F-100 Super Sabre in Southeast Asia

Although several F-100 units deployed to air bases in Thailand between 1961-1964, the Super Sabre did not enter combat in Southeast Asia until the summer of 1964. In June of that year, the 615th Tactical Fighter Squadron, based in Da Nang, South Vietnam, began flying the first of many F-100 strike missions against Pathet Lao insurgents in northern Laos (called OPERATION BARREL ROLL).

In 1965, during the early months of OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER (the first organized bombing campaign against North Vietnam), F-100s provided fighter escort and also bombed ground targets (alongside more capable F-105 Thunderchiefs). As North Vietnamese anti-aircraft defenses increased and Super Sabre losses mounted, the U.S. Air Force removed the F-100 from strike missions in North Vietnam, and the newly introduced F-4 Phantom took over the fighter escort role.

Even so, the Super Sabre, nicknamed the "Hun," remained an essential close air support aircraft in the "in-country" war over South Vietnam. F-100s also continued to strike targets in northern Laos, and in 1968, they participated in operations against enemy infiltration in southern Laos (called OPERATION STEEL TIGER). Two-seat F-100Fs also performed special missions in surface-to-air missile (SAM) suppression and forward air control (FAC).

Super Sabre numbers in Southeast Asia peaked at 490 aircraft in 1969, and the last F-100 left Vietnam in 1971. F-100s flew over 360,000 combat missions in Southeast Asia between 1964-1971, with 186 lost to enemy anti-aircraft, none in air-to-air combat, seven to enemy ground forces, and 45 to operational accidents.


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