Operation Linebacker was a series of massive air raids carried out by the US Air Force and Navy in North Vietnam against military and civilian infrastructure targets. It took place between May 9 and October 23, 1972, during the Vietnam War. The main rationale of Operation Linebacker was twofold: to stop the North Vietnamese Army Easter Offensive, which had been launched against South Vietnam on March 30 that year, and to put military pressure on Hanoi for the peace negotiating table in Paris. Most of the missions were designed to disrupt North Vietnam's supply lines that fed and boosted the Easter Offensive in the South, while others were conceived to provide fire support to the South Vietnamese Army's units defending their territory.
To carry out Operation Linebacker, the US Air Force employed McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II and Republic F-105 Thunderchief strike-fighters, as well as Boeing B-52 bombers. These combat aircraft operated from bases in the Republic of Korea, Thailand, and Guam. A total of 209 B-52 bombers were used to conduct carpet bombing operations. Meanwhile, the US Navy utilized F-4 Phantom IIs, Grumman A-6 Intruder, and Douglas A-4 Skyhawk aircraft, which took off from US carriers USS Kitty Hawk, USS Constellation, USS Midway, USS America, and USS Saratoga to augment the 7th Fleet assets, which were thereby increased from 84 to 138 ships that operated in local and nearby waters.
U.S. Air Force tactical strikes against North Vietnam north of the 20th parallel had already been authorized in early April under the codename Freedom Train. However, Operation Linebacker would be a much larger and massive air campaign. The first large-scale B-52 bombing raid directed against the north would be conducted on May 10, when 12 B-52s, supported by 53 attack aircraft, struck oil and gasoline storage facilities around Vinh. By May 12, President Richard Nixon had informed Kissinger that he had decided on a more comprehensive bombing campaign which would include strikes against the capital, Hanoi, and Haiphong. By the end of June, more than 27,000 combat and support sorties had been flown.
Operation Linebacker was the first modern aerial campaign in which precision guided bombs were used. It changed the way in which air power was used. Thus, Nixon was decisive in his actions and gave the military greater latitude in targeting. However, this massive bombing campaign did not stop the North Vietnamese advance towards Saigon and, on April 30, 1975, North Vietnamese Army units and Vietcong forces would enter triumphantly the capital of South Vietnam.
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| Above, a US Air Force B-52 bombers during an air raid in Operation Linebacker. |