Nguyen Van Coc - Air Combat Victories

Air Combat Victories

Nine air-to-air combat kills of United States aircraft were credited to him during the Vietnam War. Of these, seven have currently been acknowledged by the United States Air Force. While sometimes U.S. forces may have attributed aircraft losses to surface-to-air missiles, since it was considered "less embarrassing", in fact there was often doubt about cause of the loss. Coc also claimed an F-4 Phantom and F-105 Thunderchief in November and 17 December 1967 but there are no corresponding American losses.

The following kills, while flying the MiG-21, have been credited to Van Coc by the VPAF (aka NVAF):

• 30 April 1967: USAF F-105D piloted by Robert A. Abbott of the USAF 355th TFW. This was his first air victory and occurred while he was acting as a wingman to Nguyen Ngoc Do, who also downed an aircraft.

• 23 August 1967: USAF F-4D (serial number 66-0238) of Major Charles R. Tyler (pilot) and Captain R. N. Sittner (WSO) of the 555th Tactical Fighter Squadron. Tyler was captured and Sittner was killed.

• 9 October 1967: USAF F-105D piloted by Clements.

• 18 November 1967: USAF F-105F of Oscar Dardeau (pilot) and Edward Leinhoff (WSO).

• 20 November 1967: USAF F-105D piloted by Butler.

• 3 February 1968: USAF F-102A piloted by 1st Lt. Wallace L. Wiggins of the 509th FIS/405th FIW.

• 23 February 1968: F-4D of Guttersen (pilot) and Donald (WSO).

• 7 May 1968: On the afternoon of 7 May 1968, three flights of MiG-21 fighters from the VPAF 921st Regiment were flying towards Tho Xuan Air Base, as part of redeployment in response to the U.S. bombing halt above the 19th Parallel. The flights were led by Dang Ngoc Ngu, Nguyen Van Minh and Nguyen Van Coc. Due to the lack of coordination between the different sections of the VPAF 921st Fighter Regiment and the ground-based air-defense forces, the MiG-21 flights were mistakenly identified as U.S. fighter-bombers, so North Vietnamese anti-aircraft artillery fired on them. Moments later, Ngu also mistook an escorting flight of MiG-21 fighters flown by Nguyen Dang Kinh and Nguyen Van Lung for U.S. fighters, so he responded by dropping his fuel tanks to prepare for an attack. Ngu then aborted the attack when he realized they were North Vietnamese.

Later, Ngu and Coc arrived over the skies of Do Luong, north-east of Vinh, and they made three circuits over the area when they were told that enemy aircraft were detected coming from the sea, and they were real U.S. fighters. The U.S. flight detected were a formation of five F-4B Phantom II from Fighter Squadron 92 (VF-92), USS Enterprise, led by Lieutenant Commander Ejnar S. Christensen. Over North Vietnamese airspace, a U.S. Navy EKA-3A electronic warfare aircraft tried to jam North Vietnamese communications but it failed, so Nhu’s flight of MiG-21 fighters were able to be guided towards their target by ground controllers unhindered.

While trying to engage the VPAF MiGs, the F-4B formation became separated due to confusion in radar control. In the ensuing dogfight, two AIM-7 missiles were fired by the U.S. Navy fighters but both rounds missed. Ngu then noticed two F-4B Phantoms about 5 kilometers (3.1 mi) to starboard, but he could not get into a suitable firing position. Coc was right behind Ngu at the time, but he wanted to disengage from the fight as his aircraft was running low on fuel. However, Coc quickly changed his mind after he spotted an F-4B ahead of him at an altitude of 2,500 meters (8,200 ft). Coc immediately gave chase to the F-4B, which were flying out to sea, and successfully scored a hit after he fired two R-3S Atoll missiles from an altitude of 1,500 meters (4,900 ft). The F-4B Phantom II burst into flames and crashed into the sea at 6:44 pm.

The action gave the VPAF their first aerial victory over the airspace above the Military Zone IV of North Vietnam and gave Nguyen Van Coc his seventh aerial victory. The U.S. Navy confirmed that the downed F-4B had been BuNo 151485, callsign Silver Kite 210, of VF-92 launched from Enterprise. The pilot of BuNo 151485, Lieutenant Commander Ejnar S. Christenson, and his Radar Intercept Officer, Lieutenant (jg) Worth A. Kramer were able to eject safely from their aircraft before impact, and were recovered a short time later.

• December 1969: A USAF AQM-34 Firebee unmanned aerial vehicle.

• 20 December 1969: A USAF AQM-34 Firebee. It is possible that due to Vietnamese pilots being unfamiliar with these drones, this could have been an OV-10 Bronco whose two crewmembers perished when it was shot down in the same area.