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Technology's Role In The Vietnam War

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Introduction Technology and war are closely related as it shapes the strategies adopted by nations and also influence the outcome of the war . Technological advancements are also driven by war due to the perceived needs to stay ahead and stay relevant in the new era so as to provide a technological edge against potential adversaries2. Although technology employed during war does provide an advantage against potential adversaries, however, it does not always result in a decisive advantage or victory in war. As demonstrated during the Vietnam War in the 1960s, the US who are armed with far superior technology advantages over the Viet Cong (VC) forces had failed to capitalise on it to win a decisive war. As a result, the US fought a long and costly …show more content…

Nations who possessed better technology does have added advantages such as air power, firepower, precision and mobility over their adversaries. Equipped with far superior technologies in air power and fire power as opposed to the VC forces, the US managed to inflict heavy casualties on the communists during the Vietnam War. An example of the advantage of technology used during the Vietnam War was that the US made good use of its helicopters for launching large troop insertion into the theatre of operations that allowed them to reach faster to areas that are inaccessible by foot or vehicles2. In addition, the helicopters were integral in providing troops with good close air support with their heavy machine guns mounted on the …show more content…

One such challenge of using technology during the Vietnam War was that the US could not fully utilise the tanks to their advantage as the terrain in the Vietnam jungle was too muddy and soft that hinder the movement of their tanks.3 Thus, the tanks were not fully employed and hardly played a huge role in combat during the war. The US were also overconfident and underestimated the capabilities of the well-trained VC in guerrilla warfare who were very familiar and knowledgeable with the terrains and challenging environmental conditions that caused challenges for the US to engage them. VC forces were very effective and elusive by hiding underground through their extensive network of Cu Chi tunnels to evade the US forces and air bombardment. Through non-conventional warfare such as the guerrilla tactics employed by the VC, it made it harder for the US forces to call in air power to bombard the VC forces as they fought very closely against the US and thus, rendered the US air power advantage

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"Helicopters heavily impacted the outcome of the Vietnam War through a number of different ways. During the War in 1955-1975 the helicopters were used in a completely new way and allowed for a complete new form of combat. The helicopters dramatically altered components of the Vietnam war, specifically through the support aspect of helicopters as well as the overall increase in militarisation of the war and finally the drastic changes in tactics. Helicopters within the Vietnam war dramatically impacted the outcome of the war as it completely changed military tactics that were used in battle.

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Shortly following the conclusion of the United States’ conflict in Korea, the American military once again deployed its service members to Eastern Asia to combat and contain the spread of Communism; this time in the form of the Democratic Republic of North Vietnam. While the vast majority of the American populace recalls the Vietnam War as primarily an exercise of ground forces and maneuver, an often-overlooked aspect of the war is the significant contribution to strategy and successful adaptation to threats demonstrated by Air Defense Artillery Soldiers of the era. One of the more proud moments for the Air Defense Artillery Branch was their pivotal role in the Vietnam War. From the branch’s only Medal of Honor winner, to the Duster, and

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Abrams also stressed a “one war” concept that put equal emphasis on military operations, improvement of the Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces, and pacification – all of which are codependent so that the better we do in one, the more our chance of progress in others (18). The changes in tactics under Abrams, and in the concept of the nature of the war, and even the enemy reaction to battlefield reserves, by no means meant an end to fierce combat, or even to large-scale military operations (138). America’s principal national objective became peace. Abrams policy proved to be better than the policy of attrition. The policy of attrition simply meant, under those circumstances, a very prolonged type of warfare, whereas the U.S. can clear and hold, and keep an area secure, and keep the enemy out.

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This is because the tanks could move over the trenches and into enemy territory; This prevented enemy forces from inflicting damage to the tanks. Most primary sources state that the tank could simply roll over the trenches and inflict significant damage upon the enemy forces. This machine majorly contributed many significant battles such as the battle of Amens by exposing its capabilities and significance to the war effort thus proving its worth as part of an all arms

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The art of war passed through a fundamental transformation, especially in the eighteenth and nineteenth-centuries. Changes involved all aspects of warfare, strategy, operations, logistics and tactics. That period saw unprecedented economic, social, and political change. Therefore, the manner in which a given society wages war is the typical product of the whole societal, political, and economic system for that society. While the economic, societal and politic order that characterized the period between the religion wars and the French revolution had limited warfare; mass politics, nationalism and the industrial revolution which marked the era of the French revolution and the U.S. Civil War remade warfare from its strategic, operational, logistic

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World War Two was a war very different from World War One; new technology developed during World War Two made the previous world war look ancient and primitive. With the start of World War Two, man-on-man combat was a thing of the past, as advanced technology such as airplanes became necessarily dominant. Countries were fighting to get ahead of each other in technology, as the more technologically advanced the opponent was, the greater the advantage they had. The development of technology grew exponentially, as any affluent country that even began to lag behind industrially was utterly demolished. Therefore, because the war was dependent on the use of highly-advanced machinery and devastating weapons, the development of technology was exceedingly

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So many technological advancements were created and those advancements helped with what we have today. The weapons, vehicles, and machines helped modernize war and shaped how we live

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In using artillery and air power of weapons like the M163 Vulcan, M42A1 Skysweeper, and the MIM23 Hawk we were able to take down our enemies. There was 2.7 million soldiers that served in the Vietnam War. In this being said there were 58,000 that died or remained missing, and 300,000 that were wounded. More than one hundred forty billion dollars was spent on this war. The U.S failed to overcome its objective of preserving an independent, noncommunist state in Vietnam, now no one knows how or why we fought this war or weather the military outcome was possible for the United States.

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This essay will investigate to what extent did the Strategies and Tactics used by the United States, North and South Vietnam, and the Soviet Union influence the outcome of the Vietnam war? The Vietnam War was one of the most significant war in American History. It was a war that will not be forgotten in a long time due to its surprising outcome and length of the war. One of the key roles in the war that had affected the outcome of the war were the tactics and strategies that were used by different countries. To investigate this question you will need to know about the strategies and tactics that were used by different countries.

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