MiGs Over North Vietnam: The Vietnamese People's Air Force in Combat 1965-1975

Until now, the day-to-day working and opinions of the Vietnamese People's Air Force (VPAF) has remained relatively unknown. For the first time, this book focuses on the pilots and, using rare first-hand accounts and many new photographs, analyzes their fighter operations over North Vietnam between 1965 and 1975. Frank opinions are voiced on how the North Vietnamese viewed the gradual escalation of the aerial conflict over their country, including details on key operations and VPAF tactics against USAF F-4s, F-105s, F-8s, and B-52s.

Details of the Black Friday Massacre, America's heaviest aerial defeat, are related in the words of Nguyen Van Coc (the highest-scoring pilot of the Vietnam conflict) who tells of his first kill, and Dong Van De, who recalls how he achieved the first-ever double kill over American-flown aircraft, events which have never, until now, been released into the public domain.

Leading VPAF pilots, including Major General Pham Ngoc Lan, discuss their aerial engagements and tactics, and Nguyen Tiem Sam recollects his kills of F-4 Phantoms using only ATOLL air-to-air missiles. Following exhaustive research, the author reveals much new data, which challenges previous reports. Three kills claimed by Lt. 'Duke' Cunningham, later a U.S. Senator, and the success of Operation Bolo, America's response to the Black Friday Massacre, are discussed. Also for the first time outside Vietnam, details of the Christmas bombings are released, including the controversial first night-fighter kill of a B-52 by Vu Xuan Thieu - a fact which the U.S. military has never accepted.

Comprehensive appendices reveal the first complete loss list of all VPAF personnel and a victory table with a breakdown of all known kills and shared kills and types. The book includes 24 intricate profiles of extremely rare aircraft, including the VPAF Soviet-supplied MiG 15, MiG 17F, and Chinese MiG 19 (Shenyang F-6); combined with the text they offer a unique insight into the aerial war from the Vietnamese viewpoint.