Editing Operation Linebacker (section)

==Paris Peace Talks and conclusion==
{{Further|topic=the negotiations|Paris Peace Talks}}
The stalled offensive in the South and the devastation in North Vietnam had helped to convince Hanoi to return to the bargaining table by early August.<ref name="Morocco, p. 145"/> The meetings produced new concessions from Hanoi which promised to end the deadlock that had plagued negotiations since their inception in 1968. Gone were Hanoi's demands for the ouster of South Vietnamese President [[Nguyễn Văn Thiệu]] and his replacement by a coalition government in which the [[Viet Cong]] would participate.<ref>Lipsman and Weiss, p. 9. See also Karnow, p. 647.</ref> The U.S. on its part agreed to a cease fire in place which conceded that PAVN soldiers could remain in South Vietnam after a peace agreement.<ref name="nixonlibrary.gov">{{cite web|title=Memoirs v Tapes: President Nixon and the December Bombings|url=http://www.nixonlibrary.gov/exhibits/decbomb/chapter-ii.html|access-date=23 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180712134415/http://www.nixonlibrary.gov/exhibits/decbomb/chapter-ii.html|archive-date=12 July 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref> The diplomatic impasse was broken and Nixon ordered a halt to all bombing above the 20th parallel on 23 October and on 26 October Kissinger announced that "peace is at hand." This once again placed Hanoi and Haiphong off-limits, and halted ''Linebacker'' operations.<ref name="nixonlibrary.gov"/>

Air Force historian Earl Tilford has written that ''Linebacker'' was "a watershed in aerial warfare...it was the first modern aerial campaign in which precision guided munitions changed the way in which air power was used."<ref>Tilford, p. 238.</ref> It succeeded, where ''Rolling Thunder'' had failed, he claimed, for three reasons: Nixon was decisive in his actions and gave the military greater latitude in targeting; American airpower was forcefully and appropriately used; and the immense difference in the technology utilized made ''Linebacker'' the first bombing campaign in a "new era" of aerial warfare.<ref>Tilford, pp. 238–240.</ref>

During and immediately following the PAVN offensive, U.S. Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps aviators had flown 18,000 sorties in the four northern provinces of South Vietnam and dropped 40,000 tons of ordnance in the Battle of An Lộc. Between March and May, B-52 sortie rates had climbed from 700 to 2,200 per month and they had dropped 57,000 tons of bombs in Quảng Trị Province alone.<ref>Lavalle, p. 103.</ref> During ''Freedom Train'' and ''Linebacker'' proper, B-52s had dropped 150,237 tons of bombs on the North while Air Force and Navy tactical aircraft had flown 1,216 sorties and dropped another 5,000 tons of ordnance.<ref>Head, p. 71.</ref>

From the beginning of ''Freedom Train'' in April to the end of June 1972 the United States lost 52 aircraft over North Vietnam: 17 to missiles; 11 to anti-aircraft weapons; three to small arms fire; 14 to MiGs; and seven to unknown causes.<ref>Head, p. 66. One of those aircraft was an [[Douglas B-66 Destroyer|EB-66 electronic jamming aircraft]] with the call sign [[Rescue of Bat 21 Bravo|''Bat-21'']]. The EB-66 was shot down over northern South Vietnam on 2 April with only one survivor, Lieutenant Colonel Iceal Hambleton. See Lavalle, pp. 35–43.</ref> During the same time period, the RVNAF lost ten aircraft.<ref>Tilford, pp. 231, 251. ''Linebacker''. See also Lavalle, p. 107.</ref> 63 VPAF aircraft were destroyed during the same time period.<ref>Tilford, p. 245.</ref> North Vietnam claimed that it had shot down 651 aircraft and sunk or set on fire 80 U.S. warships during the operation.<ref name="Victory in Vietnam, p. 301"/>

''Linebacker'' had played a crucial role in blunting the northern offensive by drying up its vital sources of supply. PAVN had evolved into a conventional military force, and such a force depended upon a complex logistical system, which made it vulnerable to aerial attack.<ref>Palmer, p. 322.</ref> By September, imports into North Vietnam were estimated at 35 to 50 percent below what they had been in May, bolstering claims that the campaign had been successful in its interdiction effort.<ref>Tilford, p. 237.</ref> USAF General Robert N. Ginsburgh, of the [[Office of the Secretary of the Air Force]], summed up the attitudes of U.S. commanders by remarking that ''Linebacker'' had "a greater impact in its first four months of operation than ''Rolling Thunder'' had in three and one-half years."<ref>Morocco, p. 136.</ref> Although Kissinger may have announced that peace was at hand, it was not going to come easily. American bombers would once again return to the skies of North Vietnam in 1972 during [[Operation Linebacker II]] before the American commitment to the Vietnam War came to an end.<ref>Boyne, ''Linebacker II''.</ref>

===North Vietnamese aircraft losses===
(Air-to-air losses only, claimed by the U.S)<ref name="futrell">{{cite web| url =https://www.airforcehistory.hq.af.mil/Publications/fulltext/aces_aerial_victories.pdf| title =United States Air Force in Southeast Asia: Aces and Aerial Victories – 1965–1973| publisher =Air University| access-date =15 February 2007| url-status =dead| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20061105053444/https://www.airforcehistory.hq.af.mil/Publications/fulltext/aces_aerial_victories.pdf| archive-date =5 November 2006}}, on-line book, pp. 95–102.</ref><ref>
{{cite book| author=Drendel, Lou.| title=...And Kill MiGs| publisher=Squadron/Signal Publications| isbn= 978-0-89747-056-8| year=1984}}</ref>
{| style="margin:auto;"  class="wikitable"
|-
! Dates
! Service
! [[MiG-21]]
! [[MiG-19]]
! [[MiG-17]]
! Total
|-
| 5 April – 9 May
| USAF
| 4
| 1
|
| '''5'''
|-
|
| USN
| 2
|
| 2
| '''4'''
|-
| 10 May – 23 October
| USAF
| 30
| 7
|
| '''37'''
|-
|
| USN
| 3
| 2
| 11
| '''16'''
|-
|
| USMC
| 1
|
|
| '''1'''
|-
| VPAF Total
|
| '''40'''
| '''10'''
| '''13'''
| '''''63'''''
|}

According to the VPAF, they lost 47 MiGs in aircombat (including 26 MiG-21s, 5 MiG-19s and 16 MiG-17s)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://old.vko.ru/pictures/2006_26/42_01.jpg|title=Wayback Machine|website=old.vko.ru}}</ref>

===U.S. aircraft losses during Linebacker===
Between 10 May and 23 October 1972, the United States lost a total of 134 aircraft either over the north or as a direct result of Linebacker missions. 104 were lost in combat and 30 were destroyed in operational accidents. Losses by service were:<ref name="Ed Rasimus"/>

'''USAF''': – ''70 total''
* '''51 combat losses''' (22 to MiGs, 5 induced losses,<ref>Michel, p. 317 note 2. An "induced loss" occurred when a MiG was credited with indirectly causing a U.S. aircraft loss, including fuel exhaustion, fratricide, and loss of control while maneuvering.</ref> 20 to AAA, 4 to SAMs)
** 43 F-4D/E Phantom II (+17 non-combat losses)
** 2 RF-4C Photo Recon (+1 non-combat loss)
** 4 [[F-105 Thunderchief|F-105G Wild Weasel]] (+1 non-combat loss)
** 2 [[F-111|F-111A "Aardvark"]]

'''USN''': – ''54 total''
* '''43 combat losses''' (4 to MiGs, 2 induced, 13 SAM, 27 AAA)
** 8 F-4B/J Phantom II (+3 non-combat losses)
** 22 [[A-7 Corsair|A-7A/C/E Corsair II]] (+3 non-combat losses)
** 3 [[A-6 Intruder|A-6A Intruder]]
** 2 [[F-8 Crusader|F-8J Crusader]] (+3 non-combat losses)
** 5 [[A-4 Skyhawk|A-4F Skyhawk]] (+1 non-combat loss)
** 1 [[A-5 Vigilante|RA-5C Vigilante]]
** 2 RF-8G Photo Crusader (+1 non-combat loss)

'''USMC''': – ''10 total''
* '''10 combat losses''' (1 MiG, 1 SAM, 8 AAA)
** 4 F-4J Phantom II
** 2 A-4E Skyhawk
** 4 A-6A Intruder