<p>For a 12 September strike against the Sui-ho hydroelectric plant on a clear night, B-26 light bombers attacked first on low-level searchlight suppression while six B-29s orbited above with electronic countermeasures to defeat the enemy radars. The main force of 29 Superforts dropped 2,000-lb semi-armor-piercing bombs and blacked out Sui-ho. On a second night strike on 30 September, three B-29s attacked early, dropping air-burst bombs for flak suppression then orbited the target using ECM against the radars. Seven B-26s flew searchlight suppression strikes in support. Again the main force, this time 45 heavy bombers, blasted the Namsan-ni chemical plant, last of the strategic-type targets in the north.
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<p>The enemy still persisted, and in October 1952 the B-29 tactics changed again. The bomber stream was compressed to one-minute intervals between elements. ECM was emphasized, and the first 'ferret' missions were flown by RB-29s of the 91st Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron, the redesignated 31st SRS, to analyze enemy electronic emissions. A screen of Marine Corps Douglas F3D-2N Skyknight night fighters flew as a forward barrier for the B-29 formations. Later, when the USAF had its own Lockheed F-94C night fighters, the Marines shifted to overhead cover between the initial and breakaway points of the bomb run. Irregular attack schedules were tried, with altitude variations to avoid contrail formation. The dark of the moon was a favored time to bomb. These measures together made the B-29 survivable as the Chinese defense tactics improved.
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<p>The B-29 was, by then, badly outdated, but it was the only available bomber that could do the job, and it soldiered on until the armistice. It saw action for the 37 months of the war, missing only 26 days of that period in combat. The B-29s flew 21,000 sorties and dropped 167,000 tons of bombs, more than was dropped during World War II by the several hundred B-29s stationed in the Marianas. And it was all done with a maximum force of 99 Superfortresses.
