This was a large-scale and long-lasting aerial bombardment campaign conducted by the U.S. 2nd Air Division and the South Vietnamese Air Force against North Vietnam. Their primary goal was to demoralize the North Vietnamese and break their support for the Vietcong. While they dropped more munitions than were used in all of World War II, the operation was ultimately a failure; North Vietnam's decentralized economy and sophisticated Soviet air defenses meant that the pressure was never enough to force a surrender.