The tactics employed on the Iron Hand missions were primarily designed to diminish the threat of SA-2 missiles to a bombing strike force.
The People's Army of Vietnam, with the aid of the Soviet Union and China, took defense measures as a response to the American-led Operation Rolling Thunder.
On April 5, 1965, a U.S. Navy RF-8A Crusader reconnaissance plane from aircraft carrier USS Coral Sea brought back photography of the first positively identified SAM.
[1] For the Navy, the A-4 and A-3 Skywarrior played pivotal roles during Iron Hand anti-SAM missions; the two aircraft were armed with "beam-riding" AGM-45 Shrike anti-radiation missiles, which could be launched against SAM sites.
Later Iron Hand aircraft carried the large, expensive Standard ARM, which was capable of locking in the location of the source even if the radar was turned off.
Because most of the losses that occurred during the bombing raids into North Vietnam were caused by SAMs, Iron Hand missions continued to be of vital importance throughout the war.