Operation Bolo

Operation Bolo
Part of Vietnam War
8th TFW F-4C Phantom II, c. 1967
Date 2 January 1967; 58 years ago (1967-01-02) Location North Vietnam Result American Victory
Belligerents
United States Air Force	Vietnam People's Air Force
Commanders and leaders
Robin Olds Daniel James, Jr.	Tran Manh
Strength
56 F-4C Phantom IIs (28 participated)	16 MiG-21 'Fishbeds' (8 or 9 engaged)
Casualties and losses
None	US claim: 7 MiG-21s confirmed destroyed VPAF claim: 5 MiG-21PFL lost (c/n 1812, 1908, 1909, 2106, 2206)

Operation Bolo was a United States Air Force mission during the Vietnam War, considered to be a successful combat ruse.^[1]

The mission was a response to the heavy losses sustained during the Operation Rolling Thunder aerial-bombardment campaign of 1966, during which Vietnam People's Air Force fighter jets had evaded U.S. escort fighters and attacked U.S. bombers flying predictable routes. On 2 January 1967, U.S. Air Force F-4 Phantom II multirole fighters flew a mission along flight paths typically used by the bombers during Rolling Thunder. The ruse drew an attack by Vietnamese Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 interceptors, whose pilots expected to find heavily loaded fighter-bombers. Instead, they were met by the far more agile F-4s, which shot down seven of the MiGs.

The battle prompted VPAF pilots and strategists, as well as Soviet tacticians, to re-evaluate the tactics and deployment of the MiG-21.