A bomber is a fighter aircraft that uses bombs or missiles to destroy enemy land or sea targets. According to the combat mission, there are tactical bombers (close range) and strategic bombers (medium and long range). During the war to destroy the North, with the statement of "bringing the North back to the stone age", the US military put into use in the Vietnam battlefield almost all the bombers they had. , including those used in World War II such as medium-range bombers B-26 Marauder, B-57 Canberras, heavy bombers B-52, ...
The B-57 Canberras are medium-range bombers and twin-engine jet reconnaissance aircraft that entered service with the United States Air Force after the end of the Korean War in limited numbers during the early part of the Vietnam War.
B-57 Canberras launched in 1954 was researched by Martin based on the British English Electric Canberra aircraft. The B-57's maximum flight speed is about 960km/h, a combat radius of about 1,500km with more than 2,300kg of bombs, radar-guided bombing system, SORAN bombing system, radar warning APS 54, but the first B-57s to fight in Vietnam were not intended for combat, but for reconnaissance that could operate at night. For the purpose of gathering information on the North Vietnamese Army's SAM surface-to-air missile positions, supporting operations in the "Find and Destroy" strategy, the US military has improved the B-57 into a RB-57E Canberras high-altitude strategic all-weather reconnaissance aircraft, performing infrared reconnaissance missions using Reconofax VI cameras but operating ineffectively.
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B-57B aircraft. Source: Vietnamconflict.
The deployment of truly combat-capable B-57s in the 8-13 bomber squadrons at Bien Hoa since 1964. The first combat mission to attack North Vietnam was carried out on early 1965, carrying 9 boms - kind of 227kg and 4 boms – kind of 340kg under the wings. In 1969, to meet the need for an aircraft that could operate both at night and in combat, 16 B-57Bs were rebuilt. These aircraft have a completely new improved nose with forward-facing AN/ANG-139 radar, AN/AAS-26 long-range infrared detector and light system, rangefinder, indicator. Laser stabilizers were also installed, and an improved pylon for carrying Paveway laser-guided bombs. These weapons, combined with bomb payloads, 20mm machine guns, or M39 cannons, make the B-57 an effective ground support aircraft. After that, the B-57 aircraft continued to be improved to carry out bombing missions over the Ho Chi Minh trail, supporting operations in the Iron Triangle area.
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RB-57E aircraft in Da Nang, 1964. Source: Printerest.
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A total of 58 B-57s were shot down by the North Vietnamese army. Of the 94 B-57s sent to Southeast Asia, by 1969, only 9 remained operational, and the rest were destroyed in combat or due to other objective reasons.
The B-52 Stratoforres flying fortress is the only long-range heavy strategic aircraft of the US military during the Vietnam War manufactured by Boeing and put into operation in 1954. The B-52 is designed to carrying nuclear weapons and conventional weapons with carpet bombing power with a maximum speed of about 560km/h, a combat radius of about 7,210 km, the ability to load about 30,000 kg of bombs of all kinds. A B-52 can carry a maximum of 108 bombs, kind of 227 kg, of which 24 boms are hung on the outer rack and 84 boms in the compartment. B-52 is equipped with a 20mm gun, M61 Vulcan cannon, high-resolution light sensor electronic system, ADR-8 chaff missile, targeting system, advanced sniper.
B-52 first fought in Vietnam in the "Sam Ren" campaign under the B-52F version when 30 aircraft from the 9th and 411th bomber squadrons dropped bombs at Ben Cat, Binh Duong on 18/6/1965. By December 1965, the B-52D was modified to increase the bomb load for carpet bombing missions, could carry more than 9,980 kg of bombs and was put into service in place of the B-52F from 1966. In one flight of the bombing raids, B-52 often traveled in groups of 3 in arrow formations and demonstrated tremendous destructive power. At an altitude of 9-10 km, the B-52 dropped about 100 tons of bombs with a dense density on an area of about 2.5 km2. If a standard bomb is about 250 kg, the bomb density is about 130 bombs/km2. Therefore, the US Air Force used B-52 to drop carpet bombs to clear the way on the battlefields of South Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, on the Ho Chi Minh trail, to bomb to create landing sites for military operations of the Airborne Cavalry Division, hitting the North's suspected troop concentration and logistics areas. There were 3 times when the United States mobilized the most intense B-52 bombers, including: bombing in the Operation Niagara in support of the Khe Sanh campaign in 1968, supporting the An Loc front and the Gia Lai battlefield in 1972 and the bombing campaign against North Vietnam in December 1972. The Battle of Khe Sanh in 1968 B-52 continuously threw a huge amount of bombs about 100,000 tons of bombs in less than 3 months at the battlefields of the North Vietnamese army. The culmination of the B-52 attacks was during Operation Linebacker II, conducted from December 18-29, 1972. In 12 days, B-52 (mostly B-52D versions) dropped about 15,237 tons of bombs on Hanoi, Hai Phong and other targets. During this operation, the US Air Force lost 34 of B-52. To this day, the B-52 is still the main bomber of the United States Air Force.
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B-52 bombers during the Vietnam War, November 5, 1965. Source: Printerest.