The Bombing of Hanoi on Christmas 1972

The bombing of Hanoi on Christmas in 1972 is a day that the North Vietnamese will remember for a long time. President Richard Nixon was the president that carried out Operation Linebacker II, and he had to do it during the perfect period of time or else it would not have worked. The U.S.A. used some of their best bombers for the campaign to ensure the operation would work without doubt. New “Smart Bombs” were invented and were used by the bombers, to even further ensure the campaign would be a success. The strategies used by the U.S.A. were simple, and the way they had to carry out the strategies was quite difficult. The U.S.A.’s bombing of Hanoi on Christmas in 1972 was the biggest air raid of the war, which tested the U.S.’s ability to cripple an enemy, and President Nixon’s ability to carry out this bombing operation on Vietnam.

The bombing of Hanoi on Christmas in 1972, also called Operation Linebacker II, which was actually a twelve day bombing campaign was the largest air raid of the war. It was the biggest air raid of the war for two main reasons; the bombers that were used, and the bombs that were unleashed upon Hanoi during the campaign. The U.S.A. used two bombers during the bombing operation; the B-52D Stratofortress Bomber, and the F-111A Bomber. Both of these bombers were perfect for this operation since the twelve days of the campaign did not consist of good weather, F-111A is an all-weather bomber to compensate for the bad weather that took place, and the B-52D is a strategic bomber for more heavy bombings when there was good weather. The specifications of the aircraft also helped make the campaign a success. The B-52D Stratofortress Bomber’s weight is four-hundred and fifty thousand pounds loaded, which helps to carry a payload of up to seventy-thousand pounds or “iron” bombs, which is a lot of bombs. It’s max speed is six-hundred and thirty miles per hour, with a range of six-thousand two-hundred miles, which helped in getting the bombers to Hanoi to drop the bombs, and get them back to the U.S. quickly for another run. The F-111A all-weather bomber weighed a light ninety-one thousand five-hundred pounds loaded, which carried a mere eighteen-thousand pounds of bombs compared to the B-52D’s seventy-thousand pounds. The small payload is compensated for the speed and range of the aircraft. The F-111A’s max speed at a high altitude near thirty five-thousand feet is one-thousand four-hundred fifty miles per hour (Mach 2.2). At a low altitude of flying the aircraft can go eight-hundred miles per hour (Mach 1.2) which is still more than the B-52D at it’s highest altitude. The range of the F-111A is three-thousand one hundred sixty five miles, which is much less than the B-52D which means it must make a shorter trip. These two bombers were perfect for Operation Linebacker II because they could pack a large punch, and were strategic and all-weather bombers, which made the operation very successful (Pimlott 173-174)