Midway's air group recorded two very different air-combat successes in June 1965. Two McDonnell Douglas Phantoms received credit for the first confirmed MiG kills of the Vietnam conflict, using Sparrow missiles. Three days later, four A-1 Skyraiders faced an attacking MiG-17. The propeller aircraft used the mutually supporting defensive weave developed in the Second World War and brought down the faster jet. The two engagements span generations of aircraft and tactics during the transition to missile-era carrier aviation. Midway still lost aircraft to North Vietnamese defenses, placing those successes within the hazards of the wider campaign.
Notable Point · 29:51-30:52
Phantoms and Skyraiders scored early Vietnam MiG kills
Midway's 1965 air group paired missile-armed Phantoms with propeller-driven Skyraiders that used a defensive weave to defeat a MiG-17.