ប្រវត្តិសាស្រ្តបិទមុខ

A very rare photo of the Pochentong flightline in January 1979, showing AFKLA (Khmer Rouge) C-47s and C-123Ks. The C-47 seen in foreground had the front and rear end of fuselage painted in olive drab. The Kampuchea Democratic flag, with three yellow towers of Angkor Watt temple over a red background, is painted on the tails of the aircraft. (Leonardo Pinzauti collection, via A. Grandolini)

The Vietnamese sources, however, were reporting that tha AFKLA still used some C-47s, C-123Ks and UH-1Hs in 1978. Western sources at the time estimated the AFKLA’s strenght at 16 F-6Cs, 17 T-28Ds, 3 C-123Ks, eight C-47s, ten UH-1Hs and around ten O-1s, T-41Ds and AU-24s for observation and training.

The F-6Cs were based in Kompong Chang, a brand-new air base, together with a number of other aircraft and helicopters that survived the fighting and the elements since 1975, and were operated by a single Fighter-Interceptor unit. In addition to F-6s, the Chinese also delivered a number of anti-aircraft guns calibre 37, 57, and 85mm.

The presence of the Chinese in Cambodia caused tensions between Pol Pot and Hanoi: although a part of the Khmer Rouge leaders were ideologically aligned to Hanoi, already on 1 May 1975 they launched a commando raid on the Vietnamese Phu Quoc Island. The Khmer pulled back without any combat, but only ten days later they attempted to land at the Tho Chu Island, where the Vietnamese put up a fierce resistance. The Khmer took 515 Vietnamese civilians as hostages and pulled back, later executing all the captives. The Vietnamese were bitter, and their Navy then launched a series of operations to reoccupy some of the islands held by Khmer. Most of such operations were supported by UH-1H helicopter gunships and A-37Bs.

By 1976 the situation was already very tense, as the number of border incidents was permanently increasing. The Vietnamese were now flying a number of armed reconnaissance sorties to show their strength, but they seldom attacked. Nevertheless, on 25 February, in retaliation for another Khmer Rouge raid, a flight of MiG-21s detached to Pakse AB, in southern Laos, bombed the Cambodian town of Sieam Reap. Also, after in June 1976 the Khmer attacked Vietnamese border posts in the Tien Thuan area, and then in early 1977 also probed into the Svay Rieng Province with two or three regiments and some artillery support, from April of the same year the SRVAF hit back with a number of strikes flown by A-1s, A-37s, and MiG-21s, and then the Vietnamese Army installed several blocking positions inside the Cambodian territory.

Hanoi suspected that the Chinese could deploy units from their air force at Kompong Chnang. At the time the Vietnamese sources claimed also that the AFKLA was about to get a squadron with a dozen or so H-5 bombers (Chinese copy of the Il-28). As the number of border incidents continued increasing, the Vietnamese finally started launching raids of special forces and even whole army divisions into Cambodia in response to aggressive acts by the Khmer Rouge. On 30 April 1977, for example, the Khmer attacked and occupied the Vietnamese town of Chau Doc. Thousands of civilians were slaughtered while a large number of Khmer Kroeum – Vietnamese of Cambodian origin – were deported back into Cambodia. The Khmer then extended their offensive into the Tay Ninh Province, and by October 1977 no less but three of their divisions – all supported by plenty of 105mm, 122mm, and 130mm artillery, as well as Type-62 tanks and M-113 APCs – were deployed at least ten kilometres deep into Vietnam. During the fighting in the area also the AFKLA T-28Ds were for the first time noticed flying close support missions. It still took some time until Hanoi reacted: on 31 December five Vietnamese divisions counterattacked, causing heavy loss to the Khmer and almost cutting all their units off the border. Profiting from the chaos within the Khmer, and permanently supported by heavy SRVAF strikes, the Vietnamese then speeded up along the Mekong River, finally reaching the town of Neak Luong. By mid-March 1978 the Khmer reorganized their forces and launched a counterattack, eventually causing the Vietnamese to withdraw – in good order – back behind the border. In one case, however, a Vietnamese armoured unit was cut off by the Khmer and put under intense attacks. After suffering heavy casualties while attempting to break out the tank crews fought their way into a clearing in the jungle and were then evacuated by SRVAF helicopters.

The Khmer were not to give up: by 14 April 1978 they opened a new front in the Ba Thuc area, deploying two divisions. Both units were withdrawn back into Cambodia within a week, but only after deporting 20.000 Khmer Kroeum civilians and slaughtering 2.500 others. In response the Vietnamese deployed seven divisions along the border and by June created a buffer zone to Cambodia, in turn causing furious engagements with Khmer, which were to last until December 1978. The Vietnamese used these “liberated areas” to reorganize and reinforce NUFSK, which by December 1978 boasted a total of some 15.000 to 18.000 fighters. That was still not all: the regime in Hanoi then decided to expand the buffer zone and destroy the backbone of the Khmer units deployed along the border. This plan was, however, disrupted by the heaviest flooding in the Mekong Delta since over 100 years, and then completely changed. The Vietnamese regime were actually not concerned by the genocidal policy of the Khmer Rouge, but rather with fulfilling their historical ambition of regional domination, as well as stopping the spread of the Chinese influence in Cambodia. Nguyen Co Thach, the then Vietnamese Foreign Minister, later said that, “Human rights were not a question; That was THEIR problem – we were concerned only with security.” China is a historical enemy of Vietnam; at the time China was also a bitter enemy of the Soviet Union. Consequently, Hanoi was to act in accordance with own but also Soviet interests – the last was highly important because the USSR was to finance the following adventure.

On 27 December 1978, 300 NUFSK members “invaded” Cambodia, “supported” by a 200.000 strong Vietnamese Army. For the invasion of Cambodia, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam Air Force (SRVAF) deployed the 901st Air Group – to a better part consisting of the units from the 372nd Air Division that was almost completely equipped with US-built aircraft. The 901st Air Group had no permanently assigned units, but for invasion of Cambodia it consisted of following regiments:

- 935, equipped with F-5As and F-5Bs, stationed at Bien Hoa AB

- 937, equipped with A-37Bs, stationed at Phan Rang AB

- 938, equipped with a mix of C-130s, C-119Ks, and C-47s, based at Gia Lam AB

- 917, equipped with U-17s, L-19s, UH-1s, and CH-47s, based at Tan Son Nhut AB

At some point in time the 901st Air Group was also to get the 916th Regiment SRVAF, equipped with Mi-24A helicopter gunships. According to Vietnamese records, this unit was already operational at the time of the invasion of Cambodia; according to DIA reports, however, the SRVAF received its first Mi-24As only in January 1980 – a full year after the invasion of Cambodia. According to the same source, the 916th Regiment was initially deployed at Hoa Lac, in northern Vietnam, in order to counter any Chinese offensive. The first independent reports about the deployment of Mi-24s in Cambodia indicated their appearance at Than Son Nhut and then at Pochentong only in 1983.

SVRAF F-5E seen at Bien Hoa: the F-5s of the 372nd Air Division were insturmental for support of the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia, in December 1978. The aircraft served with distinction for the folllowing three years, before the SVRAF almost run out of spares for them. Most of the support equipment, spares and weapons for Vietnamese F-5s was sold to Ethiopia, in the early 1980s, and to Iran during the mid-1980s: the aircraft, however, were never sold anywhere. (A. Grandolini collection)

The Vietnamese advanced very fast, within days reaching the areas of Parrots Beak and Fishook, where fierce and bloody mop-up battles were to rage for weeks. The Vietnamese did not hesitate to use the US-developed tactics of forward air controllers: quite on the contrary, they deployed Cessna U-17s to find a concentration of some 30.000 Khmer fighters at Fishhook and direct heavy air strikes that literally decimated their enemies. From the second week of the invasion the SRVAF also started deploying MiG-21MFs and a batch of Mi-24As, both of which were usually equipped with UB-16-57 and UB-32-57 rocket launchers, as well as FAB-500 bombs. A number of C-130A transports was also converted into make-shift bombers, while the balance of the SRVAF was involved in intensive transport, liaison, and other kind of support missions. Curiously, a number of Vietnamese aircraft has got the NUFSK national markings, alleging to be a part of the “National Liberation Air Force”: at least a single C-47 and one Mi-6 were seen wearing such insignia. This practice was introduced actually already in 1975, when a small number of SRVAF transports engaged in supporting the final offensive against South Vietnam have got the Viet Cong insignia – instead of the usual North Vietnamese, ironically maintaining that “no” North Vietnamese forces would be involved in the invasion of the South.
In general – and despite some problems with the maintenance, due to the lack of spares - the SRVAF preferred the F-5As and F-5Es to MiGs for air-to-ground missions, because they could carry heftier warloads over better ranges. Also, the A-37s were used – with a considerable success – for close-air-support, sometimes also in coordination with Mi-24As. The AFKLA’s response was minimal: it is known that it continued to fly some transport and liaison operations, and there are rumours that few F-6Cs also survived the initial Vietnamese strikes, and flew a number of combat sorties – perhaps flown by Chinese pilots. There is no firm confirmation for this yet, however.

While the Khmer concentration at Fishhook was methodically destroyed, two Vietnamese divisions continued the advance deeper into Cambodia. In face of fanatic counterattacks, on 30 December 1978 Kracheh was captured, and two days later also Stung Treng. The Vietnamese then landed Marines and the 12th Division into the port of Kampot, in order to prevent Chinese from resupplying the Khmer: the Marines continued a swift advance along the coast.

SRVAF CH-47A of the 917th Regiment seen while unloading 2.75-in air-to-ground rockets at a Cambodian airfield during the operations of 1979. The rockets would be used by a detachment of UH-1H gunships. (Albert Grandolini collection)

On 2 January 1979 a team of Dac Cong Special Forces was parachuted into Cambodia for a highly politically important operation: they were ordered to liberate Prince Sihanouk from the hands of the Khmer Rouge and to try to convince him to join a coalition government led by the Vietnamese. The raiders crossed the Tonle Sap River by rubber boat but was detected by the Khmer and all by one of participating troops were killed by the Khmer. After this failed attempt, the Khmer Rouge decided to release Sihanouk, and this was done on 6 January 1979: he boarded one of the five Chinese CAAC airlines Boeing 707 used for an airbridge set up by Beijing. Despite the VPAF airstrikes, these CAAC airliners continued to fly shutle flights, bringing amunition and weapons and evacuating key Khmer personnel. Sihanouk agreed to go to Beijing and then to New York to the United Nations to defend the cause of Cambodia. The next day, the VPAF helicopters had inserted special forces teams inside Phnom Penh to occupy key positions inside the abandoned city while furious combat took place in the suburbs. Pol Pot and other members of the Khmer Rouge Politburo then boarded five UH-1Hs – for what was probably the last AFKLA mission – to flee Phnom Penh. They flew to Pursat for a night pause. By the evening of 7 January the Vietnamese armour entered Phnom Penh.

On the following morning Pol Pot decided to escape to Thailand. The five Hueys carrying him and his companions were narrowly missed by a SRVAF airstrike that hit the local airfield as well the town’s railway station. The helicopters reached the Thai border and landed, but were then disabled by their crews: instead of fleeing to Thailand Pol Pot and his closest followers decided to disappear in the jungle, from where they could start a guerrilla war.

Meanwhile, by 5 January 1979 the Vietnamese took Neak Luang, and – two days later, after additional bloody battles – their Marines overran Kompong Song, capturing the local air base and the whole Khmer Air Force in the process. Despite catastrophic losses, the Khmer continued to fight, attempting to hold the Vietnamese for long enough to enable their leaders to escape into the mountains of northern Cambodia: by the end of January the Vietnamese admitted to have suffered over 8.000 casualties in combat so far. Their commanders, however, would not left themselves be dragged into a trap: for advance behind Phnom Penh and deeper into Cambodia they planned an even more carefully prepared operation. Between 15 and 17 January 1979 the F-5s and A-37s of the SRVAF flew a series of over 400 heavy strikes against the targets in Koh Kong City, on the Thai border, preparing the ground for another amphibious landing: this was to bring Vietnamese troops deep behind Phnom Penh, into a position from which they could launch an offensive straight into central Cambodia, so to cut off the Khmer from Thailand and China. During the attacks on Koh Kong a SRVAF A-37 was shot down by ground fire: the pilot, Dong Trung, ejected safely, but was captured by the Khmer and tortured to death. The SRVAF attacks were largely effective as they neutralized the last organized Khmer Rouge units.

In the meantime, on 16 January the last Khmer torpedo boats that escaped fierce Vietnamese air strikes so far were intercepted in the Gulf of Siam by the Vietnamese Navy. In the ensuing naval battle that included no less but 22 ships from both sides most of the Cambodian ships were sunk.