Operation Rolling Thunder

Operation Rolling Thunder
Part of the Vietnam War
Compilation of United States Air Force and United States Naval air operations throughout the Rolling Thunder campaign
Date 2 March 1965 – 2 November 1968 Location Over North Vietnam Result U.S. failure
Belligerents
United States  South Vietnam	North Vietnam  China[1]  North Korea[2]
Commanders and leaders
Lyndon B. Johnson Robert McNamara Joseph H. Moore William W. Momyer George S. Brown Nguyen Cao Ky	Phung The Tai (Air Defense) Nguyen Van Tien (Air Force)
Casualties and losses
U.S.: 1,054 killed, wounded or captured[3] 922 aircraft shotdown[3][4] (excluding the number of aircraft that were badly damaged beyond repair[5]) South Vietnam: unknown North Vietnam claim: 3,243 aircraft, helicopters and UAVs shotdown 363 pilots were captured[6]	North Vietnam: 20,000 soldiers and 30,000–182,000 civilians killed[7][8][9] 85[10] - 120 aircraft destroyed[7] North Korea: 14 pilots killed[11] China: 20,000 support personnel casualties[7]

Operation Rolling Thunder was a gradual and sustained aerial bombardment campaign conducted by the United States (U.S.) 2nd Air Division (later Seventh Air Force), U.S. Navy, and Republic of Vietnam Air Force (RVNAF) against North Vietnam from 2 March 1965 until 2 November 1968, during the Vietnam War.

The four objectives of the operation (which evolved over time) were to boost the morale of South Vietnam; to persuade North Vietnam to cease its support for the communist insurgency in South Vietnam without sending ground forces into communist North Vietnam; to destroy North Vietnam's transportation system, industrial base, and air defenses; and to halt the flow of men and materiel into South Vietnam. Attainment of these objectives was made difficult by both the restraints imposed upon the U.S. and its allies by Cold War exigencies, and the military aid and assistance received by North Vietnam from its communist allies, the Soviet Union, the People's Republic of China and North Korea.

The operation became the most intense air/ground battle waged during the Cold War period; it was the most difficult such campaign fought by the United States since the aerial bombardment of Germany during World War II. Supported by its communist allies, North Vietnam fielded a potent mixture of MiG fighter-interceptor jets and sophisticated air-to-air and surface-to-air weapons that created one of the most effective air defenses ever faced by American military aviators. The limited effectiveness of the operation and the pursuit of peace talks led to the scaling back of the operation in March 1968 and its cancellation in November 1968.