Vietnam People's 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), Navy, Air Force, Vietnam 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 Commission, Minister 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 Security, Supreme People's Court, Supreme 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

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

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