Kép Air Base

Kép Air Base
Part of Vietnam People's Air Force

A USAF RF-101C overflies Kep in 1966
Kép Air Base
Coordinates 21°23′23″N 106°15′09″E / 21.38972°N 106.25250°E / 21.38972; 106.25250
Type Air Force Base
Site information
Controlled by  Vietnam People's Air Force
Site history
Built 1965
In use 1965-Present
Battles/wars Vietnam War
Airfield information
Summary
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
07L/25R 6,000 1,829 Concrete
07R/25L 6,000 1,829 Concrete

Kép Air Base is a Vietnam People's Air Force (VPAF) (Không quân Nhân dân Việt Nam) military airfield located near the town of Kép, Bắc Giang Province approximately 60 km (37 mi) northeast of Hanoi.

History

Vietnam War

A September 1965 CIA intelligence briefing stated that Kép airfield had been extensively improved with the runway lengthened to 6000 ft allowing for jet fighter operations and photo-reconnaissance indicated that 8 aircraft, identified as MiG-15s or MiG-17s were at the airfield.[1] In April 1966 the CIA concluded that a small number of MiG-21s had possibly deployed to Kép from Phúc Yên Air Base.[2]

On 24 April 1967, jets from VA-112 and VA-144 attacked Kép in the first U.S. airstrike on a VPAF airfield of the Vietnam War.[3]

On 1 May 1967 during a sortie against Kép a Douglas A-4 Skyhawk of VA-76, shot down a MiG-17 with Zuni rockets, this was the only MiG kill by an A-4 during the Vietnam War.[4]

A Regiment-sized unit of Korean People's Air Force MiG pilots known as Doan Z (Group Z) flew from Kép from late 1967 through 1968.[5]

Kép, Phúc Yên and Hòa Lạc were targeted on the first night of Operation Linebacker II on 18 December 1972.

Current use

The VPAF 927th Fighter Regiment operating MiG-21s and Su-30MK2s is based at Kép.

References

  1. ↑ "Weekly Report the situation in South Vietnam" (PDF). Central Intelligence Agency. 22 September 1965. p. 12. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  2. ↑ "Implications of the recent jet fighter clashes over North Vietnam" (PDF). Central Intelligence Agency. 1966. p. 5. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  3. ↑ Nichols, John (1987). On Yankee Station: The Naval Air War Over Vietnam. United States Naval Institute. p. 155. ISBN 978-0-87021-559-9.
  4. ↑ Grossnick, R (1997). United States Naval Aviation, 1910–1995. Naval Historical Center. ISBN 0-16-049124-X.
  5. ↑ "North Korean Pilots in the Skies over Vietnam" (PDF). Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars. November 2011. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
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