The Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) used well-organized logistics methods to supply and equip their fighting forces. This logistics organization helped greatly in their war against the American and South Vietnamese military during the Vietnam War.

The Viet Cong's full-time soldiers were referred to as the "Main Force" (Quân chủ lực). The National Liberation Front (NLF) was a united front designed to encourage non-communists to support the insurgency in the south. The term NVA identifies regular troops of the North Vietnamese Army as they were commonly known by their Western opponents. Collectively, both forces were part of PAVN which made up all armed forces of North Vietnam.Douglas Pike, PAVN: People's Army of Vietnam, (Presidio: 1996) pp. 37–169

VC/PAVN equipment and weapons

Overall, the supplies and equipment of communist units were adequate, and their infantry small-arms were a match for those of their opponents.Lanning and Cragg, pp. 106–145 Contrary to some popular impressions of simple peasant farmers armed with low quality or obsolete weapons, the VC and PAVN main units (as well as the local forces in the latter years) were well equipped with modern arms either from Soviet bloc or Chinese sources. In the early years of the insurgency in the South a larger variety of weapons were used, ranging from World War I-era bolt-action rifles to World War II-era weapons, with procurement via a wide range of methods. Such variation and diversity lessened and standardized as the war went on. By 1970, the communist inventory was mostly standardized, even at the village guerrilla level.Lanning and Cragg, op. cit

Weapons used by the VC were originally a varied mixture of both French weapons from the days of French Indochina, captured enemy weapons and Soviet and Chinese support, including both newly produced weapons, old stockpiles and captured enemy stockpiles from World War II. Common weapons included the French MAS-36 and other weapons left behind from the First Indochina War, the Soviet Mosin-Nagant, especially M1944 carbines, mostly by way of China. Mauser Kar98k rifles, both of captured German origin by way of Soviet Union or Chinese-made Chiang Kai-shek rifles were also provided as military aid. Japanese Arisaka rifles were also used in the earlier stages of the war and the M1 Carbine was a common and popular weapon captured from enemy ARVN troops.

The most common infantry weapons of the PAVN was the Soviet SKS carbine or its Chinese variant. Gradually, PAVN units were refitted with more modern AK-47 rifles from China, the Soviet Union, and other Warsaw Pact countries. The SKS carbines were passed down to the guerrillas, which were later armed with AK rifles themselves. Both weapons used the same intermediate 7.62mm cartridge, which eased logistics.

The 7.62mm round was also interchangeable with the Soviet RPD light machine gun, another standard infantry weapon of the VC/PAVN. Early units of PAVN had also made use of the Soviet RP-46 machine gun and the variety of weapons of the VC also included Chinese made ZB vz. 26, French FM 24/29, Soviet DP-28, captured M1918 BAR automatic rifles and even ex-German MG-34 (for Anti-Air use). Note that all Soviet weapons also had common Chinese copies.

Heavier machine guns were used in fixed mode as anti-aircraft weapons or carried disassembled due to their weight, to be used in set piece assaults. Chinese Type 24, Soviet Maxim, SG-43 and DShK, as well as captured Browning M1919 were used in these roles.

Submachine guns were also used by the PAVN early on, before being more and more by replaced by AK-47 automatic rifles, which made the army pass them down to the VC. The two most common types included the French MAT 49, using either its original 9×19mm ammunition or having been converted to use the 7.62×25mm Tokarev cartridge, and the Soviet/Chinese PPSh-41, often modified and converted in PAVN arsenals to the K-50M. Other types used by the less standardized VC included the Soviet PPS-43, captured or Chinese produced M1 Thompson and M3 Grease Guns, and ex-German MP 40. Late war PAVN special units, such as Đặc Công sappers, even made use of some modern SA vz. 61 and PM-63 RAK machine pistols of Czech and Polish origin.

Communist units also employed mortars frequently, with the Soviet 82mm and its Chinese variants being the most common alongside 60mm Chinese Type 31 and Type 63, American M2 mortar, French Brandt Mle 1935 and 81mm Brandt Mle 27/31.

Extensive use was made of the very effective Soviet-designed rocket propelled grenade anti-tank grenade launcher, the RPG-2 and RPG-7, commonly known as the B-40 and B-41, respectively. They were originally designed for use against armored vehicles but it was adapted for anti-personnel use to good effect. Recoilless rifles against bunkers, buildings and vehicles included American and Chinese variants of the 57mm M18 and 75mm M20 recoilless rifle, as well as the Soviet 73mm SPG-9. They also made use of the Soviet/Chinese 122mm rocket which was used effectively against populated areas and large installations such as airfields. While inaccurate compared to more sophisticated weapons, the 122 mm rocket made an effective terror weapon when deployed against civilian targets. Other rocket types included tube-launched Chinese 107mm and Soviet 140mm variants.

The VC/PAVN relied heavily on heavy machine guns and standard Soviet-designed anti-aircraft batteries like the ZPU-series for air defense functions. In the latter year of the conflict, field units of the VC/PAVN deployed Soviet SA-7 Man-portable air-defense system that presented a significant challenge to US air dominance, particularly helicopters. For strategic aerial defense, the North deployed one of the densest and most sophisticated air-defense systems in the world based on Soviet surface-to-air missile missiles and radar batteries.

The VC/PAVN used a wide variety of grenades from explosives inserted into discarded American C-ration cans to modern Chicom types. Booby traps were the province of guerrilla level forces more so than the VC/PAVN regulars. The infamous punji sticks soaked in excrement and urine received much press, but they were of negligible effect compared to the massive quantity of anti-personnel and anti-vehicle mines deployed by main communist units. These quantities increased vastly as the North stepped up infiltration into the South. Mines and booby traps applied significant psychological pressure on US/ARVN forces and slowed and disrupted both military operations and civilian life.

Fighting a mobile guerrilla war much of the time, the VC/PAVN could not deploy large quantities of heavy artillery or tanks. Exceptions were the set piece siege battles such as the battle of Khe Sanh or heavy artillery duels against US batteries across the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone. It was only after the shift to conventional warfare in the 1972 Easter Offensive, and the final conventional campaign in 1975 (when US airpower had vacated the field) that tanks and heavy batteries were openly used in significant numbers. When using heavy artillery, the VC/PAVN relied on high quality Soviet-supplied heavy 122mm and 130mm guns that outranged American and ARVN opposition.

VC/PAVN logistics

Austerity of communist force requirements VC/PAVN logistics were marked by austerity, but sufficient supplies, equipment and material were on hand to furnish final victory. Consumption levels were much less than those of their American/ARVN opponents. It is estimated that a VC/PAVN division in the south typically required only 15 tons of supplies per day.Stanley Karnow, Vietnam: A History, (Viking Press: 1983) pp. 469 Total requirements to run the insurgency in the south were relatively small compared to the needs of US opponents, well below port and rail capacity. One US intelligence estimate puts external communist supply requirements for Communist forces in South Vietnam at approximately 100 tons per day- 15 tons via the DMZ, 35 tons from Cambodia and 50 tons from Laos.Gordon et al. 2005. Estimative products on Vietnam, 1948–1975. United States Government Printing OFfice. pg 20.

In 1968 with the Tet Offensive and other major operations, these numbers surged but still weighed in at a modest daily 120 tons. By contrast a single US heavy combat division required about 5 times this amount.Encyclopædia Britannica, "Warfare, Conduct of", 1984 ed, pp 595–597 The problem was not the total incoming quantity but moving material down the Ho Chi Minh Trail and other transmission paths, to the point of battle operations. Soviet bloc and Chinese shipments easily met ordinary communist force requirements. Internal supply from within South Vietnam was also crucial, particularly food supplies.

Support by the Soviet bloc and China Communist bloc support was vital for prosecution of the war in the South. North Vietnam had relatively little industrial base. The gap was filled primarily by China and Russia. The Soviet Union was the largest supplier of war aid, furnishing most fuel, munitions, and heavy equipment, including advanced air defense systems. China made significant contributions in medicines, hospital care, training facilities, foodstuffs, and infantry weapons.

Since China bordered Vietnam, it was an immensely important conduit of material on land, although the Soviets also delivered some of its aid by sea. Soviet aid outstripped that of China, averaging over half a billion dollars per year in the later stages of the war, with some $700 million in 1967 alone. China provided an estimated $150 million to $200 million annually, along with such in-kind aid as the deployment of thousands of troops in road and railway construction in the border provinces.Lanning and Cragg, pp.110–134 China also provided radar stations and airfields where Vietnam People's Air Force aircraft could marshal for attack, or flee to when in trouble against American air forces. These military airbases were off-limits to American retaliation.John Prados, The Blood Road, (New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1998), p. 62–139

The railway network in the Chinese provinces bordering North Vietnam was of vital importance in importing war material. American rules of engagement forbid strikes against this network for fear of provoking Chinese intervention. Thousands of Chinese troops (the PLA's 1st and 2nd Divisions) made important contributions to Hanoi's war effort- building or repairing hundreds of miles of track and numerous other facilities such as bridges, tunnels, stations and marshaling yards. Chinese troops also built bunkers and other fortifications, and manned dozens of anti-aircraft batteries. In all, some 320,000 Chinese soldiers served in Vietnam during the war.

The Ho Chi Minh and Sihanouk Trails

The Ho Chi Minh Trail