I. Dimensions of the Air War

A. Air Operations

During 1967 the Rolling Thunder campaign
 became a new type of air war in the scope and
 intensity of its effort. North Vietnam's industrial
 sector and new targets -- primarily key transportation
 targets -- in hitherto sanctuary areas
 came under attack. During the past few months
 the intensified campaign has been characterized
 by tactical changes designed to disrupt more
 effectively the flow of war-supporting supplies.
 Concentrated, simultaneous, and multiple attacks
 have been carried out with increasing intensity
 against the key northern railroads. In the
 southern areas particularly the emphasis has
 shifted from attacks on fixed lines of communication
 (LOC) targets to transport equipment and supplies.

During the period January-August 1967,
 more than 75,500 attack sorties were flown against
 targets in North Vietnam -- only about 6,700 less
 than were flown during all of 1966 and nearly
 three times the number flown in 1965. As a
 result of an increase in the average ordnance load
 per sortie, nearly as much ordnance -- 147,000
 tons* -- was delivered in the first eight months
 of 1967 as the total delivered during 1966 and
 1965. The loss rate for aircraft downed by hostile
 action has decreased from 6.7 per 1,000 attack
 sorties in 1965 to 3.5 in 1966 and 3.0 during
 January-August 1967. Total losses of aircraft from
 hostile action during the three years amount to 682.
 The following tabulation gives a comparison of
 sorties, ordnance, and losses during 1965, 1966,
 and January-August 1967:

* Data on ordnance are given in short tons; data
 on traffic and trade are given in metric tons.

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