Major General Mai Văn Cường (born 1941) is a former

North Vietnamese North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; ; VNDCCH), was a country in Southeast Asia from 1945 to 1976, with sovereignty fully recognized in 1954 Geneva Conference, 1954. A member of the communist Eastern Bloc, it o ...

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 and

flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviation, 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 ...

, who he flew with the 921st fighter regiment and tied for second 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 with eight kills. 20-year-old Mai Van Cuong began training as 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 ...

pilot in the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

from 1961 to 1964, advancing to the MiG-21 from 1965 to 1966, and has acquired a unique distinction of being the 'top drone-killing pilot of the Vietnam War', achieving no less than six kills over US Ryan 147 Firebee/Lightning Bug drone; his victory-claims list including the kills officially acknowledged by the VPAF is as follows:Toperczer, 2015, pp. 67, 145. * 8 October 1966,

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-105 Thunderchief The Republic F-105 Thunderchief is an American 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 Vietnam War. It ...

, US-side does not confirm; * 28 April 1967, USAF F-105D Thunderchief, pilot Caras ( KIA); * 16 May 1967, Firebee/Lightning Bug UAV drone; * 30 September 1967, USAF F-105 Thunderchief, US-side does not confirm; * 7 October 1967,

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 ...

, damaged; * 19 June 1968, Firebee/Lightning Bug UAV drone; * 3 September 1968, Firebee/Lightning Bug UAV drone; * 20 September 1968, Firebee/Lightning Bug UAV drone; * 9 February 1969, Firebee/Lightning Bug UAV drone; * 24 June 1969, Firebee/Lightning Bug UAV drone.

References

Bibliography

* North Vietnamese military personnel of the Vietnam War Living people North Vietnamese Vietnam War flying aces Date of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) 1941 births People from Thanh Hóa province {{Vietnam-mil-bio-stub

See also

References

Bibliography