The Savage Air Battle That Ended in Complete Disaster

April 29, 1965. A squadron of A-4 Skyhawks roars off the deck of USS Ranger and hurtles towards the North Vietnamese coast, their metal skins glinting in the morning sun. They are on the latest mission of the bombing campaign that started nearly two months ago: Operation Rolling Thunder.

The aircrews are acutely aware of their restrictions. Hanoi and Haiphong remain off-limits - a controversial decision by the politicians back in Washington to avoid provoking Soviet and Chinese intervention.

Suddenly, a fuzzy warning comes blaring over the radio. The rumors are true: the North Vietnamese have acquired Soviet SA-2 surface-to-air missiles. As trails of smoke streak through the sky around them, it is clear that the enemy is determined to give this war everything they've got.

Banking hard to evade the missiles, the American pilots spot a menacing squadron of MiGs looming on the horizon. This war won't be the easy victory they had hoped for. What the White House had planned to be a quick campaign to prompt a swift diplomatic resolution is morphing into a complex, grueling battle of wits and will.


---

Join Dark Skies as we explore the world of aviation with cinematic short documentaries featuring the biggest and fastest airplanes ever built, top-secret military projects, and classified missions with hidden untold true stories. Including US, German, and Soviet warplanes, along with aircraft developments that took place during World War I, World War 2, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Cold War, the Gulf War, and special operations mission in between.

As images and footage of actual events are not always available, Dark Skies sometimes utilizes similar historical images and footage for dramatic effect and soundtracks for emotional impact. We do our best to keep it as visually accurate as possible.

All content on Dark Skies is researched, produced, and presented in historical context for educational purposes. We are history enthusiasts and are not always experts in some areas, so please don't hesitate to reach out to us with corrections, additional information, or new ideas.