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MilitaryFactory > Aircraft > Vietnam War Aircraft
 

Vietnam War Aircraft
Hard lessons learned and the dogfight proves to be alive and well.

1

Bell 204 / UH-1B/C Iroquois (Huey)
The UH-1 Iroquois was designed to fit a need developed by the United States Army for a utility helicopter capable of MedEvac duty. The UH-1 series would go on to have a prolonged life in both military and civil functions and ...
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1962

2

Bell 205 / UH-1D/H Iroquois (Huey)
Based on the successful UH-1B Huey model, the UH-1D was an improved and more powerful version that included increased cabin space for up to 14 passengers. As the YUH-1D (taken from the base Bell 205 airframe), the system firs...
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1963

3

Bell AH-1 HueyCobra
Based on the private venture Bell 209 helicopter, the AH-1 Cobra series of helicopters is many a military's primary light attack helicopter. As early as the 1950's Bell corporation was experimenting with armed versions in the...
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1967

4

Bell UH-1 Iroquois (Huey)
The UH-1 Iroquois "Huey" became an important part of American military actions beginning in 1960 and expanding throughout the latter part of the Cold War years. The ubiquitous system became synonymous with the American effort...
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1959

5

Boeing B-52 Stratofortress
The B-52 has been the preeminent American heavy bomber of the last 54 years. The massive aircraft served throughout the heightened periods of the Cold War as a nuclear deterrent, as a dedicated bomber and reconnaissance platf...
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1955

6

Boeing CH-46 Sea Knight
The CH-46 Sea Knight is similar in design and role to the CH-47 Chinook series of transport helicopters. Both offer up unobstructed access to the aircraft by keeping engine components mounted above the design. Both also utili...
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1964

7

Boeing CH-47 Chinook
The Chinook series of medium-lift helicopters has been a mainstay utility service system for the US Army (among others) for decades since its design and inception. The series featured the highly identifiable twin-tandem rotor...
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1962

8

Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker
The KC-135 Stratotanker proved to be a monumental product for the Boeing corporation in more ways than one, firstly solidifying its position as the premiere airliner manufacturer throughout the world and secondly offering the...
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1956

9

Boeing VC-137 Stratoliner
...
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1959

10

Cessna A-37 Dragonfly
The Cessna A-37 Dragonfly was born out of a need for close-support aircraft to assist in the Vietnam War. As such, the T-37 jet trainer was converted for the role and became the A-37 series of aircraft. The system would go on...
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1967

11

Cessna T-37 Tweet
...
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1957

12

Cessna T-41 Mescalero
...
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1964

13

Chance Vought F-8 Crusader
The Vought-produced F-8 Crusader was a direct response to a Navy need for a supersonic carrier-based fighter platform. Utilizing nearly the identical powerplant of the F-100 Super Sabre, the F-8 Crusader became the world's fi...
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1956

14

Convair B-36 Peacemaker
If developed a few years sooner and the B-36 could have very well taken part in the Second World War. The initial designed was put forth from a United States Army Air Corps requirement for a large intercontinental bomber capa...
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1947

15

Convair B-58 Hustler
The delta-wing Convair B-58 Hustler was the first United States Air Force supersonic operational bomber. The system was designed to be capable of high-altitude flight, which was a popular design concept during the early years...
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1960

16

Convair F-102 Delta Dagger
The F-102 Delta Dagger was a prototypical American aircraft design in the years following the Korean War, particularly doing away with the smooth lines and straight wing features commonplace in the years following World War T...
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1958

17

Convair F-106 Delta Dart
The Convair F-106 Delta Dart began its production life as a direct successor to the interim F-102 Delta Dagger (detailed elsewhere on this site). Like the F-102 before it, the F-106 was designed to meet and "greet" high-flyin...
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1959

18

de Havilland Canada DHC-4 Caribou
The Caribou series proved to be such an effective battlefield transport aircraft that more than a few were pressed into service as captured C-7's in the hands of the North Vietnamese. The type continues to serve in limited nu...
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1959

19

Douglas A-1 Skyraider
The mammoth Skyraider series would have been a major player in the Second World War if it were designed and produced a few years earlier than it had. Regardless, the system would prove itself quite a capable close-support air...
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1946

20

Douglas A-26 / B-26 Invader
The Douglas A-26 Invader was a distinguished twin-engine light bomber whose origins were well-placed in the Second World War. The system proved adept at day and night flying, attacking targets with a bevy of machine guns or d...
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1944

21

Douglas A-4 Skyhawk
The A-4 Skyhawk (nicknamed "Heinemann's Hot Rod" and the "Scooter") came about as a private venture when the Douglas corporation was seeking to replace the aging AD Skyraider (A-1 Skyraider) piston-engine aircraft. The succes...
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1956

22

Douglas B-66 Destroyer
The Douglas-produced B-66 Destroyer was a light bomber designed by Ed Heinemann to replace the aging A-26 Invader in service with the United States Strategic Air Command (SAC). Based highly on the existing United States Navy ...
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1956

23

Fairchild AC-119 Shadow / Stinger
The AC-119 series was a modified "G" model of the successful C-119 "Flying Boxcar" transport aircraft. The AC-119's would see service throughout the Vietnam War fulfilling a dual-role capability based on model type. "Shado...
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1945

24

Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar
Fairchild Corporation produced a winner in the post-war world with the introduction of the C-119 "Flying Boxcar". The Boxcar was derived from the C-82 "Packet" transport - looking ever more like the identical to the final C-1...
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1947

25

Fairchild C-123 Provider
The C-123 Provider was a four engine military transport aircraft utilized to good effect in the Vietnam War. Design of the aircraft was of particular note in that the system was powered by both conventional propellers and by ...
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1952

26

General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark
The General Dynamics F-111 "Aardvark" was purposely-designed as a variable geometry "swing wing" platform from the outset. The variable swing-wing philosophy would allow the aircraft to utilize three pre-determined geometric ...
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1967

27

Grumman A-6 Intruder
The Grumman A-6 Intruder series of strike aircraft was designed to a United States Navy specification drawn up covering an attack aircraft capable carrying and delivering large payloads over distance and in any weather. The i...
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1968

28

Grumman F9F Cougar
The F9F Cougar was a direct and further development of the F9F Panther (detailed elsewhere on this site. The similarities between the two were limited to just the forward fuselage of the Panther being used in the Cougar desig...
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1952

29

Grumman OV-1 Mohawk
Development of the OV-1 Mohawk platform stemmed from a joint requirement fielded by both the United States Army and the United States Marine Corps for a "battlefield surveillance aircraft" displaying rugged and versatile qual...
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1961

30

Lockheed C-130 Hercules
The arrival of the Lockheed-produced C-130 Hercules series of transport lay down the foundation of transport design for decades since its inception. The series ushered in standards such as the high-mounted monoplane wing desi...
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1956

31

Lockheed C-141 Starlifter
The C-141 Starlifter appeared in 1965 - interestingly enough without a prototype preceding its inception - and became the workhorse transport aircraft for the United States Air Force. The aircraft was developed to a Military ...
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1965

32

Lockheed F-104 Starfighter
The Lockheed F-104 was in many ways an engineering marvel whose legacy suffered terribly due to several internal and external circumstances, so much so, in fact, that the aircraft was dubbed the unflattering name of "Widowmak...
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1958

33

Lockheed Martin U-2 Dragon Lady
The U-2 spyplane was a pivotal player during the peak years of the Cold War between the United States of America and the Soviet Union, charged with photographing key installations for the safety of the American homeland and i...
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1955

34

Lockheed MC-130 Combat Talon I / II
The MC-130 series is represented by the MC-130E Combat Talon I and the MC-130H Combat Talon II systems. Both utilize the hugely successful C-130 Hercules airframe and were designed specifically for use with special forces ope...
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1966

35

LTV A-7 Corsair II
The middle-weight Vought-produced A-7 Corsair II was designed as a replacement for the A-4 Skyhawk light-weight fighter / bomber, and was based on the engineering successes of the F-8 Crusader. Owing its general visual appear...
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1967

36

McDonnell Douglas C-9 Nightingale
...
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1968

37

McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II
Arguably one of the finest combat fighters of the 20th Century, the McDonnell F-4 Phantom II series was produced in larger numbers since the end of World War 2 than any other Western fighter of the time. The Phantom II grew i...
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1960

38

McDonnell Douglas F-4G Wild Weasel
The F-4G represented the "Wild Weasel" off-shoot of the successful F-4 Phantom II line. Wild Weasel aircraft represented (and continue to do so) specially modified platforms utilized to hunt enemy air defense systems such as ...
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1963

39

McDonnell F-101 Voodoo
The McDonnell F-101 Voodoo was affectionately called the "One-oh-Wonder" and known moreso early on for its many record-setting achievements in the early years of use. The twin-engine fighter-bomber was a design that nearly w...
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1957

40

McDonnell F3H Demon
The F3H Demon series of aircraft produced by McDonnell Aircraft was a further development of the company's expertise with carrier-based turbojet-powered aircraft. Ever since the arrival of the Japanese "Zero" to the war front...
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1953

41

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 (Fresco) / Chengdu J-5
As impressive as the later versions of the MiG-15 fighter were (detailed elsewhere on this site), the MiG-17 "Fresco" was a vastly improved development based on lessons learned in the formers design. With the MiG-15 represent...
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1952

42

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19 (Farmer)
The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19 "Farmer" was an entirely new aircraft design though it shared many external similarities with the existing MiG-15 and MiG-17 models. Building upon lessons learned on those former designs, the MiG-1...
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1955

43

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 (Fishbed)
In many ways, the MiG-21 stands as the pinnacle of the Mikoyan-Gurevich's development in terms of a frontline turbojet fighter. The system became a bridge that connected the post-World War Two jet designs with that of the hig...
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1956

44

Mil Mi-8 (Hip)
Numbering well over 12,000 production examples, the Mil Mi-8 (NATO reporting name of "Hip") can be viewed as one of the most successful helicopter designs of all time. It has seen use as a passenger transport, troop transport...
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1967

45

North American / Boeing T-2 Buckeye
The North American (now Boeing) T-2 Buckeye was responsible for the training of thousands of American naval aviators from 1959 onwards. The system was fielded as an intermediate budget trainer designed to give United States N...
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1959

46

North American A-5 Vigilante
The A-5 Vigilante bomber actually began as a private venture by the North American Aviation Company as early as 1953. This development centered around the design of an all-weather, high-level, long range bomber capable of car...
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1961

47

North American F-100 Super Sabre
The North American F-100 Super Sabre was developed as the successor to the F-86 Sabre, another North American product. The F-86 Sabre proved a war winner for the Americans in the Korean War, tangling with the likes of the new...
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1954

48

North American Rockwell OV-10 Bronco
The Bronco was developed through the United States Marine Corps Light Armed Reconnaissance Aircraft (LARA) program to provide the service branch with a multi-faceted performer that could handle armed reconnaissance and light ...
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1966

49

Northrop Grumman EA-6 Prowler
The Prowler series of carrierbased aircraft are dedicated electronic warfare systems based on the Vietnam-era A-6 Intruder strike models. Since their introduction, the Prowler series has seen action up through the present Ame...
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1963

50

Republic F-105 Thunderchief
The F-105 Thunderchief was a Cold War product of the Republic Aviation Corporation and became the company's last production aircraft before its merger with Fairchild. The platform was developed as a successor to the F-84 seri...
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1958

51

Sikorsky CH-53 Sea Stallion
...
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1966

52

Sikorsky H-34 / CH-34 Choctaw
The H-34 Choctaw was a multi-purpose, turbine-powered utility helicopter produced by Sikorsky in the United States. It was developed as a replacement for the similar Korean War-era UH-19 Chickasaw series of helicopters and de...
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1954

53

Sikorsky HH-3 Jolly Green Giant
The HH-3E series is no longer in service with the United States Air Force but gained considerable fame in the Vietnam War for its many rescues of downed aircrews in the conflict. The system featured a stretched fuselage and w...
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1963

 

  Airwar Over Vietnam:

The Vietnam Conflict was a new battleground in the Cold War. The Cold War was a strategic global campaign of wits and psychological games involving sponsored satellite states and funding - either monetarily or threw arms shipments and sales. When the Soviet Union-sponsored North Vietnamese invaded the United States-sponsored South Vietnamese, a new line in the sand had been crossed. What would follow next would be years of deadly warfare in the skies and on land. The Vietnam Conflict would see the rise of the turbofan-powered jet fighter that could handle multiple roles at speeds topping Mach 2. In the end, the conflict would be a disastrous psychological defeat to the United States of America and a much needed morale booster to communism across the globe. The Vietnam War saw heavy use of bigger, faster and more potent aircraft than ever before. Carpet bombing was taken to all new heights (literally) and Napalm was used on massive scales to weed out an enemy that could not be seen in the thick dense jungles. The United States would employ aircraft armed with the latest in air-to-air homing technology on platforms such as the Vought F-8 Crusader and the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom. By the middle of the conflict, it would be realized that the "missile only" design theories of the new generation of American fighters was a crutch to the close-range fighting that raged in the skies. As such, the cannon would eventually be brought back into aircraft design for all future American warplanes.

On the contrary, the Soviet-produced jet fighters like the MiG-21 Fishbed would enjoy a sense of advantage with it's nimbleness and close support weapons consisting of cannon and short ranged homing missiles. The war would still have to be decided by the pilots themselves, though the technology at their fingertips would play and increasing larger role by conflict's end. The air war was not only limited to jet aircraft. Rotary aircraft like the Huey Cobra and Huey transport helicopter could be armed with a plethora of weapons - from rockets and miniguns to grenade launchers and machine guns. Vietnam became the first true "helicopter war" as both sides fielded a variety of gunships and transports. By the end of the conflict, the United States war machine could not keep up with the mounting losses at the front and the pressure at home. With a last ditch effort to instill a fighting cause in the South Vietnamese, the United States officially pulled out and closed a forgettable chapter in its history - a chapter that would, with time, right the wrongs of aviation design in the last half of the Cold War and bring America's military might back to life.

  Totals:
53 There are a total of 53 Vietnam War aircraft in the Military Factory.


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