How successful were American air tactics during the Vietnam War?
1. American tactics
Start upstairs in the American Air Museum.
Look down at the B-52, the aircraft that takes up most of the space in the hangar. Talk amongst your group about how large you think the wingspan of the aircraft is. Go downstairs and check your answers.
B-52What is the actual wingspan of the B-52?
The B-52 took part in Operation Rolling Thunder, the bombing of North Vietnam. How many bombs could each aircraft carry?
“My heart would throb and my whole body tremble inside as the bombs exploded…”
Tran Thi Truyen
Did you know?
The USA used so much air power during the Vietnam War that South Vietnam’s airports were the busiest in the world. Aircraft such as the B-52 dropped on average 800 tons of bombs, rockets and missiles every day for three and a half years.
How would you feel if you lived in Vietnam during Operation Rolling Thunder?
Look at the Bell UH-1 Huey helicopter and the Ford M718 ambulance. Both were used for evacuating casualties in the Vietnam War.
UH-1 Huey / Ford M718UH-1 Huey / Ford ambulance
Armaments
Speed
Range
When might it be better to use a helicopter rather than an ambulance?
How might the casualties feel when they were being transported inside the Ford ambulance?
Did you know?
Evacuation by helicopter (known as ‘dust-offs’) was so successful that on average wounded soldiers would be on the operating table within fifteen minutes.
In 1972-3 this aircraft worked alongside the B-52s in Vietnam.
What is it called?
In what way did it support the B-52s?
“The Americans thought that the more bombs they dropped the quicker we would… surrender. But the bombs heightened rather than dampened our spirits.” Ton That Tung
SA-2The North Vietnamese air defence systems included 800 anti-aircraft guns, 200 surface to air missile batteries, radar and computerised control centres, all provided by Russia. Find the SA-2 surface to air missile launcher.
Of the 4000 missiles that were fired at American aircraft during the Vietnam War, how many of them hit their target?
Discuss amongst your group how successful the American air tactics were during the Vietnam War.
Teacher’s notes and answer sheet
Using the trail
We have tried to highlight the areas of the museum which are relevant to your talk and provide activities for the pupils to do there – there is no expectation that any one class or group will complete the whole trail!
This trail focuses around The American Air Museum, which is about a 20 minute walk from the Visitor Centre. Please bear in mind that the B-52, UH-1 Huey helicopter and F111E have more than one information panel.
If you would like to visit other hangars or cover topics outside your talk, please feel free to browse our other workshops and trails. You are welcome to use images and ideas from these trails to create your own trail – please keep copyright numbers with images where appropriate.
Answers
The B-52’s wing span is 185 ft or 56.4 m. Each of these aircraft could carry 60 000 lbs or 27 242 kg of bombs. Pupils may also point out that this equates to 108 bombs.
The UH-1 Huey could be protected by gunships if carrying troops, had a maximum speed of 138 mph or 222 kph and a range of 253 miles or 407 kilometres. The Ford ambulance has a maximum speed of 65 mph or 105 kph and a range of 156 miles or 250 kilometres. Helicopters were better for transporting across longer distances and into areas of Vietnam that weren’t accessible by road. The panel suggests that the ambulance might roll over, so that may affect how they think the soldiers in the back might feel.
The aircraft in the photograph is an F-111E. It flew at tree top level to avoid radar then bombed anti-aircraft or missile sites to help the B-52s.
Of the 4000 missiles fired at aircraft, fewer than 50 hit their target.
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Key stage 4: The Vietnam War