Operasjon BOLO - Vietnam for 55 år siden - Twitter

Denne karen, Robin Olds,  var den store helten da jeg gikk på flyskolen på Williams AFB. Helter må USA ha. (Red.)

Operation Bolo was a United States Air Force mission during the Vietnam War, considered to be a successful combat ruse.^[1]

The mission was a response to the heavy losses sustained during the Operation Rolling Thunder aerial-bombardment campaign of 1966, during which Vietnam People's Air Force fighter jets had evaded U.S. escort fighters and attacked U.S. bombers flying predictable routes. On January 2, 1967, U.S. Air Force F-4 Phantom II multirole fighters flew a mission along flight paths typically used by the bombers during Rolling Thunder. The ruse drew an attack by Vietnamese Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 interceptors, whose pilots expected to find heavily loaded fighter-bombers. Instead, they were met by the far more agile F-4s, which shot down seven of the MiGs.

The battle prompted VPAF pilots and strategists, as well as Soviet tacticians, to re-evaluate the tactics and deployment of the MiG-21.

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#OTD: 55 years ago, F-4s from the 8th TFW, led by Col. Robin Olds, and electronically disguised as F-105s, tricked 16 NVAF MiG-21s into battle at a disadvantage (Jan 2, 1967). Seven MiGs went down for zero American loses.#USAF's Operation Bolo was a success.#AvGeek #Olds #Vietnam