Nguyễn Nhật Chiêu (born 1934 in
Nam Sách District
Nam, Nam, or The Nam are shortened terms for:
* Vietnam, which is also spelled ''Viet Nam''
* The Vietnam War
Nam, The Nam or NAM may also refer to:
Arts and media
* Nam, a fictional character in anime series ''Dragon Ball''
* ''NAM'' (video ...
in
Hải Dương Province
Hải Dương was a former province in the Red River Delta of northern Vietnam. Its name derives from Sino-Vietnamese "ocean sun", though the modern province is in fact landlocked. Located in the Northern Key Economic Region, Hai Duong Provin ...
) was a
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21
The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 (; NATO reporting name: Fishbed) is a supersonic jet fighter and interceptor aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau in the Soviet Union. Its nicknames include: "''Balalaika''", because its planf ...
pilot of the
Vietnamese People's Air Force
The Vietnam People's Air Force (VPAF; ), officially the Air Defence - Air Force Service (ADAF Service; ) or the Vietnam Air Force (), is the aerial, air and space defence service branch of Vietnam. It is the modern incarnation of the so-cal ...
(VPAF); he flew with the 921st Fighter Regiment first with the MiG-17 before transitioning into the MiG-21, and is tied for fourth place amongst
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
fighter aces
A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down a certain minimum number of enemy aircraft during aerial combat; the exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ace varies, but is ...
with six kills.
Contrary to popular accounts in U.S. text, Nguyễn Nhật Chiêu preferred flying the MiG-21 into combat over the MiG-17, stating that: "''for me personally, I preferred the MiG-21 because it was superior in all aspects of climb, speed and armament. The Atoll missile was very accurate and I scored four kills with the Atoll... in general combat conditions I was always confident of a kill over an
F-4 Phantom
The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is an American tandem two-seat, twin-engine, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor and fighter-bomber that was developed by McDonnell Aircraft for the United States Navy.Swanborough and Bowers ...
when flying a MiG-21''."
The following kills are officially acknowledged and credited to him by the VPAF:
* 20 September 1965, an American
F-4 Phantom II
The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is an American tandem two-seat, twin-engine, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor and fighter-bomber that was developed by McDonnell Aircraft for the United States Navy.Swanborough and Bower ...
US Losses in the Vietnam War
(shot-down the F-4 while flying a MiG-17
The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 (; NATO reporting name: Fresco) is a high-subsonic fighter aircraft produced in the Soviet Union from 1952 and was operated by air forces internationally. The MiG-17 was license-built in China as the Shenyang J-5 an ...
);
* 7 July 1966, a USAF
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...
F-105D Thunderchief (pilot Tomes, POW
POW is "prisoner of war", a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict.
POW or pow may also refer to:
Music
* P.O.W (Bullet for My Valentine song), "P.O.W" (Bull ...
, credited to Chieu's wingman Tran Ngoc Siu, first victory over piloted American fighter with the MiG-21);
* 17 July 1967, a USN F-8 Crusader
The Vought F-8 Crusader (originally F8U) is a single-engine, supersonic, carrier-based air superiority jet aircraft designed and produced by the American aircraft manufacturer Vought. It was the last American fighter that had guns as the primar ...
;
* 23 August 1967, a USAF F-4D (pilot Tyler, POW, RWO Sittner, KIA
Kia Corporation (, formerly known as Kyungsung Precision Industry (京城精密工業) and Kia Motors Corporation) is a South Korean multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. It is South Korea's second larges ...
);
* 7 October 1967, a USAF F-105F Wild Weasel (pilot Howard, RWO Shamblee, both rescued);
* 29 October 1967, an F-4 Phantom (not confirmed by the US).
See also
* List of Vietnam War flying aces
The claimed flying aces of the Vietnam War, pilots who shot down five or more enemy aircraft, include 19 Vietnam People's Air Force (VPAF) pilots, (six MiG-17 and 13 MiG-21 pilots), and five Americans.
United States' aces
All the American aces ...
* Weapons of the Vietnam War
The Vietnam War involved the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) or North Vietnamese Army (NVA), National Liberation Front for South Vietnam (NLF) or Viet Cong (VC), and the armed forces of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), Soviet Armed Forces, Kor ...
References
Bibliography
* Toperczer, Istvan, ''MiG-21 Aces of the Vietnam War'', Schiffer Publishing, Ltd., 2015; .
North Vietnamese military personnel of the Vietnam War
North Vietnamese Vietnam War flying aces
Living people
1934 births
People from Hải Dương province
{{Vietnam-mil-bio-stub