Different 122mm rockets have ranges of four to forty kilometers. Truck lights were dimmed or mounted under vehicles, and at regular intervals on some routes, spaces were cut into the jungle trees, forming small cups into which kerosene or some other flammable liquid was poured. Q&A: Incendiary Weapons in Ukraine | Human Rights Watch Our hooch did not take a direct hit, but a Red platoon hooch across the road did and was on fire. Pre-positioning of these groups allowed them to spring rapidly into action after an attack had passed.[34]. The VC/PAVN relied heavily on heavy machine guns and standard Soviet-designed anti-aircraft batteries like the ZPU-series for air defense functions. Ukrainian Armed Forces use American Zuni rockets - Militarnyi Unlike Greece, fifteen years earlier, which had been able to seal its borders with the help of neighbors, South Vietnam could not count on such aid. Chinese troops also built bunkers and other fortifications, and manned dozens of anti-aircraft batteries. When Hanoi showed no signs of weakening, the rationale shifted toward interdiction, but this goal, too, proved unobtainable. Sick soldiers were left to recuperate at various way-stations. I rolled out of bed to the floor and low crawled as fast as I could to the nearest bunker. US patrols encountered numerous B-52 bomb craters used as fish and duck ponds by PAVN/VC troops. Repairs were often done at night when the enemy aircraft would be less active. By the war's end almost a million soldiers had made the trip down the Trail and tens of thousands of tons were being transported annually.[15]. Dozens of Bucha civilians were killed by metal darts from Russian 2002. They were fielded in 1966 and would remain dominant until the end of The War in 1975. [57] A post-war analysis by the BDM Corporation, a think-tank contractor in Vietnam, summarized the efficiency and effectiveness of VC/PAVN logistics as follows: Subsequently the Communist Vietnamese leadership outlasted America's eight-year combat effort in Southeast Asia, and finally reunited Vietnam by force of arms. [31] The largest repair organization was the Youth Shock Brigades Against the Americans for National Salvation. It seemed like we got hit at least three times a day, and Charlie had our Company Area zeroed in. It was the soft "crump" of a 122mm rocket launching in the distance. Entries are listed below in alphanumeric order (1-to-Z). Current use. Vietnam, 1962-1975. In Ukraine, these shells are reportedly being fired from BM-21 Grad, a soviet-era MLRS inherited by Ukraine, which is also the most widely used artillery rocket system in the world. VC/PAVN logistics were marked by austerity, but sufficient supplies, equipment and material were on hand to furnish final victory. That was a close one to say the least! 26, French FM 24/29, Soviet DP-28, captured M1918 BAR automatic rifles and even ex-german MG-34 (for Anti-Air use). The Finance and Economic grouping was the chief fund raiser, banker and purchasing agent. The Ho Chi Minh Trail consumed massive amounts of attention, but the internal pipelines were also crucial, and these were not closed off because the US and particularly the South Vietnamese Government failed to control the major population concentrations effectively.[20]. Copyright 2013 Stronghold Nation. Bridges across water obstacles were often built under water, difficult to detect from the air, and multiple crossing points were developed. It snaked through parts of North Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. North Vietnamese - Viet Cong used specialised BM 21 single round manportable tripod rocket launchers, developed by the Soviets as the Grad P which were originally intended for use by Spesnatz and other specialised users. Australian War Memorial, Canberra. The simplest and most primitive was a lanyard ''pull'', attached to a simple firing pin ring. Soviet aid outstripped that of China, averaging over half a billion dollars per year in the later stages of the war, with some $700million in 1967 alone. 24 km (R-Han 122A), [2] 27 km (R-Han 122B), [3] 32 km (R-han 122 Avibras) [4] Payload capacity. Arsenal: Enemy Rockets - historynet.com A 122mm rocket is an unguided surface-to-surface artillery rocket delivered by a multiple rocket launcher (MRL). Da Nang Air Base : Sapper & Rocket Attacks During The Vietnam War [22], As one of the world's foremost military powers, the US could bring a massive variety of sophisticated aerial technology to bear on the communist side, ranging from heavy B-52 bombers, to carrier-based striking forces, to precision munitions. Such variation and diversity lessened and standardized as the war went on. When I first arrived in Phuoc Vinh mortar attacks were quite frequent. [35], Distinct restrictions were still applied however. Ronald Oakes collection. Total losses to disease are estimated at around 10 to 20%. Charlie started shelling the helipad area and a mortar landed within six feet of where we were standing. By 1973, gun batteries had been supplemented with Soviet-supplied surface to air missiles on various parts of the Trail. Other rocket types included tube-launched Chinese 107mm and Soviet 140mm variants.[4]. 3 km 2 with varying level of impact. Joined by assorted militia and self-defense forces, these quick-reaction units were often stationed along heavily bombed routes and deployed to repair bridges, roads, tracks, tunnels and other structures. 47178, Lanning and Cragg, Inside the VC and the NVA, pp. Accurate, powerful, easy to maintain and repair, the D-74 remained in service with the Peoples Army of Vietnam through about 2010. One morning a bunch of us Blues were standing down at the helipad waiting for our choppers to arrive to fly us out for a recon mission. [38] American bombers caused substantial damage to Northern road and rail infrastructure, including bridges, culverts, depots, ports and docks. Laos was still a wide-open corridor, and U.S. forces were withdrawing. VC/PAVN troop strengths during the Vietnam War are the subject of numerous controversies and contradictory claims. Type 81 122mm Rocket Launcher Type 90 122mm wheeled self-propelled rocket launcher . They also made use of the Soviet/Chinese 122mm rocket which was used effectively against populated areas and large installations such as airfields. 1998. The Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) used well-organized logistics methods to supply and equip their fighting forces. share. Chemical sensors were neutralized by leaving buckets of urine hanging on trees over the transportation network. It has a silver painted body and tail assembly, with a green . Two technicals MLR GRAD 122MM, 52 km range. [20] Food was always had locally, taxed away from peasants, purchased or even grown by VC units. The Mu Gia binh tram area for example, was estimated to have no fewer than 302 anti-aircraft positions as early as 1966, a deadly flak trap for US aircraft. Places of Pride, the National Register of War Memorials, is a new initiative designed to record the locations and photographs of every publicly accessible memorial across Australia. The Forward Supply Council marshaled the money and resources raised by the Finance section, and the services of the rear Group. Within SVN, the PAVN/VC military HQ, COVSN, had responsibility for overall logistical coordination. 1968. . Cambodia's port of Sihanoukville made possible the flooding of the South Vietnam battlefield with a family of Sino-Soviet equipment that was completely compatible with that used by VC/NVA forces in the rest of Vietnam. This included large quantities of American food aid to South Vietnam, a phenomenon sometimes observed by US troops that found enemy supply caches. The range was approx 20km . Wherever possible PAVN units minimized disturbances to the jungle cover, and even transplanted foliage from elsewhere to cover and conceal signs of movement. Trucks arriving at a station were unloaded, and the cargo shifted to new trucks, which carried out the next segment of the journey. This particular example was recovered from an arms dump near the Cambodian border. China made significant contributions in medicines, hospital care, training facilities, foodstuffs, and infantry weapons. One 1972 analysis for the US Senate on bombing notes the tenacity and resilience of PAVN and its logistics system: Throughout the war, the results of the bombing of North Vietnam have consistently fallen far short of the claims made for it. USMC VMA (AW) 242 Vietnam Photo Lot - U.S. Militaria Forum The 122mm 40-tube multiple launch rocket system Grad (Hail), with a firing range of up to 20 km, was introduced into operational service with the Russian Army in 1963 [and initially designated in the West as the M1964]. The warhead is painted light or dark gray, and the rocket motor is painted light or silver gray. Vietnam War VISUALS The shorter pack carried the warhead and fuze in the detachable triangular pouch snapped on. Sturdier pontoon structures were made by tying wooden canal boats together with camouflage measures to hide them during the day from aerial observation. PAVN units deemed ready for infiltration were transported from the training centers by train or truck to the coast, at places like Dong Hoi, where they received additional rations. Unauthorised Copying of any kind is strictly prohibited. These rockets are launched from a LAU-10 container, with a capacity for 4 units.. 530, Bernard C. Nalty, The War Against Trucks: Aerial Interdiction in Southern Laos, 19681972. History is who we are and why we are the way we are.. Thousands of Chinese troops (the PLA's 1st and 2nd Divisions) made important contributions to Hanoi's war effort- building or repairing hundreds of miles of track and numerous other facilities such as bridges, tunnels, stations and marshaling yards. 27 Apr 2023 08:27:47 Evidence Of American Zuni Rockets Arming Ukrainian Su-25s Emerges Official post-war North Vietnamese sources claim over half a million troops in place by 1967. [34] On the vital China to Hanoi corridor, most major bridges, roads and rail lines were back in operation within five weeks after the American bombing halt in 1968. The sound of 122mm rockets slamming down in the area around the hooch where I was sleeping woke me up within seconds. Some 2,000 imported generators provided essential power, and oil and gas were shuttled ashore on small craft from Soviet ships and stored in thousands of small 55-gallon drums throughout the countryside, alongside roads and in rice paddies. It controlled civilian labor recruitment, and military recruitment including drafting men into the VC, among other things. The NVA employed the gun as the long-range component of independent artillery regiments assigned to advancing forces. Air-power then hit suspected locations. could be reopened, and laborers from other regions could be shifted into reconstruction work once the Americans or ARVN left (as they usually did). The Toyota Hiace with 122mm rockets that was used to attack - Reddit One of the most helpless feelings I experienced in Vietnam is when our firebase was being mortared (incoming) and hoping the next rocket wouldn't be a direct hit. Then there was the night Charlie threw some big stuff at us (Sept. 12th 1970). The Sihanouk Trail in Cambodia was opened in 1966 to enable PAVN to infiltrate and resupply COVSN in the southernmost zone of South Vietnam. is familiar to Westerners, less is known about the tens of thousands of teenage girls and young women (ages 13 to 22) sent south: the young women warriors Hanoi sent to fight and die along the Ho Ch Minh Trail struggled daily not only with American bombs but also with hunger, disease, sexual abuse, and death. Until late in the War, American pilots, hindered by their government's rules of engagement, could only watch helplessly as munitions, heavy weapons and advanced components like SAM missile batteries were unloaded at such harbors as Haiphong. The country continued to function for war despite the aerial onslaught. The Australian War Memorial acknowledges the traditional custodians of country throughout Australia. The attacks represent a Communist attempt to mount another sustained offensive close to the Tet season, though this one is far weaker than Tet 1968. Remnants of a misfired 9M22S incendiary 122mm Grad rocket near Ilovaisk, Ukraine in 2014. . p. 497-498, Mark Clodfelter. The SKS carbines were passed down to the guerrillas, which were later armed with AK rifles themselves. This is a preview of our 78-minute video. Since China bordered Vietnam, it was an immensely important conduit of material on land, although the Soviets also delivered some of its aid by sea. Another history notes that while female home front activity in war (clearing rubble, manning factories, nursing the sick etc.) The overthrow of Sihanouk and the closing of the Sihanoukville port in early 1970 were too little too late. B. Lippincott Publishing: 1969), pp. Since July 3, 1863, there have been many calls for Confederate flags to be returned to their home states, and in particular, for the 28th Virginia Infantry Regiment flag return to Virginia. Da Nang, Spring 1968. [17] The need for massive amounts of manual labor for construction actually decreased on the Trail as heavy equipment like bulldozers and rock crushers were deployed, and both miles of road built and truck traffic expanded. US air interdiction against the Trail increased as PAVN stepped up its activities. Medical supplies used on the battlefield came from several sources, including Soviet bloc and Chinese shipments and humanitarian donations earmarked for civilian use from neutral countries, including Scandinavian nations. A limited strike was authorized three days later in retaliation. The 122mm Rocket was 75-inches in length and weighted 102-pounds. [9] Targeting however was tightly controlled and limited, and while most major industrial centers had been destroyed by 1967, imports from Soviet bloc countries and China furnished most war-making material. During the bombing campaign over the north, facilities and installations were widely dispersed and concealed. But again North Vietnam proved capable of adapting; the will of the Hanoi leadership held strong. A VC rocket attack on Bien Hoa Air Base on May 12, 1967, caused only moderate damage but provided a major breakthrough. Remnants of a misfired 9M22S incendiary 122mm Grad rocket near Ilovaisk, Ukraine in 2014. . Hezbollah fires more than 100 Chinese-produced Type-81 122mm cluster munition rockets into northern Israel. The two most common types included the French MAT 49, using either its original 919mm ammunition or having been converted to use the 7.6225mm Tokarev cartridge, and the Soviet/Chinese PPSh-41, often modified and converted in PAVN arsenals to the K-50M. However overall control was always in the hands of party cadres at all levels, from province down to village. In the early years of the insurgency in the South a larger variety of weapons were used, ranging from World War I-era bolt-action rifles to World War II-era weapons, with procurement via a wide range of methods. Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq. The gun had a horizontal sliding-wedge breech block, a hydropneumatic recoil system, a muzzle brake and a split tail carriage. [4], The most common infantry weapons of the PAVN was the Soviet SKS carbine or its Chinese variant. The BM-14 (BM for Boyevaya Mashina, 'combat vehicle'), is a Soviet-made 140mm multiple launch rocket system (MLRS), normally mounted on a truck.. Steep mountain slopes had steps gouged into them for climbing. Many suggested that this failure was because there were too many restrictions. Traffic was regulated by numerous civilian helpers, often young girls. In the space of 20 seconds, a single Grad can launch its 40 122mm rocket-propelled rounds, hitting targets across a 15-20 hectare territory at distances of between 25-45 km. No official information was published by the Czech government regarding the delivery of BM-21MT to Ukraine, but since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, the Czech Republic has already supplied Ukraine with a large quantity of MLRSs (Multiple Launch Rocket Systems) including 12 122mm RM-70, an undisclosed number of modernized 122mm RM-70 Grad . It handled all storage, movement, anti-aircraft defense and fortification on the Ho Chi Minh Trail which snaked through parts of Laos and Cambodia. Image. [19] Amounts ten times or more this size however, were entering the top of the logistical pipeline before trickling down into South Vietnam, Laos and adjoining border regions. This page was last edited on 17 April 2023, at 08:57. These quantities increased vastly as the North stepped up infiltration into the South. True HD Direct Film Transfers - NO UPCONVERSIONS!http://www.buyoutfootage.com/pages/titles/pd_dc_454.htmlVietnam 1968 - Rocket Attack On Tan Son NhutTan Son . Washington, D.C.: Air Force Museums and History Program, 2005, p. 39, Victory in Vietnam: The Official History of the People's Army of Vietnam, 19541975. [48], Movement techniques. By Crusader1307. It extends across the top and to the center of the closure plate, where it is attached to the internally mounted contact screw. The siren would sound again to indicate the attack had ended and all was clear to exit from your bunker. [36], The successful and severely damaging American Linebacker efforts however were not sustained. On May 2-3, 1995, an NSAG uses Orkan M-87 multiple rocket launchers to attack civilians in Zagreb. All rights, including images, downloads and articles are reserved. Thus, 187mm (7.4-inch) super-heavy mortars were made by sawing the tops off steel oxygen tanks, while in southern Vietnam, automobile shock absorber cylinders were converted into mortar barrels.