Editing Operation Linebacker II (section)

{{Short description|1972 U.S. bombing campaign during the Vietnam War}}
{{Redirect2|Christmas bombings|Christmas Day Bombing}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict          = Operation Linebacker II
| partof            = the [[Vietnam War]]
| image             = Nalty1.jpg
| image_upright = 1.0
| caption           = [[Boeing B-52 Stratofortress]] on bomb run
| result            = Both sides claim victory<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23613043 | jstor=23613043 | title=Rolling Thunder and Linebacker Campaigns: The North Vietnamese View | last1=Pribbenow | first1=Merle L. | journal=The Journal of American-East Asian Relations | year=2001 | volume=10 | issue=3/4 | pages=197–210 |doi=10.1163/187656101793645524| url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite report |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep13830.11 |title=Operation Linebacker II |last=Beagle |first=T. W. |date=2001 |publisher=Air University Press |pages=35–50}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-12-29 |title=Operation Linebacker II: The 11-Day War |url=https://www.historynet.com/the-11-day-war/ |access-date=2023-11-07 |website=HistoryNet |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-01-04 |title=How Operation Linebacker II Took the North Vietnamese By Surprise |url=https://www.historynet.com/linebacker-christmas-bombing-vietnam/ |access-date=2023-11-07 |website=HistoryNet |language=en-US}}</ref>
| date              = 18–29 December 1972
| place             = [[North Vietnam]]: [[Hanoi]], [[Haiphong]], [[Thái Nguyên]], [[Lạng Giang]], [[Bắc Giang]]
| combatant1        = {{flag|United States}}
* [[United States Air Force|Air Force]]
* [[United States Navy|Navy]]
* [[United States Marine Corps|Marines]]
| combatant2        = {{flag|North Vietnam}}
* [[Vietnam People's Air Force|Air Defence – Air Force Service]]
* [[Vietnam People's Navy|Naval Service]]<ref>{{cite web |author1=[[Lương Cường]] |title=Victory of Ha Noi – Dien Bien Phu in the Air in 1972: Vietnamese spirit and wisdom |url=http://tapchiqptd.vn/en/events-and-comments/victory-of-ha-noi-%E2%80%93-dien-bien-phu-in-the-air-in-1972-vietnamese-spirit-and-wisdom/19615.html |website=National Defence Journal |publisher=[[Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of Vietnam]] |date=2022-12-15}}</ref>
| commander1        = [[John W. Vogt Jr.]]<ref>Thompson, p. 257.</ref><br>[[John C. Meyer]]<ref name= "airforcemag.com" /><br>[[Damon W. Cooper]]<ref>Thompson, p. 257.</ref>
| commander2        = Lieutenant General [[Văn Tiến Dũng]], Chief of General Staff<br>Major General [[Phùng Thế Tài]],{{citation needed|date=March 2012}} Deputy Chief of General Staff<br />Colonel [[Lê Văn Tri (born 1920)|Lê Văn Tri]],{{citation needed|date=March 2012}}  Commander of the Air Defense – Air Force
| strength1         = 197 to 207 strategic bombers [[Boeing B-52 Stratofortress|B-52]],{{citation needed|date= March 2012}}<br> 14 tactical air groups consisting of<!---  2,000 ---> 1,077 aircraft of all types from 3 air bases and 6 [[aircraft carrier]]<ref>James R. McCarthy and Robert E. Rayfield. Linebacker II is a view from the rock. pp. 29–34</ref>
| strength2         = 14 [[SA-2]] batteries<ref name="Zaloga, Steven J 2007">{{Harvnb | Drenkowski | Grau | 2007 | p = 22}}</ref><br />(266 [[S-75 Dvina|SA-2]] missiles were launched during the operation<ref name= "Zaloga, Steven J 2007"/>)<br />100+ aircraft<ref name= "airforcemag.com">{{cite web | date = Nov 1997 |url= http://www.airforcemag.com/MagazineArchive/Pages/1997/November%201997/1197linebacker.aspx |title= Linebacker | work = Air Force Magazine |access-date= 27 December 2015}}</ref> (including 31 [[MiG-21]]s and 16 [[MiG-17]]s fighters<ref name= "Predictability p. 26">{{Harvnb | Drenkowski | Grau | 2007 | p = 26}}</ref>)<br>AA gun units
| casualties1       = '''U.S. claim:'''<ref name="B-52_Stratofortress">[http://www.ejection-history.org.uk/aircraft_by_type/b52_stratofortress.htm B-52_Stratofortress] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100214105456/http://www.ejection-history.org.uk/aircraft_by_type/b52_stratofortress.htm |date = 14 February 2010}}, Project Get Out and Walk</ref><br />12 tactical aircraft shot down<br />15 B-52s shot down<br />4 B-52s suffered heavy damage<br />5 B-52s suffered medium damage<br />
43 killed in action<br />49 taken prisoner{{Sfn|Dorr|Peacock|2000|p=180}}<br />'''PAVN claim:'''<br />81 aircraft shot down<br />(including 34 B-52s and 5 F-111s;<ref name= Pribbenow327>Pribbenow, p. 327.</ref> this includes two B-52s shot down by MiG-21 fighters<ref name= "Thompson"/>)
| casualties2       = '''U.S. claim:''' 6 MiG-21s shot down (including 2 MiG-21s shot down by B-52 tail gunners)<ref name= "airforcemag.com"/><br>'''PAVN claim:''' 3 MiG-21s shot down<ref>{{cite web |url= http://kienthuc.net.vn/vu-khi/nga-noi-gi-ve-cuoc-dau-mig21-va-f4-o-viet-nam2-287379.html |title= Nga nói gì về cuộc đấu MiG-21 và F-4 ở Việt Nam (2)|date=27 December 2013 |work=Kien thuc |access-date= 27 December 2015}}</ref><br />1,624 civilians killed<ref name= "morocco">{{Harvnb | Morocco | 1985 | p = 150}}.</ref>
| campaignbox       = {{Campaignbox Vietnam War}}
}}

'''Operation Linebacker II''', sometimes referred to as the '''Christmas bombings''' and, in [[Vietnam]], '''Dien Bien Phu in the air''',{{efn|{{langx|vi|Điện Biên Phủ trên không}}; a reference to the [[Battle of Dien Bien Phu]]}} was a [[strategic bombing]] campaign conducted by the [[United States]] against targets in [[North Vietnam]] from 18 December to 29 December 1972, during the [[Vietnam War]]. More than 20,000 tons of [[Aircraft ordnance|ordnance]] was dropped on military and industrial areas in [[Hanoi]] and [[Haiphong]] and at least 1,624 civilians were killed. The operation was the final major military operation carried out by the U.S. during the conflict, and the largest bombing campaign involving heavy bombers since [[World War II]].

By late 1972, U.S. combat involvement in Vietnam had been [[Vietnamization|dramatically reduced]], and negotiations to end the war were underway in [[Paris]]. After secret meetings in October between lead negotiators [[Henry Kissinger]] and [[Le Duc Tho]], an informal agreement was reached. The terms included a total U.S. withdrawal, North Vietnam's recognition of [[South Vietnam]], new borders based on the present [[front line]]s, and new elections in the South, which would include the then-banned [[Communist Party of Vietnam]]. South Vietnamese president [[Nguyen Van Thieu]], however, totally rejected these terms when he was informed about them and, following [[Richard Nixon]]'s reelection in November, the U.S. submitted new terms, which included the [[Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone]] (DMZ) as the recognized national border, leading to a breakdown in negotiations on 16 December. Nixon issued an ultimatum for the North to return to negotiations within 72 hours, after which he ordered the bombing campaign on 18 December. Conducted by more than 200 [[Boeing B-52 Stratofortress|B-52 bombers]] from [[Strategic Air Command]] supported by tactical planes of the [[Seventh Air Force]] and [[Task Force 77 (United States Navy)|Task Force 77]], the raids ran from 18 to 24 December and 26 to 29. The U.S. acknowledged the loss of 16 B-52 bombers, while North Vietnam claimed 34 bombers shot down.

The effect of the bombings on the peace negotiations is debated. On 22 December, Nixon asked the North to return to the talks with the terms offered in October and warned Thieu that he would sign the agreement even if Thieu did not. The North agreed, and Nixon ordered a halt to the bombings on 30 December. The North Vietnamese delegation stated that the campaign played no role in the decision to return to negotiations, while an aide to Kissinger remarked that "[w]e bombed the North Vietnamese into accepting our concessions". On 27 January 1973, the [[Paris Peace Accords]] were signed along the same terms as the initial October agreement.