Operation Linebacker II 1972: The B-52s are sent to Hanoi (Air Campaign)

After the failed April 1972 invasion of South Vietnam and the heavy US tactical bombing raids in the Hanoi area, the North Vietnamese agreed to return to the Paris peace talks, yet very quickly these negotiations stalled.

In an attempt to end the war quickly and "persuade" the North Vietnamese to return to the negotiating table, President Nixon ordered the Air Force to send the US' ultimate conventional weapon, the B-52 bomber, against their capital, Hanoi. Bristling with the latest Soviet air defense missiles, it was the most heavily defended target in Vietnam. Taking place in late December, this campaign was soon dubbed the "Christmas Bombings."

Using specially commissioned artwork and maps, ex-USAF fighter colonel Marshall Michel describes Linebacker II, the climax of the air war over Vietnam, and history's only example of how America's best Cold War bombers performed against contemporary Soviet air defenses.

• B-52 Stratofortress vs SA-2 "Guideline" SAM: Vietnam 1972–73 (Duel)
• Sink the Tirpitz 1942–44: The RAF and Fleet Air Arm duel with Germany's mighty battleship (Air Campaign)
• Operation Linebacker I 1972: The first high-tech air war (Air Campaign)
• French Foreign Légionnaire vs Viet Minh Insurgent: North Vietnam 1948–52 (Combat)
• Imjin River 1951: Last stand of the 'Glorious Glosters' (Campaign)
• British Destroyer vs German Destroyer: Narvik 1940 (Duel)
• Operation Crossbow 1944: Hunting Hitler's V-weapons (Air Campaign)
• Rolling Thunder 1965–68: Johnson's air war over Vietnam (Air Campaign)
• The Solomons 1943–44: The Struggle for New Georgia and Bougainville (Campaign)
• P-39/P-400 Airacobra vs A6M2/3 Zero-sen: New Guinea 1942 (Duel)