Editing Operation Rolling Thunder (section)

{{Short description|US aerial bombing campaign against North Vietnam (1965–68)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict          = Operation Rolling Thunder
| partof            = the [[Vietnam War]]
| image             = RollingThunder.gif
| image_size        = 300px
| caption           = Compilation of [[United States Air Force]] and [[United States Navy|United States Naval]] air operations throughout the Rolling Thunder campaign
| date              = 2 March 1965 – 2 November 1968
| place             = Over [[North Vietnam]]
| casus             =
| result            = US/South Vietnamese failure
| combatant1        = {{flag|United States}}<br />{{flag|South Vietnam}}
| combatant2        = {{flag|North Vietnam}}<br />{{flag|China}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www3.nccu.edu.tw/~lorenzo/Jian%20China%20Involvement%20Vietnam.pdf |work=The China Quarterly |title=China's Involvement in the Vietnam War, 1964–69 |author=Jian, Chen |date=June 1995 |access-date=11 October 2016 |archive-date=24 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150724041333/http://www3.nccu.edu.tw/~lorenzo/Jian%20China%20Involvement%20Vietnam.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref><br />{{flag|North Korea}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/HH18Dg02.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060923224111/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/HH18Dg02.html|url-status=unfit|archive-date=23 September 2006|work=Asia Times Online |title=Korea: Missiles and madness|author=Bennett, Richard M. |date=18 August 2006 |access-date=26 September 2015}}</ref>
| commander1        = {{flagicon|United States}} '''[[Lyndon B. Johnson]]'''<br /> {{flagicon|United States}} '''[[Robert McNamara]]'''<br />{{flagicon|United States}} '''[[Joseph Harold Moore|Joseph H. Moore]]'''<br />{{flagicon|United States}} [[William W. Momyer]]<br />{{flagicon|United States}} [[George S. Brown]]<br />{{flagicon|South Vietnam}} [[Nguyen Cao Ky]]
| commander2        = {{flagicon|North Vietnam}} [[Phung The Tai]] ([[Air Defense]])<br />{{flagicon|North Vietnam}} [[Nguyen Van Tien]] ([[Vietnamese Air Force|Air Force]])
| casualties1       = '''U.S.''':<br />1,054 killed, wounded or captured<ref name=Schlight53>Schlight, ''A War Too Long'', p. 53.</ref><br />
922 aircraft shot down<ref name=Schlight53/><ref name=Hobson15-116>Hobson, pp. 15–116.<!-- Wide page range -- should this be 15-16? --></ref> (excluding the number of aircraft that were badly damaged beyond repair{{Sfn|Drenkowski|Grau|2007|p=3}})<br />
'''South Vietnam''': unknown<br>
'''North Vietnam claim''': 3,243 aircraft, helicopters and UAVs shotdown<br>363 pilots were captured<ref>{{cite web | url=https://nvsk.vnanet.vn/print/chien-tranh-pha-hoai-cua-my-o-mien-bac-viet-nam-7-02-1965-15-01-1973-34010.vna | title=Print }}</ref>
| casualties2       = '''North Vietnam''': 20,000 soldiers and 30,000–65,000 civilians killed<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lewy |first=Guenter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LtDufIAplzkC |title=America in Vietnam |date=1980-05-29 |page=450–53|publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-987423-1 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=LBJ approves 'Operation Rolling Thunder,' Feb. 13, 1965 |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2019/02/13/lbj-operation-rolling-thunder-feb-13-1965-1162618 |work=Politico |date=13 February 2019}}</ref><ref>Tucker, Spencer, ed. (1998). [https://books.google.com/books?id=Zk8YAAAAIAAJ Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War: A Political, Social, and Military History.]  Volume Two. Santa Barbara, CA, p. 176</ref><br /> 85<ref name="kienthuc.net.vn">{{cite web | url=http://kienthuc.net.vn/vu-khi/nga-noi-gi-ve-cuoc-dau-mig21-va-f4-o-viet-nam1-287355.html | title=Nga nói gì về cuộc đấu MiG-21 và F-4 ở Việt Nam(1) | date=26 December 2013 }}</ref> - 120 aircraft destroyed<ref name="PBS">{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/battlefieldvietnam/timeline/index2.html|title=Timeline|work=Battlefield Vietnam|publisher=PBS Online|access-date=26 September 2015}}</ref><br>
'''North Korea''': 14 pilots killed<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/696970.stm |title=North Korea fought in Vietnam War |publisher=BBC News |date=31 March 2000 |access-date=18 October 2015}}</ref><br>'''China''': 20,000 support personnel casualties<ref name="PBS"/>
}}
{{Campaignbox Vietnam War}}
'''Operation Rolling Thunder''' was a gradual and sustained aerial bombardment campaign conducted by the United States (U.S.) [[2nd Air Division]] (later [[Seventh Air Force]]), [[U.S. Navy]], and [[Republic of Vietnam Air Force]] (RVNAF) against [[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 morale of [[South Vietnam]]; to force North Vietnam to stop sending soldiers and [[materiel]] into South Vietnam to fight in the [[Viet Cong|communist insurgency]]; and to destroy North Vietnam's transportation system, industrial base, and air defenses. Attainment of these objectives was made difficult by both the restraints imposed upon the U.S. and its allies by [[Cold War]] exigencies, and the military aid and assistance received by North Vietnam from its communist allies, the [[Soviet Union]], the [[China|People's Republic of China]] and [[North Korea]].

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 United States since the aerial bombardment of Germany during [[World War II]]. Supported by its communist allies, North Vietnam fielded a potent mixture of MiG fighter-interceptor jets and sophisticated air-to-air and surface-to-air weapons that created one of the most effective air defenses ever faced by American military aviators. The limited effectiveness of the operation and the pursuit of peace talks led to the scaling back of the operation in March 1968 and its cancellation in November 1968.