page_title: Weapons of the Vietnam War
section_title: Aircraft weapons
hierarchical_section_title: Weapons of the Vietnam War / Weapons of the South Vietnamese, U.S., South Korean, Australian, and New Zealand Forces / Aircraft weapons
caption_attribution_description: English: A U.S. Air Force Sikorsky HH-53E helicopter crewman fires a M134 mini-gun during rescue patrol over South Vietnam.
context_page_description: Nearly all United States-allied forces were armed with U.S. weapons including the M1 Garand, M1 carbine, M14 and M16. The Australian and New Zealand forces employed the 7.62 mm L1A1 Self-Loading Rifle as their service rifle, with the occasional US M16.
  The PAVN, although having inherited a variety of American, French, and Japanese weapons from World War II and the First Indochina War, were largely armed and supplied by the People's Republic of China, the Soviet Union, and its Warsaw Pact allies. In addition, some weapons—notably anti-personnel explosives, the K-50M, and "home-made" versions of the RPG-2—were manufactured in North Vietnam. By 1969 the US Army had identified 40 rifle/carbine types, 22 machine gun types, 17 types of mortar, 20 recoilless rifle or rocket launcher types, nine types of antitank weapons, and 14 anti-aircraft artillery weapons used by ground troops on all sides. Also in use, primarily by anti-communist forces, were the 24 types of armored vehicles and self-propelled artillery, and 26 types of field artillery and rocket launchers.
context_section_description: M60D machine gun - 7.62mm (helicopter mount)
  Minigun - 7.62 mm (aircraft and helicopter mount)
  Colt Mk 12 cannon - 20 mm (aircraft mount)
  M3 cannon - 20 mm (aircraft mount)
  M39 cannon - 20 mm (aircraft mount)
  M61 Vulcan - 20 mm (aircraft mount), M195 was used on AH-1
  M197 Gatling gun - 20 mm (used on AH-1J helicopters)
  M75 grenade launcher - 40 mm (helicopter mount)
  M129 grenade launcher - 40 mm (helicopter mount)
  AIM-4 Falcon
  AIM-7 Sparrow
  AIM-9 Sidewinder
  AGM-12 Bullpup
  AGM-22
  AGM-45 Shrike
  AGM-62 Walleye
  AGM-78 Standard ARM
  AGM-65 Maverick
caption: A minigun being fired from a combat search and rescue helicopter in Vietnam
exif: {}