Operation Rolling Thunder
E30450
Operation Rolling Thunder was a sustained U.S. aerial bombing campaign against North Vietnam from 1965 to 1968, aimed at weakening North Vietnamese capabilities and will to fight during the Vietnam War.
Statements (63)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
United States military operation
→
aerial bombing campaign → operation of the Vietnam War → |
| aircraftUsed |
A-4 Skyhawk
→
A-6 Intruder → Boeing B-52 Stratofortress →
surface form:
B-52 Stratofortress
F-105 Thunderchief → F-4 Phantom II (modernized variants) →
surface form:
F-4 Phantom II
|
| airDefenseOpposition |
MiG fighter aircraft
→
S-75 Dvina (SA-2 Guideline) missile →
surface form:
SA-2 Guideline surface-to-air missiles
anti-aircraft artillery → |
| authorizedBy | Lyndon B. Johnson → |
| belligerent |
Republic of Vietnam Air Force
→
United States Air Force → United States Marine Corps → United States Navy → |
| casualties | thousands of North Vietnamese military and civilian deaths → |
| codeName | Rolling Thunder → |
| commander |
United States Indo-Pacific Command
→
surface form:
U.S. Pacific Command leadership
William Westmoreland → |
| conflict | Vietnam War → |
| country |
United States of America
→
surface form:
United States
|
| domesticImpact |
controversy over bombing effectiveness and morality
→
increased anti-war sentiment in the United States → |
| endDate | 1968-11-02 → |
| followedBy |
Operation Linebacker
→
Operation Linebacker →
surface form:
Operation Linebacker II
|
| location |
Democratic Republic of Vietnam
→
Indochinese Peninsula →
surface form:
Indochina
Democratic Republic of Vietnam →
surface form:
North Vietnam
|
| negotiationImpact | used as leverage in attempts to bring North Vietnam to negotiations → |
| objective |
to bolster the government of South Vietnam
→
to pressure North Vietnam to cease support for the insurgency in South Vietnam → to reduce North Vietnam’s will to continue the war → to weaken North Vietnamese military capabilities → |
| opponent |
Democratic Republic of Vietnam
→
surface form:
North Vietnam
|
| opposingForce |
People's Army of Vietnam
→
surface form:
North Vietnamese Army
North Vietnamese air defenses → Vietnam People’s Air Force → |
| partOf | air war over North Vietnam → |
| politicalContext |
Cold War
→
U.S. containment policy → |
| precededBy | initial limited U.S. air strikes in 1964 → |
| result |
expansion of North Vietnamese air defenses
→
failure to achieve stated political objectives → high civilian casualties in North Vietnam → increased North Vietnamese resolve → significant damage to North Vietnamese infrastructure → |
| rulesOfEngagement |
prohibition on attacking certain politically sensitive targets at first
→
restrictions on targets near Hanoi and Haiphong in early phases → |
| startDate | 1965-03-02 → |
| strategy |
gradual escalation
→
limited bombing campaign → |
| tactic |
interdiction of supply routes
→
strategic bombing → suppression of enemy air defenses → |
| target |
industrial facilities in North Vietnam
→
lines of communication to South Vietnam → military bases in North Vietnam → petroleum storage facilities in North Vietnam → transportation infrastructure in North Vietnam → |
| UScasualties |
hundreds of U.S. aircraft lost
→
hundreds of U.S. aircrew killed or captured → |
Referenced by (3)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.