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Vietnamese People's Navy Naval Infantry

The VPN Naval Infantry is the only marine corps in the world that has more personnel that its parent Navy. People's Army of Vietnam Navy Naval Infantry (binh doan Hai quan danh bo) is a puzzle. According to the authoritative Military Balance of the International Institute of Strategic Studies, as of 2010 it was the second large marine corps in the world, second only to the United States Marine Corps. But the equally authoritative US Army Country Studies of Vietnam make no mention of such an entity, and a search of the internet is equally unrewarding.

By 1969 PA VN had raised the 500-man 126 Naval Sapper Group, stationed in the vicinity of the Cua Viet River, just south of the DMZ. In 1974 Chinese troops ejected South Vietnamese forces from the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea. During the final days of the Second Indochina War, sappers from this group conducted a surprise amphibious landing on the South Vietnamese-held Spratly Islands.

After the war the 126 Naval Sapper Group was expanded into the 126 Marine Brigade. By the 1978 Cambodian invasion a second brigade, the 950, had been raised, and both took part in the invasion. The naval infantry was formed in the late 1970s to defend the Spratly Islands claimed by the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. In 1979 the Chinese army launched a punitive attack into northern Vietnam in response to Hanoi's invasion of Cambodia; and in 1988 Chinese and Vietnamese naval forces clashed in the South China Sea over the disputed Spratly Islands. Since then, diplomatic relations have been normalized, but tensions over the South China Sea remain high.

In 1987 the navy consisted of about 15,000 about officers and enlisted personnel. According to the IISS, in 2006 the Vietnamese Navy consisted of about 27,000 naval infantry, 9,000 regulars, and 3,000 conscripts, while by 2010 IISS reported 27,000 naval infantry and 13,000 other Vietnamese Navy personnel. IISS reported Naval Infantry stations in Hanoi [the headquarters], the coastal ports of Da Nang, Cam Ranh Bay, Hatou, Haiphong, and the Mekong Delta cities Ho Chi Minh City and Can Tho.

PAVN (People's Army of Vietnam) is the formal name given to all elements of the Vietnamese armed forces; hence the designation PAVN (or People's) Navy. The Navy Command is based in Hai Phong City, but is currently organized into four Naval Regions (Vùng H?i quân). Each Naval Region is comprised of both land-based installations and forces afloat, including Navy Groups (h?i doàn), flotillas (h?i d?i tàu), Marine Infantry units (binh doan Hai quan danh bo), and other specialized combat and combat service support units.

Publicly identified naval forces to support amphibious operations are modest: 3 LSTs, each of which can carry 200 troops, 3 Polnochny LSMs, each of which can carry 180 troops, 5 LCUs, and 18 LCMs. Total landing ship [LST and LSM] lift capacity is just shy of 1,200 troops, two or three battalions. This represents only a small fraction of the ships and craft that were inherited from the South Vietnamese Marine Corps.

Lacking prior experience in marine operations, the Vietnamese People's Naval Infantry probably based itself on Soviet Naval Infantry. However, by comparison with Soviet or Russian naval infantry units, the Vietnamese People's Naval Infantry seems rather lightly armed. Soviet military doctrine calls for the naval infantry to be used as shock troops spearheading an assault that would be followed up by ground forces. The Soviets categorized amphibious landings depending on the scale of the landing. These categories are strategic, operational, tactical, and reconnaissance and sabotage landings. Secondary missions, such as coastal defense, may also be assigned. Tactical landings are conducted to strike at the rear area or flank of any enemy force along a coastline, or for seizing islands, naval bases, coastal airfields, ports, and other objectives on an enemy-held coastline. The naval infantry force employed could be a battalion or larger, operating independently or with ground force units.

By 1990, these Naval Infantry was reported to be divided into at least five brigades numbered 126, 147, 148, 149, and 950. Each brigade had three to five infantry battalions, an armored battalion, and artillery, anti-aircraft, and armored reconnaissance companies.

According to Mark Beavis, who seems to be the only person who claims to know anything on the subject, by 1998 there were two Brigades , each of which had 3-5 Infantry Battalions, plus one Armored Battalion starting in 1980. Beavis reports that by 1988 there were five Brigades, reduced to three by 1991. The naval infantry is equipped with PT-76 light tanks, BTR-60 personnel carriers and other weapons.

Naval Infantry Brigade. The naval infantry brigade consists of three to five naval infantry battalions, a tank battalion, and several specialized support companies. It probably has a strength of about 2,000 men. Its organization is similar to a Soviet motorized rifle regiment except that the tank battalion has a mix of light tanks and PT-76 amphibious light tanks, and an organic artillery battalion. It also receives artillery support from the naval gunfire ships of the amphibious task force.

Naval Infantry Battalion. The basic unit of the naval infantry brigade is the naval infantry battalion. The battalion is made up of three naval infantry companies, and one support company that includes a mortar battery, an anti-tank and recoiless rifle platoon, and a recon platoon. In all, the battalion probably numbers about 400 men. This unit, reinforced, constitutes the basic amphibious attack force in the assault landing-the battalion assault force (BAF). The naval infantry battalion possesses neither the combat power nor the support necessary to sustain itself in a major conflict. The strength of a naval battalion regiment approximates that of a U.S. Marine amphibious unit which has a reinforced infantry battalion as the ground component. <

Naval Infantry Company. The naval infantry company is made up of a small company headquarters, a heavy weapons platoon and three naval infantry platoons. The company headquarters consists of the company commander, political officer, technical officer. first sergeant, messenger/clerk, medic, two SA-7 gunners, and five automatic rifle [AR] squads. Each platoon consists of three squads of nine men each. Each squad consists of the squad leader, a machine gunner, an RPG gunner, an assistant RPG gunner/rifleman, and five riflemen.

Tank Battalion. The naval infantry tank battalion has a mix of PT-76 light amphibious tanks and Type 63 light tank. Each of the three tank companies has three platoons of three tanks each with the company commander's tank bringing the total to 10 tanks. While the Type 63 light tanks are not amphibious, they can disembark in shallow water as a follow-on landing force behind the PT-76 and BTR-60 first or second wave. In task organizing a landing force, one platoon of tanks normally supports a naval infantry company.

Reconnaissance Company. The reconnaissance company may be task organized to provide two or three platoon of at least three BTR-40 or BRDM-1 or BRDM-2 to the battalion assault force for the amphibious landing. The Soviets consider this platoon to be one of their amphibious assault advance teams. These teams also include combat engineers and hydrographic personnel who report beach conditions. In certain instances, reconnaissance vehicles may swim to shore under their own power. Conditions permitting, they may he landed by air cushion vehicles. Some reconnaissance teams also may be air-landed by helicopter or dropped by parachute behind defended positions. The reconnaissance platoon has two objectives: To provide information to the main landing force about enemy defensive positions and enemy reinforcements on the march toward the beach. To screen forward and to the flank of the amphibious landing teams.

Artillery Battery. The naval infantry brigades artillery battery may have 6x 85mm D44, or 122mm Type 60 or 122mm D30 towed artillery, along with 7 trucks. These weapons augment the 82mm M41 mortars employed at battalion level and generally constitute the brigade reserve.

Air Defense Battery. Besides the two SA-7s at company level, air defense is provided to brigade units by the 6x 37mm M39 or Quad 14.5mm ZPU-4, mounted on six trucks. Supporting naval ships provide air defense throughout all phases of the landing operation.

Sapper Company. The sapper company contains three combat engineer platoons. Normally, a combat engineer platoon is provided to support each battalion assault force. It clears obstacles and mine-fields along the approaches to the shore, on the beaches, and on routes leading inland from the beaches.