Air interdiction
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Air interdiction (AI), also known as deep air support (DAS), is the use of preventive tactical bombing and strafing by combat aircraft against enemy targets that are not an immediate threat, to delay, disrupt or hinder later enemy engagement of friendly forces. It is a core capability of virtually all military air forces, and has been conducted in conflicts since World War I. Aircraft that are used for this purpose are known as interdictors.
A U.S. Navy A-7E Corsair II bombs the Hai Duong bridge in North Vietnam in 1972.
A 4-ship Vic formation of Pakistani F-86F Sabres returning from an interdiction mission during the 1965 war
Aerial bombing of German railroad yards at Siena during Operation Strangle by Martin B-26 Marauder medium bombers on April 11 1944, On the alternate line from Pisa and Florence south to Rome, the Siena yards were bombed by Mediterranean Allied Air Force Bombers.
A 388th TFW SAM hunter-killer team refueling on its way to North Vietnam, October 1972
Ho Chi Minh trail
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The Ho Chi Minh Trail, also called Annamite Range Trail was a logistical network of roads and trails that ran from North Vietnam to South Vietnam through the kingdoms of Laos and Cambodia. The system provided support, in the form of manpower and materiel, to the Viet Cong and the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN), during the Vietnam War. Construction for the network began following the North Vietnamese invasion of Laos in July 1959. At the time it was believed to be the main supply route, however it later transpired that the Sihanouk Trail which ran through Cambodia was handling significantly more materials
In the early days of the Ho Chi Minh Trail, bicycles were often used to transport arms and equipment from North to South Vietnam.
Bicycle used by communist forces on the Ho Chi Minh Trail to transport supplies. National Museum of American History, Washington, D.C.
Barrel Roll • Steel Tiger • Tiger Hound areas of operations
PAVN troops on the trail (photo taken by a U.S. MACV-SOG team)