The south had plenty of hardware. They also had an army that wouldn’t fight to defend its homeland. Sort of like what happened with Iraq. And the South Vietnamese air force had enough planes and ordinance to take out the runways at Tan Son Nhut and prevent the base from being used for evacuations.
They had no logistics, and were up against an enemy that was being well funded by the USSR.
Our support to South Vietnam in the last year amounted to a couple magazines of ammo and a couple grenades per man in the ARVN. Look it up.
I don’t care how much equipment you have, if you’re short on POL, spare parts, and especially ordnance, you’re screwed.
“The south had plenty of hardware. They also had an army that wouldn’t fight to defend its homeland.”
Not true in the slightest. The 1974 Watergate Congress starved South Vietnam of gas, ammunition, and spare parts. Moreover the 1972 Easter Offensive had proven the willingness and ability of ARVN troops and Marines to defend their country.