For all intents and purposes the war is over. An NVA tank passes through the gate into the presidential palace grounds. This copy of an older model Russian tank would have been easy prey for the South's M48s but they were out of ammunition, the US Congress had cut off resupply. And the South's tanks were out of fuel too, the US Congress had cut off all resupply to the South Vietnamese. Infantry anti-tank weapons could have stopped these invaders but they were out of ammunition. Did I mention that the US Congress had cut off resupply? The result was that the North's tanks were unopposed and quickly overran the city of Saigon, effectively ending the war.

Characteristics for the principal NVA tanks are shown below.

T55 tank
The T55, a Russian tank, was designed in 1955, and put into service in 1958.

  • crew - 4
  • weight - 36 metric tons;
  • Armament:
    Cannon -100mm
    2 machine-guns 7.62mm; 3500 cartridges.
  • Operational Characteristics
    Power - 580 hp
    Max speed - 50 km/h
    Range - 500 km

    PAVN Type 62
    Actually scaled down T55 supplied to North Vietnam by China.

  • Crew - 4
  • Armament:
    85mm main gun
    12.7 and 7.62mm machineguns

    RETURN