The South Vietnam Air Force or the Republic of Vietnam Air Force (; ) (in English almost always called the Vietnamese Air Force or VNAF),Lt. Gen. Dong Van Khuyen, The RVNAF (U.S. Army Center of Military History); Lt. Gen. Dong Van Khuyen, RVNAF Logistics (U.S. Army Center of Military History, 1985), p. 459; Lt. Gen. Ngo Quang Truong, RVNAF and US Operational Cooperation and Coordination (U.S. Army Center of Military History, 1980), p. 187; General Cao Van Vien, The Final Collapse (U.S. Army Center of Military History, 1985), p. 167; Major Gary L. Telfer, Lt. Col. Lane Rogers, and V. Keith Fleming, Jr., U.S. Marines in Vietnam: Fighting the North Vietnamese, 1967 (U.S. Marine Corps History and Museums Division, 1984), p. 290; Major Charles D. Melson and Lt. Col. Curtis G. Arnold, U.S. Marines in Vietnam: The War that Would Not End, 1971-1973 (U.S. Marine Corps History and Museums Division, 1991), p. 282; George J. Veith, Drawn Swords in a Distant Land: South Vietnam’s Shattered Dreams (Encounter Books, 2021), p. xii; Bernard C. Nalty, Air War over South Vietnam, 1968-1975 (Air Force History and Museums Program, 2000), p. 494; John Schlight, The United States Air Force in Southeast Asia: The War in South Vietnam: The Years of the Offensive, 1965-1968 (Office of Air Force History, 1988), p. 381; Robert F. Futrell, The United States Air Force in Southeast Asia: The Advisory Years to 1965 (Office of Air Force History, 1981), p. 341; Carl Berger, ed., The United States Air Force in Southeast Asia, 1961-1973, rev. ed. (Office of Air Force History, 1984), p. 371; Foreign Relations of the United States, 1964-1968, vol. 1, p. XX; Foreign Relations of the United States, 1964-1968, vol. 6, p. XXVIII; Foreign Relations of the United States, 1969-1976, vol. 6, p. XXV; Foreign Relations of the United States, 1969-1976, vol. 9; Lien-Hang T. Nguyen, Hanoi’s War (University of North Carolina Press, 2012), p. xiv Graham A. Cosmas, MACV: The Joint Command in the Years of Escalation, 1962-1967 (US Army Center of Military History, 2006), p. 510; Graham A. Cosmas, MACV: The Joint Command in the Years of Withdrawal, 1968-1973 (US Army Center of Military History, 2007), p. 444; James Willbanks, Abandoning Vietnam (University Press of Kansas, 2004), p. 22; Edward J. Marolda, By Sea, Air, and Land: An Illustrated History of the U.S. Navy and the War in Southeast Asia (Naval Historical Center, 1995), p. 395. was the aerial branch of the Republic of Vietnam Military Forces, the official military of the Republic of Vietnam from 1955 to 1975. The VNAF began with a few hand-picked men chosen to fly alongside French pilots during the State of Vietnam era (1951–1955). Initially operating throughout Vietnam, after 1954 it was limited to defensive functions south of the 17th parallel.
At its peak in 1973 the VNAF is sometimes said to have been the world's fourth largest air force (behind the Soviet Union, the U.S., and the People's Republic of China, sometimes said to have been the sixth largest (behind those countries plus France and West Germany).Department of Defense Appropriations for Fiscal Year 1974, Part 4, It is an often neglected chapter of the history of the Vietnam War as it operated in the shadow of the United States Air Force (USAF). It was dissolved in 1975 after the Fall of Saigon; many of its members emigrated to the United States.
History Antecedents In March 1949, during the First Indochina War, Emperor Bảo Đại (abdicated in 1945 but temporarily resumed the position until general elections) officially requested that the French help set up a Vietnamese military air arm. Pressure was maintained with the assistance of Vietnamese National Army Lt. Col. Nguyễn Văn Hinh, who had flown the Martin B-26 Marauder with the French Air Force during the Second World War. In late 1951, the French Air Force established the Vietnamese 312th Special Mission Squadron at Tan Son Nhat Airfield equipped with Morane 500 Criquet liaison aircraft. In March 1952, a training school was set up at Nha Trang Air Base, and the following year two army co-operation squadrons began missions flying the Morane 500 Criquet. In 1954, the French allocated a number of Dassault MD.315 Flamant armed light transports to the inventory of this Vietnamese air arm. Vietnamese pilot trainees began to be sent to France for more advanced training.
1955–1960 In January 1955, planning for the VNAF began, building on the Vietnamese air force that the French had established in 1951. As of January 1955, the VNAF consisted of 3,434 men, with plans to organize them into two liaison squadrons and one air transport squadron. France retained a contract to train the VNAF until 1957.
On 1 June 1955, Bien Hoa Air Base became the VNAF's logistics support base when the French evacuated their main depot at Hanoi.
On 1 July 1955, the VNAF 1st Transport Squadron equipped with C-47 Skytrains was established at Tan Son Nhut. The VNAF also had a special missions squadron at the base equipped with 3 C-47s, 3 C-45s and one L-26.
On 7 July 1955, the VNAF took over the Nha Trang Training Center and formed the 1st and 2nd Liaison Squadrons equipped with L-19s.
In August 1955, under the Mutual Defense Assistance Program (MDAP), the United States equipped the fledgling VNAF with aircraft turned over by the French: 28 F8F Bearcats, 35 C-47s and 60 L-19s. In June 1956 the US provided a further 32 C-47s and 25 F-8Fs to the VNAF under the MDAP.
On 19 September 1955, the French turned over Tourane Airfield (renamed Da Nang Air Base) to the VNAF. In November 1955, the VNAF 1st Liaison Squadron moved to Da Nang AB from Huế.
French instructors for pilots and mechanics remained in South Vietnam until late 1956, and transferred 69 F8Fs to the VNAF, which throughout the late 1950s were the main strike aircraft. In May 1956, by agreement with the South Vietnamese government, the USAF assumed some training and administrative roles of the VNAF. Teams from Clark Air Force Base began in 1957 to organize the VNAF into a model of the USAF when the French training contracts expired.
On 1 June 1956, the VNAF's 1st Fighter Squadron (redesignated the 514th Fighter Squadron in January 1963) was formed at Bien Hoa Air Base with 25 F8F Bearcats.
In June 1956, the 2nd Transport Squadron equipped with C-47s was established at Tan Son Nhut AB and the VNAF established its headquarters there.
On 1 June 1957, the US assumed full responsibility for training and equipping the VNAF as the French withdrew their training missions. At this time, the VNAF had 85 aircraft and four squadrons: one of F-8Fs, one of C-47s and two of L-19s. No squadron was combat-ready. Total VNAF personnel numbered just over 4,000. At this time the role of the VNAF "was basically to support the ground forces." The VNAF was part of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN), not a separate service. In meetings in Washington D.C. in May 1957, South Vietnamese premier Ngo Dinh Diem gave his reasons for deemphasizing the VNAF, advising President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, "his main military requirement is ground forces. Diem is convinced that because of the poor visibility of low cloud cover prevailing through most of the year, it would be difficult if not impossible to give adequate air support to the ground forces." During a briefing at The Pentagon for a group of leaders that included Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force General Nathan Farragut Twining, Diem explained that the South Vietnamese believed that the Indochina war had shown that "it was difficult to use air [power] effectively in this country."
On 1 June 1957, the VNAF 1st Helicopter Squadron was established at Tan Son Nhut AB without equipment. It operated with the French Air Force unit serving the International Control Commission and in April 1958 with the departure of the French it inherited its 10 H-19 helicopters.
In October 1958, it was announced that the VNAF's retired F8Fs would be replaced by T-28A/B Trojans.
In October 1959, the 2nd Liaison Squadron equipped with L-19 Bird Dogs moved to Tan Son Nhut AB from Nha Trang AB.
Following an unexplained crash in August 1960, Diem grounded all the obsolete F8Fs of the 1st Fighter Squadron and in September asked for jets to replace them. However the Geneva Accords that ended the First Indochina War prohibited the introduction of jets into the country, so instead the F8Fs were replaced by ex United States Navy AD-6 Skyraiders with the first six arriving in September and a further 25 delivered by May 1961.
In late 1960, in order to support the operations of the ARVN Rangers, the Military Assistance Advisory Group secured approval for the shipment of 11 H-34C Choctaws from the United States Army to replace the worn out H-19s of the 1st Helicopter Squadron. They were airlifted to Saigon without renovation, four in December and the others soon after.
The AD-6s and H-34s had no immediate impact on operations. The high aircraft out-of-commission rates stemmed from poor maintenance and supply at Bien Hoa AB. Also to blame was the long pipeline time for processing spare parts requisitions through USAF logistic channels to Army and Navy sources. Yet between August and October 1960, the 1st Fighter Squadron flew 20 combat sorties, the L-19 liaison planes logged 917 combat hours, the helicopters accumulated 166 hours on operational missions and C-47s of the 1st Air Transport Group flew 32 sorties. Only five airfields were usable for AD-6 operations: no communications network served dispersed airfields: and Diem believed that air units could not operate effectively from dispersed locations distant from depot supplies. The VNAF was oriented to the support of ARVN operations, but the ground troops gave little attention to spotting targets suitable for air strikes. About 90 percent of the ground targets were located by VNAF observers who flew in L-19s based at the same fields as the fighters. Approval for aircraft to strike ground targets was required from Province chief, regional commander, the Joint General Staff and sometimes Diem himself. As a final guarantee against bombing mistakes that might hurt the government's image, politically cleared and technically competent observers had to mark approved targets before air strikes could be launched against them – a rule of engagement reportedly directed by Diem. A USAF team visiting South Vietnam noted "The high level approval required for on-call fighter strikes, along with poor communications and procedures for requesting strikes, builds in excessive delays for efficient use of tactical air effort. This is particularly true in view of the hit-and-run guerrilla tactics of the Viet Cong (VC)."
1961–1962
In mid-December 1961, the USAF began delivery of 30 T-28A/B Trojans to the VNAF. The 2nd Fighter Squadron equipped with T-28A/B Trojans was formed at Nha Trang AB. In late 1961 four USAF T-28 pilots from Operation Farm Gate were sent to Nha Trang AB to train VNAF crews. The 2nd Fighter Squadron became fully operational in mid-1962. It was renamed the 516th Fighter Squadron in January 1963.
In October 1961, the 2nd Helicopter Squadron was activated at Da Nang AB.
In December 1961, the 3rd Liaison Squadron was activated at Da Nang AB.
The VNAF 1st Fighter Squadron staged AD-6 Skyraiders at Pleiku Air Base from late 1961 and this force was later increased to 4 A-1s and a C-47 flareship.
On 27 February 1962, two VNAF pilots Second Lieutenant Nguyễn Văn Cử and First Lieutenant Phạm Phú Quốc flying from Bien Hoa AB bombed the Independence Palace in their A-1 Skyraiders in an attempt to kill Diệm. Three palace staff died and 30 were injured in the attack.
In mid-1962, the 2nd Fighter Squadron at Nha Trang AB began detaching six aircraft to Da Nang AB.
In September 1962, the 12th Air Base Squadron was formed at Nha Trang AB.