Editing Operation Linebacker II (section)

===Final phase===
The strikes of 24 December were followed by a 36-hour Christmas stand-down, during which Air Force planners went to work to revise their plans for the next phase of operations. Due to aircraft losses during the initial phase, they intended to launch an all-out attack on North Vietnam's air defenses when the operation resumed. This course was also necessary since, by Christmas, most of the strategic targets within North Vietnam were in shambles.<ref>Tilford, p. 259.</ref> SAC also belatedly turned over tactical mission planning to its subordinate [[Eighth Air Force]] headquarters on Guam, which promptly revised the tactics. Instead of using waves, all of the bombers would be in and out of the target area within 20 minutes and they would approach from different directions and at different altitudes. They would exit by varying routes and the steep PTTs were eliminated.<ref>McCarthy and Allison, pp. 121–122.</ref> Ten targets, in the Hanoi and Haiphong areas were to be struck by bombers approaching in seven streams, four of which were to come in off the [[Gulf of Tonkin]].<ref>McCarthy and Allison, p. 121.</ref>

On 26 December 120 bombers lifted off to strike Thái Nguyên, the Kinh No complex, the Duc Noi, Hanoi, and Haiphong Railroads and a vehicle storage area at Văn Điển. 78 of the bombers took off from Andersen AFB in one time block, the largest single combat launch in SAC history, while 42 others came in from Thailand.<ref>McCarthy and Allison, p. 129.</ref> The bombers were supported by 113 tactical aircraft which provided [[Chaff (countermeasure)|chaff]] corridors, escort fighters, Wild Weasel SAM suppression and electronic countermeasures support.<ref>McCarthy and Allison, p. 124.</ref> The North Vietnamese air defense system was overwhelmed by the number of aircraft it had to track in such a short time and by a dense blanket of chaff laid down by the fighter-bombers.<ref>Morocco, pp. 154–156.</ref> 250 SAMs had been fired from 18 until 24 December and the strain on the remaining North Vietnamese inventory showed, since only 68 were fired during the mission.<ref name="Zaloga23"/>{{efn|The claim made by both general and Air Force historians was that the North Vietnamese SAM inventory was eventually depleted during the campaign. The historian Herman Gilster disagreed with this assessment. "The number of SAMs sighted per B-52 sortie increased from 1.2 during the first phase of the campaign to 1.9 during the last phase. A more reasonable answer to the decline in attrition would be the change in U.S. tactics after the third night."<ref> Gilster, p. 112.</ref>}} One B-52 was shot down near Hanoi and another damaged aircraft made it back to U-Tapao, where it crashed just short of the runway. Only two members of the crew survived.<ref name="Tilford, p. 262">Tilford, p. 262.</ref>

On the following night, 60 bombers flew, with some attacking SAM sites while others struck Lang Dang, Duc Noi, the Trung Quang Railroad and Văn Điển. One B-52 was so heavily damaged that its crew ejected over Laos, where it was rescued. A second aircraft was not so lucky. It took a direct hit and went down while attacking the Trung Quang Railroad yards.<ref>McCarthy and Allison, p. 152.</ref> During the evening's operations two F-4s and an [[HH-53]] search and rescue helicopter were also shot down.<ref name="Boyne, Linebacker II"/> Day ten (28 December) called for strikes by 60 B-52s–15 Gs and 15 Ds from Andersen and 30 Ds from U-Tapao, The aircraft formed six waves attacking five targets. Four of the waves struck targets in the Hanoi area (including SAM Support Facility #58), while the fifth hit the Lang Dang Railroad yards southwest of [[Lạng Sơn]], a major choke-point on the supply route from the People's Republic of China. No aircraft were lost on the mission.<ref name="Tilford, p. 262"/> By the eleventh day (29 December), there were few strategic targets worthy of mention left within North Vietnam. There were two SAM storage areas at Phúc Yên and the Lang Dang yards that could be profitably attacked.<ref name = 'McCarthy163'/> A total of 60 aircraft again made the trip North but the mix was altered; U-Tapao again provided 30 D models but the Andersen force was varied, putting 12 G models and 18 Ds over the North. Total bombing was rounded out by sending 30 G models on [[Operation Arc Light|Arc Light]] missions in the southern panhandle of North Vietnam and in South Vietnam.<ref name = 'McCarthy163'>McCarthy and Allison, p. 163.</ref>