Phạm Tuân, Hero of the Soviet Union (born February 14, 1947) was the first Vietnamese cosmonaut (known in the West as astronauts) and the first Asian (excluding Russia) in space.
Phạm Tuân was born in Quoc Tuan, Thái Bình province in northern Vietnam. He joined the VPAF, or Vietnam People's Air Force (North Vietnamese Air Force) in 1965 was later commissioned as a combat officer. He flew interceptor missions in a MiG-21 jet fighter against United...
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Phạm Tuân, Hero of the Soviet Union (born February 14, 1947) was the first Vietnamese cosmonaut (known in the West as astronauts) and the first Asian (excluding Russia) in space.
Phạm Tuân was born in Quoc Tuan, Thái Bình province in northern Vietnam. He joined the VPAF, or Vietnam People's Air Force (North Vietnamese Air Force) in 1965 was later commissioned as a combat officer. He flew interceptor missions in a MiG-21 jet fighter against United States aircraft during the Vietnam War against US aircraft.
On the night of December 26, 1972, during Operation Linebacker II (also referred to as the Christmas Bombings), then Major Phạm engaged a USAF Strategic Air Command (SAC) B-52 Stratofortress heavy bomber with air to air missiles. He reported his missiles struck the B-52, causing it to go down in flames. This would make him the only pilot in history to have downed a B-52 in aerial combat. (However, the USAF disputes his claim, saying the B-52 was downed by a Surface to Air Missile, as...
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