| Operation Steel Tiger | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part ofVietnam War,Laotian Civil War,Arc Light | |||||||
 Barrell Roll/Steel Tiger Areas of Operations | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 United States South Vietnam Laos |  North Vietnam Viet Cong | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
 Đồng Sĩ Nguyên | |||||||
| Units involved | |||||||
| 2nd Air DivisionSeventh Air ForceTask Force 77 | |||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 132 aircraft or helicopters lost | |||||||
Operation Steel Tiger was a covert U.S.2nd Air Division, laterSeventh Air Force andU.S. Navy Task Force 77 aerial interdiction effort targeted against the infiltration ofPeople's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) men and material moving south from theDemocratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV or North Vietnam) through southeasternLaos to support their military effort in theRepublic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) during theVietnam War.
The operation was initiated by the 2nd Air Division on 3 April 1965, continued under the direction of the Seventh Air Force when that headquarters was created on 1 April 1966, and had a subsidiary operation code-namedOperation Tiger Hound. The purpose ofSteel Tiger was to impede the flow of men and materiel on the enemy logistical routes collectively known as theHo Chi Minh Trail (the Truong Son Strategic Supply Route to the North Vietnamese).[citation needed]
Bombing of the trail system had begun on 14 December 1964 with the advent ofOperation Barrel Roll. Due to increasing U.S. intelligence of the build-up of regimental-size PAVN units operating in South Vietnam, the increased American military presence in that country, and the initiation ofOperation Rolling Thunder, American planners in Washington andSaigon decided that the bombing in southeastern Laos should be stepped up. On 11 November 1968Steel Tiger andTiger Hound were combined and renamedOperation Commando Hunt.[1]
It was estimated by U.S. intelligence analysts that, during 1965, 4,500 PAVN troops were infiltrated through Laos along with 300 tons of materiel each month.[2]: 53 From April to June 1966, the U.S. launched 400B-52 Stratofortress anti-infiltration sorties against the trail system.[2]: 55 By the end of 1967 and the absorption ofSteel Tiger operations intoCommando Hunt, 103,148 tactical air sorties had been flown in Laos. These strikes were supplemented by 1,718 B-52Arc Light strikes. During the same time frame, 132 U.S. aircraft or helicopters had been shot down over Laos.[3] The actions implemented aircraft of theAir Force,Marines, andNavy flying from carriers in theSouth China Sea as well as bases in South Vietnam and Thailand. While B-52 bombers accounted for a majority of the strikes, the most effective aircraft were fixed wing gunships, including theAC-47, theAC-119, and theAC-130.[4]
Operation Steel Tiger, Operation Tiger Hound, and Operation Commando Hunt inevitably slowed the flow of North Vietnamese andViet Cong men and supplies into South Vietnam and required them to divert a multitude of assets to keep the Ho Chi Minh Trail in serviceable condition, however airpower was never able to completely close the trail during the war.[4]: 197
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.