Prof. Academician Tran Dai Nghia, the legendary “King of Weapons” with a heart devoted to the greater cause

The 80th anniversary of the August Revolution and National Day (September 2) is an occasion to honor those who devoted their intellect and lives to the nation’s independence. Among them, Major General, Prof., and Academician Tran Dai Nghia, the first President of the Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Associations, stands out as a remarkable symbol. From a poor student in Vinh Long, he rose to master modern military knowledge and brought it back to serve the resistance. His life and career remain a clear testament to patriotism, intellect, and wholehearted dedication to the Fatherland.

Major General, Prof., and Academician Tran Dai Nghia, the first President of the Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Associations. Archival photo.

THE JOURNEY TO FIND A WAY FOR THE NATION TO HAVE ITS OWN WEAPONS

Pham Quang Le (the birth name of Major General, Prof., and Academician Tran Dai Nghia) was born in 1913 in Vinh Long into a poor family. From a young age, he was deeply troubled by the reality that, although our people were courageous, they were always short of weapons and forced to yield to the modern arsenals of the colonizers. From this grew a great aspiration: to find a way for the nation to have weapons of its own.

Major General, Prof., and Academician Tran Dai Nghia in his youth. Archival photo.

In 1933, at the age of just 20, Pham Quang Le passed two baccalauréat degrees, an exceptional achievement. In 1935, he received a scholarship to study in France. In Paris, faced with strict restrictions on natives wishing to pursue military engineering, Pham Quang Le chose to attend the Paris School of Bridges and Roads. He skillfully borrowed books on explosives, blasting technology, and weapon design, quietly accumulating knowledge. When questioned, he explained that “my homeland is mountainous and rugged, so I need to study explosives to open tunnels through the mountains”.

Not stopping there, he went on to earn additional degrees in science and engineering from the Sorbonne, as well as from the École d’Électricité, École des Mines, École Polytechnique, and the Institute of Aeronautical Engineering. At the same time, he studied German, Russian, and English to be able to read military documents.

In 1939, engineer Pham Quang Le worked at several civilian aircraft manufacturing companies in France, not only to make a living but, more importantly, to gain practical experience in military engineering and defense technology. His work in design departments gave him access to valuable scientific and technical documents related to the military.

At that time, many civilian aircraft manufacturers were also engaged in military production, which enabled him to study detailed materials on artillery, machine guns, bombs, and mines. Over 11 years of persistent collection and research, he amassed more than 30,000 pages of documents, amounting to nearly a ton of books including many classified as “top secret”.

The Second World War provided him with real-world exposure to the German defense industry. In 1942, he went to Germany to work at an aircraft manufacturing plant while also studying weapons production technology. This knowledge became invaluable preparation for his decision to return and serve the Fatherland after the August Revolution.

BAZOOKA, SKZ, BOMBS: WHEN THE ENEMY’S NIGHTMARE BORE THE NAME TRAN DAI NGHIA

In September 1945, the news of the nation’s independence ignited in the heart of the overseas engineer an overwhelming desire to return and serve the Fatherland. He understood better than anyone: “To safeguard the independence of the nation, we must have a strong army; and to have a strong army, we must have powerful weapons”. With that determination, he followed President Ho Chi Minh back to Vietnam in 1946, where Uncle Ho gave him a new and meaningful name: Tran Dai Nghia.

Delegates at the founding congress of the Ho Chi Minh City Union of Science and Technology Associations (Prof. Tran Dai Nghia – the fifth person seated from the left). Archival photo.

Upon his return to the country, he immediately undertook the most urgent task: weapons production. Together with his colleagues at the Department of Military Engineering, and armed only with the knowledge he had accumulated during 11 years abroad along with extremely limited facilities, he accomplished what many regarded as miracles.

The first product to make a major impact was the Bazooka anti-tank gun. In November 1946, Engineer Tran Dai Nghia began his research. While the gun itself was developed relatively quickly, the production of its ammunition posed a far greater challenge.

The first shells either failed to explode or detonated ineffectively. Undeterred, he personally reviewed and recalculated every parameter, dismantling each shell for inspection. Eventually, he discovered that the error lay in the machining of the warhead’s conical tip.

He ordered the part to be remade, ensuring a thickness of only about 1.5 millimeters. This precise adjustment led to success: the “Made-in-Vietnam” Bazooka shell, once corrected, met the required standards and had penetration power equivalent to that of American rounds.

The Bazooka manufactured by Vietnam’s own military engineering. Source: QPVN.

The first combat achievement of the Vietnamese-made Bazooka entered history on March 2, 1947. Three guns and ten shells were delivered to the Capital Regiment, which used them to destroy two French tanks at Tram Pagoda (former Ha Tay), breaking one of the enemy’s assault lines. From then on, the Bazooka became a versatile weapon, not only for destroying tanks but also for demolishing bunkers and machine-gun nests, striking fear into enemy forces.

When the resistance demanded weapons with greater destructive power to eliminate the enemy’s fortifications and strongholds, Prof. and Academician Tran Dai Nghia continued his research and created the recoilless gun (SKZ). This was a modern weapon that had first appeared during the U.S. landing on Okinawa, Japan, near the end of World War II.

The recoilless gun (SKZ) manufactured by Vietnam’s own military industry. Source: Quansuvn.

The SKZ, developed by him and his colleagues, was a type of light cannon weighing only about 26 kilograms, which could be disassembled for carrying, yet its destructive power was tremendous. Its 9-kilogram warhead could penetrate concrete walls up to 60 centimeters thick. The SKZ-60 made its first outstanding contribution in the Le Hong Phong Campaign at the end of 1949, smashing French bunkers in Pho Rang and Pho Lu.

The terror brought by the SKZ was bitterly acknowledged even by the French themselves. Journalist Lucien Bodart, in his book The Indochina War (1963), wrote: “What troubled us, what pierced through 60 centimeters of concrete, were the SKZ shells that the Vietnamese produced in caves in Indochina. Just a few of them were enough to wipe out our watchtowers".

Flying bomb produced in Vietnam, inspired by the German V1 and V2 rockets. Source: Quansuvn.

Not stopping there, Prof. and Academician Tran Dai Nghia was determined to create an even more thunderous weapon, inspired by Germany’s V1 and V2 rockets. In 1948, the “flying bomb” was born. The greatest challenge was how to propel an explosive charge weighing dozens of kilograms over several kilometers.

By pressing successive layers of propellant into a steel tube, he succeeded. In early 1949, a test launch shocked the French in Hanoi when the projectile crossed the Red River and landed squarely on their command headquarters at Bac Co. Though the material damage was not significant, the psychological impact of the “flying bomb” was immense.

A LIFE DEVOTED TO THE GREATER CAUSE: “MY MISSION IS ACCOMPLISHED”

The weapons inventions bearing the mark “made by Tran Dai Nghia” astonished and earned the admiration of the international military community. General Vo Nguyen Giap and the Vietnamese people affectionately called him “the Buddha who made guns” and “the King of Weapons.” These titles not only acknowledged his extraordinary talent but also reflected the deep respect and affection for a scientist who dedicated his entire life to the cause of national liberation.

Senior Lieutenant General Pham Hoai Nam, Deputy Minister of National Defense, affirmed: “The contributions and virtues of Major General, Prof., and Academician Tran Dai Nghia to the field of military engineering and the nation’s defense industry are a source of pride for our people.” With his talent, profound intellect, and passionate patriotism, he brought together generations of scientists and engineers, creating legendary weapons that played a vital role in the nation’s glorious victories.

After the reunification of the country, in his diary, the general–professor wrote candidly: “On April 30, 1975, my mission was completed, because my childhood dream, my simple mission, was to contribute through science and weapons technology to the revolutionary armed struggle for national liberation. Now that the country has been liberated, I wish for nothing more, for one lifetime cannot accomplish more than this”.

That statement fully encapsulates who he was: a great intellectual, an eminent scientist who always remained humble, viewing his career as inseparably tied to the mission of national liberation. His life stands as compelling proof of the truth that genuine patriotism, when combined with exceptional intellect, generates extraordinary power. He lived his entire life devoted to the “Great Cause” just as the very name “Dai Nghia” was bestowed upon him by President Ho Chi Minh.