{"product_id":"9781472840790-a-4-skyhawk-vs-north-vietnamese-aaa","title":"A-4 Skyhawk vs North Vietnamese AAA","description":"\u003cmeta content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\" http-equiv=\"Content-Type\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eNorth Vietnam 1964–72\u003cbr\u003eAn exploration and analysis of the tactics, equipment and effectiveness of the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk, the US Navy’s primary strike weapon during the war in Vietnam, and its main adversary – North Vietnam’s anti-aircraft artillery network.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eWhile the F­105 Thunderchief was the USAF’s principal strike weapon during the \u003ci\u003eRolling Thunder \u003c\/i\u003ecampaign, the US Navy relied on the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk for the majority of its strikes on North Vietnam.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Skyhawk entered service in 1956 and remained in continuous production for 26 years. Throughout Operation \u003ci\u003eRolling Thunder \u003c\/i\u003eit was the US Navy’s principal day­time light strike bomber, remaining in use after its replacement, the more sophisticated A-7 Corsair II, began to appear in December 1967. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDuring the 1965–68 \u003ci\u003eRolling Thunder \u003c\/i\u003eperiod, up to five attack carriers regularly launched A-4 strike formations against North Vietnam. These formations faced an ever-expanding and increasingly coordinated Soviet-style network of anti-aircraft artillery missiles and fighters. Skyhawk pilots were often given the hazardous task of attacking anti-aircraft defences and to improve accuracy, they initially dropped ordnance below 3000 ft in a 30-degree dive in order to bomb visually below the persistent low cloud over North Vietnam, putting the aircraft within range of small-arms fire. The defenders had the advantage of covering a relatively small target area, and the sheer weight of light, medium and heavy gunfire directed at an attacking force brought inevitable casualties, and a single rifle bullet could have the same effect as a larger shell.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis illustrated title examines both the A-4 Skyhawk and the Vietnamese AAA defences in context, exploring their history and analysing their tactics and effectiveness during the conflict.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rarewaves","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":40944680632417,"sku":"9781472840790","price":11.32,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0092\/7504\/8033\/files\/orig_26683144.jpg?v=1722485274","url":"https:\/\/www.rarewaves.com\/products\/9781472840790-a-4-skyhawk-vs-north-vietnamese-aaa","provider":"Rarewaves.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}