Military Vietnam's Foreign Relations & Defense Forum

Containers-launchers with replicas of Bal-E coastal defense system loaded on a KamAZ truck of the Vietnamese Army (Picture source: Đơn vị tác chiến điện tử)

According to Defense Studies, in Vietnam, a coastal missile defense system has been staically tested with a VCM-1 missile, which is based on the Russian Kh-35UE Bal anti-ship missile (ASM). A KamAZ 6x6 truck carrying four containers-launchers with Russian rocket replicas was loaded on a ship. The Russian Bal is built on the basis of the MZKT-7930.

The Kh-35UE anti-ship missile was introduced in 2009. The Zvezda Kh-35 (AS-20 'Kayak') is a Russian turbojet subsonic cruise anti-ship missile. The same missile can also be launched from helicopters, surface ships, and coastal defense batteries with the help of a rocket booster, in which case it is known as Uran ('Uranus', SS-N-25 'Switchblade', GRAU 3M24) or Bal ('Ball', SSC-6 'Sennight', GRAU 3K60). It is designed to attack vessels up to 5,000 tonnes.

The Kh-35UE (export version of the Kh-35) has a range of 260 km. The Kh-35UE received an adapted navigation system. Bal-E’s centralized fire control provides for optimal target assignment of missiles and forming of spatiotemporal structure of a massive salvo aiming missiles at 4 targets. Availability of active and passive radar detection channels ensures a flexible strategy of designation data generation. High maneuverability and covert change of a fire position are ensured by the all-wheel-drive chassis with great cross-country capabilities. Ammunition load is transported by the transport-loading vehicles so that another missile salvo can be launched within a minimum interval.

The Vietnam People's Air Force (VPAF) has received the first batch of Yakolev Yak-130 armed jet trainers from Russia.

Six aircraft were delivered to the VPAF's Phu Cat Air Base in Binh Dinh province, with six more aircraft expected to arrive several months later.

Vietnam ordered a total of 12 aircraft under a deal signed with the Russian Government worth around US$350 million in 2019.

The Yak-130 will be replacing the VPAF's ageing fleet of Czech-built Aero L-39 Albatross advanced jet trainers, and will be training VPAF pilots for combat and fast jet training.

The aircraft are expected to serve the VPAF's 940th Aviation Training Regiment.

The Yak-130 is a subsonic, 2-seat advanced jet trainers being marketed by Russia to prepare pilots for transition to larger fighters.

It is also capable of being used as light combat aircraft, as it was designed with 9 hard-points to allow the use of armaments including short range air-to-air missiles, air-to-ground munitions and even electronic pods.

Vietnam becomes the 3rd country in Southeast Asia to operate the Yak-130, after Myanmar and Laos.

Vietnam receives first batch of 6 Yak-130 armed jet trainers from Russia

One of the newly-delivered Yak-130 aircraft for the Vietnam People's Air Force. Photo c/o LQM

The Director of Russia’s Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation (FSMTC) has been quoted on Vietnam’s interest in acquiring more Russian-made Project 11661 Gepard-class frigates to beef up its fleet.

Russian FSMTC Director Dmitry Shugaev said Vietnam is very much interested in acquiring additional Project 11661 Gepard 3.9 frigates, with technical consultations ongoing between Russia and Vietnam, and plans to hold important contract negotiations after agreeing on technical conditions.

No quantity has been confirmed yet, but previous reports suggest that the Vietnam People’s Navy (VPN) is interested in at least 2 more frigates.

Vietnam is said to be interested in improved version of the frigate, with a more advanced air defense system.

Currently, the VPN’s four Gepard 3.9 frigates are equipped with the Palma short-range anti-aircraft and close-in weapon system (CIWS), as well as two AK-630M-06 six-barrelled 30mm automatic gun. Both systems are capable only of short or very short-range engagements against fast moving targets.

Previous reports suggest that Russia’s Ak Bars Shipbuilding Corporation is modifying the design of the Gepard 3.9 frigate to enhance its firepower, with increased size and displacement to allow for the deployment of vertically-launched cruise missiles.

APDJ also reported in July 2019 that Vietnam was also looking at the Project 11356 Admiral Grigorovich-class and Project 22356 Admiral Gorshkov-class frigates, both of which are larger, more capable and more expensive than the Project 11661 Gepard-class frigate design.

Currently, the Russian Navy operates two Project 11661 Gepard-class frigates, while the Vietnam People’s Navy operate four Project 11661E Gepard 3.9 frigates.

Vietnam raises interest in procuring improved Gepard 3.9-class frigates from Russia

One of Vietnam's Gepard 3.9 frigate. Photo c/o Medium.com. The Director of Russia’s Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation (FSMT...

 www.asiapacificdefensejournal.com

The Vietnam People’s Navy (VPN) has received its first indigenously-built MSSARS 9316-class multi-purpose submarine rescue ship.

A ceremony was held on 30 July 2021 at the state-owned Factory Z189 of the General Department of Defense Industry in Hai Phong, with the presence of the Chief of the VPN Rear Admiral Tran Tranh Nghiem, Deputy Director of the General Department of Defense Industry Major General Luong Thanh Chuong, and representatives from Dutch shipbuilder Damen Group.

The ship, named the Yet Kieu (927), was designed by Damen Group based on its Rescue Gear MSSARS 9316 design, but was built locally as part of the deal between the Dutch shipbuilder and the Vietnamese Government.

The ship started construction in 2018 and followed strict process under the close supervision of Damen Group and Lloyd’s Register.

It was launched on 03 December 2019. But it took more than a year to complete it fit out works and installation of rescue equipment.

The Yet Kieu has a displacement of 3,950 tons, a length of 93.11 meters, a maximum width of 15.99 meters, a height of 7.20 meters, and a maximum draught of 4.25 meters.

It is equipped with a modern propulsion system that allows a maximum speed of 16 knots, an endurance of 30 days, an operational range of 4,000 nautical miles, and can withstand up to level-9 waves and level-12 winds.

The ship is equipped with to allow for submarine search and rescue missions, surveying and exploring underwater objects and features, and perform other assigned tasks. It also has medical, lifesaving equipment.

The VPN was in need of a new submarine rescue ship to support its fleet of 6 Project 636 Kilo-class diesel electric submarines from Russia. The need for such asset was further emphasized with the recent fatal accident involving a Cakra-class submarine of the Indonesian Navy this year.

Vietnam receives its first Dutch-designed, indigenously-built submarine rescue ship

The Yet Kieu (927) during its launch in 2019. Photo c/o Infonet Vietnam. The Vietnam People’s Navy (VPN) has received its first indigenously...

A US aircraft carrier will make a rare Vietnam port call as countries compete for favor in SE Asia
Story by By DAVID RISING, Associated Press • 21m ago

FILE - The U.S. carrier USS Ronald Reagan is escorted as it arrives in Busan, South Korea on Sept. 23, 2022. The American aircraft carrier was due to make a port call in Vietnam on Sunday, June 25, 2023, a rare visit by one of the U.S. Navy's biggest ships that comes as Washington and Beijing both are stepping up efforts to bolster ties with Southeast Asian nations. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man, File)
FILE - The U.S. carrier USS Ronald Reagan is escorted as it arrives in Busan, South Korea on Sept. 23, 2022. The American aircraft carrier was due to make a port call in Vietnam on Sunday, June 25, 2023, a rare visit by one of the U.S. Navy's biggest ships that comes as Washington and Beijing both are stepping up efforts to bolster ties with Southeast Asian nations. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man, File)
© Provided by The Associated Press
BANGKOK (AP) — An American aircraft carrier was due to make a port call in Vietnam on Sunday — a rare visit by one of the U.S. Navy's biggest ships that comes as Washington and Beijing both step up efforts to bolster ties with Southeast Asian nations.

The USS Ronald Reagan, a nuclear-powered Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, was scheduled to arrive in Da Nang on June 25 and stay through June 30, making use of a port that was modernized and expanded by the United States during the war in Vietnam, the country's Foreign Ministry announced.

It will be only the third such visit by an American aircraft carrier since the end of the hostilities.

The visit comes about a month after a Chinese navy training ship made its own port call in Da Nang as part of what it called a goodwill tour that also took it to Thailand, Brunei and the Philippines.

Japan's largest destroyer, Izumo, made a port call in Vietnam over the past week, following exercises in the South China Sea with the Reagan, among other American ships.

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“Recently, Vietnam has received visits from naval vessels from different countries, and this time it will be a visit from the USS Ronald Reagan," Vietnam's VnExpress online newspaper quoted Foreign Ministry spokesperson Pham Thu Hang as saying.

"This is a normal friendly exchange for the sake of peace, stability, cooperation and development in both the region and the world.”

China is Vietnam's largest trading partner. But, along with a number of other countries in the region, tensions have been high of late over maritime and territorial disputes with Beijing in the South China Sea.

Washington, meantime, sees Hanoi as a key component of its strategy for the region and has sought to leverage Vietnam’s traditional rivalry with its much larger neighbor China to expand U.S. influence in the region.

During an April visit, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken broke ground on a sprawling new $1.2 billion U.S. embassy compound in the Vietnamese capital, a project the Biden administration hopes will demonstrate its commitment to further improving ties less than 30 years after diplomatic relations were restored in 1995.

Based in Yokosuka, Japan, the USS Ronald Reagan is the only forward-deployed American aircraft carrier. It is due to be replaced in that role next year by the USS George Washington, also a Nimitz-class carrier.

A US aircraft carrier will make a rare Vietnam port call as countries compete for favor in SE Asia (msn.com)