Osprey Combat Aircraft 25 : MiG 17 and MiG 19 Units of the Vietnam War

During the years of American involvement in the Vietnam War, the Vietnamese Peoples' Air Force (VPAF) quickly grew from an ill-organised rabble of poorly trained pilots flying antiquated communist aircraft into a highly effective fighting force that more than held its own over the skies of North Vietnam. Flying Soviet fighters like the MiG-17, and MiG-19, the VPAF produced over a dozen aces, whilst the Americans managed just two pilots and three navigators in the same period. Text by Istvan Toperczer with illustrations by Mark Styling.

Contents

• Establishing the VPAF
• Training
• MiG-17
• MiG-19
• MiG-21
• Appendices
• Full Ace Listing
• Confirmed Kill Listing
• Commentary on the Colour Profiles