Project CHECO Southeast Asia Report. Interdiction of Waterways & POL Pipelines, Sea

摘要

In August 1970, the Chief of Staff of the Air Force and the Commander in Chief, PACAF, evinced considerable interest in the logistic threat posed by the POL pipeline network built by North Vietnam and extending into Laos, and by the waterways system used to float supplies into Laos, Cambodia, and South Vietnam. Specifics regarding length, location, and flow rate of pipelines drew their particular interest, along with pipe dimensions, pumping and control equipment, and the methods being used to locate and interdict the network. These officials expressed equal interest in the free flotation techniques used by the enemy, in the vicinity of the DMZ especially, in the impact these waterways systems had on the enemy supply flow, and in what was being done to counter the threats. This concern had long been recognized and shared by planners at Seventh Air Force Headquarters, who, in the first eight months of 1970 alone, directed the delivery of over 16,050 tons of conventional- bomb ordnance, more than 16,500 canisters of CBU and Rockeye, nearly 10,000 mines and 2,300 cans of napalm, not to mention the quantity of cannon fire and rockets expended into the small geographic area called the Waterway 7 Logistics Complex (WW 7). The WW 7 complex comprised that portion of the Xe (River) Bang Hiang and its tributaries west of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and south to Tchepone (about 25 miles), and the adjacent areas containing enemy storage and transshipment points, POL pipelines, and a well-constructed road network. The complex also included an extensive AAA and ground fire threat. The time period covered by the report is from 1968 through late 1970. In the fall of 1970, 7th Air Force commenced an air interdiction campaign against input routes into Southern Laos, nominating specific 'Interdiction Boxes' on these routes for saturation bombing by Arc Light (B-52) aircraft and continuous harassment strikes by the Tac air.