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Frbiz Site ARVN, US, South Korean, Australian, and New Zealand weapons

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 km) 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. 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 km) of land had been destroyed, killing 1000 peasants and 13,000 livestock. master padlocks

Small arms sash lock window

1. Edged weapons (Combat knives, bayonet)

Randall No. 1

Gerber Mark II

M1 bayonet

M6 bayonet

M7 bayonet

KA-BAR (USMC)

KCB70 bayonet (Limited use with Stoner 63 rifle only)

2. Pistols & Revolvers

FNH Browning H-P Mk III pistol - used by Australian and New Zealand forces

Smith & Wesson Mark 22 Mod.0 "Hush Puppy" - Suppressed pistol used by SEALs, among others

Colt M1911A1 pistol

Smith & Wesson Model 15 (USAF M-15) carried by USAF SPs (Security Police Units)

Smith & Wesson Model 12

High Standard HDM

Walther PPK with suppressor (SOG recon teams)

Ruger MK II with suppressor (Navy SEALs)

3. Shoulder arms

L1A1 Self Loading Rifle (SLR) - Used by Australian and New Zealand soldiers in Vietnam

Springfield M1903 limited use

M1 Garand limited use

M2 Carbine also M1

M14 rifle

XM16E1 and M16A1 Early issue M-16 had problems replaced by M16A1. After 1968 were issued to special forces and then infantry a year or two later.

XM177E2

M1A1 Thompson

M3 Greasegun

Swedish K

Smith & Wesson M76

Madsen M/50

MAC-10

UZI (SOG recon teams)

L2A1 a copy of the British sterling used by the SASR for prisoner extraction also used with Silencer

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

Ithaca 37 pump-action shotgun

Remington 870 pump-action shotgun

Remington 11-48 semi-automatic shotgun

(The shotguns were used as an individual weapon during jungle patrol; infantry units are (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.)

4. Sniper Rifles

Winchester Model 70 bolt-action sniper rifles - used by U.S. Marine Corps snipers

M-40 sniper rifle - used by U.S. Marine Corps snipers

M21 Sniper Weapon System (or XM21 in test phase) - an accurized version of M-14

Springfield M1903A4 sniper rifle

5. Machine guns

L2A1AR Full auto machine gun version of the L1A1 SLR used by ANZAC forces

Stoner M63a Commando & Mark 23 Mod.0 - used by U.S. Navy SEALs and tested by Force Recon

Saco Defence M60 GPMG (General Purpose Machine Gun), also known as "the pig".

M1918A2 Browning Automatic Rifle, Caliber .30 known as BAR

Browning M1919-A6 medium machine gun

Browning M2HB .50cal Heavy Machine Gun

6. Grenades and Mines

Mark 2 Fragmentation Hand/Rifle Grenade

Claymore M18A1 is an anti-personnel mine

M61 Fragmentation Hand Grenade

WP M34 grenade White Phosphorus Hand Grenade is a smoke grenade that uses white phosphorus, which, when in contact with air ignites and creates white smoke. The white phosphorus was also a useful way to dislodge the Viet Cong from tunnels or other enclosed spaces as the burning white phosphorus absorbs oxygen, causing the victims to suffocate or suffer serious burns.

M18 grenade Smoke Hand Grenade

7. Grenade Launcher

M79 grenade launcher

M203 grenade launcher used late in the war by special forces.

China Lake NATIC a pump-action grenade launcher - used by U.S. Navy SEALs

XM148 grenade launcher

Mk.19 Automatic Grenade Launcher

8. flamethrower

M2 flamethrower

Infantry support weapons

M18 recoilless rifle 57-mm,

M20 recoilless rifle 75-mm

M67 recoilless rifle 90 mm

M40 recoilless rifle 106-mm

M19 Mortar 60 mm

M29 Mortar 81 mm

4.2 inch mortar 107 mm commonly referred to as the "four deuce"

M20 Super Bazooka used mainly by U.S. Marine Corps before introduction of M72 LAW

M72 LAW Light Anti-Tank Weapon

FIM-43 Redeye MANPADS (Man-Portable Air-Defence System)

Artillery

75mm Pack Howitzer M1

105 mm Howitzer M102

105 mm Howitzer M2A1

L5 (Aust) Pack Howitzer 105-mm

M109 155 mm self-propelled howitzer

M107 Self-Propelled Gun 175 mm gun

M110 8-inch self-propelled howitzer

Artillery ammunition

Beehive rounds

White phosphorus (marking round) "Willy Peter"

HE, general purpose (High Explosive)

Canister

Combat aircraft

A-1 Skyraider ground attack aircraft

A-37 Dragonfly ground attack aircraft

F-5 Freedom Fighter fighter used in strike aircraft role

A-4 Skyhawk carrier borne multirole strike aircraft

A-6 Intruder carrier borne all weather multirole strike aircraft

A-7 Corsair II carrier borne multirole strike aircraft

AH-1 Cobra attack helicopter

AC-47 Spooky gunship (four) with the 1st Air Cavalry Division

AC-130 "Spectre" Gunship

AC-119G "Shadow" Gunship

AC-119K "Stinger" Gunship

B-52 Stratofortress heavy bomber

B-57 Canberra medium bombers - used by the U.S. Air Force

Canberra B.20 Royal Australian Air Force medium bomber

F-4 Phantom II carrier and land based fighter-bomber

F-8 Crusader carrier borne fighter-bomber

F-105 Thunderchief fighter-bomber

F-100 Super Sabre fighter-bomber

F-101 Voodoo (RF-101) fighter-bomber/reconnaissance plane

F-102 Delta Dagger fighter

F-104 Starfighter fighter

F-111 Aardvark medium bomber

OH-6 Cayuse Transport/ Observation helicopter

OH-58 Kiowa Transport/ Observation helicopter

OV-10 Bronco, light attack/observation aircraft

UH-1 "Huey" gunship role (various models)

Support aircraft

C-123 Provider tactical cargo aircraft

C-130 Hercules tactical cargo aircraft

C-141 Starlifter strategic cargo aircraft

UH-1 Iroquois helicopters in several configurations

CH-47 Chinook medium lift helicopter

C-5 Galaxy strategic lift cargo aircraft

C-7 Caribou tactical cargo aircraft - used by the U.S. Air Force and the Royal Australian Air Force

CH-46 Sea Knight rescue helicopter

H-2 Seasprite helicopter

H-3 Sea King rescue and recovery helicopter

UH-34 Seahorse Transport/Cargo helicopter

CH-53 Sea Stallion medium lift helicopter

CH-54 Skycrane heavy lift helicopter

H-43 Huskie Transport/cargo helicopter

O-1 Bird Dog, observation aircraft

O-2 Skymaster, observation aircraft

OV-1 Mohawk battlefield surveillance and light strike aircraft

Aircraft Ordnance

See also: List of Bombs in the Vietnam War

GBUs

CBUs

BLU-82 Daisy cutter

Napalm

Bomb, 250 lb, 500 lb, 750 lb, 1000 lb, HE (high explosive), general purpose

Rocket, aerial, HE (High Explosive), 2.75 inch

Aircraft weapons

M61 Vulcan, 20 mm (aircraft mount)

Minigun, 7.62 mm (aircraft and helicopter mount)

M197 Gatling gun, 20 mm

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)

Kaiser Jeep M715 1 1/4 (Pickup 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.

Armoured fighting vehicles

Tanks

M24 Chaffee light tank

M41 Walker Bulldog light tank Used by South Vietnamese Army [ARVN]

M48 Patton medium tank

M551 Sheridan airborne reconnaissance assault vehicle, currently referred to as a light tank

Centurion main battle tank - used by the Australian Army

Army and USMC vehicles

M113 APC (Armored Personnel Carrier)

M113 ACAV Armoured Cavalry Assault Vehicle

M8 Greyhound,used only by (ARVN)

LVTP5 Landing Craft

M50 Ontos

Cadillac Gage V-100 Commando

Mark I PBRs (Patrol Boat River)

LARC-LX

BARC

AMTRAC'S, amphibious tractors, US Marine Corps

M-114 Reconnaissance vehicle

M42 Duster (M-41 light tank hull, with a naval twin 40MM mounted on an open turret)

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

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.

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

Aircraft

MiG-21 jet fighter

MiG-19 jet fighter, used in limited numbers

MiG-17 jet fighter

MiG-15 jet fighter, used in limited numbers

An-2 aircraft

Mi-4 helicopter

Mi-8 helicopter

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

Type 14 8 mm Nambu Pistol Pistol (Captured From The Japanese) Used By North Vietnamese officers

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

Arisaka rifles (Captured from Japanese)

Infantry Support Weapons

RPG-2

RPG-7

Type 69 RPG

82-PM-41 mortar

B-10 recoilless rifle

B-11 recoilless rifle

Vehicles

PT-76 amphibious tank

BTR-50 APC

BMP-1 APC

ZSU-23-4 anti-aircraft self-propelled systems

T-34/85 medium tank, used in limited numbers

T-55 main battle tanks

ZSU-57-2 anti-aircraft self-propelled system, fielded in limited numbers.

BTR-60 APC

Substitute standard weapons used by Irregular forces

Small arms

Arisaka rifles, bolt action

M1 Garand rifle, semi-automatic

M1 carbines, semi-automatic

Springfield M1903 bolt-action rifles

MAS-36 rifles

MAS-49 rifles

MAT-49 submachine gun and local variants

MP40 submachine guns

PPS-43 submachine gun and local variants

Swedish K submachine guns

Mosin-Nagant bolt-action rifles and carbines

Mauser Karabiner 98k bolt-action rifles

Hand combat weapons

M6 bayonet U.S. Used on M-14

M1 Bayonet U.S. and ARVN Used on M1 Garand, M1 Carbine, and M-14

M7 Bayonet U.S. Use with the M-16

Other types of knives, bayonets, and blades.

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

Other ways of gaining weapons

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

Citations and notes

^ Department of Army Pamphlet 381-10, Weapons and Equipment Recognition Guide Southeast Asia, March 1969

^ Anatomy of a War by Gabriel Kolko, ISBN 1-56584-218-9 pages 144-145

Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2007)

http://www.173rdairborne.com/weapons.htm

http://www.vietnam-war.info/weapons/

http://www.olive-drab.com/od_history_vietnam_weapons_equipment.php

See also

NLF and PAVN strategy, organization and structure

NLF and PAVN logistics and equipment

NLF and PAVN battle tactics

Categories: Vietnam War weaponsHidden categories: Articles needing additional references from October 2007 | All articles needing additional references

I just finished wading through the 3.5 Gig of the papers "leaked" by Wikileaks on the Afghan War. Unlike the news organizations that have reported on the contents, I was one person deep. Also unlike most of those high priced media organizations I could find little it anything to get excited about.

I learned a few new acronyms, but generally the military doesn't change that much from year to year. What is fun though being able to use Goggle Earth to go right to the location of the reports. But, that slowed me down completing the task, but it helped in trying to visualize what the report said.

By the time I was done, I found myself saying, "Nothing to see here NOTR - move along." But, if you read some of the mainsteam media you get a much more sensational view of this grueling and tough fight in Afghanistan.

It pays to remember that what one is reading in the "leaks" is the flow of data that occurs in a conflict. Data does not become information until it is correlated and validated. That is why when one reads of the Taliban plot to poison US forces, one has to recognize that it is but one bit of data picked up on the battlefield that may be true or may be a part of a disinformation campaign by the enemy. Meanwhile most situational reports and "SPOT" reports just capture the bare essence of the events on the ground. It takes an intelligence analysis to correlate and make sense of it all. What follows hereon are my comments to the "sensational" revelations the main stream media found in the "leaks."

• ISI in Pakistan and the Taliban?

The two have been mutually supportive since the USSR invaded Afghanistan. For the Pakistani ISI they saw the Taliban as a way to recruit and train mujaheddin fighters for Kashmir. When Saudi Arabia and the US started funneling huge streams of cash, arms, munitions and other supplies to the Taliban using ISI contacts only the most fundamental warlords in Afghanistan received that American and Saudi largess. Two things happened during that period. First off, most all of the senior ISI leadership ended up extremely wealthy. Secondly, the ISI knew the Americans were too blinded by their own misconceptions to ever figure out where all those US dollars were actually going. Although CIA principals in Pakistan reported the fact regularly back to Langley, the general thinking was that it was the price the US had to pay to beat the Soviets. The boys and girls in "foggy bottom" have yet to figure it out. I don't expect that to change anytime soon as we continue to use a foreign policy approach that is a mix of Alice in Wonderland does Harry Potter.

• Stingers in Afghanistan?

For some reason there is a fascination with the idea that a US Stinger could be turned on US forces. Stinger seekers have been improved over the years from what the mujaheddin were given during the anti-Soviet period and if used against US aircraft could prove effective even with the improved ASE now on the aircraft. It is unlikely the Taliban have operational Stingers from that early period. As good as Stingers were, batteries, cryostats, and other components fail over time and would make those systems ineffective. There a lots of Stinger equivalents out there and available for purchase. They are made in Pakistan, China, Iran, North Korea, and former Warsaw Pact countries and sold in the arm bazaars and by arms merchants. From what I hear, the only tought place to buy one is actually inside the borders of the US.

The Taliban doesn't need US Stingers. There are bunches of comparable man portable shoulder launched weapons available - if you have the money. (And if you are gettting a cut of US provided aid money that is not a problem either.)

However, if the Taliban did have shoulder launched anti-aircraft commented one media source, wouldn't they be shooting down Predators and other high flying UAS that rain down Hellfires and guided bombs? Not necessarily. While the maximum effective range of US systems remain classified I can tell you that unless the shooter gets a slant range to a Predator, generally they fly too high to hit with a MANPAD system.

• War crimes?

You know, it's funny. The whole definition of war crimes continues to evolve. The truth is that if you have war, you have innocents killed and collateral damage, no matter how hard you try to do otherwise. Today "war" is pretty much considered a "war crime." If you are the victor, you get to write the definition. If you are a left wing anti-American in the world, everything the US does by definition is a "war crime." It is the reason that George Bush refused to allow US soldiers to fall under the UN's world court and why Obama's agreement to allow it is so egregious. Atrocities and war go hand and hand. Without question though, the US soldier is one of the least likely to commit an atrocity, but it will happen. The carnage of war, and the numbing effect of losing ones comrades is a powerful mixture that lowers one's ability to resist striking out irrationally. Don't like that possibility? Then make damn sure that every war we fight in the future is in our national interest, has clearly defined goals, and an exit strategy. Fight a war without those three elements and you get what we have now.

• Iranian Support of the Taliban?

While there is not question that the Sunni Taliban and ISI consider the Shiite Iranian a heretic, there have long been instances of where the three have become bedfellows.  The old Arabian proverb, "An enemy of my enemy is my friend," still applies. While Iranian armor piercing munitions and other ordnance has long been seen in Afghanistan, it has never been clear that their presence offers clear evidence of Iranian government active support of killing American and ISAF forces. One fact remains. Iran has not forgotten the lessons of the Iranian-Iraqi War. It knows it must build up its forces and its capabilities to survive in that very tough Middle Eastern neighborhood. Since the takedown of  the US supported Shah of Iran, the Iranian government has rarely missed an opportunity to kill Americans using proxy forces and continues to believe it can humble the "Great Satan." It is why the current administrations attempt to hug the Iranians shows an appalling lack of common sense and naivete.

• Secret US forces targeting and killing Taliban Leadership?

What can one say, except "duh!" If they were not doing that, then we need new military leadership.