page_title: South Vietnam Air Force
section_title: 1970
hierarchical_section_title: South Vietnam Air Force / History / 1970
caption_attribution_description: English: South Vietnamese Air Force Fairchild C-123B-15-FA Provider 55-4565 at Tan Son Nuht AB. Assigned to the 421st Transport Squadron, Identified by the "Q" on the tail. These C-123s were replaced by the C-130s parked in the background.
context_page_description: The South Vietnam Air Force, officially the Republic of Vietnam Air Force was the aerial branch of the Republic of Vietnam Military Forces, the official military of the Republic of Vietnam from 1955 to 1975.
  The RVNAF began with a few hand-picked men chosen to fly alongside French pilots during the State of Vietnam era. It eventually grew into the world's sixth largest air force at the height of its power, in 1974. It is an often neglected chapter of the history of the Vietnam War as they operated in the shadow of the United States Air Force. It was dissolved in 1975 after the Fall of Saigon; many of its members emigrated to the United States.
context_section_description: In 1970, the RVNAF units at Da Nang AB were reorganized as the First Air Division with responsibility for I Corps.
  In March 1970 the USAF began handing the Pleiku AB over to the RVNAF and this transfer was completed by the end of 1970. Pleiku AB was one of the 2 operating bases of the RVNAF 6th Air Division, the other being Phù Cát Air Base. The RVNAF established the 72nd Tactical Wing at Pleiku AB with the 530th Fighter Squadron equipped with A-1 Skyraiders, along with two UH-1H helicopter assault squadrons (229th, 235th) and the 118th Liaison Squadron, with O-1 and U-17 forward air controller/light reconnaissance aircraft.
  On 31 March a USAF mobile training team arrived in South Vietnam to begin teaching, in collaboration with Army aviators, the tactical use of the UH–1 fitted out as a gunship. On 29 May 29, before the second class of 32 students had graduated, the RVNAF mounted its first helicopter assault. Eight troop-carrying UH–1s, another serving as a command post, and three others equipped as gunships successfully landed a small force near Prey Veng, Cambodia.
  From the beginning of the Cambodian Campaign in April until the end of 1970, the RVNAF flew some 9,600 attack sorties in Cambodia, compared to 14,600 by US airmen. Besides flying interdiction missions, the RVNAF delivered close air support for both ARVN and Cambodian troops and provided other assistance.
  The Cambodian Campaign gave unexpected impetus to the modernization and improvement of South Vietnam's armed forces. US Defense Secretary Melvin Laird launched the Consolidated Improvement and Modernization Program which called for a South Vietnamese military establishment totaling 1.1 million in June 1973, with the RVNAF expanding to 46,998 officers and men. During December 1970, however, the USAF advisory group became concerned that additional airmen, technicians, and medical professionals would be needed as South Vietnamese replaced US troops at air bases, logistics centers, command posts and hospital facilities. South Vietnam's Joint General Staff agreed, increasing the projected strength of the air service to 52,171, but even this number could not ensure the self-sufficiency of the RVNAF. At best, the greater number of airmen could help the ARVN to deal with the kind of threat that existed in the spring of 1970, after the invasion of Cambodia. Under the program, the RVNAF expanded from 22 squadrons with 486 authorized aircraft in mid-1970 to 30 squadrons with 706 planes at year's end. Two additional A–37 squadrons and one of A–1s (all originally scheduled for activation in the summer of 1971) were activated, as were 4 new squadrons of UH–1s and, some 6 months ahead of schedule, the first of two planned CH–47 Chinook units. Moreover, the consolidated plan looked beyond these 1970 increases to a force of 37 squadrons by the end of June 1971, 45 squadrons a year later and 49 by 30 June 1973. The final squadron, 18 F–5E interceptors, would arrive at the end of June 1974, raising to 1,299 the authorized total of aircraft. In terms of squadrons, the RVNAF expanded by almost 30 percent during 1970, while the number of aircraft increased by not quite 50 percent.
  The RVNAF faced high costs and long delays in obtaining from schools overseas navigators for the reconnaissance, gunship or transport versions of the C–119G and C–47. To avoid reliance on courses taught in English in the United States, the USAF advisory group helped establish at Tan Son Nhut AB a school in which American-trained South Vietnamese instructors taught the basic elements of navigation. The first of seven scheduled classes began in June 1970. In August 55 RVNAF airmen started transition training at Tan Son Nhut AB from the CH–34 helicopter to the CH–47. Maintenance men as well as flight crews received instruction from members of US Army helicopter units at Phu Loi Base Camp north of Saigon. This training program produced the RVNAF's first CH–47 squadron, which was formally activated on 30 September 1970. Preparations had already begun to create a second CH-47 squadron. Tan Son Nhut AB was al
caption: 421st Transport Squadron C-123 at Tan Son Nhut AB
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