation Rolling Thunder aerial-bombardment campaign of 1966, during which Vietnam People's Air Force fighter jets had evaded U.S. escort fighters and attacked U.S. bombers flying predictable routes. On January 2, 1967, U.S. Air Force F-4 Phantom II multirole fighters flew a mission along flight paths typically used by the bombers during Rolling Thunder. The ruse drew an attack by Vietnamese Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 interceptors, whose pilots expected to find heavily loaded fighter-bombers. Instead, they were met by the far more agile F-4s, which shot down seven of the MiGs.

The battle prompted VPAF pilots and strategists, as well as Soviet tacticians, to re-evaluate the tactics and deployment of the MiG-21.