Aviation Ancestry - September 2011

Buff – Part III

By Scott Schwartz

B-52D tail gunners downed at least two MiG fighters with their four .50 cal. machine guns. This B-52D is on display at the March Field Air Museum. (Scott Schwartz)Actually, more than the paint job had to be changed on the B-52Ds before they could be used effectively in Vietnam.  The reader should remember that the B-52 was designed for a strategic role.  Now, they were to be used as tactical aircraft – thousands of pounds of bombs were to be dropped on enemy troops and supply stockpiles.

As stated in BUFF, Part II, B-52Fs were already being used in Vietnam.  The “F” models were sent overseas in 1965.  The reason for adding the B-52Ds into the mix was simple:  there were twice as many B-52Ds as there were B-52Fs.

Since the aircraft were now going to be dropping more than one hundred bombs on a typical mission, changes had to be made.  Enter the Big Belly program.

Despite its name, the Big Belly program did not involve enlarging the bomb bay in any way.  Rather, the existing conventional bomb rack attachment points were modified so that special bomb racks – known as “clips” could be installed.  These “clips” could carry twenty eight 500 pound bombs, or fourteen 750 pound bombs apiece.  Further, the external bomb racks were re-wired so that they could hold conventional bombs.  All told, the modified B-52Ds (when loaded to capacity) could carry 108 bombs each. 

Due to the threat posed by surface to air missiles (SAMs), the B-52D’s electronic countermeasures (ECM) equipment was upgraded, and finally, the aircraft were given green camouflage paint (the undersides were painted gloss black.  Beginning in December, 1965, the Big Belly modifications were completed in September, 1967. 

The first Big Belly B-52Ds were deployed to Guam in April, 1966 in connection with operation “Arc Light.” Intended to replace the B-52Fs, the B-52Ds wound up averaging 400 sorties per month by the end of that year. 

Operation Arc Light was a pretty simple concept.  Use lots of B-52s to drop lots of bombs, on lots of enemy troops and supplies.     

Well, the Arc Light missions might have been simple, but they were long.  Before boarding their aircraft, flight crews had to attend briefings which lasted two to three hours.  And then, the pre-flight inspection of the aircraft had to be performed.  It was then a 2,500 mile flight from Anderson AFB in Guam or the Royal Thai Naval Air Base at U-Tapao (where some B-52Ds were based as of April, 1967) to targets in South Vietnam, Cambodia, or Laos.  Then, there was the 2,500 mile return trip.  Finally, there was usually a two hour de-briefing. 

Arc Light missions were flown by groups of three aircraft flying in formation.  Each formation was known as a “cell.” Each cell, in turn, could cover (with bombs, of course) an area that was 3,000 yards wide and 1,000 yards long.

As the war intensified, the number of sorties being flown by B-52 crews increased to the point that by the end of March, 1967, over 1,800 sorties had been flown during that month.  At that point, the B-52Ds were being used as close air-support aircraft, and in fact were instrumental in keeping bases such as Khe Sanh from falling into enemy hands. 

Things came to a head, though, on Mar. 30, 1972.  On that day, the North Vietnamese launched a major offensive against the South.  The Strategic Air Command turned responded by turning all 110 of its B-52Ds loose against the North Vietnamese in an operation that was known as “Bullet Lite.”  With the inception of Bullet Lite, then-president Nixon allowed the B-52s to hit targets inside North Vietnam. 

At this point, SAC threw roughly 92 of its B-52Gs into the mix, so that there were now more than 200 B-52s flying “Arclight” and “Linebacker” missions over North Vietnam.  The idea here was to “convince” the communists that it would be prudent to negotiate a peace settlement.  Tenacious as ever, though, the North Vietnamese were exploiting their numerical advantage over the South Vietnamese troops (ARVN).  Victory for the Communists seemed to be in the cards, which prompted then-President Nixon to order Operation Linebacker II to begin.  This was to be an eleven day operation in which every target of strategic value inside North Vietnam would be attacked.  The first Linebacker II mission was launched on Dec. 18, 1972, when 87 B-52s from Andersen AFB (on Guam) rendezvoused with 40 B-52Ds from Thailand.  Together, these aircraft bombed Hanoi rail yards, Surface to Air Missile (SAM) sites and a radio station that was known as “Radio Hanoi.”  Over the course of Linebacker II, the B-52s hit targets that American airmen had previously been forbidden from attacking. 

Unfortunately for the B-52 flight crews, the North Vietnamese had this annoying habit of shooting back at the B-52s – usually with SAMs and MiG fighters.   On the other hand, escorting fighters and “Wild Weasel” aircraft mitigated much of the North Vietnamese air defense system.  The Wild Weasel attacks on enemy radar systems – which guided the SAMs – eventually caused the communists to launch the missiles “blindly” in huge salvos.  More than 1,000 SAMs were launched against the B-52s over the duration of Linebacker II, which resulted in 15 B-52’s being shot down.  This sounds like a lot, but it should be remembered that more than 700 sorties were flown during Linebacker II.  Still, these statistics were probably of little comfort to the crews of the 15 downed B-52s.

Roughly 49,000 bombs were dropped on 34 targets during Linebacker II.  B-52 tail gunners, firing their four .50 caliber machine guns, claimed to have shot down five MiGs.  Two of these were confirmed kills.

By the time that the last Linebacker II mission was flown, on Dec. 29, 1972, the North Vietnamese were ready to negotiate at the Paris peace talks.  With the cease-fire being signed on January 28, 1973, Arclight missions were still being flown against the communists in Laos.  Those missions ended with the Laotian cease-fire agreement that became effective on Feb. 22, 1973.  The final Arclight mission was completed on Aug. 15, 1973, after striking the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia.  With that, the B-52’s war in Southeast Asia ended.

After service in Southeast Asia, the B-52Ds reverted to their strategic/nuclear mission – although they kept their camouflage paint and Big Belly modifications.  Still, these aircraft were old and worn out; they were not originally intended to remain in service after 1971.  Most of them had 10,000 hours on their air frames – which had been designed to last half that.  But, the B-52, as a type, still had some life left in it.  Eighty B-52Ds – the ones that were the least worn out- were re-built by Boeing under a program that was known as Pacer Plank.  The remaining aircraft were placed in active storage until 1978, when they were retired for good.

Under Pacer Plank, all damaged skin was replaced with thicker aluminum, the wings received new leading and trailing edges, and all old wiring was replaced.  These upgrades resulted in heavier B-52Ds, but ones that actually flew farther and faster, because the air flowed more smoothly over the new skin.

More modifications were made to the B-52Ds, but by the early 1980s, they were just too old.  The last B-52D mission was flown in 1983; after this, most of the B-52Ds were put into storage at Davis-Monathan AFB.  Twenty four B-52Ds were saved for display as reminders of the long missions flown by B-52 crews during the war in Vietnam.