Weapons In The Vietnam War

The Vietnam war is probably the most controversial war in United States history. Many people wanted the U.S. to never join the war, but then when we joined, people got mad. People in the U.S. even rallied to leave the war. There were many new weapons and war tactics that were introduced in the Vietnam war and have become well known today. The biggest thing that was introduced and was a huge factor in the war was the war tactic, Guerilla warfare, that the Vietcong used. It was a very successful strategy for them. The three main topics that I will be talking about are the weapons that were used by both sides in the war, the war tactics by both sides, and last, but not least the U.S.’s involvement in the war. The U.S., similar to many other situations, …show more content…
As stated in an article on History.com, “From air power to infantry to chemicals, the weapons used in the Vietnam War were more devastating than those of any previous conflict”. The U.S. used multiple types of weapons, such as an m16, m14, ak47, 90 mm gun, m67 A1 flamethrower, m48, m60 machine gun, 7.62mm miniguns and many others. They also claimed in the article on History.com that, “the m16 rifle was redesigned in 1966 to perform better in the wet, dirty conditions that prevailed in ground combat during the vietnam war, and it became the weapon most commonly associated with U.S. troops in the conflict”. Due to the soggy wet conditions in the Vietnam war the U.S. didn’t use tanks extensively. The m48 tank was used to provide support to the U.S. and South Vietnamese troops and it could travel up to 30 mph. Another commonly used weapon by the U.S. in the war was the m60 machine gun. It was a popular weapon because it could also be used as an artillery weapon when mounted onto a helicopter or Tank. The m60 could fire 550 bullets very quickly at a range of 200 yards. The North Vietnamese used many weapons too. Most of the weapons, uniforms and equipment used by the North Vietnamese and Vietcong were supplied by the Soviet Union and China. The SA-7 grail was fired from the shoulder and was used most commonly on U.S. aircrafts. The DP 7.62mm light machine gun was equivalent to the m60 used by the U.S. but was based on a Soviet Union design and was manufactured in the Soviet Union and China. The SA-7 could fire 600 rounds per minute at 435 yards. Another popular weapon was the SKS Carbine which was the Chinese version of the AK-47 but with greater range. In addition to the weapons supplied by the Soviets and Chinese they also used weapons captured from the French and Japanese in the earlier Indochina wars and weapons that were made by hand in Vietnam. Lastly, they also used explosives that were captured from the