Weapons And Vehicles Of The Vietnam War: 3D Gallery

Vietnam War

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Napalm

Napalm is liquid that is extremely flammable. It is made from a mixture of a gel and gasoline. Napalm has been used in World War 2, but became famous in the Vietnam War. It was first used as a weapon against buildings, but later it became a weapon against other soldiers. Napalm was very effective against people, because it sticks to the skin and causes extreme burn wounds. Napalm is quite an inhumane weapon. When napalm was created in World War 2, it was used in flamethrowers. Later in World War 2, Napalm was put into bombs, which were dropped on targets. The U.S. Army used Napalm, because it was very effective against the enemy soldiers. But they also used it against common people sometimes, which is not a good thing. Today Napalm is banned from being used on the common people, but the law does not ban the use on other soldiers.

UH-1

You might recognize this helicopter. This is a helicopter used in the Vietnam War and was used for many things. It was commonly used for cargo transport, medical uses, ground attack, air assault and search and rescue. UH-1 helicopters that performed ground assaults, had machine guns and rocket launchers. In the early Vietnam War, the Uh-1 performed air fights, but was later replaced by the AH-1 Cobra. Later in the war the U.S. Army equipped the UH-1 with TOW Missiles. None of the pilots had ever fired a TOW Missile, but they managed to hit targets with 151 out of 162 missiles fired, including a few tanks. The helicopter was also used to pick up wounded soldiers. Unfortunately, the helicopter was replaced in 2016 with a newer and better version. The new helicopter is the UH-60 Black Hawk.

M16 Assault Rifle

The M16 Assault Rifle is also an iconic weapon of the Vietnam War. After WW2 the U.S. Amy sought to replace the older WW2 weapons with a new automatic weapon. In 1965, the U.S. Army began to give the rifle to soldiers, but there was one big problem. The company that produced the bullet propellant could no longer make it, so they used another type. This type caused problems in the M16 rifle. Soldiers were found dead with their rifles opened up. It seemed that the soldiers were trying to fix the broken rifle on the battlefield. In 1967 the U.S. Army released the M16A1, a better and improved rifle that was then standardized as the regular U.S. Army rifle. Along with the new rifle, cleaning kits were given with them. The new cleaning kits improved the ability to clean the rifle mechanism. Many variants have come and gone, but till this very day the M16 rifle is still in use.

M60 Machine Gun

The gun began development in 1940 to replace the Browning M1919A6 and the M1918 machine guns. The M60 was officially adopted in 1957. It is quite a heavy weapon, so soldiers called it "The Pig". Vietnam is pretty tropical, so the weapon parts degraded quite quickly. Even with problems, the weapon was quite appreciated by the troops. In the 1980's the M60 was partially replaced with the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon or M249 SAW for short. Later the U.S. Army began to worry about the weight and reliability, so they made an improved version, the M60E4. In January 1994, the U.S. Army began the Medium Machine Gun Upgrade Kit program. The only two competitors were M60 and M240 versions. As a result, the M240 was declared the winner and accepted into infantry service. Although the M60 was lighter, had better balance, was more controllable, and there were many in the inventory, it did not work reliably enough. The M60 is mostly used today as machine guns on helicopters and other vehicles.

T-55 Tank

The T-55 is a soviet battle tank used in the Vietnam war. The T-55 is basically an improved and more powerful T-54. This tank was built to be protected from an atomic blast and therefore had a lot of advanced technology in it for its time. The tank's engine, gun and overall capabilities were vastly improved. In 1959, radio and night vision equipment were added to the T-55. Along with standard tanks a flamethrower-armed version was designed, which was produced until 1962. The flamethrower replaced the machine gun. In its long service life, the T-55 has been upgraded many times. Early T-55s were fitted with a new sight. In 1959, some tanks received a mine clearing system. In 1965, a new track was introduced that could be used for between 2,000 km and 3,000 km, which was twice the range of the old track. T-54 and T-55 tanks continued to be upgraded and modernized into the 1990s. The T-55 is still in use today.

AK-47

During WW2 The German STG-44 made a serious impression to the Soviets and therefore the Soviets sought to create their own automatic weapon. Mikhail Kalashnikov started work on a submachine gun design in 1942 and with a light machine gun in 1943. In 1946, a new design was initiated to develop a new assault rifle. Kalashnikov submitted an entry. This design had many similarities to the STG 44. In late 1946, as the rifles were being tested. In November 1947, the new AK-47s were completed. In 1949, it was adopted by the Soviet Army. In 1974, the Soviets began replacing their AK-47 rifles with a newer design, the AK-74. This new rifle had only started to be manufactured in Eastern European countries when the Soviet Union collapsed, drastically slowing production of the AK-74 of the Soviet Union.

B-57 Canberra

At the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950, the United States Air Force (USAF) found itself in need of a new aircraft. On 16 September 1950, the USAF requested a jet-powered bomber. Something weird for the time was that foreign companies were allowed to submit their designs. Some of the designs included the Canadian Avro Canada CF-100 and the British English Electric Canberra. On 21 February 1951, a British Canberra B.2, flown by Roland Beamont, made the transatlantic journey, arriving in the United States to participate in the competition. The aircraft was selected to become a bomber and was in service in 1954. Although intended as a bomber and never before deployed by the USAF to a combat zone, the first B-57s to be deployed to South Vietnam were not operated in an offensive role, they were instead used in reconnaissance. The bomber was later retired in 1984.

Stoner 63

Even very early on in its development stage, a small number of weapons were hurriedly put into service with the U.S. Navy SEALs deployed to Southeast Asia. During 1967, the Stoner 63 was tested by Company L (Lima Company), 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division. In 1967, the Dutch firm NWM (Nederlandsche Wapen-en Munitiefabriek) De Kruithoorn N.V. of 's-Hertogenbosch acquired the rights to sell the weapon worldwide with the exception of the United States, Canada and Mexico. NWM assembled several prototypes but the company failed to sell the weapon. In 1970, the U.S. Army issued it to Army Special Force units. However, due to its complexity and high maintenance requirements, the weapon was rejected, and the project was dropped in 1971. That same year, Cadillac Gage ceased all production of the Stoner 63. Around 4,000 63 and 63A units were built in total. By the late 1980s the Stoner 63 was completely phased out in favor of the new M249 SAW, and most of the remaining guns were destroyed.

TT-33 Pistol

n 1930, the Revolutionary Military Council approved a test for new small weapons to replace its old Nagant M1895 revolvers.During these tests, on 7 January 1931, the potential of a pistol designed by Fedor Tokarev was noted. A few weeks later, 1,000 TT-30s were ordered for troop trials, and the pistol was adopted for service in the Red Army. The TT-30 was manufactured between 1930 and 1936, with about 93,000 being produced. But even as the TT-30 was being put into production, design changes were made to simplify manufacturing. Most TT-33s were issued to officers. The TT-33 was widely used by Soviet troops during World War II, but did not completely replace the Nagant.

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Weapons And Vehicles Of The Vietnam War