By October, enough progress had been made to persuade Nixon to call a bombing halt effective 23 October. As yet another signal in the long string of signals reaching back into early US involvement in the war, it received the same treatment as the rest. It was ignored, and what was meant to be evidence of good faith on the part of the US was a useless gesture.

The halt was used for continued planning on both sides, and the US evolved an all-out air offensive that would be held in readiness should the North try to back out of the negotiations, or if they resumed their drive to gain control of the South. Some intelligence indicated that the latter was a possibility, and Nixon again authorized air strikes north of the 20th parallel. The air campaign was an extension of Linebacker, but different in some respects. Like a Hollywood sequel, it was named Linebacker II.

It was the height of the monsoon season, and the weather was true to form: ceilings between 1,000 and 3,000 ft (300 and 900 m), with a 5-mile (8-km) visibility below the clouds. So the offensive was built around an all-weather force of B-52s, F-111s, F-4s, A-7s, and carrier aircraft, with EB-66s and other elements of the supporting forces. The NVAF MiGs; having limited all-weather performance, were not expected to present much of a threat, and neither were the smaller-caliber anti-aircraft weapons which were aimed visually. Missiles were tagged as the primary menace, with radar-directed large-caliber anti-aircraft artillery coming a close second.

The majority of the targets were transportation and supply systems. The remaining 40 per cent of the objectives included MiG airfields, SAM sites, communication installations, command and control systems, and urban powerplants.

Specific assignment of targets depended on the capability of the aircraft. The B-52s were tasked to bomb the airfields, storage areas, and the railroad marshalling yards near Hanoi. The F-4s, armed with PGMs, were to strike the Hanoi powerplant, Radio Hanoi, and the rail classification yards. The F-111s drew the SAM sites, some airfields, and the marshalling yards. Vought A-7Ds were to hit the Yen Bai airfield and to be led there by LORAN-equipped F-4s.