The Vietnam War was a bloody war, in which the United States had no reason of joining in on. Even though the U.S. did not win the war they still had some amazing weapons that were used during this war. So that is what I'm going to talk about in this report, plus I'm going to show you and tell a little about a few of the United States enemies weapons. So hold on and I hope you learn a little bit.
            

               The most used main battle tank was the M48a3 or also called the "Patton" tank.  This tank could hold up to a max of four soldiers. It could reach a max speed of 48 kilometers per hour, that's the second fastest battle tank ever made. This battle tank developed from the M47 "General Patton" tank which was first used during World War 2. it wasn't as heavily armed as most of the other battle tanks. The tank had four guns that armed it, a M7-6 Flame gun, a 50 cal. HMG on the Commanders cupola, and a .30 cal. MMG co-axial. The M48a3 was mainly used by the US Army and the Marines in the Vietnam War.

                                                                            

                   First is the M24 "Chaffee" Light Tank. It could hold a crew of five soldiers at one time. It could reach a speed of 55 kilometers per hour, the fastest a light tank has ever gone. Like the M48a3 tank, this tank was not heavily armed. it had a 75 mm M6 gun, a .30 cal. MMG co-axial, a .30 MMG co-driver, and a .50 cal. AA HMG gun. This tank became obsolete by the mid-1960's, which means the Army made better ones, to three other tanks. The one that largely replaced the M24 was the M41 Light Tank. The M24 was mainly used by the US army.

 

 
                    Secondly is the M113 Armored Personal Carrier or also know as an APC. This carrier could hold from a crew of two with eleven other passengers or it could carry just weapons. It was the slowest personal carrier, even though its max speed was 67.5 kilometers per hour. This carrier was hardly armed with only three guns, a .50 cal., and two M60  GPMG guns which were on each side of the rear root hatch. The M113 was the Jeep of  World War 2, in Vietnam. It was powered by a petrol engine, but some had diesel engines. The ones that had diesel engines weren't used much in combat because they would explode easier if hit. Today there are over 50 major variants of the M113.                        

                       Next there is the M56 "Scorpion", self-propelled, anti-aircraft gun. This was a type of Light tank. With a crew of four, this was built to give the airborne forces some measure of AT protection. It could reach a speed of 45 kilometers per hour, and it only had a 90 mm gun, but it was powerful. The M56 was first used in Vietnam by the 173rd Airborne Brigade, and was employed only on convoy escorts. This machine was withdrawn by 1968, because its crew was dangerously exposed out in the open during fire.

                         The next weapon really isn't one of the three kinds of vehicles, but it is an awesome machine. It is the M50 "Ontos" Anti-tank gun. With a crew of three, six 166 mm Recoilless Rifles, and one .30 cal. MMG gun, this was one of the most powerful weapons used in Vietnam. It possessed fearsome firepower with the six recoilless rifles. With these guns they could blow up six tanks at once, which means each barrel blew up one tank at a time. Because they had to reload the guns outside, the crew was very vulnerable of being shot. The M50 was mainly used during the 1968 Tet Offensive. 

   

                      Finally, For the U.S. weapons is the M110-203 mm SP Howitzer. With a crew of five to eight, and a 203 mm M2a1 Howitzer gun, this tank could reach a speed of 56 kilometers per hour. It was designed to be part of a common family of weapons, which would utilize the same chassis components. With enter-changeable barrels it could take out five tanks at once.

                       The first Communist vehicle is the PT-76 Light Tank. It held a crew of three and could go 44 kilometers per hour on land and ten kilometers per hour in water. It was armed with a 76.2 mm DS6T/DS6tm main gun and a 7.62 mm SGMT MMG co-axial. The PT-76 was developed at the end of World War 2 and was first used in Vietnam during the 1968 Tet Offensive at Lang Vie Special forces camp, near Khe Sahn.

       Next is the K-63 APC ( Armored Personal Carrier), which had a crew of two to twelve. It was only armed by a DShK 12.7 mm HMG and a lot of steel. It was exported by the Chinese to the NVA. For an APC car it was remarkably  Cramped. The K-63 was first used during the 1972 " Easter Offensive" which was a horrible day during the war.  

T-54

T-55

T-59
                       The three main battle tanks that the communists used the most were the T-54, the T-55, and the T-59. All three of them held a crew of four, but in speed the T-54 could go 48 kilometers per hour and the T-55 and the T-59 could go 50 kilometers  per hour. Each tank had two guns, a 100 mm main gun, and a 12.7 mm, except the T-54 which had one more gun, a 7.62 mm MMG co-axial, which was fixed in the bow and was fired by the driver. The T-59 was a Chinese copy of the T-55s, and they were made with pretty shoddy workmanship. Some can still be found in the Cambodian service.

                      Probably one of the most powerful weapons used by the communists was the Type 63 AA Tank. It held a crew of six and could reach a max speed of 50 kilometers per hour. This tank had two 37 mm Type 63 guns that were very powerful when used. The AA was rough to ride in, but by building this powerful machine, the Chinese and the Vietnamese proved that a cheaper alternative to the ZSU-57-2 could be built. It was used during the "Easter Offensive".

     first is the F-105 Thunderchief jet. The Thunderchiefs flew over 20,000 combat missions in Vietnam. This jet was an excellent tactical bomber, plus it could carry impressive loads of external fuel, ECM gear, and up to eight 750-pound bombs on long-range missions. But on a typical mission over North Vietnam, the jet could carry six 750-pound bombs or five 1,000-pound bombs, along with two 450 US-gallon drop tanks. Over 350 jets were lost in combat over Vietnam. 

                      Next is the Douglas A-1 Skyraider. Although it was 20 years old and propeller driven during the Vietnam War, the A-1 turned out to be one of the most useful planes the Navy had for the war. The plane could carry a heavy bomb load and loiter for long periods of time and would deliver devastating firepower with good accuracy.

A-4

         The next plane was a real workhorse of the war, the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk. It flew more strike missions than any other Navy aircraft. It was simplest, easiest to maintain, the smallest, and the lightest jet the Navy ever procured. It entered the service with the navy in 1956.
              The A-7 Corsair 2 debuted in Vietnam on December 2, 1967 and on December 4th the A-7 flew its first combat strikes. The Corsair 2 flew over 90,000 sort missions over Vietnam. On an average mission length of 2.25 hours for 90,000 sorties means that the A-7s collectively spent well over 8,400 days in the air. A total of 54 A-7s were lost to enemy action out of the 854 A-7s that saw combat in Vietnam. The A-7s eventually made up 27 squadrons in the conflict in Vietnam.

A-7
                        And finally to end my report the massive B-52 Stratofortress. This bomber was the main bomber of Strategic Air Command. It was designed to fly deep into enemy territory and drop nuclear weapons. Each bomber could carry fifty -one 750 or 500 lbs. conventional bombs. Later on, it increased to an incredible 180 lbs. The B-52 is still used today.

Kelby Joe Brown

8th American History

Rossville Jr. High

Post-World War 2 America Project

May 2002

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