Khe Sanh Visual Briefing

Khe Sanh: Operation Niagara — Visual Briefing

A picture brief for Caucasus - Khe Sanh: Operation Niagara. The diagrams render on GitHub and the wiki. For the full text product — the historical intelligence assessment, kneeboard threat card, and read-aloud brief — see khe-sanh-intel-assessment.md; for the working brief-builder, the Campaign Briefing Handbook.

🟢🟡 Rooted in history. The order of battle, geography, and target priorities are the real siege (21 Jan – 9 Apr 1968), mapped onto the Caucasus terrain. Gameplay concessions (token MiG-17s, deep-rear SA-2, modern module stand-ins) are flagged. No photographic theater map is bundled yet — the schematics below stand in; a real annotated map/threat overlay can be added later.

---

The siege at a glance — 21 January 1968

Khe Sanh (Kutaisi) is encircled. Its only lifeline is air. Blue's relief pocket (Da Nang/Batumi

• the carriers) is separate — the win is to break in along Route 9 (Operation Pegasus).

flowchart TB
    subgraph RING["THE SIEGE RING (NVA) — closing on Khe Sanh"]
      H["Sukhumi — the hills 881/861/558<br/>artillery + AAA on the high ground"]:::red
      R9["Senaki — Route 9 / Pegasus axis<br/>(+ token MiG-17 — gameplay)"]:::red
      LV["Kobuleti — Lang Vei<br/>PT-76 / T-54 ARMOR"]:::red
    end
    KS["★ KUTAISI = KHE SANH COMBAT BASE<br/>26th Marines · encircled · air-only resupply<br/>strength 0.25"]:::blue
    H -->|siege| KS
    R9 -->|siege| KS
    LV -->|siege| KS

    subgraph RELIEF["BLUE RELIEF POCKET (separate, to the south/east)"]
      DN["Batumi — Da Nang<br/>tac air + Pegasus staging"]:::blue
      CV["Naval-1 / Naval-2 — Yankee Station<br/>A-4 · A-6 · F-8 · RA-5 · E-2"]:::blue
      RR["Tbilisi-Lochini — deep rear<br/>F-100 · F-4 · B-52 Arc Light · EC-121 · KC-135"]:::blue
    end
    DN ==>|OPERATION PEGASUS: push up Route 9| LV
    DN ==>|link up & break the siege| R9
    CV -.air.-> KS
    RR -.Arc Light / airlift.-> KS

    classDef blue fill:#13405a,stroke:#2f8fd0,color:#eaf4ff;
    classDef red fill:#5a1622,stroke:#e0402f,color:#ffd9d2;

Loading

---

The threat is flak, not missiles

No MiGs worth the name, no SAMs at the base, no MANPADS (none existed in 1968). You fly against guns — and because there are no missiles, medium altitude is comparatively safe. The men who died flew into the auto-AAA or made repeat passes.

flowchart LR
    A["YOUR JET"]:::hd
    A --> B["57mm — S-60 / ZSU-57-2<br/>reaches MEDIUM alt<br/>roll in from above, dive, jink out"]:::amb
    A --> C["23mm ZSU-23-4 SHILKA<br/>RADAR-directed, accurate<br/>terrain-mask, new axis"]:::amb
    A --> D["23mm ZU-23 + 12.7/14.5mm<br/>lethal LOW<br/>don't loiter low, one pass"]:::amb
    A --> E["THE AIRSTRIP GAUNTLET<br/>guns range the Khe Sanh approach"]:::amb
    A --> F["MiG-17F (token) — GUNS ONLY<br/>SA-2 (deep rear)<br/>🟡 gameplay, not history"]:::minor
    classDef hd fill:#13405a,stroke:#2f8fd0,color:#eaf4ff;
    classDef amb fill:#3a2a10,stroke:#d8a72a,color:#ffe9c2;
    classDef minor fill:#241016,stroke:#7a3a3a,color:#e8c9c4;

Loading

---

Target priority — how the air war wins

flowchart TD
    A([Operation Niagara<br/>keep the base alive · destroy the massed NVA from the air]):::hd
    A --> B[1 · The artillery<br/>Co Roc 130/152mm + hill guns — AIR-ONLY target]:::t
    A --> C[2 · The armor at Lang Vei<br/>PT-76 / T-54 — kill before it hits the wire]:::t
    B --> D[3 · Massed infantry / assembly areas<br/>ARC LIGHT]:::t
    C --> D
    D --> E[4 · Approach trenches + supply road/bridges<br/>interdiction]:::t
    E --> F([5 · Operation Pegasus<br/>push up Route 9 · link up · break the siege]):::hd
    classDef hd fill:#13405a,stroke:#2f8fd0,color:#eaf4ff;
    classDef t fill:#241016,stroke:#e0402f,color:#ffd9d2;

Loading

---

Friendly air — Operation Niagara

graph TD
    HQ[["OPERATION NIAGARA<br/>Marine 1st MAW · Navy TF77 · USAF 7th AF"]]:::hq

    HQ --> KS["★ Khe Sanh / Kutaisi — besieged garrison air"]:::cap
    KS --> KS1["A-1H Skyraider 'Sandy' · CAS"]:::u
    KS --> KS2["OV-10 Bronco · FAC(A) 🟡 stand-in for O-1/O-2"]:::pri
    KS --> KS3["AH-1W · gunship · UH-1H medevac"]:::u

    HQ --> DN["Batumi — Da Nang"]:::f
    DN --> DN1["A-1H Skyraider · CAS"]:::u
    DN --> DN2["F-8E Crusader · BARCAP"]:::u
    DN --> DN3["CH-53E · UH-1H · lift"]:::u

    HQ --> CV["Yankee Station carriers"]:::f
    CV --> CV1["A-4E Skyhawk · A-6E Intruder · strike/CAS"]:::pri
    CV --> CV2["F-8E · BARCAP · E-2C · RA-5C recon"]:::u

    HQ --> RR["Tbilisi-Lochini — deep rear"]:::f
    RR --> RR1["B-52H · ARC LIGHT 🟡 stand-in for B-52D"]:::pri
    RR --> RR2["F-100D · F-4E · RF-101B recon"]:::u
    RR --> RR3["EC-121D AEW · KC-135 tanker · C-130 airlift"]:::u

    classDef hq fill:#0d2b45,stroke:#2f8fd0,color:#fff;
    classDef cap fill:#16405a,stroke:#5fb0e0,color:#eaf4ff;
    classDef f fill:#13303f,stroke:#2f6f90,color:#dceaf4;
    classDef u fill:#10202a,stroke:#3a6a7a,color:#cfe2ec;
    classDef pri fill:#1a4a2a,stroke:#5fd089,color:#e8ffe8;

Loading

Highlighted: the workhorses — the FAC(A), the carrier strike (A-4/A-6), and Arc Light.

---

Order of battle, geography, and priorities are the historical siege mapped to Caucasus; gameplay concessions are flagged 🟡. Full history + read-aloud brief: khe-sanh-intel-assessment.md. Working reference: Campaign Briefing Handbook.

---

This page is the online copy of docs/campaigns/khe-sanh-visual-briefing.md in the repo. Edit that file; the wiki is mirrored from docs/wiki/ on merge to main.