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The Threat

Published May 20, 2015


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Defending air bases in Southeast Asia involved numerous, complicated problems. The bases had large open spaces, long perimeters and vulnerable bomb and fuel dumps. Some air bases were located in urban areas, allowing the enemy to hide among the nearby population. Heavy jungle growth along base perimeters also provided hidden avenues to launch attacks. Within the bases, the communists had numerous agents posing as laborers, collecting valuable intelligence.

The enemy employed various tactics to strike at U.S. Air Force air bases. The most common and difficult to defend against were stand-off attacks with mortars and rockets. Using these weapons, insurgents could fire from miles away with near impunity. The seven-mile ring around an air base became known as the "rocket belt." During the war, the communists fired stand-off weapons at U.S. Air Force air bases over 450 times.

Insurgents also conducted carefully-planned night raids against air bases. Small groups of enemy assault troops tried to infiltrate air base perimeters, attack high-value targets and people, then rapidly withdraw. Between 1966 and 1972, the enemy carried out 24 such raids against U.S. Air Force air bases.

The only large-scale, conventional ground attacks against U.S. Air Force air bases took place during the Tet Offensive. On the night of Jan. 31, 1968, the communists attacked Tan Son Nhut Air Base with about 1,500 troops and about 1,000 attacked Bien Hoa Air Base.

During the war, enemy ground action against U.S. Air Force air bases took a heavy toll. The communists killed 155 U.S. personnel and wounded about 1,700. They also destroyed 75 U.S. aircraft and damaged 898 more. During these attacks, the enemy suffered nearly 400 killed with 45 more captured.

COMMUNIST WEAPONS

AK-47 Assault Rifle
The iconic Soviet Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifle and the Chinese Type 56 version became the primary weapon of the Communist forces in Southeast Asia. The weapon is chambered for the 7.62mm cartridge and is capable of both semi and full automatic fire. It is fitted with a standard 30-round magazine.

Including later variants, nearly 100 million of these rugged and reliable weapons have been manufactured and they remain in widespread use around the world.

Chinese Type 56 Carbine
The semi-automatic 7.62mm caliber Type 56 was a Chinese produced version of the Soviet SKS carbine. While the SKS, developed in 1945, was quickly replaced in the Soviet Army in the early 1950's by the AK-47, the SKS design had an extended production period in China as well as other countries. It remained a standard issue weapon to many armies and revolutionary organizations.

RPG-2 Launcher with PG-2
Developed by the Soviet Army in the late 1940s, this simple and reusable shoulder fired weapon was easy to use and saw extensive usage by Communist Forces in the early part of the war in Southeast Asia until replaced by the much improved RPG-7v. It is displayed with the PG-2 rocket propelled grenade installed in the firing position.

PG-2 Rocket Propelled Grenade
The PG-2 as displayed has a high-explosive armor-piercing warhead. It was highly effective against bunkers and armored vehicles.

Large rockets were ideal weapons for the communists to use against U.S. Air Force air bases. They had sizeable warheads, long range, and could be fired from improvised launchers.

122mm Rocket Casing
This 122mm rocket destroyed the base chapel and wounded three Airmen at Tan Son Nhut Air Base, South Vietnam, during the enemy's Tet Offensive in 1968.

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