Dave Philipps is a national correspondent for The New York Times, and Matthew Cole is a freelance journalist. Both have covered the military for more than 15 years.
A group of Navy SEALs emerged from the ink-black ocean on a winter night in early 2019 and crept to a rocky shore in North Korea. They were on a top secret mission so complex and consequential that everything had to go exactly right.
The objective was to plant an electronic device that would let the United States intercept the communications of North Korea’s reclusive leader, Kim Jong-un, amid high-level nuclear talks with President Trump.
The mission had the potential to provide the United States with a stream of valuable intelligence. But it meant putting American commandos on North Korean soil — a move that, if detected, not only could sink negotiations but also could lead to a hostage crisis or an escalating conflict with a nuclear-armed foe.
It was so risky that it required the president’s direct approval.
For the operation, the military chose SEAL Team 6’s Red Squadron — the same unit that killed Osama bin Laden. The SEALs rehearsed for months, aware that every move needed to be perfect. But when they reached what they thought was a deserted shore that night, wearing black wet suits and night-vision goggles, the mission swiftly unraveled.
A North Korean boat appeared out of the dark. Flashlights from the bow swept over the water. Fearing that they had been spotted, the SEALs opened fire. Within seconds, everyone on the North Korean boat was dead.
The SEALs retreated into the sea without planting the listening device.
The 2019 operation has never been publicly acknowledged, or even hinted at, by the United States or North Korea. The details remain classified and are being reported here for the first time. The Trump administration did not notify key members of Congress who oversee intelligence operations, before or after the mission. The lack of notification may have violated the law.
The White House declined to comment.
This account is based on interviews with two dozen people, including civilian government officials, members of the first Trump administration and current and former military personnel with knowledge of the mission. All of them spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the mission’s classified status.
Several of those people said they were discussing details about the mission because they were concerned that Special Operations failures are often hidden by government secrecy. If the public and policymakers become aware only of high-profile successes, such as the raid that killed bin Laden in Pakistan, they may underestimate the extreme risks that American forces undertake.
The military operation on North Korean soil, close to American military bases in South Korea and the Pacific region, also risked setting off a broader conflict with a hostile, nuclear-armed and highly militarized adversary.
The Times cautiously when reporting on classified military operations. The Times has withheld some sensitive information on the North Korea mission that could affect future Special Operations and intelligence-gathering missions.
It is unclear how much North Korea was able to discover about the mission. But the SEAL operation is one chapter in a decades-long effort by U.S. administrations to engage North Korea and constrain its nuclear weapons programs.Almost nothing the United States has tried — neither promises of closer relations nor the pressure of sanctions — has worked.
In 2019, Mr. Trump was making a personalized overture to Mr. Kim, in search of a breakthrough that had eluded prior presidents. But those talks collapsed, and North Korea’s nuclear program accelerated. The U.S. government estimates that North Korea now has roughly 50 nuclear weapons and missiles that can reach the West Coast. Mr. Kim has pledged to keep expanding his nuclear program “exponentially” to deter what he calls U.S. provocations.
Blind Spots
The SEAL mission was intended to fix a strategic blind spot. For years, U.S. intelligence agencies had found it nearly impossible to recruit human sources and tap communications in North Korea’s insular authoritarian state.
Gaining insight into Mr. Kim’s thinking became a high priority when Mr. Trump first took office. The North Korean leader seemed increasingly unpredictable and dangerous, and his relationship with Mr. Trump had lurched erratically between letters of friendship and public threats of nuclear war.
In 2018, relations seemed to be moving toward peace. North Korea suspended nuclear and missile tests, and the two countries opened negotiations, but the United States still had little insight into Mr. Kim’s intentions.
Amid the uncertainty, U.S. intelligence agencies revealed to the White House that they had a fix for the intelligence problem: a newly developed electronic device that could intercept Mr. Kim’s communications.
The catch was that someone had to sneak in and plant it.
Image
Mr. Trump and Mr. Kim met at the Metropole Hotel in Hanoi, Vietnam, in February 2019. Credit…Doug Mills/The New York Times
The job was given to SEAL Team 6 in 2018, military officials said.
Even for Team 6, the mission would be extraordinarily difficult. SEALs who were more used to quick raids in places like Afghanistan and Iraq would have to survive for hours in frigid seas, slip past security forces on land, perform a precise technical installation and then get out undetected.
Getting out undetected was vital. In Mr. Trump’s first term, top leaders in the Pentagon believed that even a small military action against North Korea could provoke catastrophic retaliation from anadversary with roughly 8,000 artillery pieces and rocket launchers aimed at the approximately 28,000 American troops in South Korea, and nuclear-capable missiles that could reach the United States.
But the SEALs believed they could pull off the mission because they had done something like it before.
In 2005, SEALs used a mini-sub to go ashore in North Korea and leave unnoticed, according to people familiar with the mission. The 2005 operation, carried out during the presidency of George W. Bush, has never before been reported publicly.
The SEALs were proposing to do it again. In the fall of 2018, while high-level talks with North Korea were underway, Joint Special Operations Command, which oversees Team 6, received approval from Mr. Trump to start preparing, military officials said. It is unclear whether Mr. Trump’s intent was to gain an immediate advantage during negotiations or if the focus was broader.
Joint Special Operations Command declined to comment.
The plan called for the Navy to sneak a nuclear-powered submarine, nearly two football fields long, into the waters off North Korea and then deploy a small team of SEALs in two mini-subs, each about the size of a killer whale,that would motor silently to the shore.
The mini-subs were wet subs, which meant the SEALs would ride immersed in 40-degree ocean water for about two hours to reach the shore, using scuba gear and heated suits to survive.
A U.S. Ohio-class nuclear-powered guided missile submarine takes part in exercises near Okinawa, Japan, in 2021. A similar submarine transported a Navy SEAL team to waters off North Korea in 2019. Credit…U.S. Marine Corps, via Department of Defense
Near the beach, the mini-subs would release a group of about eight SEALs who would swim to the target, install the device and then slip back into the sea.
But the team faced a serious limitation: It would be going in almost blind.
Typically, Special Operations forces have drones overhead during a mission, streaming high-definition video of the target, which SEALs on the ground and senior leaders in far-off command centers can use to direct the strike in real time. Often, they can even listen in on enemy communications.
But in North Korea, any drone would be spotted. The mission would have to rely on satellites in orbit and high-altitude spy planes in international airspace miles away that could provide only relatively low-definition still images, officials said.
Those images would arrive not in real time, but after a delay of several minutes at best. Even then, they could not be relayed to the mini-subs because a single encrypted transmission might give the mission away. Everything had to be done under a near blackout of communications.
If anything awaited the SEALs on shore, they might not know until it was too late.
The Operation Unravels
SEAL Team 6 practiced for months in U.S. waters and continued preparations into the first weeks of 2019. That February, Mr. Trump announced that he would meet Mr. Kim for a nuclear summit in Vietnam at the end of the month.
For the mission, SEAL Team 6 partnered with the Navy’s premier underwater team, SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team 1, which had been doing mini-sub espionage for years. The SEALs boarded the nuclear-powered submarine and headed for North Korea. When the submarine was in the open ocean, and about to enter a communications blackout, Mr. Trump gave the final go-ahead.
It is unclear what factors Mr. Trump weighed when approving the SEAL mission. Two of his top national security officials at that time — his national security adviser, John Bolton, and the acting defense secretary, Patrick M. Shanahan — declined to comment for this article.
The submarine neared the North Korean coast and launched two mini-subs, which motored to a spot about 100 yards from shore, in clear shallow water.
Mission planners had tried to compensate for having no live overhead video by spending months watching how people came and went in the area. They studied fishing patterns and chose a time when boat traffic would be scant. The intelligence suggested that if SEALs arrived silently in the right location in the dead of night in winter, they would be unlikely to encounter anyone.
The coast of North Korea, pictured in 2018, is frequented by small fishing boats.Credit…Ed Jones/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
The night was still and the sea was calm. As the mini-subs glided toward the target, their sensors suggested that the intelligence was correct. The shore appeared to be empty.
The mini-subs reached the spot where they were supposed to park on the sea floor. There, the team made what may have been the first of three small mistakes that seemed inconsequential at the time but may have doomed the mission.
In the darkness, the first mini-sub settled on the sea floor as planned, but the second overshot the mark and had to do a U-turn, officials said.
The plan called for the mini-subs to park facing the same way, but after the second sub doubled back, they were pointing in opposite directions. Time was limited, so the group decided to release the shore team and correct the parking issue later.
Sliding doors on the subs opened, and the SEALs — all gripping untraceable weapons loaded with untraceable ammunition — swam silently underwater to shore with the listening device.
Every few yards, the SEALs peeked above the black water to scan their surroundings. Everything seemed clear.
That might have been a second mistake. Bobbing in the darkness was a small boat. On board was a crew of North Koreans who were easy to miss because the sensors in the SEALs’ night-vision goggles were designed in part to detect heat, and the wet suits the Koreans wore were chilled by the cold seawater.
The SEALs reached shore thinking they were alone, and started to remove their diving gear. The target was only a few hundred yards away.
Back at the mini-subs, the pilots repositioned the sub that was facing the wrong way. With the sliding cockpit doors open for visibility and communication, a pilot revved the electric motor and brought the sub around.
That was probably a third mistake. Some SEALs speculated afterward in briefings that the motor’s wake might have caught the attention of the North Korean boat. And if the boat crew heard a splash and turned to look, they might have seen light from the subs’ open cockpits glowing in the dark water.
The boat started moving toward the mini-subs. The North Koreans were shining flashlights and talking as if they had noticed something.
Some of the mini-sub pilots told officials in debriefings afterward that from their vantage point, looking up through the clear water, the boat still seemed to be a safe distance away and they had doubted that the mini-subs had been spotted. But the SEALs at the shore saw it differently. In the dark, featureless sea, the boat to them seemed to be practically on top of the mini-subs.
A Navy mini-sub, known as a SEAL Delivery Vehicle, during a training exercise in 2007. Similar vehicles were used in the 2019 mission.Credit…U.S. Navy, via Department of Defense
With communications blacked out, there was no way for the shore team to confer with the mini-subs. Lights from the boat swept over the water. The SEALs didn’t know if they were seeing a security patrol on the hunt for them or a simple fishing crew oblivious to the high-stakes mission unfolding around them.
A man from the North Korean boat splashed into the sea.
If the shore team got into trouble, the nuclear-powered sub had a group of SEAL reinforcements standing by with inflatable speedboats. Farther offshore, stealth rotary aircraft were positioned on U.S. Navy ships with even more Special Operations troops, ready to sweep in if needed.
The SEALs faced a critical decision, but there was no way to discuss the next move. The mission commander was miles away on the big submarine. With no drones and a communications blackout, many of the technological advantages that the SEALs normally relied on had been stripped away, leaving a handful of men in wet neoprene, unsure of what to do.
As the shore team watched the North Korean in the water, the senior enlisted SEAL at the shore chose a course of action. He wordlessly centered his rifle and fired. The other SEALs instinctively did the same.
Compromise and Escape
If the SEALs were unsure whether the mission had been compromised before they fired, they had no doubt afterward. The plan required the SEALs to abort immediately if they encountered anyone. North Korean security forces could be coming. There was no time to plant the device.
The shore team swam to the boat to make sure that all of the North Koreans were dead. They found no guns or uniforms. Evidence suggested that the crew, which people briefed on the mission said numbered two or three people, had been civilians diving for shellfish. All were dead, including the man in the water.
Officials familiar with the mission said the SEALs pulled the bodies into the water to hide them from the North Korean authorities. One added that the SEALs punctured the boat crew’s lungs with knives to make sure their bodies would sink.
The SEALs swam back to the mini-subs and sent a distress signal. Believing the SEALs were in imminent danger of capture, the big nuclear submarine maneuvered into shallow water close to the shore, taking a significant risk to pick them up. It then sped toward the open ocean.
All the U.S. military personnel escaped unharmed.
Immediately afterward, U.S. spy satellites detected a surge of North Korean military activity in the area, U.S. officials said. North Korea did not make any public statements about the deaths, and U.S. officials said it was unclear whether the North Koreans ever pieced together what had happened and who was responsible.
The nuclear summit in Vietnam went ahead as planned at the end of February 2019, but the talks quickly ended with no deal.
By May, North Korea had resumed missile tests.
Mr. Trump and Mr. Kim met once more that June in the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea. It made for dramatic television, with Mr. Trump even stepping across into North Korea. But the brief meeting yielded little more than a handshake.
In the months that followed, North Korea fired more missiles than in any previous year, including some capable of reaching the United States. Since then, the United States estimates, North Korea has amassed 50 nuclear warheads and material to produce about 40 more.
Uneven Track Record
The aborted SEAL mission prompted a series of military reviews during Mr. Trump’s first term. They found that the killing of civilians was justified under the rules of engagement, and that the mission was undone by a collision of unfortunate occurrences that could not have been foreseen or avoided. The findings were classified.
The Trump administration never told leaders of key committees in Congress that oversee military and intelligence activities about the operation or the findings, government officials said. In doing so, the Trump administration may have violated federal law, said Matthew Waxman, a law professor at Columbia University who served in national security positions under former President George W. Bush.
Mr. Waxman said the law has gray areas that give presidents some leeway on what they tell Congress. But on more consequential missions, the burden leans more toward notification.
“The point is to ensure that Congress isn’t kept in the dark when major stuff is going on,” Mr. Waxman said. “This is exactly the kind of thing that would normally be briefed to the committees and something the committees would expect to be told about.”
Many of the people involved in the mission were later promoted.
But the episode worried some experienced military officials with knowledge of the mission, because the SEALs have an uneven track record that for decades has largely been concealed by secrecy.
Elite Special Operations units are regularly assigned some of the most difficult and dangerous tasks. Over the years, the SEALs have had a number of major successes, including hits on terrorist leaders, high-profilerescues of hostages and the takedown of bin Laden, that have built an almost superhuman public image.
But among some in the military who have worked with them, the SEALs have a reputation for devising overly bold and complex missions that go badly. Team 6’s debut mission, which was part of the U.S. invasion of Grenada in 1983, is a case in point.
The plan was to parachute into the sea, race to the coast in speedboats and plant beacons to guide assault forces to the island’s airport. But the SEALs’ plane took off late; they jumped at night and landed in stormy conditions, weighed down by heavy gear. Four SEALs drowned, and the rest swamped their speedboats.
The airfield was later seized by Army Rangers who parachuted directly onto the airfield.
U.S. troops monitoring the Point Salines airfield after the invasion of Grenada in 1983. SEAL Team 6’s debut mission, directed at the island’s main airport, went badly awry.Credit…Associated Press
Since then, SEALs have mounted other complex and daring missions that unraveled, in Panama, Afghanistan, Yemen and Somalia. During a rescue mission in Afghanistan in 2010, Team 6 SEALs accidentally killed a hostage they were trying to rescue with a grenade and then misled superiors about how she had died.
In part because of this track record, President Barack Obama curtailed Special Operations missions late in his second term and increased oversight, reserving complex commando raids for extraordinary situations like hostage rescues.
The first Trump administration reversed many of those restrictions and cut the amount of high-level deliberation for sensitive missions. A few days after taking office in 2017, Mr. Trump skipped over much of the established deliberative process to greenlight a Team 6 raid on a village in Yemen. That mission left 30 villagers and a SEAL dead and destroyed a $75 million stealth aircraft.
When President Joseph R. Biden Jr. succeeded Mr. Trump, the gravity of the North Korea mission attracted renewed scrutiny. Mr. Biden’s defense secretary, Lloyd J. Austin III, ordered an independent investigation, conducted by the lieutenant general in charge of the Army inspector general’s office.
In 2021, the Biden administration briefed key members of Congress on the findings, a former government official said.
Those findings remain classified.
Julian E. Barnes, Adam Entous and Eric Schmitt contributed reporting.
Dave Philipps writes about war, the military and veterans and covers The Pentagon.
This article, “The End Of An Era: Winchester Closes New Haven,” appeared originally in the May 2006 issue of American Rifleman. To subscribe to the magazine, visit the NRA membership page and select American Rifleman as your member magazine.
Recently, it has become fashionable for some residents of Connecticut to refer to their home as “the munitions state.” It should be noted that the phrase is not meant as a compliment, but rather, quite the opposite. In the eyes of those who use the epithet, Connecticut’s involvement in the production of arms is something shameful and not worthy of commemoration in any fashion.
Yet, a scant six decades ago, Connecticut’s arms industry played a pivotal role in Franklin D. Roosevelt’s call to transform the United States into an “Arsenal of Democracy.” Firms such as Colt, High Standard, Marlin and Winchester went on to produce the pistols, machine guns and rifles that brought about the destruction of the Axis Powers. Two-and-a-half decades earlier, it was Connecticut’s arms factories that helped the Allies defeat the forces of Imperial Germany. Earlier still, it was the manufacturing capabilities of Connecticut that ensured the victory of Union forces over those of the rebellious South.
Given their contributions to the security of the United States, it is saddening to see once-great companies fade from the scene. The sense of loss is made even more acute when present-day witnesses have little regard for the historical significance of these firms.
Winchester’s involvement with New Haven goes back to 1856. This view of the New Haven Arms Co. factory, circa 1860, shows Oliver F. Winchester in the window and Benjamin Tyler Henry in the doorway.
The latest factory to close in Connecticut has a tradition spreading back over one-and-a-half centuries. Though now owned by the U.S. Repeating Arms Co., the factory located in New Haven is almost universally referred to as the Winchester Repeating Arms Co. factory due to its long operation under that name. The New Haven works has produced millions of small arms for both the government and private use over the years. As a result, it is now worth remembering the significance its contribution to the welfare of this country and to the fabric of our culture.
The present-day facility occupies land first used as an arms and ammunition plant in 1872. However, Winchester’s involvement with New Haven goes back even further. In 1856, Oliver F. Winchester established a small factory in New Haven to manufacture Volcanic-pattern pistols and rifles. This firm, operating under the name New Haven Arms Company, later went on to produce the famous Henry Repeating Rifle.
During the Civil War, Henrys were purchased both by the U.S. government and by individual soldiers who recognized their tactical value. Christened by Southerners as “the damned Yankee rifle you can load on Sunday and shoot all week,” the Henry played an important role in the Union’s eventual victory.
Following the Civil War, the Henry’s design was modified so that it could be loaded through a gate on the right side of the receiver. Although this feature was designed by Nelson King, the new brass-frame rifle introduced in 1866 was briefly known as the Improved Henry before it became simply known as “the Winchester” after its manufacturer. The Winchester rapidly gained an audience among frontiersmen and sportsmen who appreciated its reliability and its ability to fire 13 shots without reloading. During the early 1870s, improvements in ammunition design, as well as manufacturing, led Winchester to develop a new iron-frame, repeating rifle chambered for a center-fire .44-40 Win. cartridge that was ballistically far superior to the rimfire round used in the 1866.
When the Model 1873 entered the market, it was immediately embraced by settlers, sportsmen and Western lawmen, especially the Texas Rangers. Despite its identification as “the gun that won the West” in a 1919 advertisement, most purchasers of the Model 1873 lived on the eastern side of the Mississippi River, where it was a well-respected deer rifle. In 1878, Winchester introduced its first bolt-action rifle, known as the Winchester-Hotchkiss. While the U.S. government purchased a considerable number of the rifles for both the Army and Navy, public acceptance was lackluster.
“I Wish I Had Dad’s Winchester” by Eugen Ivard. Courtesy of Winfield Galleries.
The Winchester company’s survival during the late 1860s and ’70s, when many other arms manufacturers failed, was the direct result of its founder’s decision to pursue foreign sales. Oliver F. Winchester’s realization at the end of the Civil War that the profitability of his firm would depend upon the development of overseas markets was prophetic. By deploying agents throughout the world, he was able to secure not only government contracts for his arms but, more importantly, protective import legislation that prevented other companies from directly selling their wares to retailers in a number of lucrative markets. This business plan was followed and further refined after Winchester’s death in 1880.
Though lever-action rifles remained a mainstay of the Winchester product line, in 1883, the firm entered into an alliance with John Moses Browning that would expand its model line. Over the next two decades, 10 Browning designs—incorporating improvements developed by the firm’s senior designer, William Mason—were manufactured by Winchester. Among these were two of the most famous rifles to be produced: the Model 1886 and 1894. In addition, Browning created what was to become known as the Model 1897 slide-action shotgun. The value of Browning’s contributions to Winchester is best demonstrated by the fact that the Model 1894 remained in production through the date that the modern plant was slated for closure.
One firearm made during that period, not normally associated with the Winchester company, is the Model 1895 Lee straight-pull rifle. Chambered for the 6 mm high-velocity cartridge, the Lee was adopted by the U.S. Navy.
Its use by the U.S. Marines guarding the consular area in Beijing during China’s Boxer Rebellion brought the rifle to public notice. In newspaper accounts published after the event, the Lee’s effectiveness was given equal prominence to the valor of the Marines themselves.
During World War II, Winchester was the only private manufacturer of M1 Garand rifles. The firm made more than a half-million M1s.
Following the end of Browning’s collaboration with Winchester in 1903, a young designer hired by Mason was to guide the firm’s product development for the next 30 years. In fairly rapid succession, Thomas C. Johnson expanded the Winchester line by developing the Model 1903, 1905, 1907 and 1910 self-loading rifles as well as the Model 1912 shotgun. Though work was forestalled by World War I, Johnson was also responsible for the Model 52 bolt-action and prototypes for what was later to become the Model 70—the “Rifleman’s Rifle.”
While the United States did not enter World War I until 1917, Winchester’s involvement began in late 1914. It manufactured more than a half-million Pattern 14 Rifles for the British, as well as approximately 273,000,000 rounds of .303 ammunition and nearly 2 million artillery shells. In addition, the French and Imperial Russian governments purchased quantities of the Model 1907 and 1910 self-loading rifles. Once America joined the war in April 1917, the Winchester company immediately offered its facilities to the War Department. The first arm to be produced under this arrangement was the Model of 1917 rifle, of which 545,566 were manufactured. Later, the firm received a contract for the Browning Automatic Rifle and had the distinction of being the only manufacturer to deliver BARs in time for use in France.
Among the other arms developed during World War I by Winchester’s designers was a dual magazine, selective-fire rifle that presaged the modern assault rifle. Chambered for a short, straight-cased .345 round, this rifle was fitted with easily detachable barrels that allowed its use as either an infantry or aerial arm.
Following World War I, Winchester’s management decided to expand operations to include hardware and general sporting goods. This move was prompted in part by Kidder-Peabody, which had become one of the concern’s primary stockholders.
Although the arrangement briefly held promise, by the mid-1920s, it had become evident that the firm was rapidly failing. Eventually, it declared bankruptcy but was saved from extinction by the Olin family, owners of the Western Cartridge Company.
Under the Olins’ stewardship, Winchester’s product line was trimmed and emphasis was placed once again on the manufacture of arms and ammunition. Though the 1930s were lean years for the firm, it streamlined its manufacturing and experimented with specialized tool production.
One of the latter programs involved the manufacture of the tooling necessary to make U.S. M1 Rifles. The so-called Educational Contract was a program designed to give the firm a head start on the model’s construction when World War II broke out. Indeed during World War II, Winchester was to be the sole private contractor for this infantry rifle, producing more than half a million of them before the war’s end.
Women played a key role in producing arms for America during World War II. This image shows Winchester’s Helen Wilsznski and others making Garand lock components.
Winchester’s designers were also responsible for what was to become known as the U.S. M1 carbine. The first prototype for this lightweight arm was made in 13 days, and a second, improved version was completed in 30 days. Though Winchester was not the prime contractor, it nevertheless went on to make 699,469 carbines that were to see extensive service in both the European and Pacific Theatres of Operation.
As at the end of World War I, the firm entered a period of retrenchment between 1946 and 1950. The time was not spent idly, however. New models and manufacturing techniques were developed. Experiments were also carried out to determine the value of new materials such as plastics and fiberglass.
To reduce production costs, the firm decided in the early 1960s to simplify its manufacturing processes once again. Adopted in 1964, the changes hurt the company’s image and the public began to classify many product lines as either pre- or post-’64.
Despite these cost-cutting efforts, Winchester’s profitability remained marginal. Consequently, when a labor dispute resulted in a walk-out in 1980, the Olin Corporation decided it was time to divest itself of the Winchester firearm line. In 1981, the New Haven facility was sold to a new firm that took the name U.S. Repeating Arms Co. In turn, this concern was later purchased by the Browning Arms Company, a subsidiary of the Belgian firm, the Herstal Group.
As this is written, however, the New Haven facility is to permanently close, thus ending a century-and-a-half tradition of military and sporting rifles being made in that city. While this a sad event, the contributions of the Winchester factory to the security of this country and the pleasure that its products have given generations of sportsmen must be remembered. In doing that, we do honor to the countless thousands of men and women who spent their energies producing what many have called “the finest rifles in the world.”
The M42 — known as the “Duster” — was a light armored air defense system that arguably became better known for its capabilities against the communist ground forces in the Vietnam War. Originally built for the U.S. Army between 1952 and 1960, a total of 3,700 M42s were built. The weapon system first saw use in the Korean War and served through the 1980s.
A U.S. Army M42 Duster prepares for convoy security on Route 9 in South Vietnam. Image: U.S.M.C.
The M42 Duster was a spinoff of the M41 series light tank, the Walker Bulldog, which replaced the M24 Chaffee light tank. A 500 horsepower, air-cooled, Continental six-cylinder gas engine powered the M42 to a max speed of 45 mph and a range of 100 miles.
M42 Duster at the U.S. military base in Quảng Trị sometime in February 1968. Image: Sciacchitano/CC BY-SA 3.0
The Duster’s hull was divided into three sections:
the forward section was for the driver and commander/radio operator,
the center section was the base for the dual Bofors 40mm L/60 guns and ammunition, and
the rear section held the engine, fuel and generator.
Designed for a six-man crew consisting of a driver, commander, gunner, sight setter and two ammo loaders, the Duster was usually manned by only four men. There was also an externally mounted .30 caliber M1919 Browning machine gun for vehicle defense.
Twin Bofors 40mm L/60 Guns
The twin 40mm Bofors guns had a combined rate of fire of 240 rounds per minute, and each fed from a four-round clip with either armor piercing or high explosive warhead. With an ammo capacity of 336 rounds, the Duster had about 85 seconds of fire, with a maximum ground-to-ground range of 9,475 meters. The flash suppressors were changed from the standard conical design to a three-prong model for use with the Duster.
This M42 Duster anti-aircraft weapon is on display at the Yad la-Shiryon Museum, Israel. Image: Bukvoed/CC BY 2.5
The turret of the M42 was designed to fit the M41 hull without modification and was capable of 360-degree rotation, either mechanically or hydraulically. The Bofors guns could be adjusted from -3 degrees to +85 degrees and could also be powered mechanically or hydraulically.
In Effect
The Duster fire control system was controlled by the commander, who located the target. He would estimate the speed, direction, and angle, entering it into the sighting system. Then, the driver would position the turret and elevate the guns to center the target into the reflex sight, which computed the lead distance and tracked the target. Once a steady lock was on, the firing system was engaged, and the guns would fire until the target was destroyed or the commander ordered a cease-fire.
A U.S. Army M42 Duster at Khe Sanh Combat Base in April 1967. The M42s would provide significant firepower to the Americans during the Battle of Kke Sanh the following year. Image: U.S.M.C.
The Duster could also perform fire missions using data from artillery fire data centers and be on target faster than the artillery pieces. The Duster was also a great asset for nighttime missions using the infrared mode on the searchlight. With this search mode, the Dusters could search for the enemy without giving away their position. Once a target was found, the searchlight was switched over to light mode, and the target was engaged.
The Bofors is an anti-aircraft gun designed in the mid-30s to fill the gap between small-caliber rapid-fire machine guns and large slow-firing cannons. The Bofors entered service in 1932, and by 1939, it was in service with 18 countries.
The crews of U.S. Army M42 Dusters take a break during a firepower demonstration in the Vietnam War. In the background is an Australian Centurion tank. Image: IWM/CC BY-NC 3.0 AU
During WWII, the 40mm Bofors was used by a majority of military units. It was used heavily aboard U.S. Navy ships, such as the Iowa-class battleships, for anti-aircraft duties as a dual- or quad-mount alongside the 20mm Oerlikon.
The Bofors also found a home in the air aboard the AC-130 Spectre gunship. Since its inception, twin Bofors guns have been mounted on the Spectre, beginning in the early seventies until its final retirement in 2020.
A New Leave
In the early 1960s, the U.S. Army began transferring the M42 to National Guard units as the system was deemed unsatisfactory for air defense in the jet age with its old-fashioned pom-pom guns. In place of the aging Duster, the Army began deploying HAWK surface-to-air missile batteries.
This M42 Duster is on display at the Camp Blanding Museum in Starke, Florida. The museum is located at the main entrance of Camp Blanding Joint Training Center and is open to the public. Image: Author
Around 1966, the Army began recalling the M42 Duster from National Guard units for service in Vietnam. It was here that the Duster made a name for itself, making a notable impact during the war. Upon arriving in Vietnam, the Dusters were commonly deployed in pairs in a ground support role. The enemy feared the Duster, with the Viet Cong calling them “Fire Dragons.”
While the Duster excelled in many areas, it had its limitations. The gasoline-powered engine was prone to catching on fire when overheated, and the terrain of Vietnam was hard on the transmission and suspension. The ammunition for the Bofors gun had a highly sensitive fuse, which caused issues with premature detonation when fired through the dense jungle foliage.
The Duster was deployed as a convoy escort, perimeter defense, and infantry support. Also, it took to the water, being mounted on an M8 landing craft for riverine fire support with the 9th Infantry Mobile Riverine Force.
Shown is the operative end of the twin 40mm Bofors 40mm cannons mounted in the M42 Duster. The photo was shot at the North Florida Military Museum in Green Cove Springs, Florida. Image: Author
In 1968, Dusters from the U.S. Army 1st battalion attached to the 3rd Marine Division engaged the enemy during the 77-day siege at the Battle of Khe Sanh. Dusters expended more than 20,000 40mm shells.
Duster Battalions
The Army deployed three Duster battalions to the Republic of Vietnam, with crews trained at Fort Bliss, Texas. Each Battalion consisted of a headquarters battalion and four line batteries with two platoons, each with eight Dusters.
An American M42 Duster drives through Ba Ria, Phuoc Tuy province, in South Vietnam. Image: IWM/CC BY-NC 3.0 AU
The first battalion arrived in South Vietnam during the second half of 1966 and supported U.S. Marine units in Khe Sanh and Army divisions in the I Corps region. The second battalion arrived later in 1966 and was deployed around Bien Hoa Airbase along with vehicle-mounted M45 Quadmount .50-cal. guns and searchlight jeeps. The 3rd battalion arrived in mid-1967, deployed to the central highlands at An Khe, and supported regional fire bases.
M42 Dusters were used by a number of United States allies. Here a M42 serves in the military of West Germany. It would eventually be replaced by the Flakpanzer Gepard in the 1970s. Image: Bundesarchiv
When the battalions were fully deployed, there were over 200 Dusters in-country.
Depending on which legend you believe, the Duster moniker came from either the cloud of dust while blazing down the dirt trails of Vietnam, or because of its 50-meter bursting-radius 40mm rounds that turned the enemy to dust.
Going Home
By 1971, the Army began moving Duster units out of Vietnam after firing more than 4 million rounds and recording over 200 kills in support of infantry units. Overall, the Duster was a devastating tool that excelled at convoy escorts and base perimeter defense.
Most Dusters were turned over to units in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, while the remaining units at Fort Bliss were returned to the National Guard until the last unit retired in 1988, marking the end of an era.
