Hòa Lạc Air Base is a
Vietnam People's Air Force (VPAF) ''(Không quân Nhân dân Việt Nam)'' military airfield located approximately west of
Hanoi.
History
Vietnam War
The airfield started operation in February 1967. On 26 March 1967 Col Robert Scott flying an
F-105
The Republic F-105 Thunderchief is an American supersonic fighter-bomber that served with the United States Air Force from 1958 to 1984. Capable of Mach 2, it conducted the majority of strike bombing missions during the early years of the Viet ...
shot down a Hòa Lạc-based
MiG-17. In May the base was first attacked by the USAF.
Hòa Lạc,
Kép
Kép is a township (''Thị trấn'') of Lạng Giang District, Bắc Giang Province, in north-eastern Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast A ...
and
Phúc Yên
Phúc Yên is a city in Vĩnh Phúc Province in the Red River Delta region of Vietnam.Atlas of the World', Oxford University Press, 2011, p. 226. As of 2003 the district had a population of 83,352. The district covers an area of 120 km². T ...
were targeted on the first night of
Operation Linebacker II on 18 December 1972 to suppress fighters that might otherwise intercept US attack aircraft.
Current use
The VPAF 916th Helicopter Squadron is based at Hòa Lạc.
On 7 July 2014 a VPAF
Mi-171
The Mil Mi-17 (NATO reporting name: Hip) is a Soviet-designed Russian military helicopter family introduced in 1975 (Mi-8M), continuing in production at two factories, in Kazan and Ulan-Ude. It is known as the Mi-8M series in Russian service. ...
crashed while on a parachute training mission near Hòa Lạc killing 17 passengers and crew.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoa Lac Air Base
Installations of the Vietnam People's Air Force
Military airbases established in 1967