Weapons of the Vietnam War This article is about the weapons used in the Vietnam War , which involved the army of the Republic of South Viet Nam ( ARVN ) ( South Vietnamese Army ) ; the People ’ s Army of Vietnam ( PAVN ) , commonly known as the North Vietnamese Army ( NVA ) ; the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam ( NLF ) , better known as the Viet Cong ( VC ) ; all services of the U . S . military ; the armies of South Korea , Australia , New Zealand , Thailand , and the Philippines ; and a variety of irregular troops . Nearly all allied forces including the ARVN and Australians were armed with U . S . weapons , some of which , such as the M1 Carbine , were substitute standard weapons dating from World War II . The Australian army employed the 7 . 62 mm FN FAL under the licence of L1A1 Self - Loading Rifle as their service rifle , with the occasional US M16 . The NVA , although having inherited a miscellany of American , French , and Japanese weapons from World War II and the First Indochina War ( aka French 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 ( a PPSh - 41 copy ) , and “ home - made ” versions of the RPG - 2 — were manufactured in 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 , 9 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 & rocket launchers . [ 1 ] Communist forces . Communist forces were principally armed with Chinese [ 2 ] and Soviet weaponry [ 3 ] though some Viet Cong guerrilla units were equipped with Western infantry weapons either captured from French stocks during the first Indochina war or from ARVN units or requisitioned through illicit purchase . [ 4 ] The ubiquitous Soviet AK - 47 was widely regarded as the best assault rifle of the war and it was not uncommon to see U . S . special forces with captured AK - 47s . US weapons . The American M16 , which replaced the M14 , was lighter and considered more accurate than the AK - 47 but was prone to jamming . Often the gun suffered from a jamming flaw known as " failure to extract , " which meant that a spent cartridge case remained lodged in the chamber after a bullet flew out the muzzle . [ 5 ] According to a congressional report , the jamming was caused primarily by a change in gunpowder which was done without adequate testing and reflected a decision for which the safety of soldiers was a secondary consideration . [ 6 ] The heavily armored , 90 mm M48A3 Patton tank saw extensive action during the Vietnam War and over 600 were deployed with US Forces . They played an important role in infantry support though there were few tank versus tank battles . The M67A1 flamethrower tank ( nicknamed the Zippo ) was an M48 variant used in Vietnam . Artillery was used extensively by both sides but the Americans were able to ferry the lightweight 105 mm M102 howitzer by helicopter to remote locations on quick notice . With its range , the Soviet 130 mm M - 46 towed field gun was a highly regarded weapon and used to good effect by the NVA . It was countered by the long - range , American 175 mm M107 Self - Propelled Gun . The United States had air superiority though many aircraft were lost to surface - to - air missiles and anti - aircraft artillery . U . S . air power was credited with breaking the siege of Khe Sanh and blunting the 1972 Communist offensive against South Vietnam . At sea , the U . S . Navy had the run of the coastline , using aircraft carriers as platforms for offshore strikes and other naval vessels for offshore artillery support . Offshore naval fire played a pivotal role in the Battle for the city of Hue , providing accurate fire in support of the U . S . counter - offensive to retake the city . The Vietnam War was the first conflict that saw wide scale tactical deployment of helicopters . The Bell UH - 1 Iroquois was used extensively in counter - guerilla operations both as a troop carrier and a gunship . In the latter role , the " Huey " as it became affectionately known , was outfitted with a variety of armaments including M60 machineguns , multi - barreled 7 . 62 mm Gatling guns and unguided air - to - surface rockets . The Hueys were also successfully used in MEDIVAC and search and rescue roles . Weapons of the ARVN , US , South Korean , Australian , and New Zealand Forces . Small arms . Shotguns . The shotguns were used as an individual weapon during jungle patrol ; infantry units were authorized a shotgun by TO & E ( Table of Organization & Equipment ) . Shotguns were not general issue to all infantrymen , but were select issue , such as one per squad , etc . Combat vehicles . Gun trucks . Often , non - combat logistical vehicles were armored and adopted to carry several machine guns to be used for convoy escort duties Weapons of the PAVN / NLF . NVA ( North Vietnamese Army ) and the Southern communist guerrillas NLF , or Viet Cong as they were commonly referred to during the war , largely used standard Warsaw Pact weapons . Weapons used by the North Vietnamese also included Chinese Communist variants , which were referred to as CHICOM ' s by the US military . Substitute standard weapons used by irregular forces . Area denial weapons . A wide variety of anti - personnel ordnance and booby traps were used in the Vietnam war , including punji stakes . Other ways of obtaining weapons . The Vietcong were not always able to be supplied by the PAVN . They sometimes took weapons from US soldiers after an attack or raided US or South Vietnamese weapon stockpiles . This increased the number of weapons available and gave balance against the US arsenal