Operation Rolling Thunder - Legacy

Legacy

The U.S fighter community was shocked by the news that elderly subsonic fighters were inflicting losses against the F-105 Thunderchief, the fastest and most sophisticated strike fighter then in the Air Force inventory. One result was a drastic rethinking of air combat and aircraft design, which had been centered around delivery of nuclear weapons in Europe and missile interception. As a result, the F-4 Phantom became the primary U.S. air superiority fighter for both services in the later days of the war. The Air Force's F-4E was fitted with maneuvering slats and an internal gun, while the Navy cancelled an expensive new fighter design in favor of a plane that would be more, rather than less effective, in a short-range dogfight than the Phantom. Analysis of the campaign resulted in the creation of new pilot training programs, such as the famous TOPGUN, utilizing F-5 Tigers and A-4 Skyhawks to simulate the threat of small subsonic and supersonic MiG fighters. The U.S. also started the design of a new generation of fighters that were optimized for visual-range dogfights. Although the first of these "teen" fighters would not enter service soon enough to cover America's withdrawal from Vietnam, they would dominate future air battles, serving well into the 21st century. Many remain in service today.