Operation Rolling Thunder

Operation "Rolling Thunder"
Part of the Vietnam War
F-105 Thunderchiefs radar-bombing at the instruction of a B-66 leader
Date 2 March 1965 – 2 November 1968 Location Over North Vietnam Result Strategic U.S. failure
Belligerents
United States  South Vietnam	North Vietnam  North Korea  China
Commanders and leaders
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 922 aircraft lost South Vietnam: unknown	North Vietnam: 52,000–182,000 civilians killed 120 aircraft destroyed in air combat or accidents North Korea: 14 pilots killed

U.S.:
1,054 killed, wounded or captured 922 aircraft lost

North Vietnam: 52,000–182,000 civilians killed
120 aircraft destroyed in air combat or accidents

Operation Rolling Thunder was the title of a gradual and sustained aerial bombardment campaign conducted by the U.S. 2nd Air Division (later Seventh Air Force), U.S. Navy, and Republic of Vietnam Air Force (VNAF) against the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (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 sagging morale of the Saigon regime in the Republic of Vietnam, to persuade North Vietnam to cease its support for the communist insurgency in South Vietnam without actually taking any 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 material 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 by the military aid and assistance received by North Vietnam from its communist allies, the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China (PRC).

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 U.S. Air Force since the aerial bombardment of Germany during World War II. Supported by communist allies, North Vietnam fielded a potent mixture of sophisticated air-to-air and surface-to-air weapons that created one of the most effective air defenses ever faced by American military aviators.

In response to President Ngo Dinh Diem's abrogation of the 1956 reunification election and suppression of communists during the late 1950s, Hanoi had begun sending arms and material to the guerrillas of the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam (NLF), who were fighting an insurgency to topple the American-supported Saigon government. To combat the NLF and to shore up the government in the south, the U.S. initially delivered monetary aid, military advisors, and supplies. Between 1957 and 1963, the U.S. found itself committed, through its acceptance of the policy of containment and belief in the domino theory, to defending South Vietnam from what it saw as expansive communist aggression.

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