26. Fact: American and South Vietnamese aircraft losses were heavy during the war
Over the course of American involvement in Vietnam, the United States Air Force lost 2,251 aircraft, about 20% to accidents, and about 2,200 of them were fixed wing airplanes. The US Navy lost over 850, with 532 attributable to combat action. Most of the losses were to anti-aircraft missiles and gunfire. Over 5,600 American helicopters were lost, and with the losses to the US Marines included Americans lost over 10,000 aircraft during the Vietnam War, roughly 1,000 per year. This tally does not include American equipment provided to and lost by the Republic of Vietnam, nor those captured at the end of the war. By contrast, North Vietnam lost about 200 aircraft, though they did not deploy as much as a tenth of the missions launched by the Americans and allies.
