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Weapons of the Vietnam War

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MiG-17 fighter used by the People’s Army of Vietnam

A wide variety of weapons were used by the different armies operating in the Vietnam War. Combatants included:

  • the army of the Republic of South Viet Nam (ARVN) (South Vietnamese Army);
  • the People’s Army of Vietnam (PAVN), commonly known as the North Vietnamese Army (NVA);
  • the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam (NLF), better known as the Viet Cong (VC];
  • all services of the U.S. military;
  • the armies of South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, and the Philippines; and

a variety of irregular troops. Nearly all allied forces including the ARVN and Australians were armed with U.S. weapons, some of which, such as the M1 Carbine, were substitute standard weapons dating from World War II. The NVA, although having inherited a miscellany of American, French, and Japanese weapons from World War II and the First Indochina War (aka French Indochina War), were largely armed and supplied by the People's Republic of China, the Soviet Union, and its Warsaw Pact allies. In addition, some weapons—notably anti-personnel explosives, the K-50M (a PPSh-41 copy), and “home-made” versions of the RPG-2—were manufactured in Vietnam. 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 anti-communist forces, were the 24 types of armored vehicles and self propelled artillery, and 26 types of field artillery & rocket launchers.[1]

Weapons of the ARVN, US, South Korean, Australian, and New Zealand

Chemical weapons

In 1961 and 62 the Kennedy administration authorized the use of chemical weapons 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 civilians and 13,000 livestock.

Small arms

The KA-BAR knife was the most famous edged weapon of the war.

Knives/bayonets

Pistols & revolvers

Infantry rifles

  • L1A1 SLR - Used by Australian and New Zealand soldiers in Vietnam
A U.S. soldier with an M14 watches as supplies are dropped in Vietnam, 1967.
  • M1 Garand - Was used by the Marine Corps during the early stages of the war. Also used by the South Vietnamese, South Koreans and Laotians
  • M1 Carbine and M2 Carbine- Were widely used by the South Vietnamese Military, Police and Security Forces, the Viet Cong, and the US Military.
  • M14 rifle It was issued to most troops from the early stages of the war until the early 1970s when it was used as a sniper rifle.
  • XM16E1 and M16A1 - Early issue M16 had problems replaced by M16A1. After 1968 were issued to special forces and then infantry a year or two later.
  • XM177E2 - Shortened version of the M16 rifle very popular with MACV-SOG units
  • Heckler & Koch HK33 - It was used by Thai forces that were not armed by the United States. It was chambered for the same cartridge as the M16 assault rifle used by American troops.
    • T223 - which is a copy of the Heckler & Koch HK33 Assault Rifle under license by Harrington & Richardson used in small numbers by Navy SEAL teams. Even though the empty H&R T223 was 0.9 pounds (0.41 kg) heavier than an empty M16A1, the weapon had a forty-round magazine available for it and this made it attractive to the SEALS.
  • AR-15

Submachine guns

  • Thompson submachine gun - It was used in small quantities by artillery and helicopter units. Even though it was replaced in the end of the Korean war after servicing in WW2 and the Vietnam war, it was still used by many American troops and South Vietnamese troops in the Vietnam war. The Viet Cong were armed with the Chinese copy.
  • M3 Grease gun - The M3 "Grease gun" was issued to troops all over Vietnam was the main submachine gun, but many others were used such as the Thompson which was supposed to be replaced.
  • Swedish K - It was used by Navy SEALs in the beginning of the war, but was later replaced by the Smith & Wesson M76 in the late 1960s. Many South Vietnamese soldiers were armed with this weapon and used it until the end of the war.
    • Smith & Wesson M76 - A copy of the Swedish K, it replaced that gun as the main submachine gun of the Navy SEALs in 1967.
  • Madsen M/50 - It was supplied by mercenaries from Denmark and a lot were bought by the United States for the South Vietnamese Army.
  • MAC-10 It was supplied to many special forces troops in the mid point of the war. It armed many CIA agents in the field and was never captured by the Viet Cong.
  • MP40 (CIDG)
  • UZI (SOG recon teams) The Uzi submachine gun was supplied in from Israel and given to special forces troops in the field.
  • Owen Gun (Australian submachine gun) It served the Australian Army through WWII, Korea, Malaya and now into the Vietnam War as the main submachine gun. It was later replaced by the F1 submachine gun that resembled it.
  • F1 submachine gun (Australian, replaced Owen Gun)
  • L2A1 a variant of the British Sterling used by the SASR for prisoner extraction also used with Silencer
  • MP 5 Used by USMC Recon teams

Shotguns

The shotguns were used as an individual weapon during jungle patrol; infantry units were authorized a shotgun by TO & E (Table of Organization & Equipment). Shotguns were not general issue to all infantrymen, but were select issue, such as one per squad, etc.

  • Winchester Model 1912 pump-action shotgun was used by the Marines during the early stages of the war.
  • Ithaca 37 pump-action shotgun replaced every other shotgun in the field and armed the United States Marine Corps throughout the war.
  • Remington 870 pump-action shotgun used by the Marines
  • Remington 11-48 semi-automatic shotgun used by the Marines in small quantities
  • Winchester Model 1897 used by the Marines during the early stages of the war, but was later replaced by the Ithaca 37
  • Stevens Model 77E, pump-action shotgun used by Army and Marine forces in Southeast Asia. Almost 70,000 Model 77Es were procured by the military for use in SE Asia during the 1960s

Machine guns

Grenades and mines

Claymore anti-personnel mine in use in Vietnam

Grenade launchers

Flamethrowers

Infantry support weapons

U. S. soldier carries a M67 recoilless rifle past a burning Viet Cong base camp in Mỹ Tho, South Vietnam, 1968

Artillery

Self-propelled Howitzer M109 in Vietnam

Artillery ammunition types

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

Combat aircraft

Spotter's silhouette of the RAAF Canberra B.20 medium bomber

Support aircraft

File:Garrett County AGP-786.jpg
USS Garrett County at anchor in the Mekong Delta with two UH-1B Iroquois helicopters on deck.

Aircraft ordnance

See also: List of Bombs in the Vietnam War

Aircraft weapons

A minigun being fired from a gunship in Vietnam.

Vehicles

  • M38A1 1/4 ton jeep
  • Ford M151 MUTT 1/4 ton Military Utility Tactical Truck (jeep)
  • Dodge M37, 3/4 ton truck
  • Kaiser-Jeep M715 1¼ ton truck
  • Truck, cargo/troops, 2½ ton (deuce and a half)
  • Truck, cargo/troops, 5 ton
  • M520 Goer Truck, Cargo, 8-ton, 4×4
  • Land Rover short and long wheelbase - Australian and New Zealand forces.
  • M135 troop/Cargo trucks, 2 1/2 ton
  • M211 Cargo/troop truck, 2 1/2 ton

Combat vehicles

Tanks

M48 Patton tank in the Central Highlands of Vietnam, 1969.

Other armored vehicles

Gun trucks

Often, non-combat logistical vehicles were armored and adopted to carry several machine guns to be used for convoy escort duties

Fast Patrol 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, used by the US Navy
  • APA 27, USS George Clymer. Troop transport.

Weapons of the PAVN/NLF

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. Weapons used by the North Vietnamese also included Chinese Communist variants, which were referred to as CHICOM's by the US military.

Artillery

North Vietnamese SAM crew in front of a SA-2 launcher.

Aircraft

Small arms

A U.S. Army M.P. inspects a Soviet AK-47 recovered in Vietnam in 1968.
  • 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 carbine, also known as Simonov
  • Vz. 58 assault rifle
  • 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)
  • Sturmgewehr 44 assault rifle (captured by the Soviets during World War II and provided to the VPA and the NLF as military aid)
  • Tokarev TT-33 handgun
  • Makarov PM handgun
  • Nagant M1895 revolver
  • Mauser C96 handgun
  • CZ 52 handgun
  • Type 14 8 mm Nambu Pistol Pistol (Captured From The Japanese) Used By North Vietnamese officers
  • K-50M submachine gun
  • PPSh-41 submachine gun (both Soviet and Chinese versions)
  • MAT-49 submachine gun
  • Sa vz. 23 submachine gun
  • RPD light machine gun
  • Degtyarev DP light machine gun
  • RPK light machine gun
  • MG-34 light machine gun (captured by the Soviets during World War II and provided to the VPA and the NLF as military aid)
  • MG-42 light machine gun (captured by the Soviets during World War II and provided to the VPA and the NLF as military aid)
  • Uk vz. 59 general-purpose machine gun
  • DShK heavy machine gun
  • PM M1910 heavy machine gun
  • MP40 submachine gun (captured by the Soviets during World War II and provided to the VPA and the NLF as military aid)
  • PPS-43 submachine gun
  • Arisaka rifles (Captured from Japanese)
  • F1 grenade
  • RG-42 grenade
  • RGD-5 grenade
  • Type 63 assault rifle
  • PK machine gun

Flamethrowers

  • LPO-50 Flamethrower (limited use)

Vehicles

File:Nvatransportcorps.jpg
Bicycles carried up to 400 pounds of weight and were thus effective transport vehicles.

Substitute standard weapons used by irregular forces

Small arms

Hand combat weapons

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

Other ways of obtaining weapons

The Vietcong were not always able to be supplied by the PAVN. They sometimes took weapons from US soldiers after an attack or raided US or South Vietnamese weapon stockpiles. This increased the number of weapons available and gave balance against the US arsenal

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

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Weapons of the Vietnam War.
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