BM stands for boyevaya mashina (Russian: - combat vehicle . Most material movement in bulk was not by gangs of sweating laborers, but modern Soviet-supplied trucks. American rules of engagement forbid strikes against this network for fear of provoking Chinese intervention. I rolled out of bed to the floor and low crawled as fast as I could to the nearest bunker. This takeover involved setting up new headquarters and replacing fallen VC with PAVN regulars. Traffic was regulated by numerous civilian helpers, often young girls. The bulk of VC/PAVN foodstuffs was procured within South Vietnam via purchase, taxation on peasants in controlled areas, and personal farming by troops in remote areas. Both of these artillery guns were used in the counter-attack against Vietnam. There is also a few pics of a 122mm rocket attack that punched a hole in the roof of the units hanger on 23 Feb 1969. Some 170,000 girls were also mobilized into emergency youth troops, marching south to provide support on the Ho Chi Minh Trail, equipped with shovels and supplies. Medical care like other aspects of the logistical system was austere, and field hospitals, whether in caves, underground bunkers or jungle huts usually suffered shortages. Exceptions were the set piece siege battles such as the battle of Khe Sanh or heavy artillery duels against US batteries across the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone. Supply routes using multiple sources, (waterways, black-market transactions, cross-border sanctuaries, etc.) With more than 98,000 units produced since 1963, the traditional BM-21 GRAD saturation systems have had several variations and adaptations to different contexts and locations, such as the GRAD-P single launchers, which acted in flocks spread across the forests of Vietnam, to adaptations in armored . By 1970, the entire Trail bristled with anti-aircraft batteries. While inaccurate compared to more . [53] Special trail-watching and reaction units were also used to counter infiltration by US-MACV Special Operations teams. The 470th Transport group was established to move material from Cambodia. [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. Way stations were generally within one day's travel from each other. Twelve to sixteen hours of work per day were expected of laborers. The Finance and Economic grouping was the chief fund raiser, banker and purchasing agent. It was never a question of victory for the North, it was only a matter of time. The gun had a horizontal sliding-wedge breech block, a hydropneumatic recoil system, a muzzle brake and a split tail carriage. The Viet Cong's full-time soldiers were referred to as the "Main Force" (Chu Luc). Attacks on these were also forbidden by American policymakers. Roads were sometimes "roofed" with a network of branches, brush and other greenery, and vehicles on the roads sported foliage to aid in concealment. This included large quantities of American food aid to South Vietnam, a phenomenon sometimes observed by US troops that found enemy supply caches. Bridges across water obstacles were often built under water, difficult to detect from the air, and multiple crossing points were developed. Generally there was ten minutes of rest per hour, with one day of rest every five. [25], Some port areas of North Vietnam were also vital to the logistical effort, as were ships by socialist nations that fed the continual stream of war material. I mean, we won: The Century-Long Battle Over This Confederate Flag. That was a close one to say the least! The Trail covered a wide diversity of rough terrain. and 107-mm. The bombing began with the expectation that it would break the will of the enemyalthough many questioned its capability to do so. Hezbollah fires more than 100 Chinese-produced Type-81 122mm cluster munition rockets into northern Israel. Firing . Big search and destroy operations seized hundreds of tons of rice and other material in remoter base areas, but these could be regenerated and restocked again when roving US troops invariably moved on to their next sweep. [13] Some binh trams had extensive anti-aircraft defenses. [2] Contrary to some popular impressions of simple peasant farmers armed with low quality or obsolete weapons, the VC and PAVN main units (as well as the local forces in the latter years) were well equipped with modern arms either from Soviet bloc or Chinese sources. The Vietnam War Commemoration is conducted according to the 2008 National Defense Authorization Act to help honor and pay tribute to Vietnam . Ten thousand trucks could move at a time, and improvements were made continuously by the 559th Transport Group. One of the most used ground based Rocket (and System), The 122mm Rocket was used by both North Vietnamese Army (NVA) and Viet Cong (VC) Armies. [10] China also provided radar stations and airfields where Vietnam People's Air Force aircraft could marshal for attack, or flee to when in trouble against American air forces. These rockets are launched from a LAU-10 container, with a capacity for 4 units.. Sub-sections of these operated at different levels, from Interzone to village. rockets, fired without warning from the surrounding area, rained down on the U.S. camp. Chinese 60 mm mortar rounds captured by 1st Cav Quan Loi May 69Photo by Jim Beck, Radar unit on the wooden tower was used to pinpoint the origin of incoming rounds for retaliation purposes. May 14: Five PAVN 122mm rockets hit the residential area of Da Nang, killing five civilians and wounding 18. As with the RPG-7, the BM-21 Grad can exhaust various ammunition types, including high-explosive, cluster, and incendiary rounds. Image. [20] Food was always had locally, taxed away from peasants, purchased or even grown by VC units. Used sparingly and usually against a fire support base or special forces camps, the M-43 delivered a lethal punch, equal to that of the much larger 152mm howitzer use near the DMZ and the Cambodian border. (1989). As noted above, supplies, equipment and material was pre-stocked along roads, and near various choke points like ferry crossings so that repairs could be made quickly. US Marines pushed the Vietnamese Communist Units back 20 Km so they could not hit DaNang AirBase. Two technicals MLR GRAD 122MM, 52 km range. Many suggested that this failure was because there were too many restrictions. Thats when you had to be careful because Charlie could also hear the siren, and he would lob a few more in. Thomas Newdick. A STAFF STUDY BASED ON THE PENTAGON PAPERS. They were fielded in 1966 and would remain dominant until the end of The War in 1975. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for New 1:72 China PLA PHZ89 122MM Multi Barrel Self-propelled Rocket Launcher Model at the best online prices at eBay! All rights reserved. It is estimated that a VC/PAVN division in the south typically required only 15 tons of supplies per day. nose, main body, tail An example of the Russian made 122mm rockets that were fired by the North Vietnamese army into Saigon during the two years that Air Cmdre. 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. 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]. Continue browsing in r/shittytechnicals. Chemical sensors were neutralized by leaving buckets of urine hanging on trees over the transportation network. Impressed labor groups of civilians also hauled ammo and supplies for the Front. 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. Labor was recruited primarily by impressment/draft, or as a way to pay off VC taxes, although volunteers motivated by ideology also took part. Simon And Schuster. There was a row of barrels filled with sand between us and where the mortar landed. [31] The largest repair organization was the Youth Shock Brigades Against the Americans for National Salvation. By 1969 the Ho Chi Minh Trail was a sophisticated logistical web with paved roads, truck parks, maintenance and supply depots, and well organized and defended terminuses and bases, moving thousands of men per month into the battle zone. [29], Food. [36], The successful and severely damaging American Linebacker efforts however were not sustained. Some 500,000 workers were mobilized to repair bomb damage as needed, with an additional 100,000 constantly at work. eng. 26, French FM 24/29, Soviet DP-28, captured M1918 BAR automatic rifles and even ex-german MG-34 (for Anti-Air use). 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. U.S. Government Printing Office, Ray Bonds, ed., "The Vietnam War, (Salamander Books: 1979), pp. 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. In 1964 an Ohio woman took up the challenge that had led to Amelia Earharts disappearance. Subscribe to receive our weekly newsletter with top stories from master historians. PHIL M. HAUN, Lieutenant Colonel, USAF. [34], The Nixon administration, looking for a way out, pursued a less restrained course under Operation Linebacker launched in response to the PAVN's 1972 Easter Offensive and Operation Linebacker II. The National Liberation Front (NLF) was a united front designed to encourage non-communists to support the insurgency in the south. [9] Japanese Arisaka rifles were also used in the earlier stages of the war and the M1 Carbine was a common and popular weapon captured from enemy ARVN troops. The VC/PAVN relied heavily on heavy machine guns and standard Soviet-designed anti-aircraft batteries like the ZPU-series for air defense functions. By Crusader1307. Repairs were often done at night when the enemy aircraft would be less active. February 23, 1969. Steep mountain slopes had steps gouged into them for climbing. Photo credits: Mykola Oleschuk. 'hailstorm') is a self-propelled 122 mm multiple rocket launcher designed in the Soviet Union. Wherever possible PAVN units minimized disturbances to the jungle cover, and even transplanted foliage from elsewhere to cover and conceal signs of movement. [44] The Nixon regime removed some of the operational constraints on American power late in the war, but was already committed to removing US forces from the theater, and the punishment inflicted by expanded bombing, while heavy, did not fundamentally threaten Hanoi's existence. In the 9M22M the igniter leads extend about 305 millimeters 12.00 inches beyond the nozzle and terminate in a 2-prong plug. Different 122mm rockets have ranges of four to forty kilometers. This is a preview of our 78-minute video. Casualties: Ten people were killed by a single rocket as they waited in line for bread outside the Balrwein . [18] However, with only about 100 tons a day required, PAVN could keep its troops supplied indefinitely. Casualties caused by American airstrikes were low, accounting for only 2% of total losses. Households in areas under VC control were required to keep a certain minimum supply of rice on hand, and a large number of secret caches and supply dumps honeycombed the countryside. Su-25 attack aircraft of the Ukrainian Air Forces with Zuni rockets. The rocket was developed by engineers of the Naval . A female fighter, Ngo Thi Tuyen', was hailed as a model of patriotic resistance and devotion for heroic repair efforts to the important Thanh Ha Bridge, a structure that stood up against several attempts to destroy it, until laser-guided bombs knocked it down in 1972. These attacks removed many of the restrictions upon previous American targeting, seeded Northern waters with mines that cut Soviet and Chinese imports to a trickle, exhausted national air-defenses and crippled whatever significant remaining industrial plant and transportation network was left in the North. Date. Bomb tonnages dropped on the Trail in Laos offer some indication of the scale of the American campaign: 1969 433,000 tons, 1970 394,000 tons (74,147 sorties), 1971 402,000 tons (69,000 sorties). The rockets vary . Fifteen to twenty-five kilometers were covered daily depending on the terrain. [24], Communist forces also made extensive use of Vietnam's large network of rivers and waterways, drawing heavily on the Cambodian port of Sihanoukville, which was also off-limits to American attack. A 122mm rocket is an unguided surface-to-surface artillery rocket delivered by a multiple rocket launcher (MRL). It would end in disaster for both sides. On 21 May 1971 30 US infantrymen, many from Company A, 1st Battalion, 61st Infantry Regiment, were killed when a People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) 122mm rocket hit their bunker at Charlie 2. From there they marched south and southwest, towards the DMZ or Laos, using a variety of routes. Again bombing failed to fulfill the promises made for it. . The 11,000 artillery rounds and several thousand rockets fired that day were a clear demonstration that the North Vietnamese Army had improved and expanded its artillery arm. She is currently pursuing a masters degree in military history. The warhead is painted light or dark gray, and the rocket motor is painted light or silver gray. The continuity in the infiltration corridor through Cambodia and Laos mitigated against the forces being stopped. The limits of air power: the American bombing of North Vietnam. Binh Trams stations at intervals on the Trail, hosted the stream of men, weapons and supplies flowing to the battle zone. 61 and PM-63 RAK machine pistols of Czech and Polish origin. The 559th Transport Group was the biggest of the three, numbering an estimated 50,000 troops with 100,000 civilian porters in support. These are the first recorded uses of the 122mm rockets containing DPICM submunitions in the Syrian conflict. If such targets as the North's petroleum facilities were attacked, it was argued, Hanoi's capabilities would be sharply reduced. The Chinese were content to provide supportive diplomatic rhetoric, manpower and material, but signaled they would not enter the fray unless the Americans invaded North Vietnam. This logistics organization helped greatly in their war against the American and South Vietnamese military during the Vietnam War. 2023 Sakr-18 [Egyptian] 122-mm Multiple Rocket Launcher. The simplest and most primitive was a lanyard ''pull'', attached to a simple firing pin ring. US patrols encountered numerous B-52 bomb craters used as fish and duck ponds by PAVN/VC troops. The method also spread out available cargoes over time and space, enabling the entire network to better bear losses from such deadly enemies as the American C-130 Gunship, and such technologies as movement sensors. 469. HistoryNet.com contains daily features, photo galleries and over 25,000 articles originally published in our nine magazines. 2005. A "dead drop" system for couriers was also extensively used for intelligence communications. Bridges were also built underwater to escape detection. [22], Load bearing by porters was greatly enhanced by the use of ingenious "steel horses" bicycles specially modified by widening the handlebars, strengthening the suspensions and adding cargo pallets. Chinese troops also built bunkers and other fortifications, and manned dozens of anti-aircraft batteries. The ability for ruthless total mobilization of almost the entire population, for as long as the struggle required. Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq. PAVN units headed for the Tr-Thin region closest to the northern border might infiltrate directly across the DMZ. Ravines were bridged with crude bamboo suspension bridges. We recognise their continuing connection to land, sea and waters. (AP Photo) Full size 3000 2058 Middle Eastern. Trucks arriving at a station were unloaded, and the cargo shifted to new trucks, which carried out the next segment of the journey. Indeed the sanctuaries gave them the trump card that enabled them to fight a protracted war and outlast the United States commitment to the Republic of Vietnam.[58]. In 1968 alone, some 200,000 PAVN troops made the journey south according to some American estimates. Although the weapons horizontal movement was limited to 30 degrees either side of the sight line, the carriage had a hydraulic jack and pedestal that enabled the crew to lift and rotate the gun up to 180 degrees if required. Our hooch did not take a direct hit, but a Red platoon hooch across the road did and was on fire. Several activation systems (primers) were also used. United States Air Force, pp 164168, Jeffrey Record. This Rocket was developed in WWII and was then mounted on a truck with multiple tubes. Da Nang, Spring 1968. Tonnages needed for communist forces were modest for the low-intensity protracted war style. Party membership was strongest in the Forward Supply Council. r/shittytechnicals. The BM-21 is unquestionably the world's most widely used MRL. Sturdier pontoon structures were made by tying wooden canal boats together with camouflage measures to hide them during the day from aerial observation. The D-74, with a range of 24 kilometers (15 miles), was the third longest-ranged ground artillery piece of the Vietnam War behind the U.S. M107 self-propelled 175 mm gun at 40 kilometers (25 miles) and the Soviet-supplied M-46 130 mm towed gun at 27.5 kilometers (17 miles). The base has been turned over to farmland. [4][5][6], Communist units also employed mortars frequently, with the Soviet 82mm and its Chinese variants being the most common alongside 60mm Chinese Type 31 and Type 63, American M2 mortar, French Brandt Mle 1935 and 81mm Brandt Mle 27/31. A bit ungrateful of our Ukrainian friends to complain about our military aid and the thousands of Yarmuk rockets sent as they are being used from weapons which are not meant for them. 18 kg warhead. Thesis (2004). However overall control was always in the hands of party cadres at all levels, from province down to village. With volumes such as these, backed by lavish Soviet and Chinese aid, and thorough organization, PAVN persevered until final victory. [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. There was a significant overlap of logistical functions in the communist organization, as the PAVN and the VC civilian agencies worked an area. Movement was in column, with point and rear elements. All markings are black, with the exception of a red-stamped symbol 9 on the forward portion of the rocket motor. For strategic aerial defense, the North deployed one of the densest and most sophisticated air-defense systems in the world based on Soviet surface-to-air missile missiles and radar batteries. Sound/seismic sensors were countered by destroying them, moving them to useless locations, removing their batteries, playing tape recordings of truck traffic, and running herds of cattle over them. Unauthorised Copying of any kind is strictly prohibited. It is similar to the BM-13 "Katyusha" and was partly replaced in service by the 122 mm BM-21 Grad. The Vietnam War as a Vietnamese War: Agency and Society in the Study of the Second Indochina War. It handled all storage, movement, anti-aircraft defense and fortification on the Ho Chi Minh Trail which snaked through parts of Laos and Cambodia. Local tribesmen recruited by PAVN for example would beat on pots or gongs to warn of the presence or landing of US Special Operations teams and high rewards were offered for assisting with their capture.[54]. Of all the enemy rockets fired, that was the only known dud. One historian asserts: By 1975, the emergency troops had shepherded war material south and an estimated 700,000 wounded soldiers back to North Vietnam, while helping air defenders bring down some 8,558 U.S. aircraft lost in Southeast Asia.