The Vietnam War involved the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) or North Vietnamese Army (NVA), National Liberation Front for South Vietnam (NLF) or Viet Cong (VC), and the armed forces of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), Soviet Armed Forces, Korean People's Army, Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN), United States Armed Forces, Republic of Korea Armed Forces, Royal Thai Armed Forces, Australian Defence Force, and New Zealand Defence Force, with a variety of irregular troops.
Nearly all United States-allied forces were armed with U.S. weapons including the M1 Garand, M1 carbine, M14 rifle, and M16 rifle. The Australian and New Zealand forces employed the 7.62 mm L1A1 Self-Loading Rifle as their service rifle, with the occasional use of the M16 rifle.
The PAVN, although having inherited a variety 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. Further, some weapons—notably anti-personnel explosives, the K-50M (a PPSh-41 copy), and "home-made" versions of the RPG-2—were manufactured in North 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, nine types of antitank weapons, and 14 anti-aircraft artillery weapons used by ground troops on all sides. Also in use, mostly by anti-communist forces, were the 24 types of armored vehicles and self-propelled artillery, and 26 types of field artillery and rocket launchers.
Communist forces and weapons
During the early stages of their insurgency, the Viet Cong mainly sustained itself with captured arms (often of American manufacture) or crude, self-made weapons (e.g. copies of the US Thompson submachine gun and shotguns made of galvanized pipes).FSTC 381-4012 Typical Foreign Unconventional Warfare Weapons (U) Most arms were captured from poorly defended ARVN militia outposts.
Communist forces were principally armed with Chinese and Soviet weaponry though some VC guerrilla units were equipped with Western infantry weapons either captured from French stocks during the first Indochina war, such as the MAT-49, or from ARVN units or requisitioned through illicit purchase.
By Autumn of 1967, all Viet Cong battalions were reequipped with arms of Soviet design such as the AK-47 and the RPG-2. Their weapons were principally of Chinese or Soviet manufacture. The period up to the conventional phase in the 1970, the Viet Cong and NVA were mostly limited to mortars, recoilless rifles, and small-arms and had significantly lighter equipment and firepower relative to the US arsenal, relying on ambushes, with superior stealth, planning, marksmanship, and small-unit tactics to face the disproportionate US technological advantage.
Many divisions within the NVA would incorporate armoured and mechanised battalions including the Type 59 tank, BTR-60, Type 60 artillery, and rapidly altered and integrated new war doctrines following the Tet Offensive into a mobile combined-arms force. The North Vietnamese had both amphibious tanks (such as the PT-76) and light tanks (such the Type 62) used during the conventional phase. Experimental Soviet equipment started being used against ARVN forces at the same time, including Man-portable air-defense system SA-7 Grail and anti-tank missiles including the AT-3 Sagger. By 1975, they had fully transformed from the strategy of mobile light-infantry and using the people's war concept used against the United States.
US weapons The American M16 rifle and XM177 carbine, which both replaced the M14, were lighter and considered more accurate than the AK-47 but in Vietnam was prone to "failure to extract", in which the spent cartridge case remained stuck in the chamber after a round was fired, preventing the next round from feeding and jamming the gun. This was ultimately traced to an inadequately tested switch in propellants from DuPont's proprietary IMR 4475 to Olin's WC 846, that Army Ordnance had ordered out of concern for standardization and mass production capacity.
The heavily armored, 90 mm gun M48A3 'Patton' tank saw extensive action during the Vietnam War and over 600 were deployed with U.S. forces. They played an important role in infantry support though there were a few tank versus tank battles. The M67A1 flamethrower tank (nicknamed the Zippo) was an M48 variant used in Vietnam. The use of this euphemistically nicknamed tank should not be confused with the widespread use of actual Zippo lighters to burn villages, which gave rise to the nickname of "Zippo squads". (Far from all such squads fielded the tank.) The Zippo nickname was also applied to man-portable flamethrowers. Artillery was used extensively by both sides but the Americans were able to ferry the lightweight 105 mm M102 howitzer by helicopter to remote locations on quick notice.Hagerman, Bart. USA Airborne: 50th Anniversary. Turner Publishing Company, p. 237. With its range, the Soviet 130 mm M-46 towed field gun was a highly regarded weapon and used to good effect by the PAVN. It was countered by the long-range, American 175 mm M107 Self-Propelled Gun (nicknamed Miller).
The United States had air superiority, though many aircraft were lost to surface-to-air missiles and anti-aircraft artillery. U.S. airpower was credited with breaking the siege of Khe Sanh and blunting the 1972 Easter Offensive against South Vietnam. At sea, the U.S. Navy had the run of the coastline, using aircraft carriers as platforms for offshore strikes and other naval vessels for offshore artillery support. Offshore naval fire played a pivotal role in the Battle of Huế in February 1968, providing accurate fire in support of the U.S. counter-offensive to retake the city.
The Vietnam War was the first conflict that saw wide-scale tactical deployment of helicopters.Dwayne A. Day, Helicopters at War U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission The Bell UH-1 Iroquois nicknamed "Huey" was used extensively in counter-guerilla operations both as a troop carrier and a gunship. In the latter role it was outfitted with a variety of armaments including M60 machine guns, multi-barrelled 7.62 mm Miniguns and unguided air-to-surface rockets. The Hueys were also successfully used in MEDEVAC and search and rescue roles. Two aircraft which were prominent in the war were the AC-130 "Spectre" Gunship and the UH-1 "Huey" gunship. The AC-130 was a heavily armed ground-attack aircraft variant of the C-130 Hercules transport plane; it was used to provide close air support, air interdiction and force protection. The AC-130H "Spectre" was armed with two 20 mm M61 Vulcan cannons, one Bofors 40 mm autocannon, and one 105 mm M102 howitzer. The Huey is a military helicopter powered by one turboshaft engine, and about 7,000 UH-1 aircraft saw service in Vietnam. At their disposal ground forces had access to B-52 and F-4 Phantom II and others to launch napalm, white phosphorus, tear gas and chemical weapons as well. The aircraft ordnance used during the war included precision-guided munition, cluster bombs, a thickening–gelling agent generally mixed with petroleum or a similar fuel for use in an incendiary device, initially against buildings and later mostly as an anti-personnel weapon that sticks to skin and can burn down to the bone.
The Claymore M18A1, an anti-personnel mine, was widely used. It is command-detonated, directionally shooting 700 steel pellets into the kill zone.
Weapons of the South Vietnamese, U.S., South Korean, Australian, New Zealand and Thailand Forces
Hand combat weapons
L1A1 and L1A2 bayonets – used on L1A1 Self-Loading Rifle M1905 bayonet – used on the M1 Garand. M1917 bayonet – used on various shotguns. M1 Bayonet – used on the M1 Garand. M3 fighting knife M4 bayonet – used on the M1 and M2 Carbine. M5 bayonet – used on the M1 Garand. M6 bayonet – used on the M14. M7 Bayonet – used on the M16. Ka-Bar Utility/fighting Knife – used by the US Army, Navy, and Marine Corps. Randall Made Knives – personally purchased by some US soldiers. Bow – used by US Mobile Riverine Force. Crossbow – used by South Vietnamese Montagnards
Pistols and revolvers Colt M1911A1 – standard US and ARVN sidearm. Colt Commander – used by US military officers and US Special forces. Browning Hi-Power – used by Australian and New Zealand forces (L9 pistol). Also used on an unofficial basis by US reconnaissance and Special Forces units. Colt Detective Special – .38 Special revolver, used by some ARVN officers Colt Police Positive Special – .38 Special revolver, used by USAF and tunnel rats FN Baby Browning- .25 ACP pistol, used as a last resort weapon by MACVSOG. High Standard HDM – Integrally suppressed .22LR handgun, supplemented by the Mark 22 Mod 0 in the later stages of the war. Ingram MAC-10 – compact submachine gun used by US special operations forces. Luger P08 – CIA provided pistol Quiet Special Purpose Revolver – .40 caliber suppressed revolver used by tunnel rats. Smith & Wesson Model 10 – .38 Special revolver used by ARVN, by US Army and USAF pilots and by tunnel rats Colt Python – .357 Magnum revolver carried by MACVSOG. Smith & Wesson Mark 22 Mod.0 "Hush Puppy" – Suppressed pistol used by US Navy SEALs and other U.S. special operations forces. Walther P38 – CIA provided pistol Walther PPK – Suppressed pistol used by MACVSOG recon skydiver team Welrod -Suppressed pistol used by MACVSOG.
Infantry rifles
L1A1 Self-Loading Rifle – used by Australian and New Zealand soldiers
M1 Garand – used by the South Vietnamese and South Koreans M1, M1A1, & M2 Carbine – used by the South Vietnamese Military, Police and Security Forces, South Koreans,
M14, M14E2, M14A1 – issued to most U.S. troops from the early stages of the war until 1967–68, when it was replaced by the M16. M16, XM16E1, and M16A1 – M16 was issued in 1964, but due to reliability issues, it was replaced by the M16A1 in 1967 which added the forward assist and chrome-lined barrel to the rifle for increased reliability. CAR-15 – carbine variant of the M16 produced in very limited numbers, fielded by special operations early on. Later supplemented by the improved XM177. XM177 (Colt Commando)/GAU-5 – further development of the CAR-15, used heavily by MACV-SOG, the US Air Force, and US Army. Stoner 63 – used by US Navy SEALs and USMC. T223 – a copy of the Heckler & Koch HK33 built under license by Harrington & Richardson used in small numbers by 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. MAS-36 rifle – used by South Vietnamese militias AK-47, AKM, and Type 56 – Captured rifles were used by South Vietnamese and U.S. forces.
Rifles: sniper, marksman M1C/D Garand and MC52 – used by CIA advisors, the USMC and the US Navy early in the war. About 520 were supplied to the ARVN and 460 to the Thai forces. M1903A4 Springfield – used by the USMC early in the war, replaced by the M40. M21 Sniper Weapon System – sniper variant of the M14 rifle used by the US Army. M40 (Remington Model 700)– bolt-action sniper rifle meant to replace the M1903A4 Springfield rifle and Winchester Model 70; used by the USMC Parker-Hale M82 – used by ANZAC forces Winchester Model 70 – used by the USMC
Submachine guns Beretta M12 – limited numbers were used by U.S. Embassy security units. Carl Gustaf m/45 – used by Navy SEALs in the start of the war, but later replaced by the Smith & Wesson M76 in the late 1960s. Significant numbers also used by MAC-V-SOG, South Vietnamese, and small numbers in Laos by advisors, and Laotian fighters. Smith & Wesson M76 – copy of the Carl Gustaf m/45; few were shipped to Navy SEALs fighting in Vietnam. F1 submachine gun – replaced the Owen Gun in Australian service.