There is some evidence that Soviet fighter pilots flew missions during the Vietnam War, but for the most part Americans had to contend with DRV (Democratic Republic of Vietnam, or North Vietnam) pilots who had trained in China, Russia, or both. But the DRV never had that many fighter jets. DRV anti-air defense posed a bigger danger.

The main objective of Operation Rolling Thunder (the air war over the DRV from 1965 to 1968) was to bomb the enemy into submission. American policymakers thought that by carpet-bombing the North, they could force Hanoi to peace negotiations on favorable terms, despite a large number of intelligence estimates that were very pessimistic about this idea. American air raids frequently hit major population centers like Hanoi and Haiphong. One of the main ways the DRV responded to Rolling Thunder and later air operations was to (with heavy Russian assistance) construct a massive network of SAM sites and other anti-air emplacements around these places, as well as other sensitive areas. By the end of the war, this anti-air network was arguably the most formidable of its kind anywhere on Earth, and it claimed numerous American planes.