Vietnam Equipment

In 1947, Soviet weapon designer Mikhail Kalashnikov produced a new variant of an automatic assault rifle. The Automatic Kalashnikov, model year 1947, was readily adopted by the Soviet military and was quickly used by most members of the Warsaw Pact. The AK-47 fires a 7.62 mm cartridge, and has become one of the most widely proliferated weapons in the world, thanks to its reliability under harsh conditions, cheap manufacturing cost, and the ease with which soldiers can be trained on its use. During the Vietnam War, both the Viet Cong and the People’s Army of Vietnam (the North Vietnamese Army) made heavy use of the weapon, thanks to support from the Soviet Union and from the People’s Republic of China. 

The M16 would become the standard service rifle for U.S. troops during the 1960s, seeing widespread use in Vietnam and largely replacing the M14. The weapon was in many ways revolutionary, though not without problems. Firing a 5.56 mm round and with automatic capabilities, the M16 was lighter than the M14 and more compact, which meant more ammunition could be carried by each soldier. Constructed from steel, plastics, and aluminum alloys, the M16 was a sharp visual change from the wood-based rifles which had defined warfare for centuries. The weapon developed a poor reputation for malfunctions amongst its early users, leading to an updated M16A1 version.

Introduced at the end of the 1950s, the M60 was a belt-fed light machine gun that fired a 7.62 mm round. The M60’s operation was usually a team effort: while one solider carried the weapon, and one solider could operate as an assistant gunner, most other men in a rifle squad could carry ammunition for the M60. The gun was not without problems, though – the tropical climate of Vietnam took a toll on the weapon, and its bulky design proved troublesome for many soldiers. However, the M60 ultimately proved effective, and was used in infantry units and as a mounted gun on helicopters, patrol boats, and vehicles throughout Vietnam.

The Marines took a few M-48s ashore when they landed at Da Nang in March 1965, and throughout the course of the war, hundreds of Patton tanks would be deployed across South Vietnam. Though there were few tank-to-tank battles, the Pattons served well as infantry support vehicles. With a top speed of around 30 MPH, and a standard 90 mm gun (with some variant using a flamethrower), the Pattons proved capable in Army and Marine Corps service.

M-113s often worked alongside M-48s, and both were often found traveling in convoys down the roads of South Vietnam. The M-113 proved itself as a reliable workhorse, as upgraded variants of the vehicle remain in active service with the U.S. military. The M-113s were fielded in an number of different variants, including service as anti-aircraft, flamethrower, mortar, medical vehicles. However, the APC’s primary role was to move troops under protection from small-arms fire, with the capacity to carry eleven passengers inside. 

The usage of armor by the North Vietnamese should not be overstated – tanks were used in a limited fashion during most of the war, and were often destroyed by American air power before having any real effect. However, the North Vietnamese did field Soviet produced tanks during the war, which became more powerful in 1973 when the U.S. left Vietnam. One of the most commonly used tanks was the Russian T-54 (or its Chinese variant, the Type 59). With a 100 mm gun, and a top speed of around 30 mph, the T-54 helped spearhead the final collapse of South Vietnam in 1975.

The most iconic helicopter of the Vietnam War, the Bell UH-1 Iroquois was originally designated the HU-1, giving rise to its popular nickname “Huey.” Adopted by the U.S. Army in the early 1960s, the Huey was the aerial workhorse of the U.S. military, serving prominently with the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, and Air Force. The Huey formed an essential part of the "air cavalry". Thousands of Hueys were deployed during the war, and while many were shot down, the helicopter proved invaluable to the war effort.

The Bell AH-1 cobra attack helicopter would make its first flight in 1965, and would enter service in 1967. Built using many of the components from the UH-1 “Huey”, the Cobra would see use during the Tet Offensive and through the end of the American mission in Vietnam. A highly-capable gunship, Cobra provided support for ground forces, worked in “hunter-killer” teams with scout helicopters, and guarded transports. Around 1,000 would serve in Vietnam and would continue service with the Army until being replaced by the Apache attack helicopter, while variants of the Cobra still serve with the Marine Corps.  

The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II first flew in 1958, and would serve as the primary fighter aircraft during the Vietnam War. The two-seat, twin-engine supersonic Phantom played a large role in the war as both an interceptor and a fighter-bomber. The Navy used a carrier-borne version of the Phantom, and the Marine Corps and Air Force also adopted the aircraft. Phantoms engaged in air superiority battles with Soviet-built, Vietnamese operated MiGs, but more commonly flew ground-attack missions, reconnaissance, or “Wild Weasel” operations aimed at destroying enemy air defenses. 

A big, ugly, flying fortress, the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress was designed and introduced in the early 1950s. Powered by eight turbojet engines, during the war B-52s were capable of massive aerial bombardment, frequently carrying payloads in the tens of thousands of pounds. Operating out of Guam and Thailand, B-52 strikes were carried out as part of Operations Rolling Thunder, Arc Light, and Linebacker I/II. Airstrikes by B-52 bombers during Vietnam remain some of the most ferocious aerial bombardments in the history of warfare. The plane itself remains active in the U.S. Air Force today, one of the longest serving aircraft in the U.S. military.

The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 was a supersonic fighter designed and produced in the Soviet Union that entered into service by the start of the 1960s. The MiG-21 was the most modern fighter utilized by the North Vietnamese during the war, and its agility made it a threat to heavier American fighter-bombers. The Vietnam People’s Air Force (the air force of North Vietnam) never developed into a serious threat during the war, and was constantly outgunned and outnumbered by the combined American air forces. Nonetheless, the North Vietnamese did make successful attacks on American warplanes throughout the war, using planes like the MiG-17, MiG-19, and MiG-21, and their Chinese variants. 

Developed during the Second World War and used in attacks on Japan, napalm is a jellied gasoline mixture that is extremely effective as an incendiary weapon. Napalm burns at an extremely high temperature, and can kill through this burning or through asphyxiation. The U.S. made heavy use of the weapon during the war, and though effective, the horrendous effects of napalm led many to protest its use. Napalm proved an effective physical and psychological weapon during the war, though it was and remains controversial.

Cluster bombs are a type of explosive that contain smaller bombs within, and saturate an area with these smaller munitions for increased effect. This type of explosive was heavily used by the U.S. during its aerial bombing campaigns during the war, especially in Laos. In total, the United States flew over 580,000 bombing missions over Laos during the war, dropping over 2.5 million tons of explosives on the country. Many of these smaller bombs did not explode immediately, and many remain a lethal threat within Laos today. Efforts to clear these explosives are still ongoing. 

The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have made IEDs part of our common terminology, but improvised explosive devices were just as common in Vietnam. While the Vietnamese did make use of punji spikes and other primitive (yet effective) traps, rigged explosives were incredibly common and were frequent killers of American troops. Grenades, mines, artillery rounds – all could be adapted for use as a trap through simple tripwires or pressure plates. Frequently, unexploded American ordinance was used to build these traps. Booby traps were a serious danger for many U.S. soldiers, and wounded or killed thousands. 

The U.S. Navy operated four classes of aircraft carrier during the Vietnam War: the WWII era Essex-class carriers, the post-war Midway-class, the Forrestal¬-class, and the Kitty Hawk-class. The three Kitty Hawks (plus the John F. Kennedy, itself a variant of the Forrestal-class) were commissioned between 1961 and 1968 and were the most modern carriers in the world. The three Kitty Hawk carriers, Kitty Hawk, Constellation, and America were conventionally powered, producing 280,000 shaft horsepower. At over 1,000 feet long and displacing over 80,000 tons of water when fully loaded, each could carry up to 90 planes. The carriers of the Navy flew a variety of aircraft including A-4 Skyhawks, A-7, F-8 Crusaders, and many more.

The U.S. Navy operated a number of small craft on the rivers and waterways of the Mekong Delta. The most common and most memorialized today were the Patrol Boat, River, or PBRs. These small boats served in Vietnam from around 1966 until the end of 1971 when U.S. forces were nearing the end of their mission. Patrolling the vast delta, PBR crews were involved in security and patrol operations in addition to broader coordination with land units including the insertion and extraction of special forces. PBRs typically carried twin forward mounted .50 caliber machine guns, along with a 40 mm grenade launcher and additional machine guns in the rear or on the side. While crews usually numbered around four enlisted men, the boats were a key part of the “brown water navy” that patrolled Vietnam.