I would like a list of US weapons manufacturers of the bombs / weapons
systems dropped on Laos and Cambodia during the Vietnam War (basically
early 1960s through 1975 or so). The list should indicate which
specific types of weapons were produced by each manufacturer. I
understand, for example, that Honeywell (now Alliant TechSystems) and
possibly Hayes International made some of these weapons, but for a
research paper I need a much more complete list. |
Request for Question Clarification by
pafalafa-ga
on
25 Sep 2004 05:05 PDT
Do you already have a list of the bombs that you want to know the
manufacturers of? If so, it would be a great help if you could post
the list here.
If not, then please clarify...are you asking researchers to compile a
list of both the types of bombs used by the US in Vietnam, as well as
the manufactuers of these weapons?
Any additional information you could provide would be quite useful. Thanks.
pafalafa-ga
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Clarification of Question by
inkvisitor-ga
on
26 Sep 2004 12:31 PDT
Thank you for the inquiry, pafalafa. I have a short list (NOT
complete) of what types of bombs I have seen referred to as being used
in Cambodia and Laos, but (a) the list is surely incomplete, and (b)
some items may be on the list erroneously.
To answer your question, yes, I would like to make the list of weapons
used / bombs dropped complete, as a first matter. Once then I know
what was used, I need to find out who manufactured these weapons.
Please note, however, that the information I need is for Laos and
Cambodia, not Vietnam (although naturally one would expect there to be
significant and perhaps even 100% overlap between what was used in
these two countries and what was used in Laos, this should not be
taken for granted. It would not be appropriate to do a search, for
example, on bombs and Vietnam, as the results might be misleading.
The short (incomplete, and possibly inaccurate) list of bombs for Laos
that IO have been able to assemble thus far is: ? Mk-81 ? 250 lb LDGP
Low drag general purpose bomb
? Mk-82 ? 500 lb
? CBU-14 cluster bomb units
? LAU-3A rocket pods
? SUU-025 flare dispensers
? BLU-23 napalm bombs ? 500 lbs
? BLU-37 finned napalm bombs ? 750 lbs
? M31 incendiary clusters
? M32 incendiary clusters
? M34 incendiary bombs
? M35 incendiary bombs
? M1A4 fragmentation clusters
? M47 white phosphorous bombs
? CBU-24 cluster bomb units
? CBU-25 cluster bomb units
? CBU-29 cluster bomb units
? CBU-49 cluster bomb units
? M117 general purpose bomb ? 750 lbs
I understand that at least 30 or more different types of munitions
were dropped on Laos. It may be (although not that likely, with a
couple of exceptions) that more than one manufacturer made certain
weapons.
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Request for Question Clarification by
pafalafa-ga
on
26 Sep 2004 19:03 PDT
inkvisitor-ga,
Thanks for getting back to me.
Are you familiar with the list at this link:
http://www.personal.psu.edu/users/d/o/dob104/aviation/us/bomb.html
I found it during my research, and in reviewing it, have come to the
following preliminary conclusions:
--this is probably the best internet resource there is on your topic,
--nevertheless, it's very incomplete and of limited use for
identifying bombs from specific campaigns.
--there are only a handful of bomb makers, it would appear
--the person who created that list must have done a heck of a lot of work.
--likewise, you must have done a heck of a lot of work to create the
list that you provided in your clarifications.
--my sense is that this question cannot be answered for $50 -- or even
$500 -- worth of effort. This strikes me as a large, long-term
research project.
I'd like your thoughts on all this. Perhaps I'm just missing some key
resources, or have misconstrued the overall scope of the question. It
would be a benefit to know more of your own experience here, and
whether I'm over-reacting to what seems a real paucity of information.
Let me know what you think.
pafalafa-ga
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Clarification of Question by
inkvisitor-ga
on
26 Sep 2004 21:58 PDT
Hi pafalafa,
Thanks for the further note and the link. The link is interesting in
that it looks as if the creator of that table is trying to come up
with a comprehensive list of all types of bomb munitions, but a bit
unclear as to whether these are US only (since one or two of the
listed manufacturers might be non-US, but obviously the vast majority
of non-US bombs is not included on the list at all).
My guess is that you are correct, the research challenge may be too
much to achieve on internet, no matter how much one digs. There are 2
other methods, which I may have to employ -- FOIA requests (but these
cost a lot ofmmoney, are time-consuming, and bureaucratic, and not
particularly useful for a research paper with a definite submission
date), and contacting some of the humanitarian groups in Laos and
Cambodia who are involved in cleaning up the bombs that remain, or
dealing with the aftereffects on the populations -- such groups might
have some list of what they are encountering and who manufactured it.
I do appreciate your insights and help. It sounds like I have a lot
more digging to do, none of it very effectively unfortunately.
Thanks!
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