With a whole 11 sec of delay, what was supposed to be the minimum range for shooting jamming targets? The 'dead zone' must have been huge - some 10 km? Was it one of 'lessons learned' to reduce it to 7 sec. for Volkhov?

After first glances at the manual - it seems a deja vu for every Volkhov veteran .
Do you plan to put Dvina in the Middle East scenarios as well with this first release?

After first glances at the manual - it seems a deja vu for every Volkhov veteran smile.

We should have learn these systems the other way around...
... Dvina first, Volhov after.


Do you plan to put Dvina in the Middle East scenarios as well with this first release?

Day 1 - Dec. 18-19, 1972

Operation LINEBACKER II began on December 18, 1972, 3,000 sorties, 11 days, and 40,000 tons of bombs penetrated the most concentrated air defense of the war. President Richard Nixon had turned complete control of the Vietnam war over to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Thomas Moorer on December 14, 1972 with orders "to win this war". As a result of this order Operation LINEBACKER II was executed. Eleven days after the B-52's began this operation, America's involvement in Vietnam was over. Peace talks that had came to a stale mate in October 1972 were resumed on January 8, 1973. Within 30 days after the final bomb was dropped Le Duc Tho and Henry Kissinger reached a final agreement and signed the Paris Peace Accords on January 27, 1973. Within 60 days after the signing 591 American Prisoner's of War were released and returned to the United States.



Before the eleven day bombing campaign was over 26 US aircraft would be shot down by North Vietnam's SA-2 Guideline SAM missiles. Fifteen of these aircraft were Boeing B-52 Stratofortresses. Thirty-one of the B-52 crewmembers shot down were captured and held as POWs. At the end of the eleven day mission, ninty-three were listed as Missing In Action.Today all but nine of those B-52 men listed as MIA have been returned home.

It took one hour and forty-three minutes for 87 B-52's to taxi, take-off, and become airborne on the afternoon of December 18, 1972 from Andersen Air Force Base in Guam. Later they would be joined by 42 additional B-52 that departed from U-Tapao Royal Thai Airfield, Thailand. Together they would form three attacking waves making this the largest armada of bombers assembled since World War II. Seven targets had carefully been selected for the 129 B-52's concentrate their weapons on.



Wave One made up of a total 48 B-52s, 21 B-52Ds from U-Tapao, and 27 B-52s from Andersen, 12 B-52D's and 15 B-52G's, reached their first targets at 7:45 PM, local Hanoi time. As SNOW cell unleashed 324 bombs onto the runway at Hao Lac airfield on the southwestern edge of Hanoi the B-52 tail-gunner in BROWN 03, SSgt Samual Turner, shot down a MiG-21, the first in B-52 combat history.

Eighteen minutes later LILAC 03, a B-52D tail number 6768 flying at 38,000 feet, from Andersen was approaching the Kinh No vehicle repair facility to drop its bombs. Fifteen seconds prior to the bomb release point a SAM fired from North Vietnam's SAM Site VN-133. LILAC 03 was damaged by the SAM and was unable to make the post-target turn and dropped from the cell formation and continued to fly south from Hanoi. Despite the damage the B-52D was able to land safely at U-Tapao in Thailand.




Eleven minutes later CHARCOAL 01, a B-52G, tail number 8201, at 34,000 feet, was struck by two SAMs fired from SAM Site VN-119. The SAMs approached and detonated on the aircraft just prior to its bomb release point over the target area of the Yen Vien railroad yards. In less than a minute the bomber nosed over and headed to its final resting place, Kim Anh, Vien Phu province Vietnam. The crew of this aircraft was from Blytheville AFB, Arkansas. Three of the six crewmembers successfully exited the and were captured and held at the Hanoi Hilton by the North Vietnamese becoming the Strategic Air Commands first POWs. Wreckage of CHARCOAL 01 shot down by the North Vietnam's Central Army's 59th Missile Battalion on December 18, 1972 is clearly visable in a pile of aircraft wreckage at the Central Army Museum, 28A Dien Bien Phu Street, Hanoi, Vietnam today.

Wave Two was made up of 30 B-52D's and G's from Andersen. The were scheduled to begin bombing targets at 12:00 midnight Hanoi time. Targets selected for the second wave were the same as three of those struck earlier by the first wave of bombers, the Yen Vien railroad yard, the Hanoi railroad repair yard, and the Kinh No vehicle repair facility. As PEACH 02, a B-52G tail number 8246, flying at an altitude of 38,500 feet began its post-target turn a SAM exploded just off its left wing. The explosion had ripped part of the wing-tip off and tore the fuel tank from under the wing. Two of the engines were also ripped from the bomber. Flames were trailing the B-52 from every hole made by the damage. The aircraft commander was able to keep the bomber airborne long enough to make it back to the saftey provided by the airspace of Thailand. Seven crewmembers successfully bailed out in the vicinity of the Marine base near Nam Phong. Within twenty minutes all of the crew were picked up and flown to U-Tapao. The next day they returned to Guam.

Wave Three
About the same time the crew from PEACH 02 was landing at U-Tapao B-52s that would make up the third and final wave of bombers for the first evening were begining to take to the air. At 2:46 AM local U-Tapao time, ROSE 01, a B-52D tail number 6608, rolled down the runway and climbed out to become part of 51 B-52D's and G's that made up the third and final wave of B-52s to stike Hanoi on December 18, 1972. Twenty-one of these B-52s, all from U-Tapao were targeted against the Hanoi Radio Tower. These B-52Ds were within lethal range of eleven North Vietnamese SAM sites. At 4:56 AM, Hanoi time, ROSE O1, the lead aircraft in the final cell, dropped its 108, 750 lb bombs on the Hanoi Radio Tower. Numerous SAMs were fired at the bombers as they paraded one by one over the target area. The tail-gunners because of their large canope in the B-52D's were calling the SAMs as they broke throught the overcast below. One SAM pasted between the trailing edge of the right wing and the tail of ROSE 01. The gunner radioed to the aircraft commander, "that's close enough..." Within seconds another SAM approached ROSE 01 as it entered its post-target turn. The SAM fired from North Vietnam's SAM Site VN-549 exploded underneath the bomber on the left side. Immediately internal communications were lost in the aircraft. The SAM had blown a hole in the side of the fuselage large enough for the navigator to look out and see the bomb pins hanging from the external bomb rack under the wing. Fire broke out in the forward cockpit. ROSE 01 never made it out of the post-target turn. The crew ROSE 01 began exiting the ill-fated aircraft. Four of the six crewmembers were captured before the sun rose the next morning. The wreckage of ROSE 01 fell to the ground approximately 9 kilometers southwest of Hanoi in the village of Oai Than, Hay Tay province Vietnam.

In January 1996 a joint field activity conducted the United States JTF-FA and their Vietnamese counterparts unearthed from a pond the wreckage of ROSE 01. The remains of the gunner were excavated from the site and are currently undergoing forensic identification at the Central Identification Laboratory at Hickam AFB in Hawaii. Wreckage recovered by the Vietnamese on December 19, 1972 is on display at the Central Army's Air Force Museum located in southwest Hanoi.

One other B-52D, RAINBOW 01, tail number 6583, flying at 34,000 feet was damaged by a SAM as it approached its target the Hanoi railroad repair yard. The RAINBOW cell was within burnthrough range of six SAM sites at the time of its encounter with the SAM. RAINBOW 01 diverted to U-Tapao where it landed safely. During the first evening of Operation LINEBACKER II the North Vietnamese launched 164 SAMs at the B-52 bombers. Of the 129 bombers over Hanoi that night only two were shot down by enemy missiles.Click Hereto continue to day two of Operation LINEBACKER II.

Day 2 - Dec. 19, 1972

Day two of Operation LINEBACKER II had some minor changes in the flight plans of the B-52s. The altitudes of the bombers were lowered between 34,000 and 35,000 feet. It was the hopes of the mission planners that this would allow the chaff corridors created by the F-4s laid at 36,000 feet to be more effective against the SA-2 SAMs radar. On the first day of the operation several B-52 pilots were performing evasive maneuvers to avoid SAMs even though an order had been issued not to. On Day 2 the Strategic Air Command's Wing Commander threatened to court-martial any pilot who willingly disrupted the cell formation to evade the SAMs.

Wave one was made up of 12 B-52Ds and 9 B-52Gs flying from Andersen AFB, Guam. Their fifteen and a half hour mission concentrated its weapons on the Kinh No vehicle repair complex. They began releasing their bombs at 8:10 PM Hanoi time and for twelve minutes they rained on the Kinh No complex.

Wave two was comprised of 36 aircraft. All the B-52Gs, 21 of them, flew in from Guam. Their flight plan called for them to rendezvous with 15 B-52Ds from U-Tapao before proceeding to Hanoi to bomb the Bac Giang transshipment point and the Hanoi Radio tower. The B-52s formed into three ship cell formations separated by 500 feet altitude and trailed the lead ship at one mile intervals, one off the right wing and the other flying off the left wing.
Begining at 11:50 PM, local Hanoi time, wave two began dropping bombs simultaneously on both its intended targets. For the next twenty-five minutes bombs fell continuously on the Bac Giang transshipment point.

The lead cell over the Hanoi Radio tower was IVORY, made up of 3 B-52Ds from U-Tapao. IVORY cell was within burnthrough range of nine SAM sites. All aircraft employed maximun Track While Scan (TWS) jamming against the SAMs Fan Song radar beams. All the aircraft in IVORY cell maintained good cell integrity throughout the bomb run. Approximately 10 seconds after IVORY 01, B-52D tail number 6592, flying at an altitude of 35,000 feet, released its 108 bombs it began a forty-five degree high-banked 270 degree post-target turn. No one aboard IVORY 01 saw the approaching SAM because of the steep angle of the turn. The SAM detonated approximately 50 to 100 feet off the tail of the bomber causing engine malfunction and severing the right elevator control cable. As IVORY 01 rolled out of the turn and returned to level flight the gunner saw another SAM coming at the aircraft. An evasive turn was made in the opposite direction. This placed the SAM well above IVORY 01 where it detonated without harm to the aircraft. The damaged B-52D continued to fly until it reached Nam Phong base in Thailand where the bomber landed safely.

Three cell behind IVORY was HAZEL cell made up of three B-52Gs. Two of the G-models had unmodified ECM equipment on-board. Modified B-52Gs were those equipped with three ALT-22 Modulated ECM transmitters. The unmodified B-52G aircraft possess ALT-6B unmodulated transmitters in place of the ALT-22s. HAZEL cell flew inbound to the Hanoi Radio station target area approximately 9 miles to the left of its intended track. At approximately 13 miles prior to the bomb release point HAZEL 03, a B-52G tail number 8254, flying at 34,500 feet was engaged by a SAM. HAZEL 02 had an inoperative ALR-20 receiver and HAZEL 01 had two inoperative E/F transmitters. All the aircraft jammed the TWS beams although only HAZEL 01 and HAZEL 02 were jamming the down-link frequency with two jammers apiece. Both HAZEL 02 and HAZEL 03 had uplink signals from SAM radar. The damage of HAZEL 03 is contributed to lack of cell integrity, flying off the fragged course, and insufficient down-link jamming capability. Being within burn-through range of several SAM sites was also a contributing factor. HAZEL 03 was the only B-52G to be damaged by a SAM during Operation LINEBACKER II and not forced down.

Wave three was made up of 36 B-52s with 15 B-52D's and 6 B-52Gs form Andersen and 15 B-52Ds from U-Tapao. Nine B-52Ds from Anderson were again targeted against the Yen Vien railroad yards on the eastern bank of the Red River. This target received 1116 bombs from the B-52s on the first night of LINEBACKER II. QUILT cell led the attack on this target. BRICK cell was right behind them and the final cell to bomb this target on December 19, 1972 was SCARLET. It took approximately eight minutes for the three cells to unload 594 bombs on the target. No SAMs were reported and no B-52s were damaged over this target.

About the time the last explosion took place at Yen Vien railroad yards 27 B-52s were preparing to make a run over a new target thirty-one miles north of Hanoi, the Thai Nguyen thermal power plant. Only one B-52 observed SAMs. PAINT 02 a B-52D from U-Tapao saw four visible SAMs. There was no damage done to any of the aircraft that struck this target but during a post-flight inspection of RAINBOW 01, 30 to 35 holes were noted in the aircraft's skin.

Day 3 - Dec. 20, 1972

During the third night of Operation LINEBACKER II the USAF B-52 suffered its heaviest losses of the entire operation. The North Vietnamese had counted on the B-52 attack on the third evening to be using the same altitudes and approach paths to Hanoi as on the previous nights. The SAMs downed four B-52Gs and two B-52Ds. Another B-52D from U-Tapao was severely damaged by a SAM ripping several holes in the right wing. Despite the damage the pilot was able to fly back to Thailand and land safely at U-Tapao.

Wave one was made up of 18 B-52s from Anderson AFB in Guam. There were 6 B-52Ds and 12 B-52Gs from Anderson joined by 15 B-52Ds from U-Tapao. The first target to be bombed was the Hanoi Railroad Repair Facility. Two cell of Anderson based B-52s bombed this target while passing within burn-through range of 11 SAM sites only four SAMs were fired at the cells. The nine three-ship cells that followed the initial cells targeted the Yen Vien railyard and the nearby Ai Mo warehouse. They were met over their targets by numerous SAMs.



QUILT cell led the attack at Yen Vien. QUILT cell was made up of B-52Gs. QUILT 03, tail number 6496, was one of two unmodified B-52Gs in the cell flying at 35,500 feet. Unmodified B-52Gs were those equipped with three ALT-22 Modulated ECM Transmitters. The Modified B-52G had ALT-6B Unmodulated Transmitters in place of the ALT-22s. QUILT 3 lost two E/F transmitters at the Initial Point of the bomb run and was only jamming the Track While Scan beams of the Fan Song Radar emulating from the SAM sites. QUILT 01 had lost two E/F Transmitters it committed 3 jammers to the track while scan radar beams with one directed against the down-link. QUILT 02 concentrated all its transmitters against the track while scan signals. QUILT cell penetrated a heavy SAM environment. While QUILT cell was in the post-target turn at a high bank angle, QUILT 03 was hit by a SAM. Factors that lead to the damage of QUILT 03 were all the B-52s in the cell were unmodified G models, the high bank angle of the turn, and they flew within burn-through range of several SAM sites.

About ten seconds after the Radar Navigator closed the bomb-bay doors a SAM crashed into the left side of the aircraft. QUILT 03 began to loose altitude. Hydraulic pressure to the controls in the rear of the aircraft were gone. The aircraft was in a 500 knot high-speed descent at around 20,000 feet when the Pilot illuminated the bailout light. Four of the six crew-members were captured by the Vietnamese and later released in March of 1973. Two of the crew-members were Killed In Action their bodies have since been returned by the Vietnamese.

Four cells behind QUILT cell was BRASS cell. BRASS cell was made up of one modified B-52G and two unmodified B-52Gs. As the cell proceeded inbound to the target it had drifted four to seven miles left of its track because of evasive action taken against visual SAMs fired at the cell. As BRASS 01 rolled out of the post-target turn integrity of the cell formation had been lost. BRASS 01 was six miles ahead of BRASS 02 at this point. Approximately 40 seconds after bomb release point BRASS 02, a B-52G, tail number 6481, was successfully engaged by two SAMs fired from SAM site VN-549. One exploded just off the right wing, and the second missile detonated off the right side of the aircraft close to the tail section. A quick assessment by the crew revealed four of eight engines were out. Air speed had dropped to 250 knots because of of strong head winds. Within five minutes of the SAM explosions two more engines showed fire indications and had to be shut down. The pilot managed to glide the crippled aircraft to Nam Phong Marine Base in Thailand where the crew all successfully bailed out and were rescued. The next day the crew was flown back to Anderson AFB on a KC-135 for a debriefing. On Christmas day the crew was returned to the States.

Three cells behind BRASS cell was ORANGE cell. It was made up of three B-52D's flying from U-Tapao Air Field. ORANGE 03, a B-52D tail number 6622, flying at 35,500 feet from U-Tapao, was hit simultaneously by two SAMs fired from VN-119 SAM site just prior to its bomb release point over Yen Vien rail-yards. Both ORANGE 01 and ORANGE 02 were in their post-target turn at a high banked angle. This rendered their ECM equipment ineffective against any jamming capability to effectively cover ORANGE 03. After being hit ORANGE 03 went into a flat spin, exploded and crashed just north of Hanoi in Yen Thuong hamlet. Two of the six crew-members were captured and repatriated by the North Vietnamese in 1973. The other four members of the 99th Bomb Wing of West-over AFB crew remain unaccounted for today.

During Wave Two 9 B-52Ds and 18 B-52G from Andersen AFB were to strike the Hanoi rail yards, the Bac Giang transshipment points, and the Thai Nguyen thermal power plant. It had become obvious to mission planners that the B-52G model did not have enough electronic countermeasure equipment on board to overcome the radars of the SAM sites. Six of the B-52Gs targeted against the Hanoi rail yards were recalled by SAC officials. The remaining B-52s struck their targets without any impairment or losses from the SAMs.

Wave Three would not be so lucky. Within sixteen minutes three B-52s were shot down and another was damaged during their assault. The wave was made up of 39 B-52s. From Andersen AFB were 12 B-52Gs and 9 B-52D. Bombers provided from the base at U-Tapao were 18 B-52Ds. The nine B-52Ds from Andersen were responsible to strike the Hanoi rail yards, the target that the G models were recalled from during the second wave earlier in the evening.

STRAW 02, a B-52D, tail number 6669, flying at an altitude of 35,500 feet, was the fifth B-52 over the Hanoi rail yards on this evening. The crew reported four SAMs during the ingress with another SAM that detonated just seconds after their bomb release under the aircraft as it was began a large banked post-target turn. It is believed that the SAM that encountered STRAW 02 was fired from North Vietnam's SAM Site VN-549. STRAW 01 had lost one E/F transmitter and STRAW 02 lost two of its transmitters. STRAW 02 lost two engines during the explosion. The aircraft remained flyable for another 30 minutes. This gave the crew enough time to reach the boarder of Laos. There the crew bailed out of the bomber before it exploded and five of the six crew-members were rescued by a HH-53. The radar-navigator of STRAW 02 remains Missing in Action. There have been numerous reports since this incident occurred that this missing individual may still be alive and possibly held in captivity. At the end of the United States involvement in the war in Southeast Asia there were over 500 Americans unaccounted from in Laos. There never was a release of any Prisoners of War from the Laotian government.

OLIVE 01, a B-52G, tail number 8198 flying at an altitude of 35,000 feet had a crew of seven on-board. It was the lead aircraft over the Kinh No vehicle repair complex. OLIVE cell approached its bomb release point at 11:12 PM, local Hanoi time, proceeding inbound with two to three nautical miles of lateral separation at the bomb release point. Evasive maneuvers placed OLIVE 03 was approximately two nautical miles ahead of OLIVE 02 at the bomb release point. OLIVE 01 was struck by a SAM believed to be fired from Vietnam's SAM Site VN-119 while in the high banked post-target turn. The cells electronic counter measure equipment consisted of one E/F transmitter on OLIVE 01 and one E/F transmitter on OLIVE 02. Strong track while scan and up-link signals were present throughout the target area. There was maximum jamming applied against the track while scan beams and three jammers were devoted to the down-link frequency. Lack of cell integrity, high bank angle turn and seven SAM sites within burn-through range were all contributing factors to the loss of OLIVE 01. Three of the crew-members were able to successfully eject from the ill fated bomber. Two of these men were returned as POWs in March of 1973. It was not until two years after the war was over when Vietnamese released the remains of the other survivor who had died while in captivity.

Following just eight minutes behind OLIVE cell over the target and a few cells back in the formation was TAN cell. TAN 03 an unmodified B-52G, tail number 8169 flying at 36,000 feet had lost its bombing navigation radar and became separated from the cell. TAN 03 was tracking four nautical miles to the right of its intended track and there was six miles separation between TAN 03 and the rest of TAN cell at the time of the SAM impact. The aircraft disintegrated almost immediately. The gunner was the only crew-member of this B-52 to be released from the Hanoi Hilton in 1973.

The final target to be bombed on the night of December 20, 1972 was the Hanoi petroleum products storage area at Gia Thuong. BRICK cell was the last cell to bomb this target. There were four SAMs fired at BRICK cell just as they entered their post-target turn. BRICK 02, a B-52D, tail number 5067 flying at 35,000 feet was damaged by one of these SAMs launched from Vietnam's SAM Site VN-14. Numerous holes were ripped in the right wing of the B-52D but the damage was not enough to keep the bomber from returning to U-Tapao.

December 20, 1972 will be remembered as the day that the United States lost the most B-52 aircraft to hostile fire while performing a combat operation. Four B-52Gs were shot down, two B-52Ds and another receiving severe damage. Several patterns had developed by the end of the third night of Operation LINEBACKER II. One, Six B-52s had been shot down while in a high angle banked post-target turn. Two, five of the seven B-52Gs that had been shot down were unmodified B-52Gs. Because of these factors and the high B-52 losses that occurred on December 20, 1972 SAC planners had to alter their plans if the B-52s valued at $8.0 million each were to continue their raids into the Hanoi area.

18th of December, the 361st Air Defense Division was defending Hanoi.

It had 3 SAM regiments, equipped with the SA-75MK Dvina (SA-2F) systems.
The 261th SAM regiment were complemented with the 57th, 59th, 93rd, 94th SAM Battery.
The 257th SAM regiment were complemented with the 76th, 77th, 78th, 79rd SAM Battery.
The 274th SAM regiment were complemented with the 86th, 88th SAM Battery, in the middle of relocation from Haiphong.

As the relocation of the 274th SAM regiment was ongoing during Linebacker-II, only two missile technical batteries were available to prepare missiles...
... missile shortage were common to the battery commanders.

For example 19/12/72, the batteries had the following missile stock available:
261 SAM regiment
57th battery - 4
59th battery - 6
93th battery - 6
94th battery - 8

257th SAM regiment
76th battery - 12
77th battery - 13
78th battery - 7
79th battery - 8

274th SAM regiment
86th battery - 12
88th battery - 8

Night-1, 18th of December

During wave-1, the 12 SAM batteries defending Hanoi, launched 20 missiles.
During wave-2, 9 missiles.
During wave-3, 35 missiles.

Night-2, 19th of December

During wave-1, the 12 SAM batteries defending Hanoi, launched 7 missiles.
During wave-2, 6 missiles.
During wave-3, 7 missiles.

Night-3, 20th of December

During wave-1, the 12 SAM batteries defending Hanoi, launched 10 missiles.
During wave-3, 20 missiles.

Hm, the "other side" claims for "SAM barrage"...

Hm, the "other side" claims for "SAM barrage"...

Im not interested about Cold War political propaganda.

Today we are lucky to be able to read the unclassified sources of the real events, from both sides, instead of political propaganda.
Real history is available now from both sides state libraries.

Let me have "unclasified US historical source"... Could someone help?