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), 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, 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-50 (a PPSh-41 variant), and “home-made” versions of the RPG-2.

Contents

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

[edit] Chemical weapons

1. Herbicides

  • Arsenic-based and dioxin-laden herbicides

In 1961 and 62 the Kennedy administration authorized the use of chemicals to destroy rice crops in South Vietnam. Between 1961 and 1967 the US Air Force sprayed 20 million US gallons (76 million litres) of concentrated herbicides (mainly Agent Orange) over 6 million acres (24,000 km²) of crops and trees, affecting an estimated 13% of South Vietnam's land. 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. There is some debate as to whether these chemicals are technically considered weapons, since they were used to disrupt supply lines, and not used to harm people directly.

[edit] Small arms

1. Pistols

  • Colt M1911A1 pistol
  • Smith & Wesson Model-39 "Hush Puppy" / Mark.3 Mod.0 - Suppressed pistol used by SEAL's, among others
  • Browning Hi-Power pistol - used by Australian and New Zealand forces

2. Submachine Guns

3. Rifles

  • M1 Garand in early time of the war, by ARVN, Vietnamese Marine Corps and Republic of Korea Marine Corps
  • M1/M2 Carbine in early time of the war, by ARVN, Vietnamese Marine Corps and Republic of Korea Marine Corps
  • M-14 rifle - used mainly by U.S. Marine Corps from the beginning of war to March - November 1967 but also US Army infantry (not Cavalry or Airborne) units in 1965, then replaced by M-16s
  • M-16 rifle - main rifle since 1963
  • SKS rifle - used by NVA/VC/NLF
  • M-21 sniper rifle (modified M-14s) - used by U.S. Army snipers
  • M-40 sniper rifle - used by U.S. Marine Corps snipers
  • Winchester Model 70 bolt-action sniper rifles - used by U.S. Marine Corps snipers
  • Dragunov (SVD) sniper rifle - used by NVA/VC/NLF
  • Stoner 63 assault rifle/LMG - used by U.S. Navy SEALs and tested by Force Recon
  • Heckler & Koch G3 automatic rifle - used by U.S. Navy SEALs
  • L1A1 Self Loading Rifle (SLR) - Used by Australian and New Zealand soldiers in Vietnam
  • AK-47 automatic rifle - used primarily by the NVA/VC/NLF forces. It is suspected that U.S., Australian, and New Zealand special forces units picked up these enemy rifles to replace their primary rifle. This could have been because of the issues with the experimental M16 in Vietnam.
  • Remington 870 used as an individual weapon during jungle patrol, not belonging to the regular army weapon of choice.

4. Machineguns

5. Other

[edit] Artillery

  • 75 mm and M102 105 mm Howitzer
  • 60 mm, 81 mm, and 107 mm Mortar
  • M2 105 mm howitzer
  • M102 105 mm howitzer
  • M107 175mm self-propelled
  • M109 155 self-propelled howitzer
  • M110 8-inch self-propelled howitzer

[edit] Artillery ammmunition

[edit] Attacker aircraft & bomber aircraft

[edit] Fighter aircraft

Mainly used in order to protect bombers over North Vietnam's sky. Some fighters also served as fighter-bombers.

[edit] Cargo & transport aircraft

[edit] Bombs

  • GBU
  • CBU
  • Daisy cutter

[edit] Vehicles

  • Jeep
  • Dodge

[edit] Tanks & other vehicles

Tanks

Other vehicles

[edit] Gunship

Vehicles ( commonly cargo ), armarment with automatic cannons

  • CH-47
  • Guntrucks

[edit] Other

Other U.S. material used as weapons in the Vietnam war include Napalm and the defoliant Agent Orange.

[edit] PAVN weapons

The PAVN largely used standard Warsaw Pact weapons. All Warsaw Pact weapons used by the North Vietnamese also included Chinese variants.

[edit] Small arms

[edit] Artillery

  • 82 mm and 120 mm mortars (M1938)
  • 107 mm, 122 mm, 140 mm rockets

[edit] Vehicles

[edit] Substitute standard weapons used by Irregular forces

[edit] Small arms

[edit] Other

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

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