VietNamNet Bridge – Professor, Academician Tran Dai Nghia is a big name in the field of weapon manufacturing in Vietnam, and associated with the famous products in the history of the war of resistance of Vietnamese people such as bazoka bullets, SKZ guns or flying bombs.
Prof. Tran Dai Nghia. Last September, the southern province of Vinh Long organized a lot of activities to celebrate Prof. Tran Dai Nghia's 100th birthday (13/9/1913 -13/9/2013).
Prof. Tran Dai Nghia’s real name is Pham Quang Le. He was born in Vinh Long and was fatherless from the age of 6. Before his death, the father told his family to try to support his son’s studies.
The sister had to drop out of school to work with her mother to support Pham Quang Le to go to school. He grew up in the loving arms of his mother and sister.
After graduating from the junior secondary school in My Tho province, he went to Saigon to study at the famous High School of Petrus Ky, which is now Le Hong Phong High School for Gifted Students.
In mid-1933, he had two high-school diplomas of both Vietnam and France but he did not have money to go to Hanoi for further studies. Pham Quang Le decided to go to work to help his mother, sister and wait for an opportunity.
In 1935 he went to France and after years of hard study, with intelligence and high energy, Pham Quang Le received three university diplomas at the same time: bridge and road engineering, electrical engineering and bachelor of mathematics. He then obtained other degrees: aerospace engineering, mining engineering and the degree of the Polytechnic University.
40 mm Bazoka guns manufactured by Vietnam in 1947 to equip to soldiers in the Viet Bac campaign. Photo: VinhlongOnline.
With 11 years of studying abroad, he quietly researched weapon manufacturing technology. In 1946, Pham Quang Le followed President Ho Chi Minh to return home. The name Tran Dai Nghia was given by President Ho. It is also the name entering the history of weapon manufacturing of Vietnam.
In November 11, 1946 he and his colleagues began researching anti-tank guns based on the Bazoka model of the U.S. After a lot of failure, in February 1947, bazoka was successful tested.
3/3/1947 has become a landmark of the Vietnam Military in the manufacture of weapons, when the bazoka contributed to break the enemy’s attacks in Chuong My, Hanoi today. In the Fall Winter 1947 campaign, bazoka guns made French warships sink on the Lo River. After that, the Military Weapon Department continued to produce a series of bazokas with the range of up to 600m and 50m in range of damage.
After bazoka bullets, in the years 1948 – 1949, Tran Dai Nghia and his colleagues in the Military Weapon Department began to research and manufacture guns with strong destroy power – SKZ recoilless rifles. This was a line of modern weapons, which made its debut in the U.S. Army’s landing on the Japanese island of Okinawa at the end of the Second World War.
Flying bombs manufactured by the Vietnam Military Weapon Department in March 1948. Photo: VinhlongOnline.
SKZ is a heavy gun weighing 20kg, used to attack the enemy’s strong forts. The bullets can penetrate thick concrete. Vietnam’s SKZs were used for the first time in the Pho Lu campaign, raiding several enemy bunkers.
In 1950, in the South Central battlefield, in one night, this type of recoilless rifles helped remove five 5 enemy posts.
Tran Dai Nghia continued researching and manufacturing flying bombs which are similar to V1 and V2 of Germany.
He also created missiles weighing 30kg that can attack targets 4 km away.
In the war against the US, Tran Dai Nghia made significant contributions in the fight against B – 52 aircraft, breaking the enemy’s torpedo system and manufacturing special equipment for the commando forces.
The King of Weapons of Vietnam Tran Dai Nghia passed away on August 9, 1997 and his name is always associated with the history of the Vietnam military weapon industry.
Tran Cham
Đăng ký: VietNam News