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590px-Flag of Viet Nam Peoples Army

Flag of Vietnam People's Army

The Vietnam People's Army (VPA is the army of Vietnam. The VPA is a part of Vietnam People's Armed Forces. The VPA includes: Ground Force (including Strategic Rear Forces), NavyAir ForceVietnam Border Defense Force and Vietnam Marine Police. However, Vietnam does not have a specific separate Ground Forces or Army branch. All of the ground troops, army corps, military districts, and specialized arms belong to the Ministry of Defence (Vietnam), directly under command of the Central Military CommissionMinister of Defence and General Staff .

Communist Party of Viet Nam leaders of the People's Army of Vietnam absolute and direct all aspects; the centralized leadership of the Party is unified into the Central Executive Committee that directly, often the Politburo, the Secretariat (Charter of CPV - Article 25).

The name People's Army can be traced to President Ho Chi Minh's phrase "born from people, for people to fight and for people to serve". The word People are also present in many names of such organizations in Vietnam such as the People's Public SecuritySupreme People's CourtSupreme People's Procuracy. One other name for the army that Vietnamese named by love is Uncle Ho's soldiers. The military flag of the Vietnam People's Army is the flag of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam with the words Quyết thắng (Determination to Win) added in yellow at the top left.

During the French Indochina War (1946–1954), the VPA was often referred to as the Việt Minh. In the context of the Vietnam War (1959–1975), the army was referred to as the North Vietnamese Army (NVA). This allowed writers, the US Military, and the general public, to distinguish northern communists from the southern communists, or Viet Cong. However, northerners and southerners were always under the same command structure. According to Hanoi's official history, the Vietcong was a branch of the VPA. In 2010 the Vietnam People's Army undertook the role of leading the 1,000th Anniversary Parade in Hanoi by performing their biggest parade in Vietnam's history.

The Vietnamese People's Army is subdivided into the following service branches:

·          Vietnam People's Ground Forces (Lục quân Nhân dân Việt Nam)

·          Vietnam People's Navy (Hải quân Nhân dân Việt Nam)

·          Vietnam People's Air Force (Không quân Nhân dân Việt Nam)

·          Vietnam Border Defense Force (Biên phòng Việt Nam)

·          Vietnam Marine Police (Cảnh sát biển Việt Nam)

Small arms[]

Pistols

Name

Type

Cartridge

Origin

Notes

TT-33

Semi-automatic pistol

      7,62x25mm

Soviet Union

PM

Semi-automatic pistol

 9x18mm

Soviet Union

Stechkin APS

Machine pistol

9x18mm

Soviet Union

Walther PP

Semi-automatic pistol

9x18mm

Germany

M-1911A1

Semi-automatic pistol

.45ACP

USA

Rifles 

Name

Type

Cartridge

Origin

Note

AK-47

Assault rifle

7.62x39mm

Soviet Union

Main service rifle

AKM

Assault rifle

7.62x39mm

Soviet Union

Main service rifle

AK-74

Assault rifle

5.45x39mm

Soviet Union

Main service rifle.Used by navy.

M16A1

Assault rifle

5.56x45mm

USA

Main service rifle

IMI Galil

Assault rifle

5.56x45mm

Israel

Used by marines.

TAR-21

Assault rifle

      5.56x45mm

Israel

Used by marines.

AKS-74U

Carbine

5.45x39mm

Soviet Union

Used by paratroopers

CAR-15

Carbine

      5.56x45mm

USA

Used by paratroopers

M16

VPA soldiers with M16A1

Sniper Rifles

Name

Type

Cartridge

Origin

Note

SVD Dragunov

Sniper Rifle

7.62x54mm

Soviet Union

SVU Dragunov

Sniper Rifle

7.62x54mm

Russia

Used by paratroopers

IMI Galatz

Sniper Rifle

7.62x51mm

Israel

KVSK

Sniper Rifle

12.7x108mm

Russia

Submachine guns

Name

Type

Cartridge

Origin

Note

PM-63

Submachine gun

        9x19mm

Poland

UZI

Submachine gun

9x19mm

Israel

Used by paratroopers

MP5

Submachine gun

        9x19mm

Germany

Used by paratroopers and polices

Light machine guns

Name

Type

Cartridge

Origin

Note

PK/PKM

Light machine gun

7.62x54mm

Soviet Union

Standard squad automatic weapon

RPK

Light machine gun,LSW

       7.62x39mm

Soviet Union

Standard LSW

RPK-74

Light machine gun,LSW

5.45x39mm

Soviet Union

Standard LSW

IMI Negev

Light machine gun

      5,56×45mm       

Israel

M60

Light machine gun

      7.62x51mm

USA

Standard LMG

PKM

VPA soldiers with PK

Launchers

Name

Type 

        Cartridge

Origin

Note

RPG-7V

Rocket launcher

    85mm rocket

Soviet Union

RPG-29

Rocket launcher

   105mm rocket

Soviet Union

M72

Rocket launcher

    66mm rocket

USA

M79

Grenade launcher

  40x46mm grenade

USA

GP-25

Grenade launcher

   40mm grenade

Soviet Union

M32

Grenade launcher

  40x46mm grenade

South Africa

All or a portion of this article consists of text from Wikipedia, and is therefore Creative Commons Licensed under GFDL.
The original article can be found at Vietnam People's Army and the edit history here.

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