Weapons of the Vietnam War

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A wide variety of weapons were used by the different armies operating in the Vietnam War, which included the opposing Army of the Republic of Viet Nam (ARVN) and People’s Army of Vietnam (PAVN) known as the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) during the war, the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam (NLF), better known as the Viet Cong (VC), as well as all services of the U.S. military, the South Korean and Australian armies, and a variety of irregular troops armed and equipped by both sides. The ARVN and Koreans were armed with U.S. Army weapons, some of which, such as the M1 Carbine, were substitute standard weapons dating from World War II. The PAVN (NVA), although having inherited a miscellany of American, French, and Japanese weapons from earlier stages of the conflict, were largely armed and supplied by its Warsaw Pact allies. In addition some weapons were manufactured in Vietnam, notably anti-personnel explosives, the K-50M (a PPSh-41 variant), and “home-made” versions of the RPG-2. By 1969 the US Army had identified 40 rifle/carbine types, 22 machine gun types, 17 types of mortar, 20 recoilless rifle or rocket launcher types, 9 types of antitank weapons, and 14 anti-aircraft artillery weapons used by ground troops on all sides. Also in use primarily by anticommunist forces were the 24 types of armored vehicles and self propelled artillery and 26 types of field artillery rocket launchers.[1]

Contents

[edit] ARVN, US, South Korean, Australian, and New Zealand weapons

[edit] Chemical weapons

In 1961 and 62 the Kennedy administration authorized the use of chemicals to destroy vegetation and food crops in South Vietnam. Between 1961 and 1967 the US Air Force sprayed 12 million US gallons of concentrated herbicides, mainly Agent Orange (a dioxin) over 6 million acres (24,000 km²) of foliage, trees and food crops, affecting an estimated 13% of South Vietnam's land. In the year 1965, 42% of the herbicide used was allocated to food crops. The herbicide use was also intended to drive civilians into RVN-controlled areas.[2] In 1997, an article published by the Wall Street Journal reported that up to half a million children were born with dioxin related deformities, and that the birth defects in South Vietnam were fourfold those in the North. The use of Agent Orange may have been contrary to international rules of war at the time. It is also of note that the most likely victims of such an assault would be small children. A 1967 study by the Agronomy Section of the Japanese Science Council concluded that 3.8 million acres (15,000 km²) of land had been destroyed, killing 1000 peasants and 13,000 livestock.

[edit] Small arms

1. Edged weapons (Combat knives, bayonet)

2. Pistols & Revolvers

3. Shoulder arms

4. Sniper Rifles

5. Machine guns

6. Grenades and Mines

7. Grenade Launcher

8. flamethrower

[edit] Infantry support weapons

[edit] Artillery

[edit] Artillery ammunition

  • Beehive rounds
  • White phosphorus (marking round) "Willy Peter"
  • HE, general purpose (High Explosive)
  • Canister

[edit] Combat aircraft

[edit] Support aircraft

[edit] Aircraft Ordnance

See also: List of Bombs in the Vietnam War

[edit] Aircraft weapons

[edit] Vehicles

  • M38A1 1/4 ton jeep
  • Ford M151 MUTT 1/4 ton Military Utility Tactical Truck (jeep)
  • Dodge M37, 3/4 ton (pick-up truck)
  • Truck, cargo/troops, 2 1/2 ton (deuce and a half)
  • Truck, cargo/troops, 5 ton
  • M520 Goer Truck, Cargo, 8-ton, 4x4
  • Land Rover short and long wheelbase Australian and New Zealand forces.

[edit] Armoured fighting vehicles

Tanks

Army and USMC vehicles

Naval craft

  • Monitor, heavily gunned riverine craft
  • Swift Boat, (PCF) Patrol Craft Fast
  • ASPB, Assault Support Patrol Boat, (known as Alpha boats)
  • PBR, Patrol Boat River, (all fiberglass boats, propelled by twin water jets)

Gunship Vehicles (commonly cargo), armed with automatic weapons.

  • Gun trucks, 2 1/2 ton (deuce an a half), and 5 ton cargo trucks with quad .50 cal machine guns mounted in the back
  • M16 Halftracks with quad .50 cal machineguns in the back
  • Gun jeeps, 1/4 tons with mounted M-60 machineguns
  • Land Rover, short and long wheelbase, with single and twin M60 machineguns. Aust. and NZ forces

[edit] NVA/NLF weapons

Main article: Viet Cong and PAVN logistics and equipment

NVA (North Vietnamese Army) and the Southern communist guerrillas NLF (or Viet Cong as they were commonly referred to during the war), largely used standard Warsaw Pact weapons. All Warsaw Pact weapons used by the North Vietnamese, also included Chinese Communist variants, which were referred to as CHICOM's by the US military. This distinction was in recognition of Taiwan (Nationalist China), a US ally.

[edit] Artillery

  • ZPU-4 quad 14.5 mm anti-aircraft machine gun
  • ZU-23 quad 23 mm anti-aircraft cannon
  • M1939 37 mm anti-aircraft gun
  • S-60 57 mm anti-aircraft gun
  • 82 mm and 120 mm mortars (M1938)
  • 122 mm Katyusha Rockets
  • 120 mm guns

[edit] Aircraft

[edit] Small arms

  • AK-47 and AKM assault rifles (from the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact countries)
  • Type 56 assault rifle (from the People's Republic of China)
  • SKS semi-automatic rifle, also known as Simonov
  • SVD-63 semi-automatic marksman rifle, also known as the "Dragunov" sniper rifle
  • Mosin-Nagant bolt-action rifles and carbines (from the Soviet Union, Warsaw Pact countries, and the People's Republic of China)
  • Mauser Kar98k bolt-action rifle (many of the Mausers used by the VPA and the NLF were from rifles captured from the French during the First Indochina War and rifles provided to them by the Soviets as military aid)
  • Tokarev TT-33 handgun
  • Makarov PM handgun
  • Nagant M1895 revolver
  • PPSh-41 submachine gun (both Soviet and Chinese versions)
  • MAT-49 sub machinegun
  • RPD light machine gun
  • Degtyarev DP light machine gun
  • RPK light machine gun
  • MG-34 light machine gun
  • DShK heavy machine gun
  • K-50MSubmachine gun
  • PPS-43 submachine gun

[edit] Infantry Support Weapons

[edit] Vehicles

[edit] Substitute standard weapons used by Irregular forces

[edit] Small arms

[edit] Hand combat weapons

A wide variety of anti-personnel landmines and booby traps were used in the Vietnam war, including punji stakes.


[edit] Other ways of gaining weapons

The Vietcong hadn't always been able to be supplied by the NVA or the NFL. They also stole weapons from the US soldiers after an attack. This inceased the weapons they had and gave them an equal balance with the US soldiers.

[edit] Citations and notes

  1. ^ Department of Army Pamphlet 381-10, Weapons and Equipment Recognition Guide Southeast Asia, March 1969
  2. ^ Anatomy of a War by Gabriel Kolko, ISBN 1-56584-218-9 pages 144-145
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[edit] See also

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weapons_of_the_Vietnam_War"
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