Vietnam Defence Forum

[Viet]

SECNAV Visits Sailors During NEA Vietnam
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Story Number: NNS150409-04
Release Date: 4/9/2015 9:22:00 AM

By Lt. Lauryn Dempsey, Destroyer Squadron 7 Public Affairs

DA NANG, Vietnam (April 9, 2015) Senior Chief Boatswain's Mate Brandi Spencer, from San Diego, pipes Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) Ray Mabus aboard the littoral combat ship USS Fort Worth (LCS 3) during Naval Engagement Activity (NEA) Vietnam 2015. In its sixth year, NEA Vietnam is designed to foster mutual understanding, build confidence in the maritime domain and strengthen relationships between the U.S. Navy, Vietnam People's Navy and the local community. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Conor Minto/Release)


DA NANG, Vietnam (NNS) -- Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) Ray Mabus visited Sailors participating in the sixth annual Naval Engagement Activity (NEA) Vietnam 2015, April 9.

Mabus addressed the crews of the littoral combat ship USS Fort Worth (LCS 3) and Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Fitzgerald (DDG 62), as well as staff from Destroyer Squadron 7 (DESRON 7).

Mabus highlighted the importance of exchanges like NEA Vietnam in fostering relationships and strengthening maritime partnerships.

"As part of the Navy's forward deployed naval force, the Sailors of Fort Worth and Fitzgerald should be proud of the difference they are making during exchanges like NEA Vietnam," said Mabus.

"It's through these face-to-face engagements that we are able to deepen our relationship with Vietnam."

U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam Ted Osius also accompanied SECNAV in Da Nang.

"I am immensely proud of how far our two navies have come since 2003, when we conducted our very first U.S. Navy Goodwill and Friendship port call in Vietnam," said Osius. "It took vision, hard work, and most of all, trust, to get us to this point. If we have learned anything over the past 20 years, it's that nothing is impossible."

During his remarks, SECNAV underscored the first-ever LCS visit to Vietnam, as well as the opportunity both navies will have to practice Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea (CUES) later this week.

"LCS is now a fixture in 7th Fleet," said Mabus. "The opportunity for Fort Worth and Fitzgerald to get underway together with the Vietnam People's Navy will build confidence and ensure safe communication when our ships meet again on the seas."

NEA Vietnam began in 2010 and focuses on non-combatant events and skills exchanges in military medicine, search and rescue, and maritime security. Subject-matter expert exchanges place an emphasis on maritime domain awareness, shipboard damage control, submarine rescue, band concerts, community service events and team sports. A brief at-sea phase to practice CUES and ship handling with the Vietnam People's Navy is the highlight of the annual exchange.

In addition to Fitzgerald and Fort Worth, U.S. units participating in NEA Vietnam include personnel from CTF 73, DESRON 7, Undersea Rescue Activity San Diego, Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit (EODMU) 5, and the U.S. 7th Fleet Band "Orient Express."

Occurring during the 20th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between the United States and Vietnam, these activities were designed to foster mutual understanding, build confidence in the maritime domain and develop relationships between the people and navies of both nations.

 

[Viet]

Captain Le Ba Hung, deputy commander of Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 7. when the republic of south vietnam collapsed, his family left Saigon. he was 5 years old back then.
I hope, next time we will see the full squadron of 12 destroyers for beach parties and "other" activities.

 

[Carlosa]

Interesting hint from Comcom:

** Rumor has it that a certain country in South East Asia would have 10 Gepard class frigate with different configuration, including at least 4 locally-built vessels. These frigates, along with the SIGMA class frigates, will form the backbone of their modern fleet, making it a green-water navy.

@Viet @Yorozuya What do you make of this? Still more Gepards despite of their weaknesses, I hope they will at least be the better models, but I don't think this is the best way to go anyway.

 

[Viet]

Interesting hint from Comcom:

** Rumor has it that a certain country in South East Asia would have 10 Gepard class frigate with different configuration, including at least 4 locally-built vessels. These frigates, along with the SIGMA class frigates, will form the backbone of their modern fleet, making it a green-water navy.

@Viet @Yorozuya What do you make of this? Still more Gepards despite of their weaknesses, I hope they will at least be the better models, but I don't think this is the best way to go anyway.

that is very nice news if true. I hoped for a while that we can build the gepards at home.

well, bro, despite all of its weaknesses, the gepard will be the next one we build after Molnyia. the first gepard pair is just the beginning for uns buiding the next generation of frigates. the two we received are dangerously too weak. if facing chinese frigates and destroyers, they have little chance to survive a battle. from the news, I understand the next four gepards will get at least twice in terms of fire power. yes, you are right. the current configuration does not fit our needs. if we build 4 at home, we need an improved gepard, bigger in size, more modern and having advanced weaponry. such as yakhonts and aster-30.

from this news, the next gepards will be powered by german MAN diesel engines. and everyone in the industry knows the company MAN is famous for building of modern and advanced ship engines. why our gepard needs a more powerful engine, if is not increased in size?

Cặp Gepard mới dùng động cơ Đức, tăng khả năng chống ngầm - DVO - Báo Đất Việt

here one of the largest MAN ship diesel engines in the world: 7,36 million Nm at 97 cylces a minute. if our gepard is powered by a such monster, well not necessary this one, it will have a monster speed, too.

 

[Carlosa]

that is very nice news if true. I hoped for a while that we can build the gepards at home.

well, bro, despite all of its weaknesses, the gepard will be the next one we build after Molnyia. the first gepard pair is just the beginning for uns buiding the next generation of frigates. the two we received are dangerously too weak. if facing chinese frigates and destroyers, they have little chance to survive a battle. from the news, I understand the next four gepards will get at least twice in terms of fire power. yes, you are right. the current configuration does not fit our needs. if we build 4 at home, we need an improved gepard, bigger in size, more modern and having advanced weaponry. such as yakhonts and aster-30.

from this news, the next gepards will be powered by german MAN diesel engines. and everyone in the industry knows the company MAN is famous for building of modern and advanced ship engines. why our gepard needs a more powerful engine, if is not increased in size?

Cặp Gepard mới dùng động cơ Đức, tăng khả năng chống ngầm - DVO - Báo Đất Việt

here one of the largest MAN ship diesel engines in the world: 7,36 million Nm at 97 cylces a minute. if our gepard is powered by a such monster, well not necessary this one, it will have a monster speed, too.

As I understand, the reason for the new German propulsion system is in order to get Ukraine out of the way and the German unit should be better anyway; I don't think the size will be bigger.

How do you get to the conclusion that the next batch is at least twice in terms of fire power? As far as I know, the only difference is the ASW package. There was earlier speculation about better weapon systems but they recently showed models of the ship and everything looks the same as in the first batch.

It surely is nice to get more ships, but I rather prefer less ships, but more powerful, like the Project 22350 Admiral Gorshkov that at $500 million is a much better deal than the Gepard at $300 million. I think VN its getting too many ships that are too weak and they will not make enough of a difference. I rather spend the money into more subs, those do make a difference.

Anyway, it is what it is.

 

[Viet]

As I understand, the reason for the new German propulsion system is in order to get Ukraine out of the way and the German unit should be better anyway; I don't think the size will be bigger.

How do you get to the conclusion that the next batch is at least twice in terms of fire power? As far as I know, the only difference is the ASW package. There was earlier speculation about better weapon systems but they recently showed models of the ship and everything looks the same as in the first batch.

It surely is nice to get more ships, but I rather prefer less ships, but more powerful, like the Project 22350 Admiral Gorshkov that at $500 million is a much better deal than the Gepard at $300 million. I think VN its getting too many ships that are too weak and they will not make enough of a difference. I rather spend the money into more subs, those do make a difference.

Anyway, it is what it is.

we paid $300m for the first pair, and $600m for the second pair. I expect the latter is twice more powerful than the first. industrial and buyer logic there are many the unknowns what we will get. the navy does not disclose much of info yet.

I think we need both for our navy: more bigger surface ships with more firepower onboard. 4,000 tonnes and more. aka improved gepard and sigma destroyer class. you are sceptical, but I am a fan of heavy warships. I expect we will order new subs when the last kilo arrives.

 

[Carlosa]

we paid $300m for the first pair, and $600m for the second pair. I expect the latter is twice more powerful than the first. industrial and buyer logic there are many the unknowns what we will get. the navy does not disclose much of info yet.

I think we need both for our navy: more bigger surface ships with more firepower onboard. 4,000 tonnes and more. aka improved gepard and sigma destroyer class. you are sceptical, but I am a fan of heavy warships. I expect we will order new subs when the last kilo arrives.

The first batch was $350 million for 2, so its 175 million a piece, add the ASW package and a few other secondary things like the German engines and the increase for inflation since we are talking about a 6 year difference (plus bigger red envelopes ) and you have a price of $300 million a piece. I really wish that it would have a better weapon systems, but I don't see it.

Between Gepards (and even standard Sigmas) and heavy frigates, I can definitely tell you that I would prefer half the quantity in heavy frigates and there is still leftover money ($500 million vs $300 million). 5 frigates of the Project 22350 Admiral Gorshkov at $500 million (I posted many pics of those the other day) will have much more firepower than 10 Gepards.

I'm skeptical of large destroyers. Heavy frigates and small, fast ships with heavy anti ship power is what I like (like the Molniya).

The Palma system is the main weakness in the Gepards and considering that in case of actual war, the SCS will most likely became a very dense missile environment, I think that's a fatal weakness.

 

[Carlosa]

Bad news:

TASS: Russia - China becomes first foreign buyer of Russian S-400 air defense system — media

Russia
April 13

MOSCOW, April 13. /TASS/. China has purchased S-400 missile defense systems from Russia, director general of Russia's major arms exporting company Rosoborobexport Anatoly Isaykin has told the Kommersant daily in an interview.

Isaykin refused to disclose terms of contract but confirmed that China had become the first buyer of the cutting-edge air defense system. He noted that it emphasizes the strategic nature of Russian-Chinese relations.

The systems, which are capable of launching up to 72 missiles and engaging up to 36 targets simultaneously, entered service in 2007 to replace the S-300 systems.S-400 Triumf is designed to shield from air strikes, strategic, cruise, tactical and operating tactical ballistic missiles and medium-range ballistic missiles.

 

[Viet]

The first batch was $350 million for 2, so its 175 million a piece, add the ASW package and a few other secondary things like the German engines and the increase for inflation since we are talking about a 6 year difference (plus bigger red envelopes ) and you have a price of $300 million a piece. I really wish that it would have a better weapon systems, but I don't see it.

Between Gepards (and even standard Sigmas) and heavy frigates, I can definitely tell you that I would prefer half the quantity in heavy frigates and there is still leftover money ($500 million vs $300 million). 5 frigates of the Project 22350 Admiral Gorshkov at $500 million (I posted many pics of those the other day) will have much more firepower than 10 Gepards.

I'm skeptical of large destroyers. Heavy frigates and small, fast ships with heavy anti ship power is what I like (like the Molniya).

The Palma system is the main weakness in the Gepards and considering that in case of actual war, the SCS will most likely became a very dense missile environment, I think that's a fatal weakness.

I have no clue why the navy does not opt for Admiral Gorshkov frigate. my best guess is Russian shipyards are not the most productive ones in the world. they need ages to complete surface warships. our next gepards come with 1 year delay, not 2016-2017 but 2017-2018. If we build the ships at home, we could do faster.

Bad news:

TASS: Russia - China becomes first foreign buyer of Russian S-400 air defense system — media

Russia
April 13

MOSCOW, April 13. /TASS/. China has purchased S-400 missile defense systems from Russia, director general of Russia's major arms exporting company Rosoborobexport Anatoly Isaykin has told the Kommersant daily in an interview.

Isaykin refused to disclose terms of contract but confirmed that China had become the first buyer of the cutting-edge air defense system. He noted that it emphasizes the strategic nature of Russian-Chinese relations.

The systems, which are capable of launching up to 72 missiles and engaging up to 36 targets simultaneously, entered service in 2007 to replace the S-300 systems.S-400 Triumf is designed to shield from air strikes, strategic, cruise, tactical and operating tactical ballistic missiles and medium-range ballistic missiles.

the russians are a bit desperate right now. they need money, investment and friendship from china.

 

[William Hung]

Interesting hint from Comcom:

** Rumor has it that a certain country in South East Asia would have 10 Gepard class frigate with different configuration, including at least 4 locally-built vessels. These frigates, along with the SIGMA class frigates, will form the backbone of their modern fleet, making it a green-water navy.

@Viet @Yorozuya What do you make of this? Still more Gepards despite of their weaknesses, I hope they will at least be the better models, but I don't think this is the best way to go anyway.

Make sense, 2 under construction, 2 on order and they probably want TOT for another 4 (and hopefully it's not just assembling kits). But I never liked the Gepard. The first 2 is okay as training boats and something for port visit. But for the price and size, they are really underwhelming. I like the project 20385 much better. And it is a true multipurpose corvette with AShM, ASW and a decent SAM all on one hull. Plus a Gepard hull is not that much cheaper than a Tigr anyway. Too late now.

Bad news:

TASS: Russia - China becomes first foreign buyer of Russian S-400 air defense system — media

Russia
April 13

MOSCOW, April 13. /TASS/. China has purchased S-400 missile defense systems from Russia, director general of Russia's major arms exporting company Rosoborobexport Anatoly Isaykin has told the Kommersant daily in an interview.

Isaykin refused to disclose terms of contract but confirmed that China had become the first buyer of the cutting-edge air defense system. He noted that it emphasizes the strategic nature of Russian-Chinese relations.

The systems, which are capable of launching up to 72 missiles and engaging up to 36 targets simultaneously, entered service in 2007 to replace the S-300 systems.S-400 Triumf is designed to shield from air strikes, strategic, cruise, tactical and operating tactical ballistic missiles and medium-range ballistic missiles.

the russians are a bit desperate right now. they need money, investment and friendship from china.

I'm not surprised by this sale agreement. You are right @Viet, Russia needs to look after its own interest first. That's why I've told the other guys that Russia is no longer a true ally or friend of VN, like what those members think. A true friend or ally would never make deals with your enemy where those deals would put you at a great disadvantage. Russia is just a business partner. And their interest is in their business. If China has money, they will sell good weapons to China, if VN can pay for it, VN can buy them too, simple as that.

Where is @Aqsuperman? What happen to your dream about putting scuds on ships? I hope those old scuds can deal with S-400.

 

[Aqsuperman]

oh right...................you want a under-1000km tactical ballistic missles to strike S-400 which most likely locate in Beijing from the VN home water ............sometime i wonder is your brain work correctly ? my dream and the S-400 are 2 entirely different things , or in Vietnamese : 2 CHUYỆN LIÊN QUAN VÃI

 

[William Hung]

oh right...................you want a under-1000km tactical ballistic missles to strike S-400 which most likely locate in Beijing from the VN home water ............sometime i wonder is your brain work correctly ? my dream and the S-400 are 2 entirely different things , or in Vietnamese : 2 CHUYỆN LIÊN QUAN VÃI

Brother be cool !!!! let's stay calm and not use personal insults. We are all brothers here.

Who said the PLA cannot have the choice of deploying a S-400 battery at the VietNam boarder region? Or on Hainan? Or on the Paracels? Or even on the artificial islands in the SCS?

You are just making up your own excuses to think to yourself that Russia's military relationship with China will not affect VietNam's own security. Are you an Ah Q that won't dare face reality and just live with your Ah Q imagination? If Russia sells to China 10,000 stealth fighters, maybe you will also say it is only for fighting Japan and will not affect VN. I really hope that you don't have the Ah Q disease, brother.

The main thing I was saying is that Russia is willing to sell advanced military equipments to the PLA that will put VN at a disadvantage (and Russia has the rights to do so, they're not breaking any law). China can not only use these advanced assets like the S-400, but they can also learn from it to help further develop their own military industries.

So please don't be like an Ah Q and dream about old weapons like the scuds that can be intercepted by S-400 or China's own SAM system that can be upgraded with knowledge from the S-400. At the same time stop living in your Ah Q imagination that Russia is still a reliable friend to VN when Russia played a role in assisting China's military industry. Let's just learn to face reality my friend.

 

[Viet]

courtesy to cnleio. comparison between the coast guards in east asia. interesting: the number of ships of the wannabe leader of asean and maritime power Indonesia is very low.

 

[Aqsuperman]

wow wow wow what the heck is that ? Making up excuse ?
First , my Scud idea is simply my dream to have a moving launcher on the sea that can be used as a mobile long-range deterrent against inland threat and 1 more time ITS COMPLETLY HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THE S400 , you sure that all Scud will be intercepted by Chinese SAM ? let me remind you that even the Patriot once failed , and even the mighty Iron dome cant stop all the rocket from Gaza Strip , and they are some of the finest system around , not some rip-off crap or monkey model export ( that is if Russia stupid enough to give China something good knowing that they will copy it and later will sell it on the market , competing with Russia product ) .
Second , in the history of mankind , if you have a brand new and good defensive system , you will install it in or around the capital first , from the time of MIM-23 Hawk , S-25 to this very day of S-400 , Patriot etc . If you dont defense you capitol well then what is the puurpose of guarding another place with it while the center of you country may fall under attack ?.
Third hah i say the millitary ties to VN and China are both important to Rusia and why ? China is a big partner to Russia but they also have a long history of frictions , 1962 Border Skirmish , training and supplying Russia and Russia allies enemy back from the Afganistan to this very day , copying russia tech illegally and use it to compete against Russia product , etc and you still think Russia consider them the better allies ? Russis is not as dump as you think , dont presume that everything you know are correct because that will be last thing to happen and Vietnam is important to Rusia because of ? Around this part of the world who Russia can trust to use as a refueling base for their tanker which is use to support long-range bomber ? ASEAN is full of China and American allies , of course Rusia can sell them weapon if they want but for this level of task who can be more trustworthy than VN ?
Fourth ho ho ho really ? Russia sell weapon to China and that automaticly make them less than a good friend to VN ? wow i guess America is nothing but a crappy partner as well in the eyes of Japan and Korea , surely both would say "WHY THE HELL THAT AMERICA SELLING SOME GOOD STUFF TO THAT GUY AND NOT US ? F***K AMERICA " VN have alot of "keyboard heroes" just like you , and of course i wonder is their brain work correctly as well ?
Fifth i live in most reallistic life that you can think of and that how my brain work too , just because you dont have the same opinion as mine doesnt mean im in a dream and you in the real world , in fact that may have been the otherway around
Sixth i never even want to talk to you after our last conversation , you tag me in with a mocking entence about 2 entirely different things ( My dream for the Scud on the sea and the S400) so i just reply in the way that you deserve it , dont like my way of talking ? then stop talking to me the way you just did above . And about personal insult wow i just wonder is your brain work correctly , not call you a dog cat mice dumpshit coward hypocrite etc , and then you just presume me to be a Ah Q ? what the hell is Ah Q ? you mean AQ chính truyện ? the main character in that story is more like you than like me because he always blabbering about what he know and picking up on people that dont want to see nonetheless talk to him

 

[Viet]

hey apsuperman and yorozuya, it is best if you both and of course we here all don´t resort to any insulting in the first place. as far as I know, any idea and opinion is allowed on the forum, even how absurd they are.

....other news...
Admiral Pham Hoai Nam, Chief of Staff of the Navy and other members of the General Staff made a visit to Song Tử Tây (Spratlys).