Editing Operation Linebacker II (section)

==== Military ====
[[File:Hồ Hữu Tiệp.jpg|upright=1.5|thumb|B-52 wreckage left as a historical attraction in Hanoi as of 2022]]
During Operation Linebacker II, 741 B-52 sorties were dispatched to bomb North Vietnam; 729 completed their missions.<ref name ="Tilford, p. 263">Tilford, p. 263.</ref> B-52s dropped 15,237 tons of ordnance on 18 industrial and 14 military targets (including eight SAM sites) while fighter-bombers added another 5,000 tons of bombs to the tally.<ref name="Tilford, p. 263" /> Another 212 B-52 missions were flown within South Vietnam in support of ground operations during the campaign.<ref>Bernard C. Nalty, ''Air War Over South Vietnam''. Washington DC: Center of Air Force History, 1995, p. 178.</ref> Ten B-52s were shot down over the North and five others were damaged and crashed in Laos or Thailand. Thirty-three B-52 crew members were killed or missing in action, another 33 became prisoners of war, and 26 more were rescued.<ref>McCarthy & Allison, p. 173.</ref>

Over 11 days, North Vietnamese air defenses fired 266 SA-2 missiles downing—according to North Vietnam—34 B-52s and four F-111s.<ref name="Zaloga, Steven J 2007"/><ref name= "Pribbenow327" /> While warding off the massive strike by U.S strategic, tactical and carrier aviation, the North Vietnamese missile air defense forces conducted over 180 engagements, two-thirds of which were against B-52s. North Vietnamese claims of aircraft destroyed or shot down differ greatly from US official records. In Marshall Michel's 2002 book ''The 11 Days of Christmas: America's Last Vietnam Battle'', the author uses mission records to confirm that "15 B-52s were shot down... 10 crashed 'on the spot' in North Vietnam and 5 were able to move out of the Hanoi area and into Laos or Thailand before they crashed".<ref name= Michel239>Michel, p. 239</ref> North Vietnam claimed 36 aircraft destroyed (31 B-52s and 5 tactical aircraft) with the expenditure of 244 missiles against the B-52s and 22 missiles against tactical aircraft, or 7.9 missiles for every B-52 aircraft shot down, or 4.4 missiles for every tactical aircraft shot down. During the offensive, they initially overcame various types of interference and obstacles employed by the U.S aircraft to interrupt missile engagement.{{Sfn|Drenkowski|Grau|2007|pp=17, 19}} In the latter stages of the bombing campaign, due to a change in tactics, B-52 losses decreased significantly. By the last night of the campaign, no losses were reported. During the 11 days of Operation Linebacker, the B-52s flew 795 sorties with a loss rate of 2.63 percent (15 were shot down and five others were heavily damaged)<ref name=Michel239/>

The Air Force flew 769 sorties and 505 were flown by the Navy and Marine Corps in support of the bombers.<ref name="Tilford, p. 263" /> Twelve of these aircraft were lost on the missions (two F-111s, three F-4s, two [[A-7 Corsair II|A-7]]s, two [[A-6 Intruder|A-6]]s, an EB-66, an HH-53 rescue helicopter and an [[A-5 Vigilante|RA-5C]] reconnaissance aircraft).<ref name= "Boyne, Linebacker II" /> During these operations, ten American aviators were killed, eight captured and 11 rescued.<ref>Nalty, p. 182.</ref> US Air Force losses included fifteen B-52s, two F-4s, two F-111s, one EB-66 and one HH-53 search-and-rescue helicopter. Navy losses included two A-7s, two A-6s, one RA-5 and one F-4. Seventeen of these losses were attributed to SA-2 missiles, three to daytime MiG attacks, three to antiaircraft artillery and four to unknown causes. U.S. forces claimed eight MiGs were shot down during the operation, including two by B-52 tail gunners.<ref name="McCarthy p. 139">McCarthy 2009, p. 139.</ref><ref name="McCarthy p. 19">McCarthy 2009, p. 19.</ref> The two B-52 tail gunner kills were not confirmed by VPAF, and they admitted to the loss of only three MiGs.<ref>Toperczer #29 2001.</ref>

According to [[Dana Drenkowski]] and [[Lester W. Grau]], the number of aircraft lost by the USAF is unconfirmed since the USAF figures are also suspect.  If a plane was badly damaged but managed to land, the USAF did not count as a loss, even if it was a write-off. During the operation, the USAF told the press that 17 B-52s were lost but later, the USAF told Congress that only 13 B-52s were lost. Nine B-52s that returned to U-Tapao airfield were too badly damaged to fly again. The number of B-52s that managed to return to Guam but were combat losses remains unknown. The overall B-52 loss is probably between 22 and 27.{{Sfn|Drenkowski|Grau|2007|p=3}}

During this operation, the VPAF launched 31 air sorties of which 27 were flown by MiG-21s and four were flown by MiG-17s. They conducted eight aerial engagements and claimed two B-52s, four F-4s and one RA-5C shot down. Their losses were three MiG-21s.<ref name= "Predictability p. 26"/> Two B-52s were claimed by North Vietnamese MiG-21 fighter pilots; both incidents were attributed to SAMs by the U.S.<ref name= "Thompson">Thompson, pp. 255–6</ref> The raids inflicted severe damage to North Vietnam's infrastructure. The Air Force estimated the bombs caused 500 rail interdictions, destroyed 372 pieces of rolling stock and {{convert|3|e6usgal|m3|order=flip|abbr=off|sp=us}} of petroleum products and eliminated 80 percent of North Vietnam's electrical power production capability. Logistical imports into North Vietnam, assessed by U.S. intelligence at 160,000 tons per month when the operation began, had dropped by January 1973, to 30,000 tons per month.<ref>McCarthy & Allison, p. 171.</ref> [[Lê Duẩn]] later admitted that the bombing "completely obliterated our economic foundation."{{sfn|Asselin|2002|p=180}} Despite the damage, an enormous effort was made to keep transportation networks open. Some 500,000 workers were mobilized to repair bomb damage as needed, with an additional 100,000 constantly at work.<ref name="Jon M. Van Dyke 1992 pp. 22">Jon M. Van Dyke, North Vietnam's Strategy For Survival, (Pacific Books: 1992), pp. 22–126</ref> The raids did not break the stalemate in the South, nor halt the flow of supplies down the [[Ho Chi Minh trail]].<ref name="Lanning and Cragg, op. cit">Lanning and Cragg, op. cit</ref>