V o L u m e I : a d

at high altitude in May 1960—the tactics and armaments considered for use

in the event of nuclear attack on the Soviet Union changed accordingly. The

British, by turning to submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) in the

early 1960s as the mainstay of their nuclear strike force, seemed to suggest

that bombers were becoming obsolete. The Americans disagreed, however,

and prepared to fly above or below the effective altitude of the antiaircraft

weapons or to release payloads before coming within their range.

Alternatively, the Soviet Union never built large numbers of long-range

bombers, but it is not entirely clear why this was so. More than likely, how-

ever, it was because the number and type of SAMs in North America dis-

couraged the use of long-range bombers in a nuclear exchange.

In addition to defending against strategic bombers, Cold War adversaries

equipped their naval and ground forces with antiaircraft guns and missiles

for shipboard or tactical or field use. Some were mobile or seaborne versions

of antibomber weapons. Others were sufficiently small and lightweight to

be transported and operated by one or two soldiers. Generically termed

MANPADS (for Man Portable Air Defense Systems), these small SAMs

were typically guided by radio command or were drawn automatically to a

target’s hot exhaust. Like antiaircraft guns, MANPADS had a relatively short

range, were simple to operate, and could be lethal when employed properly.

This made them ideally suited for protecting troops on the battlefield and

minimizing attacks by forcing the enemy to strike from greater distances

and at higher speeds. In 1986, guerrillas fighting Soviet forces in Afghanistan

began to use MANPADS provided by the United States and Britain. Within

Antiaircraft Guns and Missiles

135

Two vehicle-mounted Soviet SA-2 surface-to-air missiles, 1 January 1977. (U.S. Department of Defense)

---

months they had inflicted sufficient losses to retard helicopter gunship attacks

and to reduce the efficacy of certain aerial resupply efforts.

Similar Soviet SA-7 portable MANPADS were used against the Ameri-

cans years earlier during the Vietnam War with somewhat less significant

results. In this and other ways, that conflict exemplifies the Cold War role

of antiaircraft weapons and their influence on military doctrine. When the

United States initiated sustained bombing of North Vietnam beginning

in 1965, more than 1,500 airplanes were shot down. Many more helicopters

were also lost, almost all of them in South Vietnam and most of these to small

arms fire. The overwhelming majority of losses were inflicted by North Viet-

nam’s arsenal of more than 7,000 radar- and optical-sighted guns, many sur-

rounding the especially well-defended cities of Hanoi and Haiphong. The

lethality of these weapons forced U.S. pilots to attack from higher altitudes

and limited their time over a target. In July 1965, however, the North Viet-

namese downed their first American aircraft with a Soviet-made SA-2 mis-

sile, causing planes to fly at lower levels where they became vulnerable again

to antiaircraft guns. Between 1965 and 1972, more than 9,000 SAMs were

launched, destroying 150 American aircraft, including 18 during the eleven

days of the 

LINEBACKER II

bombing campaign of December 1972.

In this and other engagements, however, some agile fighter aircraft man-

aged to survive by outmaneuvering or outpacing the missiles. In other situa-

tions, planes emitted electronic signals, decoy flares, or metallic strips to jam

136

Antiaircraft Guns and Missiles

An Afghan mujahideen demonstrates the firing of a surface-to-air missile in 1988. The United States supported the

Afghan resistance against the Soviets, who had occupied Afghanistan. (U.S. Department of Defense)

The overwhelming

majority of losses

were inflicted by

North Vietnam’s

arsenal of more than

7,000 radar- and

optical-sighted guns.

---

or confuse SAM guidance systems. SAM attacks were also thwarted by firing

on an antiaircraft site when its radar signals or combat preparations were first

detected but before a missile was launched. Regardless of these actions, the

antiaircraft forces marshaled by the North Vietnamese caused the Americans

to alter their tactics and design appropriate countermeasures throughout the

conflict. Many aircraft, antiaircraft guns, and SAMs that were subsequently

deployed during the Cold War reflected the lessons learned in Vietnam.

Christopher John Bright

See also

Afghanistan War; Missiles, Cruise; North American Aerospace Defense Command;

Soviet Union, Army; Soviet Union, Army Air Force; Soviet Union, Navy; United

States Air Force; United States Army; United States Navy; Vietnam

References

Bright, Christopher John. “Nike Defends Washington: Antiaircraft Missiles in Fair-

fax County, Virginia during the Cold War, 1954–74.” Virginia Magazine of History

and Biography 105(3) (Summer 1997): 317–345.

Chun, Clayton K. S. “Winged Interceptor: Politics and Strategy in the Development

of the BOMARC Missile.” Air Power History 45(4) (Winter 1998): 44–59.

Correl, John T. “The Vietnam War Almanac.” Air Force Magazine (September 2004):

42–62.

Werrell, Kenneth P. Archie, Flack, AAA, and SAM: A Short Operational History of Ground-

Based Air Defense. Maxwell Air Force Base, AL: Air University Press, 1988.

The term “anti-Americanism” developed during the Cold War period and

was regularly used in public, political, and academic discourses. It refers to

an encompassing critique and rejection of various aspects of American for-

eign and domestic policies. In those parts of the world that were within the

American sphere of influence during the Cold War, anti-Americanism was

expressed by collective entities such as intellectuals, political parties, reli-

gious groups, and, at times, ruling elites. In communist or nonaligned nations,

by contrast, anti-Americanism was usually part and parcel of official state

propaganda.

Anti-Americanism as a concept of historical and contemporary analysis,

however, is not an uncontested one, and many authors have noted the dan-

gers of the politically biased usage of the term. Anti-Americanism should

be placed in a broader context and understood in terms of the American

sense of exceptionalism, anti-European sentiments in the United States, and

finally the allure of communist regimes such as those in the Soviet Union,

Cuba, and the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

Cold War anti-Americanism in Western Europe drew on older criticisms

and rejection of the United States as a political, socioeconomic, and cultural

model, although America’s status as a world superpower after 1945 only

Anti-Americanism

137

Anti-Americanism

---