Hai Duong Patrol
Illustration: Piotr Forkasiewicz
Text: Zdeněk Nožička
Cat. No. 84202
From May 9, 1972, to October 23, 1972, the USAF conducted an operation called Linebacker. This operation was planned as a systematic air campaign with the aim of destroying North Vietnam's transport infrastructure and eliminating its capacity to support military operations. It was the first continuous bombing of North Vietnam since the end, in 1968, of the earlier operation called Rolling Thunder. The specific objectives of this campaign were to isolate the logistics centers in Hanoi and Haiphong by attacking the anti-aircraft defenses of both cities, followed by the destruction of the railway network. These were mainly important railway bridges and train stations. Further air strikes were aimed at destroying all military facilities, including supplies in these areas.
In the late afternoon of May 10, 1972, the US Navy carried out the second strike that day. Nearly a hundred aircraft took part, mainly from the aircraft carriers Constellation, Kitty Hawk, and Coral Sea. The target of this particular large-scale coordinated attack, called Alpha Strike, was the city of Hai Duong, 30 miles east of Hanoi. Hai Duong lies on the railway line to Haiphong and was home to an important railway station with ammunition and weapons depots, as well as a strategic railway bridge.
Among many other aircraft, an F-4J Phantom belonging to VF-92, operating from the aircraft carrier USS Constellation, took part in the raid. This aircraft was piloted by Executive Officer Cmdr. Harry Lee Blackburn Jr. and Lt. Stephen A. Rudloff. The crew used the call sign Silver Kite 212 and was patrolling as part of a CAP (Close Air Patrol) mission over the target, flying at a higher altitude than the attacking aircraft. The task of CAP aircraft is to patrol the combat area of bomber aircraft, locate enemy fighters in time, and then engage them in aerial combat.
An encounter with enemy aircraft was almost certain that day, and so the Phantoms were spotted approximately 18 km north of the town of Hai Doung by a pair of Vietnamese MiG-21 PFMs belonging to the 927th Fighter Regiment operating from Noi Bai Airport. The pair was guided by a ground station. The lead aircraft was piloted by 28-year-old Le Thanh Dao, with Vu Van Hop as his wingman. It should be added that Dao already had one confirmed kill and one half kill to his credit. He was therefore one of the more experienced pilots in the Vietnamese Air Force.
The ensuing two-on-two dogfight between the MiGs and Phantoms apparently took place shortly after the last aircraft attacking ground targets left the combat zone. The American and Vietnamese accounts differ significantly, and the following section is based on the statements of the Vietnamese pilots. As soon as the Phantoms spotted the danger of the MiGs approaching from behind, they broke formation. The lead aircraft turned left and flew under Dao's MiG. The second Phantom began to turn in the opposite direction from its leader, followed by a climb. Vu Van Hop performed a sharp maneuver behind him and for a moment pursued the second Phantom in the “six o'clock” position. However, Le Thanh Dao was already pursuing “Silver Kite 212” commanded by Harry Lee Blackburn.
When Dao got behind the lead aircraft at a distance of approximately 1,500 meters, he heard the excited voice of his friend Vu Van Hop shouting “He's on fire, he's on fire” in his headphones, as well as the high-pitched tone of his R-3S missile indicating that it had locked onto its target. He immediately fired and hit Blackburn's Phantom in the tail section. An engine fire broke out, followed by a power failure. The aircraft became uncontrollable. The two American crew members had no choice but to eject. They landed in their parachutes only about 100 meters apart. Lieutenant Rudloff was temporarily blinded during the incident and was taken prisoner to the Hanoi Hilton “hotel.” Subsequently, contact with his commander was lost. Stephen Rudloff, who was on his third combat tour and 295th combat mission, was released from captivity on March 28, 1973. He later became an instructor pilot for F-14 Tomcat aircraft.
Cmdr. Harry Lee Blackburn Jr., the squadron's executive officer, was probably killed during captivity. His remains were handed over by the Vietnamese government on April 10, 1986, and were positively identified in November of the same year.
The scene depicted on the boxart of the MiG-21 PFM kit is the moment when Le Thanh Dao begins pursuing the passing Phantom, according to the Vietnamese description of the situation. The dogfight itself probably lasted less time than it takes to read this article.
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