AHC: Vietnam War version of MIG Alley

Your challenge:

1. Have Russian and Chinese pilots flying MIGs against the Americans in the air war over North Vietnam without the war escalating beyond South east Asia.

2. Where can the MIGs be based to operate with safety from American bombers.

3. Where would this MIG Alley be located in North Vietnam?

The air war will begin as OTL with Operation Rolling Thunder in 1965. You can butterfly away the bombing halt if you choose to.
 
There were no go zones of about 30 miles around Hanoi, 10 miles around Haiphong and 10 miles along the Chinese border. The VAF based their fighters and SAMs within these zones and used these sanctuaries to fight US aircraft on good terms. The US didn't bomb the MiG bases or SAM construction in these safe zones during Rolling Thunder.
 
The US would have had to get serious about suppressing NVA airbases, and force the 'NVA' to base out of China or the USSR by eliminating the no-go safe areas.

Hand in hand with that, the US needed to go after the SAM sites before they became operational in mid-65, while they were under construction.
 
The US would have had to get serious about suppressing NVA airbases, and force the 'NVA' to base out of China or the USSR by eliminating the no-go safe areas.

Hand in hand with that, the US needed to go after the SAM sites before they became operational in mid-65, while they were under construction.

What if the US is more aggressive at the beginning of Rolling Thunder hoping for a "short war" and bombs the airfields right away destroying MiGs and more importantly killing trained pilots. Moscow and Peking send their own pilots as replacements to make up for the losses until more Vietnamese pilots can be trained.
 
The fear of escalation was based on the Korean War experience. The US was nervous that if they went all out the Chinese would intervene and the US knew that Vietnam wasn't worth that.
 
The idiots in the white house were terrified that if they went after the SAMs and Mig bases they might kill some Russian advisers. The NVA also put SAM 2 sites in residential areas and/or next to schools or hospitals, so if the US did attack them they could do a bit of shroud waving on the side. If the stories are true then some Russian and/or Chinese "volunteers" did strap on a MiG and go after US aircraft whether these were approved by higher or not I don't know. I can see the Russian equivalent of Robin Olds or Chuck Yeager serving as an adviser taking the opportunity to do a crafty sortie or two. The risk of discovery would have been remote as any losses would have occurred within North Vietnam and short of someone taking the opportunity to defect no one would be any the wiser.

The Russians would IMHO have either shut up about any losses or made proforma complaints, basically seeing it as the cost of doing business.

Also by 1969 Sino Soviet relations were pretty bad, there were border clashes between them by then the Soviets had stopped sending weapons via China as the Chinese were grabbing new equipment and ammo and either keeping it for themselves or substituting old gear for forward shipment. Most equipment went by sea from Vladivostok or by "civilian" aircraft.
 
Last edited:
Top