Operation Steel Tiger

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Operation Steel Tiger
Part of Vietnam War, Laotian Civil War, Arc Light

Barrell Roll/Steel Tiger Areas of Operations
Date3 April 1965 – 11 November 1968
Location
Southeastern Laos
Result Strategic US failure: North Vietnamese and Viet Cong supply lines slowed, but Ho Chi Minh trail remains open
Belligerents
 United States
 South Vietnam
 Laos		 Vietnam North Vietnam
Viet Cong
Commanders and leaders
North Vietnam Đồng Sĩ Nguyên
Units involved
United States 2nd Air Division
United States Seventh Air Force
United States Task Force 77
Casualties and losses
132 aircraft or helicopters lost

Operation Steel Tiger was a covert U.S.

Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) during the Vietnam War
.

The operation was initiated by the 2nd Air Division on 3 April 1965, continued under the direction of the Seventh Air Force when that headquarters was created on 1 April 1966, and had a subsidiary operation code-named Operation Tiger Hound. The purpose of Steel Tiger was to impede the flow of men and materiel on the enemy logistical routes collectively known as the Ho Chi Minh Trail (the Truong Son Strategic Supply Route to the North Vietnamese).[citation needed]

Bombing of the trail system had begun on 14 December 1964 with the advent of

Saigon decided that the bombing in southeastern Laos should be stepped up. On 11 November 1968 Steel Tiger and Tiger Hound were combined and renamed Operation Commando Hunt.[1]

It was estimated by U.S. intelligence analysts that, during 1965, 4,500 PAVN troops were infiltrated through Laos along with 300 tons of materiel each month.

AC-130.[4]

Operation Steel Tiger, Operation Tiger Hound, and Operation Commando Hunt inevitably slowed the flow of North Vietnamese and Viet Cong men and supplies into South Vietnam and required them to divert a multitude of assets to keep the Ho Chi Minh Trail in serviceable condition, however airpower was never able to completely close the trail during the war.[4]: 197 

References

Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

  1. ISBN 9781435111844
    .
  2. ^ a b Schlight, John (1986). A War Too Long: The History of the USAF in Southeast Asia, 1961–1975 (PDF). Air Force History and Museums Program.Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  3. ISBN 9781410220608
    .
  4. ^
    ISBN 0739442902
    .

Sources

  • Littauer, Raphael and Normon Uphoff, eds, The Air War in Indochina. Boston: Beacon Press, 1972.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Operation_Steel_Tiger&oldid=1187704640"