Weapons of the Laotian Civil War

The Laotian Civil War was a military conflict that pitted the guerrilla forces of the Marxist-oriented Pathet Lao against the armed and security forces of the Kingdom of Laos (French: Royaume du Laos), led by the conservative Royal Lao Government, between 1960 and 1975. Main combatants comprised:

The Royal Lao Armed Forces (French: Forces Armées du Royaume), best known by its French acronym FAR, were the official armed defense forces of the Kingdom of Laos from 1959 to 1975. Subordinated to the Ministry of Defense of the Royal Lao Government at the capital Vientiane, the FAR branches were organized as follows:
- Royal Lao Army (French: Armée Royale du Laos – ARL)
- Royal Lao Air Force (French: Aviation Royale Laotiènne – AVRL)
- Royal Lao Navy (French: Marine Royale Laotiènne – MRL)
Paramilitary security forces:
- Royal Lao Police (French: Police Royale Laotiènne – PRL)
- Directorate of National Coordination (DNC) Security Agency; a.k.a. Border Police (French: Police de Frontiers), active from 1960 to 1965.

To meet the threat represented by the Pathet Lao insurgency, the Laotian Armed Forces depended on a small French military training mission (French: Mission Militaire Française près du Gouvernment Royale du Laos – MMFI-GRL),[1] headed by a general officer, an exceptional arrangement permitted under the 1955 Geneva Accords, as well as covert assistance from the United States in the form of the Programs Evaluation Office (PEO), established on 15 December 1955, replaced in 1961 by the Military Assistance Advisory Group (Laos), which was later changed in September 1962 into the Requirements Office.[2] Between 1962 and 1971, the U.S. provided Laos with direct military assistance, but not including the cost of equipping and training irregular and paramilitary forces by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).[3] In addition to U.S. covert support, the FAR received further military assistance from the United Kingdom, Thailand, Burma, the Philippines, the Republic of China (Taiwan), South Vietnam, Indonesia, and Australia;

The Neutralist Armed Forces (French: Forces Armées Neutralistes – FAN), a dissident splinter faction of the FAR led by Captain (later, Major general) Kong Le, active from 1961 to 1966, which received support from North Vietnam, the Soviet Union, and Indonesia;[4]

The irregular Anti-communist Special Guerrilla Units (SGU), also collectively referred to as the "Secret Army" (French: Armée Secréte), recruited from Laos' ethnic minorities such as the Hmong (Meo), Lao Theung (Hune) and Lao Sung hill tribes, was led by Royal Lao Government Minister Touby Lyfoung, Major general Vang Pao and Brigadier general Thao Ty. Created from irregular ethnic auxiliary units (French: Suppletifs) raised earlier by the French during the First Indochina War, the SGUs were in reality secretly organized, trained and armed by the CIA since the late 1950s and early 1960s;[5]

An Auto Defense de Choc (ADC) Hmong guerrilla company assembles at Phou Vieng, Spring 1961.

The Pathet Lao, also known as the "Lao People's Party" (1955–1972) and later the "Lao People's Revolutionary Party" (1972–present) led by Prince Souphanouvong, and its military wing the Lao People's Armed Forces (LPAF), which was trained and armed by North Vietnam, the Soviet Union, and the People's Republic of China;

Pathet Lao's LPAF guerrillas assemble at Sam Neua, April 1953.

The People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN), also designated the "North Vietnamese Army" (NVA), which received support from the Soviet Union, the People's Republic of China, North Korea, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Hungary.

An eclectic variety of weapons was used by all sides in the Laotian Civil War. Laotian regular FAR and FAN and irregular SGUs weaponry in the early days of the war was a hodgepodge, with most of their combat units equipped in a haphazard way with an array of French, American, Australian, British, and German weapon systems, mostly of WWII-vintage, either drawn from First Indochina War stocks handed down by the French or secretly provided by the Americans.[6][7] After 1955 however, the FAR began the process of standardisation on U.S. equipment, with its airborne and infantry units first taking delivery of semi-automatic and automatic small-arms of WWII/Korean War-vintage in late 1959, followed by the delivery between 1963 and 1971 of more modern military equipments, which included aircraft, armored and transport vehicles, and long-range artillery pieces. In 1969 secret deliveries of modern U.S. small-arms arrived in Laos, and were initially only given to the Laotian Royal Guard and airborne units; standardisation in U.S. fully-automatic infantry weapons in the RLA and the irregular SGUs was completed by 1971, replacing much of the older weaponry.[8][9] Captured infantry weapons of Soviet and Chinese origin were also employed by elite commando or airborne units and the irregular SGUs while on special operations in the enemy-held areas of north-eastern and south-eastern Laos.[10][11]

During the early phase of the war, the Pathet Lao likewise was largely equipped with WWII-vintage French, Japanese, American, British, German, Chinese, and Czechoslovakian weapons either pilfered from French colonial forces during the First Indochina War, seized from Laotian FAR units or provided by the Vietminh and subsequently by North Vietnam. As the war progressed, these obsolete weapons began to be partially superseded by more modern Eastern Bloc military hardware, including semiautomatic and fully automatic small-arms, artillery pieces, armored and transport vehicles, and aircraft of Soviet, Chinese and Hungarian origin, mostly being channelled via the North Vietnamese. Although the Pathet Lao standardized on Soviet and Chinese weapons and equipment by the early 1970s, its guerrilla forces continued to make use of captured enemy stocks until the end of the war.

Royal Lao Armed Forces, FAN and SGUs Equipment

Revolvers

Received from the US Government, used by government officials and military officers.[12]

Colt Cobra .38 Special snub-nose revolver

M1917 revolver
Smith & Wesson Model 10
Colt Cobra .38 Special snub-nose revolver

Pistols

M1911A1 pistol

MAS-35-S pistol (7.65mm Longue): Received from France during the First Indochina War.
Luger P08 pistol: Received from France during the First Indochina War.[13]
Colt.45 M1911A1
Smith & Wesson Model 39

Submachine guns

M3 submachine gun

MAS-38: Received from France during the First Indochina War.
MAT-49: Received from France during the First Indochina War.[14]
Sterling submachine gun: Limited quantities handed down by Britain.
Owen submachine gun[15]
Sten submachine gun: Received from France during the First Indochina War.[16]
Carl Gustav m/45: used by Green Berets' advisors and CIA operatives.[17]
M1A1 Thompson[18][19]
M3/M3A1 Grease Gun: Used by the Royal Lao Police Aerial Reinforcement Unit.[20]
PPSh-41: Captured.[21]

Bolt-action rifles

M1903 Springfield rifle

MAS-36: Received from France during the First Indochina War.[22]
M1903 Springfield: Limited quantities, received from France during the First Indochina War and the United States.[23]
Lee–Enfield: Limited quantities, received from France during the First Indochina War.

Carbines

M1 Carbine

M1 Carbine: M1 & M2 models were standard issue concurrent with the M1 Garand rifle before receiving the M16.[24]
M1A1 Carbine[25]
M2 Carbine: Full automatic variant.[26][27]
CAR-15 Assault carbine

Battle rifles

M16A1 was the standard Royal Lao Army (RLA) issue assault rifle

M1 Garand semi-automatic rifle
SKS semi-automatic rifle: Captured.
L1A1 SLR Assault rifle: Limited quantities handed down by Britain.
M16A1 Assault rifle[28]
AK-47: Captured.
Type 56 assault rifle: Captured.
AKM: Captured.

Light machine guns

M1918A2 Browning Automatic Rifle

FM 24/29: Received from France during the First Indochina War.
Bren: Received from France during the First Indochina War.
M1918A2 BAR[29]
M1919A6 light machine gun

General-purpose machine guns

M60 machine gun

M60[30][31]
RPD: Captured.

Heavy machine guns

M2HB heavy machine gun

Grenade systems

Land mine systems

M18A1 Claymore anti-personnel mine
M14 anti-personnel blast mine
M16 bounding anti-personnel fragmentation mine
M15 anti-tank mine
M19 anti-tank mine
M24 off-route anti-tank mine: limited use by MACV–SOG teams.[37]

Rocket systems

2.75 inch rocket launcher[38][39]

Anti-tank rockets

M72 LAW

Grenade launchers

M79 grenade launcher

M203 grenade launcher

Recoilless rifles

Mortars

Brandt Mle 27(31) Mortar

M29 Mortar

M30 Mortar

M19 60mm mortar
Brandt mle 27/31 81mm mortar: Received from France during the First Indochina War.
M29 81mm mortar
M2 4.2 inch (107mm) mortar
M30 4.2 inch (106.7mm) mortar

Howitzers

M101 105mm howitzer

M114 155 mm howitzer

M116 75mm howitzer

Vehicles

M8 Greyhound armoured car

PT-76 light tank

Helicopters

UH-1C Huey gunship[65]
UH-1D/H transport[66]
Mil Mi-4 transport[67][68]
Sikorsky H-19 transport
Sikorsky H-34D transport[69][70][71][72]
Sud Aviation SA 3130 Alouette II light helicopter[73][74]
Sud Aviation SA 316B Alouette III light helicopter[75][76]

Aircraft

A Royal Lao Air Force (RLAF) T-28D Nomad armed trainer taxies at Long Tieng airfield, September 1972

Cessna T-41B/D Mescalero trainer[77][78]
North American T-6G Texan trainer/fighter-bomber[79][80]
North American RT-28B Trojan trainer[81][82]
North American T-28D Trojan fighter-bomber[83][84][85][86][87][88][89]
AC-47D Spooky gunship[90][91][92]
U-6 (L-20) STOL utility transport[93]
De Havilland DH.104 Dove short-haul airliner
Aero Commander 560 utility transport[94]
Antonov An-2 utility aircraft[95]
Douglas C-47D Skytrain transport[96][97][98]
Lisunov Li-2 utility transport[99]
Curtiss C-46F Commando transport[100][101]
Fairchild C-123K Provider transport[102]
Morane-Saulnier MS 500 Criquet liaison aircraft[103][104]
U-17A/B light utility aircraft[105][106]
Cessna L-19A/O-1F Bird Dog reconnaissance/observation light aircraft[107][108][109]
EC-47D SIGINT aircraft[110]

River craft

Cabin-type patrol boat[111]
Chris-Craft patrol boat[112]
11m patrol boat[113]
PBR, Patrol Boat River (all fiberglass boats, propelled by twin water jets)
LCM-8 Landing Craft Utility (LCU)

Pathet Lao forces Equipment

Pistols

Tokarev TT-33[114]
Type 54 pistol: Chinese copy of TT-33.
Colt.45 M1911A1: Captured.

Submachine guns