Operation Linebacker

Operation Linebacker
	Part of the Vietnam War
	; A 388th TFW SAM hunter-killer team refueling on its way to North Vietnam, October 1972
Date	9 May – 23 October 1972
Location	North Vietnam
Result	Both sides claim victory
Belligerents
United States; South Vietnam	North Vietnam
Commanders and leaders
John W. Vogt Jr.; Damon W. Cooper	Nguyen Van Tien
Casualties and losses
134 aircraft lost; in combat or operational accidents (excluding the number of aircraft that were badly damaged beyond repair); 10 aircraft lost; North Vietnamese claim: 651 aircraft shot down, 80 warships sunk or damaged	U.S. claim: 63 aircraft shot down; North Vietnamese claim: 47 aircraft shot down (26 MiG-21s, 5 MiG-19s and 16 MiG-17s)

Operation Linebacker was the codename of a U.S. Seventh Air Force and U.S. Navy Task Force 77 air interdiction campaign conducted against North Vietnam from 9 May to 23 October 1972, during the Vietnam War.

Its purpose was to halt or slow the transportation of supplies and materials for the Nguyen Hue Offensive (known in the West as the Easter Offensive), an invasion of the South Vietnam by the North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) that had been launched on 30 March. Linebacker was the first continuous bombing effort conducted against North Vietnam since the end of Operation Rolling Thunder in November 1968.