The Lao People's Army is the name of the armed forces of Laos

Laos

Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...

, who are charged with protecting the country. Until 1975, the Royal Laos Army were the armed forces of the Laos, along with the Lao People's Liberation Army Air Force

Lao People's Liberation Army Air Force

The Lao People's Liberation Army Air Force is the air force of Laos.-History:The present-day LPLAAF is descended from the Aviation Laotienne, which was established by the French and later became the Royal Lao Air Force. Pathet Lao guerrilla forces began to operate a few aircraft from 1960, as did...

 and the Lao People's Navy

Lao People's Navy

The Lao People's Navy is the navy of Laos. In 1975 the Lao People's Navy was established with the remnants of the Royal Lao Navy. The Lao People's Navy operates vessels on the Mekong River, a major feature of the country's geography...

.

History

Serving one of the world's least developed countries, the Lao People's Armed Forces (LPAF) is small, poorly funded, and ineffectively resourced; its mission focus is border and internal security, primarily in countering ethnic Hmong insurgent groups; together with the Lao People's Revolutionary Party and the government, the Lao People's Army (LPA) is the third pillar of state machinery, and as such is expected to suppress political and civil unrest and similar national emergencies, but the LPA also has upgraded skills to respond to avian influenza outbreaks; there is no perceived external threat to the state and the LPA maintains strong ties with the neighboring Vietnamese military (2008).

The army of 130,000 was equipped with 25 main battle tanks. The army marine section, equipped with 16 patrol crafts, had 600 personnel. The air force, with 3,500 personnel, was equipped with anti-aircraft missiles and 24 combat aircraft. Militia self-defense forces numbered approximately 100,000 organized for local defense.

Tank/APC

Name	Type	Origin	Quality
PT-76 PT-76 The PT-76 is a Soviet amphibious light tank which was introduced in the early 1950s and soon became the standard reconnaissance tank of the Soviet Army and the other Warsaw Pact armed forces. It was widely exported to other friendly states, like India, Iraq, North Korea and North Vietnam. Overall,...	light amphibious tank		25 operational
T-54/55	main battle tank		30 operational
BTR-60P	Wheeled Amphibious Armored Personnel Carrier		70 operational
BTR-152 BTR-152 The BTR-152 was a non-amphibious Soviet wheeled armored personnel carrier that entered Soviet service in 1950. By the early 1970s it had been replaced in the infantry vehicle role by the BTR-60...	Armored personnel carrier		?
ZSU-23-4 ZSU-23-4 The ZSU-23-4 "Shilka" is a lightly armored, self-propelled, radar guided anti-aircraft weapon system . ZSU stands for Zenitnaya Samokhodnaya Ustanovka , meaning "anti-aircraft self-propelled mount". The "23" signifies the bore diameter in millimeters. The "4" signifies the number of gun barrels. It...	Light Armored anti-aircraft		10

Artillery

Name	Type	Origin	Quality
M-30 122 mm howitzer M-30 122 mm howitzer The 122 mm howitzer M1938 was a Soviet 121.92 mm howitzer. The weapon was developed by the design bureau of Motovilikha Plants, headed by F. F. Petrov, in the late 1930s, and was in production from 1939 to 1955. The M-30 saw action in World War II, mainly as a divisional artillery piece...	field howitzer		20
57 mm AZP S-60 57 mm AZP S-60 57 mm AZP S-60 ; literally: Automatic anti-aircraft gun S-60) is a Soviet towed, road-transportable, short- to medium-range, single-barrel anti-aircraft gun from the 1950s. The gun was extensively used in Warsaw Pact, Middle Eastern and South-East Asian countries.-History:In the late 1940s, the...	Automatic anti-aircraft gun		1
37 mm automatic air defense gun M1939 (61-K)	Air defense gun		1
ZU-23-2 ZU-23-2 The ZU-23-2, also known as ZU-23, is a Soviet towed 23 mm anti-aircraft twin-barreled autocannon. ZU stands for Zenitnaya Ustanovka - anti-aircraft mount.-Development history:...	anti-aircraft gun		2
ZPU	auto anti-aircraft gun		1
130 mm towed field gun M1954 (M-46) 130 mm towed field gun M1954 (M-46) The 130 mm towed field gun M-46 M1954 is a manually loaded, towed 130 mm artillery piece, manufactured in the Soviet Union in the 1950s. It was first observed by the west in 1954...	field gun		10
122 mm howitzer 2A18 (D-30)	Howitzer		40
Strela 2 Strela 2 The 9K32 “Strela-2” is a man-portable, shoulder-fired, low-altitude surface-to-air missile system with a high explosive warhead and passive infrared homing guidance...	Surface to air missile		2
M114 155 mm howitzer M114 155 mm howitzer The M114 155 mm howitzer was a towed howitzer used by the United States Army. It was first produced in 1942 as a medium artillery piece under the designation of 155 mm Howitzer M1. It saw service with the US Army during World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War, before being...	howitzer		1
M101 howitzer M101 howitzer The 105 mm M2A1 howitzer was the standard light field howitzer for the United States in World War II, seeing action in both European and Pacific theaters. Entering production in 1941, it quickly entered the war against the Imperial Japanese Army in the Pacific, where it gained a reputation...	105mm (towed): M-101		25
M116 howitzer M116 howitzer The 75mm Pack Howitzer M1 was designed in the United States in 1920s to meet a need for an artillery piece that could be moved across difficult terrain. The gun and carriage was designed so that it could be broken down into several pieces to be carried by pack animals...	75mm (towed): M-116 pack		1

Weapons

• Makarov PM
  Makarov PM
  The PM is a semi-automatic pistol design. Under the project leadership of Nikolay Fyodorovich Makarov, it became the Soviet Union's standard military side arm from 1951-1991.-Development:...
  
   semi-automatic pistol
• AK-47
  AK-47
  The AK-47 is a selective-fire, gas-operated 7.62×39mm assault rifle, first developed in the Soviet Union by Mikhail Kalashnikov. It is officially known as Avtomat Kalashnikova . It is also known as a Kalashnikov, an "AK", or in Russian slang, Kalash.Design work on the AK-47 began in the last year...
  
   assault rifle
• AMD-65 Assault rifle
  Assault rifle
  An assault rifle is a selective fire rifle that uses an intermediate cartridge and a detachable magazine. Assault rifles are the standard infantry weapons in most modern armies...
  
    Hungary
• SKS
  SKS
  The SKS is a Soviet semi-automatic rifle chambered for the 7.62x39mm round, designed in 1943 by Sergei Gavrilovich Simonov. SKS-45 is an acronym for Samozaryadnyj Karabin sistemy Simonova, 1945 Simonov system, 1945), or SKS 45. The Sks is a scaled down version of the PTRS-41 anti-tank rifle also...
  
   semi automatic carbine
• Type 56 assault rifle
• MAT-49
  MAT-49
  The MAT-49 was a submachine gun developed by French arms factory Manufacture Nationale d'Armes de Tulle for use by the French Army.-Development:...
  
   submachine gun
• Mosin Nagant bolt action rifle
• RPG-2
  RPG-2
  The RPG-2 was the first rocket-propelled grenade launcher designed in the Soviet Union.-Development:The RPG-2 , was a man-portable, shoulder-launched rocket-propelled grenade anti-armor weapon...
  
   rocket propelled grenade launcher
• RPG-7
  RPG-7
  The RPG-7 is a widely-produced, portable, unguided, shoulder-launched, anti-tank rocket-propelled grenade launcher. Originally the RPG-7 and its predecessor, the RPG-2, were designed by the Soviet Union, and now manufactured by the Bazalt company...
  
   rocket propelled grenade launcher
• Type 69 RPG
  Type 69 RPG
  The Type 69 85mm rocket propelled grenade , made by Norinco, is a Chinese copy of the famous RPG-7 developed by the Soviet Union. First introduced in the early 1970s, the Type 69 RPG is a common individual anti-tank weapon in service with the PLA...
  
   rocket propelled grenade launcher
• M3 submachine gun
  M3 submachine gun
  The M3 was an American .45-caliber submachine gun adopted for U.S. Army service on 12 December 1942, as the United States Submachine Gun, Cal. .45, M3. The M3 was designed as a more cost-effective alternative to the Thompson, optimized for mass production...
  
   submachine gun
• M1 Carbine
  M1 Carbine
  The M1 carbine is a lightweight, easy to use semi-automatic carbine that became a standard firearm for the U.S. military during World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War, and was produced in several variants. It was widely used by U.S...
  
   semi automatic carbine
• M16A1
  M16 rifle
  The M16 is the United States military designation for the AR-15 rifle adapted for both semi-automatic and full-automatic fire. Colt purchased the rights to the AR-15 from ArmaLite, and currently uses that designation only for semi-automatic versions of the rifle. The M16 fires the 5.56×45mm NATO...
  
   assault rifle
• M14
  M14 rifle
  The M14 rifle, formally the United States Rifle, 7.62 mm, M14, is an American selective fire automatic rifle firing 7.62x51mm NATO  ammunition. It was the standard issue U.S. rifle from 1959 to 1970. The M14 was used for U.S...
  
   semi automatic carbine
• M60 machine gun
  M60 machine gun
  The M60 is a family of American general-purpose machine guns firing 7.62×51mm NATO cartridges from a disintegrating belt of M13 links...
  
   
• RPD Light machine gun
• PKM
  PK machine gun
  The PK is a 7.62 mm general-purpose machine gun designed in the Soviet Union and currently in production in Russia. The PK machine gun was introduced in the 1960s and replaced the SGM and RPD machine guns in Soviet service...
  
   Machine gun
• DShK
  DShK
  The DShK 1938 is a Soviet heavy machine gun firing the 12.7x108mm cartridge. The weapon was also used as a heavy infantry machine gun, in which case it was frequently deployed with a two-wheeled mounting and a single-sheet armour-plate shield...
  
  heavy Machine gun