Route Package
Route Package | |
---|---|
Area of operation | |
Location | North Vietnam |
A Route Package were the names given by the
History
Early during the
RP6 was considered the most dangerous airspace in the world. It covered both Hanoi and Haiphong, and therefore covered the vast majority of strategic targets in the country. When the air war started, the entire North Vietnamese air defence system contained twenty-two early warning radars, four fire-control radars, and 700 anti-aircraft guns. By 1967, North Vietnam was firing 25,000 tons of anti-aircraft ammunition a month. When President Johnson halted Rolling Thunder on 1 November 1968, this had grown to 400 radar sites, 8,050 anti-aircraft guns, 150 fighters (including reserves based in China), and 40 SA-2 Guideline missile sites. The bombing halt allowed the defenders to rationalize and improve their system, which eventually included 200 SA-2 sites around the country and along the Ho Chi Minh trail.[1]
References
- ^ a b Boyne 1999.
Sources
- Boyne, Walter (November 1999), "Route Pack 6", Air Force Magazine
- White, Douglas M (2014), Rolling Thunder to Linebacker: U.S. Fixed wing survivability over North Vietnam (PDF), OCLC 913595068