Archie to SAM: A Short Operational History of Ground-Based Air ...

AIRMEN VERSUS GUERRILLAS
on the last two days of the operation, along with F-4 attacks
on SAM storage facilities. Despite these efforts, intelligence estimated
that only two sites were 50 percent damaged, eight
were undamaged, and results against three were unknown. 64
It should be noted that only 3 percent of the bombs dropped
during Linebacker II fell on SAM targets as compared with 5.3
percent that fell on airfields. 65 The redeeming feature was that
by 29 December, the north Vietnamese had run out of SAMs,
leaving North Vietnam essentially defenseless (fig. 64). 66
Clearly, Linebacker II was an outstanding feat of arms.
After years of restrictions and frustrations, American Airmen
were able to directly take on and defeat a formidable air defense
system. For the United States, and especially the Airmen,
this was a proud, satisfactory way to end the war, or at
Figure 64. Talos. During the Vietnam War, the Navy’s Talos missiles
downed one MiG in 1968 and another in 1972. This Talos is aboard the
USS Galveston. (Reprinted from USAF.)
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