Clashes: Air Combat over North Vietnam 1965-1972

Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: "Clashes:Air Combat over North Vietnam 1965-1972" is the best book I have ever read on aerial combat over North Vietnam and one of the best books I have read on aerial combat in general. It provides an excellent analysis of what went right and what went wrong in the skies over North Vietnam. I was truly amazed to read how often the air to air missiles, especialliy the AIM-7 Sparrow, malfunctioned. For anyone interested in aerial combat, this excellent book is a must!

Rating:
Summary: This Is The Definition Of Military History ...
Review: ... No psycho-drama authorship trying to turn historical facts into "entertaining history". This book takes the documented history of the Vietnam air war, thoughtfully analyzes the data, and presents rational conclusions that can be used as lessons for the future. This is "intelligent history" at its best. Well-done!

Rating:
Summary: This Is The Definition Of Military History ...
Review: Best book yet on the air war over North Vietnam. Using a host of recently declasified information, Col. Michel has done a fabulous job of producing an even-handed look at the Air Force and Navy's failures and triumphs in SEA. A few minor technical errors (IE: follow-on SA-2 used optical TRACKING not optical guidance) do not distract from this well written book - a must have for the serious aviation buff.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent review of air-to-air combat over Vietnam.
Review: In about 300 pages, "Clashes" packs an engrossing account of air-to-air combat during the Vietnam War. This detailed, analytical chronicle of the air war from 1965 to 1972 has the vividness of a first person narrative. Other pluses include a good index, glossary, bibliography, and clear diagrams and charts.

This book explodes the notion that U.S. pilots' woes over the skies of Vietnam stemmed from political meddling from Washington. Such meddling existed and caused confusion, but Mitchel demonstrates that the big problems were of the military's own making:

* Poor weapons. The story of the sad performance of the Vietnam War era Sidewinder and Sparrow air-to-air missiles is well known. Mitchel's depiction of these failures in scores of air-to-air encounters makes a poignant effect of the reader. * Insufficient training. To meet manpower requirements, the Air Force, according to Mitchel, cut back on air-to-air training and lowered standards. * Improper tactics. Mitchel takes the Air Force to task for clinging to the "fluid four" fighter formation, even in the face of evidence that this formation put U.S. pilots at a severe tactical disadvantage. The Navy's "loose deuce" fighter formation was rejected...because it was a Navy fighter formation.

Such a short summary does "Clashes" an injustice. Like other good military histories, this book leaves the reader convinced that courage and suppleness of mind and body are a warrior's most important weapons. I recommend "Clashes" to fellow military history buffs. My one "picknit" is that Mitchel does not identify the pilots in the numerous air-to-air encounters by name.

Rating:
Summary: Good on the "bad guys" as well.
Review: Michell not only covers the US effort, he also reports on what the North Vietnamese did. Though this story is not part of his main narrative, he shows that the NVN Air Force fought hard, learned from their mistakes, and tried to make the best use possible from their MiGs and SAMs. Two points Michell never makes : first, any NVN pilot who successfully bailed out would land in his home country and would be able to get back into a cockpit; US pilots could only do so if they were rescued, a very complex operation that might involve additional losses. Second, if any NVN pilot did decide to go beyond the GCI-controlled airspace, they might be tempted to defect. Possible? Couldn't rule it out : NVN ground troops defected, and a couple of North Korean pilots have done so over the years. This book is highly recommended not only for those interested in the Vietnam War, but also those interested in the development of aerial tactics and weaponry.

Rating:
Summary: Straight-forward and detailed
Review: Out of necessity, I've become a student on the subject of the Vietnam air war. "Clashes" is the now my number one resource for facts concerning the events of that era. One of the most detailed texts I've found. It's also very readable! If you're interested in air combat, of any generation, the turn-by-turn accounts of the actual "dogfights" is worth the price alone.

Rating:
Summary: Not the Party Line
Review: This book is an excellent account of the "corporate" deficiencies of the USAF in the late 60's and early 70's. The deficiencies of the air-to-air missiles in the Vietnam war are strikingly similar to the deficiencies of the torpedos in the USN in the first two years of WWII. Equally striking was the smug attitude of the service about the superiority of US aircraft ("The F-86 had a 13:1 kill ratio over the MiG-15. Who cares that they slaughtered the F-84s?") and the poor pilot training that occurred for both USAF and USN F-4 drivers. The MiG-21 was indeed a nasty surprise. With a higher thrust-to-weight ratio and a lower wing loading, it could both out-accelerate and out-turn F-105s and F-4s. The only American advantage was a higher clean top speed, and external ordinance stores and fuel tanks often abrogated this. The MiG-21 had poor visibility, and a short range, but was an excellent point defense interceptor that transitioned well from bomber defense to dog fighting. (As an aside to the book, with modern electronics, the MiG-21/Lancer and MiG-21/2000 are excellent low-cost fighters today, but each air-air missile will cost you as much as the airframe!) The book details both the combat adaptations that worked (jamming pods, IFF interrogators) and the effective efforts of the USN and criminal negligence of the USAF (and I write as an ex-USAF officer) to improve dog fighting capabilities between the end of Rolling Thunder in 1968 and Linebacker I/II in 1972. The Navy instituted the Top Gun school and made effective modifications to the AIM-9 Sidewinder - the Air Force made a couple of ineffective changes to the AIM-9 and some moderately good ones to the AIM-7, though much of the better performance of the latter during Linebacker was due to higher engagement altitudes resulting from the use of laser guided bombs for the strike packages. He does make the point in the end that the USAF attitude improved after Vietnam when the junior officers of that war increased in seniority and that the introduction of AWACS and trading top speed for maneuverability and visibility in the new generation of fighters cured many of the deficiencies seen in the Vietnam war. A minor objection is that the book does not refer to officers below general rank by name.

Rating:
Summary: The best book on the vietnam air war
Review: This is simply the best book on the air war over thenorth. Here you found both technichal datas, doctrinal debate and combat history. Michel style is dry, he ocnentrates on fact rayther than personal memoir or oral history, but reading this book you will have the best picture of the actal missions over the North Vietnam. Tha autohrs follow the history of the air war both from US and DRV perspective comparing airacraft, weapons and doctrines. The book is full of detial form the advantages and disavanteges of the various aricrafts to the dreaded flight four USAF formation. He actually dispel some myths (especially adressoing the real effectiveness of the SAM defense). If you are interested in air war this book is a must.

Rating:
Summary: The best book on the vietnam air war
Review: This is simply the best book on the air war over thenorth. Here you found both technichal datas, doctrinal debate and combat history. Michel style is dry, he ocnentrates on fact rayther than personal memoir or oral history, but reading this book you will have the best picture of the actal missions over the North Vietnam. Tha autohrs follow the history of the air war both from US and DRV perspective comparing airacraft, weapons and doctrines. The book is full of detial form the advantages and disavanteges of the various aricrafts to the dreaded flight four USAF formation. He actually dispel some myths (especially adressoing the real effectiveness of the SAM defense). If you are interested in air war this book is a must.

Rating:
Summary: Good on the "bad guys" as well.
Review: This is the best book on air combat in SEA during the VietNam War that I've ever seen (and I've seen a few). Michel mixes discussion at the strategic level (the decisions about what targets to hit and how hard)with the actual pilot-level action that occurred. Mr. Michel unashamedly approaches the two disparate theories held by the USAF and the USN in how to handle air-to-air combat and strike mission planning. The USAF saw the air-to-air loss rates as a problem with the technology. The USN saw the loss rates as a problem with pilot training. Not surprisingly, the USN loss ratios improved dramatically a year after the creation of its TopGun air-to-air combat academy, whereas the USAF saw only a minimal improvement in its missile technology.

One interesting point is this: even though both the USAF and the USN flew the F-4 Phantom, the Navy missiles wouldn't work on the USAF planes because of a difference in the launch rails. The problem was in the way that the Sidewinder seeker was cooled prior to launch. The Navy took one approach to solve the problem and the USAF took another. The Navy did indeed have a better missile, and when one USAF wing commander demanded that he be supplied with Navy Sidewinders for air-to-air combat, he was severely disappointed to find out that he couldn't have them due to disparate technologies.

This isn't a "There I was at 20,000 feet.." type of book. Its more of a "Oyster Flight was on BarCap at 20,000 feet on Route Package VI when Red Crown vectored them to a pair of MiG-21s launching from Phuc Yen..." type of book. Still, it is very exciting reading for avaition enthusiasts and air combat students. There is a careful analysis of each engagement and diagrams are included to illustrate typical strike formations and ECM coverage zones. Very well done.