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Vietnam: Navy Research and Development Unit Vietnam (NRDUV)

Dates: 1967-1972

Collection Number: COLL/503

Finding aid (PDF, 24 KB)

 

Historical Note:

The U.S. Navy Research and Development Unit, Vietnam (NRDUV) was established in August 1965 as the Naval component of the Joint Research and Test Activity (GRATA). With the establishment of component commands in Vietnam, it was thought to be more appropriate for test units to be managed and controlled by their own Services. On 15 November 1966, the Secretary of Defense disestablished JRATA on recommendation from Commander, United States Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (COMUSMACV) and Commander-in-Chief, United States Pacific Fleet (CINCPAC), and NRDUV became a unit of Commander, United States Naval Forces, Vietnam (COMNAVFORV). COMUSMACV (J-3) continued to exercise control of joint projects and coordinated responsibilities to prevent duplicating efforts or rules and preclude missions controversies.

The mission of NRDUV was to identify operational, organizational, and material problem areas requiring Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation (RDT&E); initiate test, evaluation, or study action within the capabilities of forces assigned; provide comprehensive objective operational evaluations of new or improved materials, concepts, doctrine, tactics, and techniques in a combat environment; conduct or support tests, evaluation, or studies established by competent authority; request assistance from cognizant activities on problems beyond COMNAVFORV's capability to solve; and provide a test environment and an access to data for the U.S. scientific and military communities to develop new and improved weapons, equipments, concepts, and techniques.

The NRDUV RDT&E program itself was based on requirements generated by Navy and Marine Corps forces operating in South Vietnam, and projects were generally classified as follows: Those initiated under the Vietnam Laboratory Assistance Program (VLAP) and for which assistance from the various Navy Laboratories was required; evaluation of Navy developed equipment other than VLAP generated equipment; evaluation of equipment which had been developed by other services and had Navy applications; and evaluation of equipment designed and constructed using in-country resources.

Scope and Content Note:

The documents contained in this collection are primarily a series of semi-annual Progress Reports and periodic Test Reports, and the collection is arranged in three series.

Series I consists of ten (10) semi-annual Progress Reports, dated from July 1967 through January 1972, and filed chronologically. Each report describes the aspects of the NRDUV program, including: completed projects, evaluations in progress, programmed projects, and Navy Laboratory Assistance projects.

Series II contains Test Reports of various RDT&E projects, dated from August 1965 through April 1972 and undated, and filed alphabetically, by report name.

Four blueprints make up Series III.

Access:

Open

Classification:

The collection had a Kyl-Lott review in May 2002. Some of the records remain classified and some have been referred to other agencies for final review.

 

Published: Wed Jul 19 10:04:40 EDT 2023