Vietnam Defence Forum

[Viet]

Your analysis of the threat is good in general, I keep saying the same thing in particular about the surface navy, I give it zero chance of being able to do anything, like I said, they'll be busy hiding and trying to survive. Submarines are the big equalizer for Vietnam when it comes to naval assets.

The air force has a better chance and they do have a lot of anti ship missiles. It is still worth it to boost the air force because most likely, a conflict will be in the open seas and China will probably avoid attacking the mainland. Its highly unlikely that China will attempt a land attack. Of course all of that changes if China does attack the mainland in which case the fighter jets have to be dispersed and have to try to hide them which of course is not easy. As I understand, some fighter jets have already been moved to secondary airports.

So from my perspective, the emphasis should be on more subs, keep boosting the air defense network and of particular importance would be to boost the ballistic missile forces and to deploy ground to ground cruise missiles. Those 2 elements can cause heavy damage and can actually destroy the chinese islands as well as the base in Hainan island. Of course coastal anti ship batteries such as Brahmos and Bal-E are a must. Vietnam need to also improve the remote targeting capabilities, C4ISR.

Sounds good but the imbalance of power is too great. We should increase the stakes by developing an emergency plan in joining the NATO. Like in the past joining the alliance with USSR and Wasaw Pact when the threat was imminent. I understand we don't want to pose military threat to our neighbors, but the feeling should be mutual, our neighbors should not pose military threat to our security.

 

[Carlosa]

Sounds good but the imbalance of power is too great. We should increase the stakes by developing an emergency plan in joining the NATO. Like in the past joining the alliance with USSR and Wasaw Pact when the threat was imminent. I understand we don't want to pose military threat to our neighbors, but the feeling should be mutual, our neighbors should not pose military threat to our security.

Joining an alliance is a 2 way street, they also would need to want to make an alliance with Vietnam, something similar to what PH has with USA, but do they really want to go that far? Does Vietnam want to go that far? Because once VN makes an alliance with USA, that's also the moment that China would see Vietnam as an enemy.

The truth is, Vietnam is the only one in the region with the guts to oppose China and it can certainly do a lot more than PH and it can also offer a lot to an ally, like Cam Ranh base, etc, something that USA can actually use and it probably wants it really bad, but is USA willing to go the extra mile and put itself on the line to cooperate militarily with Vietnam and fight if necessary? I'm not sure about that. And can Vietnam really depend and trust such an ally? I'm not sure about that.

 

[jhungary]

the proximity of Vietnam near Chinese, in which most of Chinese heavy units and combat group is situated near the regions (aka Southern Commands) in which comprised of South Sea Fleets (the most powerful ones) and Southern theater Commands. This is, not to mention the current intelligent gathering the Chinese do in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. I am assumed there is always little chance for Vietnam Navy and Air Forces to survive the ordeal and possible onslaught of the Chinese.

The only chance for the Vietnam to inflict heavy losses on Chinese sides and prolong the war is by investing heavily in Army/Ground units. Investing in access denial weaponry like S300, Buk M and Bastion missile is a good go. And replacing the obsolote anti armor weapons system like Sagger and Spigot with the newer ones like Metis M, Kornet, Spike is actually should be priority. Vietnam should too trying to open and invest heavily in ports in Southern region besides Cam Ranh Bay (in which must be one of the most sought target after by PLA).

It's a good plan, but there is one flaw in your scenario. You need to lure the Chinese into Vietnam mainland in order to enjoy the benefit of combine ADS. And if Chinese are any sort of a clever bunch, they won't actually fight close to Vietnamese soil unless they wanted to do a ground invasion.

The problem with your plan is to set up Above ground defence to try and deter a war in SCS, a war in SCS, however, would most likely does not include a war from mainland, and the closest of those island is 400 miles away from Vietnamese mainland, the ground based defence does not really matter in this point.

The problem is that, these island were quite small, meaning the unit deployable in spratly islands is also small in number, you cannot depend on a few island airfield here and there with surrounding defence to try and fend off Chinese combine naval and air force power. You will need mobile platform at sea to defend these island from invasion. Otherwise it would have been a moot point if you allow Chinese to gain local naval and air superiority.

 

[Carlosa]

While the air force and the navy got their priority in equipment and technology, the army got pretty much the leftover of the budget. Yet among the army arsenals that got more than several decades of usage behind them, one weapon remain unique, the Scud (R-17). This make the VPA one of two countries in the SEA region that got ballistic missiles. Operate the D variant, upgraded by North Korea and well maintained, this provides the VPA with a useful tactical weapon on the field .

A clip about the training and maintenance of the Scud

Absolutely, I always see the ballistic force as an ace in the pocket with an strong deterrence value. I know there are a lot of developments regarding ballistic missiles, but mostly all covered by secrecy. I know Vietnam already developed solid fuel for ballistic missiles and that implies development of solid fuel based missiles which the obvious advantages to the traditional Scuds which are liquid fuel based. North Korea certainly has plenty of R & D that they can always sell for some cash, so I'm sure Vietnam has taken advantage of that.

 

[jhungary]

Your analysis of the threat is good in general, I keep saying the same thing in particular about the surface navy, I give it zero chance of being able to do anything, like I said, they'll be busy hiding and trying to survive. Submarines are the big equalizer for Vietnam when it comes to naval assets.

The air force has a better chance and they do have a lot of anti ship missiles. It is still worth it to boost the air force because most likely, a conflict will be in the open seas and China will probably avoid attacking the mainland. Its highly unlikely that China will attempt a land attack. Of course all of that changes if China does attack the mainland in which case the fighter jets have to be dispersed and have to try to hide them which of course is not easy. As I understand, some fighter jets have already been moved to secondary airports.

So from my perspective, the emphasis should be on more subs, keep boosting the air defense network and of particular importance would be to boost the ballistic missile forces and to deploy ground to ground cruise missiles. Those 2 elements can cause heavy damage and can actually destroy the chinese islands as well as the base in Hainan island. Of course coastal anti ship batteries such as Brahmos and Bal-E are a must. Vietnam need to also improve the remote targeting capabilities, C4ISR.

Sub does well only in open seas, and it would require constant support from ground base (either you need to dock and replenish frequently or you need to send Submarine Tender)

sending sub by casting a net like what Germany do during WW2 is ill advised in South China Seas, especially when you are very close to Chinese own naval base. Also, there are limited dock resource for Vietnam, a single usage Submarine taking up dock space is not very forthcoming, because it will jam up your dock schedule and they cannot do much but spend most of their time chasing Chinese ship, close to their base.

For the Air Force, tradition assumption is that China enjoy 3 : 1 advantage, if you also put in quality in the formula, the advantage would most likely over 5 or even 6 : 1 advantage. You will need some surface ship and take some heat and go after Chinese plane. Another thing is Vietnam Air Force lacking in AWACS, which mean once they are out of Ground Base Radar range, they are effectively blinded, unless they can get AWACS data from US or India, you will need sea base radar, or increase your air force strength so you can chop up part of it to protect and run AWACS with the Air Force, which is the reason why submarine is not suitable for these type of warfare.

 

[Carlosa]

It's a good plan, but there is one flaw in your scenario. You need to lure the Chinese into Vietnam mainland in order to enjoy the benefit of combine ADS. And if Chinese are any sort of a clever bunch, they won't actually fight close to Vietnamese soil unless they wanted to do a ground invasion.

The problem with your plan is to set up Above ground defence to try and deter a war in SCS, a war in SCS, however, would most likely does not include a war from mainland, and the closest of those island is 400 miles away from Vietnamese mainland, the ground based defence does not really matter in this point.

The problem is that, these island were quite small, meaning the unit deployable in spratly islands is also small in number, you cannot depend on a few island airfield here and there with surrounding defence to try and fend off Chinese combine naval and air force power. You will need mobile platform at sea to defend these island from invasion. Otherwise it would have been a moot point if you allow Chinese to gain local naval and air superiority.

From my perspective, the Vietnamese occupied islands are absolutely indefensible and I know the Vietnamese military feels the same way (but they will not say it). All Vietnam can do if the islands are taken is to retaliate with missile strikes against the chinese islands and Hainan and maybe make the south china sea into a war zone which would have serious consequences for shipping like increasing insurance rates, etc.

Sub does well only in open seas, and it would require constant support from ground base (either you need to dock and replenish frequently or you need to send Submarine Tender)

sending sub by casting a net like what Germany do during WW2 is ill advised in South China Seas, especially when you are very close to Chinese own naval base. Also, there are limited dock resource for Vietnam, a single usage Submarine taking up dock space is not very forthcoming, because it will jam up your dock schedule and they cannot do much but spend most of their time chasing Chinese ship, close to their base.

For the Air Force, tradition assumption is that China enjoy 3 : 1 advantage, if you also put in quality in the formula, the advantage would most likely over 5 or even 6 : 1 advantage. You will need some surface ship and take some heat and go after Chinese plane. Another thing is Vietnam Air Force lacking in AWACS, which mean once they are out of Ground Base Radar range, they are effectively blinded, unless they can get AWACS data from US or India, you will need sea base radar, or increase your air force strength so you can chop up part of it to protect and run AWACS with the Air Force, which is the reason why submarine is not suitable for these type of warfare.

Surface ships? Please tell me how they can survive. All the Vietnamese ships have a really insignificant air defense, they can't handle a real missile attack which would not be just 1 or 2 missiles; they only have point defense weapons. And how are they going to defend themselves from subs? Only the 2 upcoming Gepard frigates have a decent ASW package. The Vietnamese navy as it is now can't confront the Chinese navy, can't do anything about the fact that China would immediately have air superiority in the South China Sea. I just don't see the surface ships playing any role at all.

 

[jhungary]

From my perspective, the Vietnamese occupied islands are absolutely indefensible and I know the Vietnamese military feels the same way (but they will not say it). All Vietnam can do if the islands are taken is to retaliate with missile strikes against the chine islands and Hainan and maybe make the south china sea into a war zone which would have serious consequences for shipping like increasing insurance rates, etc.

Island defence is very hard, because Island have a limited area for you to deploy your unit.

According to the tradition calculation, an invasion force will need 3 times the size of the defending force (3 :1) if the attacking force enjoy local air and sea superiority, and if either one is lacking, the sizes require would bump up to 5 : 1, and if both is lacking, depends on the quality of the troop, range from 7 : 1 to 10 : 1

Island warfare depends on two parameter. How good is your navy, as I said before, Navy increase your strategic depth. A better navy means you pushes your defensive line further, the invader will get hit sooner, and thus require more resource. Another factor depends on your logistic. How much you can support a defending force, especially the ammunition and troops rotation.

In Vietnam Case. yes, if a war break out between China and Vietnam, the island defence would be untenable, there are two way Vietnam can fight, either wage a insurgency in these island. or do what the Brits do and launch and amphibious assault to retake the island, meanwhile having the defence force in the island to fight a delay action.

What you suggested will not dent the Chinese much, Hainan is not one of the "riches" province China have, and Chinese shipping do not need to go down to SCS, or they would be able to move against your missile. You will need to play aggressively if you want to hurt China in a war and make them stop the aggression. On the other hand, there are several reference point from the past that saw strategic bombing don't actually work. So, I don't really think bombing Hainan or Southern China with missile or Aircraft would have done much, because in term of missile, Chinese have longer range ballistic missile, and a missile or bombing war between China and Vietnam, I can see China will win easily with their sheer number...

Surface ships? Please tell me how they can survive. All the Vietnamese ships have a really insignificant air defense, they can't handle a real missile attack which would not be just 1 or 2 missiles; they only have point defense weapons. And how are they going to defend themselves from subs? Only the 2 upcoming Gepard frigates have a decent ASW package. The Vietnamese navy as it is now can't confront the Chinese navy, can't do anything about the fact that China would immediately have air superiority in the South China Sea. I just don't see the surface ships playing any role at all.

Air Sea Battle concept is what Vietnam should go after, it combine the strength of the Air Force and Navy so as to act as a force multiplier to form a powerful combine defence on Vietnam Coast against Chinese Naval and Air Threat.

The concept is this. Vietnam can use its Air Power to cover the area where your ship is going to operate. Your will need to break up your ship in groups. And uses each ship with their radar to detect or scan a designated area. And using the air asset to prioritise the threat and engage the unit as they stand, while enjoying air cover from naval surface combatant.

The air sea battle is much like what the Egyptian did to Israeli during Yom Kippur war, but instead of ground base AA defence, you are using sea base AA defence. The result is that Egyptian does putting up SAM Umbrella over where their air force is, using ground base radar to guide the fighting to intercept Israeli fighter or engage the Israeli Tank, while the Air asset would cover the land base operation so the SAM site will not be overrun by Israeli tank. They almost succeed if not because of Syrian Failure to take the advantage over in Golan Height.

 

[Carlosa]

What you suggested will not dent the Chinese much, Hainan is not one of the "riches" province China have, and Chinese shipping do not need to go down to SCS, or they would be able to move against your missile.

Oh no, Hainan is super important, not because of the economy but because of the submarine base which is the base for the strategic nuclear sub force.

Air Sea Battle concept is what Vietnam should go after, it combine the strength of the Air Force and Navy so as to act as a force multiplier to form a powerful combine defence on Vietnam Coast against Chinese Naval and Air Threat.

The air sea battle requires a different naval capability than what Vietnam has. The Vietnamese air defense network and the air force can protect the mainland up to a degree, but once you are talking about the sea, that's another story. That concept had more validity in the past, but now that there are 3 air bases in the Chinese islands in the Spratlys with hangars for 72 fighter jets which is already more than the whole Vietnamese air force plus one carrier and more on the way plus the fact that there are many fighter jets from Hainan and the mainland that can reach the islands (with air refueling if needed), the picture doesn't look good.

There are too many chinese subs also. The air cover that Vietnam can provide as well as the cover from the air defense network cannot really extend to the seas other than the air defense network cover against high altitude targets because of systems like S-300 and Buk M-2, that's all. They can't protect the ships from missile attack. You need to have systems in place for that that are on site and Vietnam does not have that capability. The coastal batteries can provide anti ship cover up to a limited distance, but there is nothing that can protect the ships from sea skimming missiles and that's my whole point. Naval bases are protected, but once the ships leave the base, the story changes. Air defense systems on land can only detect a low flying cruise missile up to a distance of up to 30km, that's it. Once the ships are out into the sea, there is no cover.

China has the capability to detect and track all the movements of Vietnamese surface ships, that's quite clear to me. Once the ships are detected, they can be targeted, not only by air and naval assets that are in the local area, but also by stand off assets are are totally outside the reach from the land base defensive network. Chinese bombers with stand off cruise missiles can target from a long distance any ship that leaves the Vietnamese mainland. Subs, and there are plenty of them, would also target those ships so how can those ships survive? How is the air sea battle concept going to help those ships if there is no assets on land that can help those ships? The land assets and air force can't do anything about the enemy subs and can't do anything about stoping incoming missiles that have targeted those ships.

The land assets and air force can deter chinese ships / aircraft from coming too close to the mainland, but they can't provide anti missile defense to help Vietnamese ships in the open seas.

@gambit care to give your opinion?

the island defence would be untenable, there are two way Vietnam can fight, either wage a insurgency in these island. or do what the Brits do and launch and amphibious assault to retake the island, meanwhile having the defence force in the island to fight a delay action..

The islands are way, way too small. No chance of insurgency action, once the island is taken, that's it.

Absolutely no chance of an amphibious attack to retake the islands when China has full air and naval superiority in the area. Any amphibious force that leaves the mainland gets eliminated right away, they don't have the means to protect themselves.

The concepts that you propose can only have validity if Vietnam were to have a far stronger navy that what it has today; right now or in the near future, I don't see any chance for that.

Vietnam should continue to work to increase their capabilities for area denial / anti access and deterrence to defend the mainland and to retaliate in case the islands get taken, but the islands are indefensible, period.

 

[TenLua]

Nobody ever replied to you for a reason.

And yes, the People Republic of only know how to do human wave tactics. Even for their Navy and Air Force. And they are still staying in 50s, 60s and 70s Nam era mindset.

But then wasn't this is the BIGGEST assumption of them all?

More baseless assumptions. Everyone reply to me with tears streaming down their face. Nom nom nom.

Fact: WW2, chinese tactic; human meat grinder. Naval combat ship? 0 combat aircraft? Maybe a couple

Fact 2: korean war, chinese tactic; human meat grinder. Naval combat ship? Aircraft? 0

Fact 3. 1979 border skirmish. Chinese tactic; human meat grinder. Naval combat ship? 0. Aircraft? 0. Too scared the the Vietnamese air force will completely decimate anything that leaves the ground.

Aggregate experience in naval and air combat? 0. Zilch. Nada. Nil. Nothing. Fact.

 

[Viet]

Ok there are more things happening.

From all agreements reached during Vietnam/Belarus summit, this news is nice: the two countries joint verhicle assembly plant will become operational by year end. One of the products should be Maz trucks. Let see what kinds of trucks come out from assembly plant. Including military trucks?

http://m.eng.belta.by/president/vie...5bn-in-trade-over-next-1-2-years-102794-2017/

What does Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull want? He sends a Special Envoy, Frances Adamson, with a letter to Vietnamese government. Content unknown.

Parliament speaker Nguyễn Thị Kim Ngân greets her Cuban counterpart Esteban Lazo Hernandez. Vietnam is poor but always generous especially towards socialist brother from the Cold War area by donating thousands of tons rice to Cuba that faces food shortages. Vietnam even promises to provide rice to Cuba on long term basis. Hopefully the Cubans can pay, we aren't rich.

 

[yugocrosrb95]

@Viet

Ask Cubans for bullets and their domestic sniper and anti materiel rifles, design documents for those.

They also do a decent job of mounting big artilerly guns on trucks.

 

[jhungary]

Oh no, Hainan is super important, not because of the economy but because of the submarine base which is the base for the strategic nuclear sub force.

Well, actually Hainan is not really that strategically important.

There are two things to consider, 1 is the effectiveness of missile against hard defence. Missile can, well, missed, intercepted, failure to detonate. And even if the one that gone thru, missile, being a point to point weapon, your damage done to hardened structure is very limited.

Also put into consideration where the Chinese would most likely forward deploy their submarine, which mean they can be used and support by other bases that out of Vietnamese missile range, either by going there directly or by submarine tender.

The effect of an attack on Hainan would not do much damage to the Naval Power of the Chinese Southern Command. yes, it will interrupted the base of operation by some degree, but not as much as you hope for (like permanently disable the base, or destroyer majority of their ship while they are still docked.

The air sea battle requires a different naval capability than what Vietnam has. The Vietnamese air defense network and the air force can protect the mainland up to a degree, but once you are talking about the sea, that's another story. That concept had more validity in the past, but now that there are 3 air bases in the Chinese islands in the Spratlys with hangars for 72 fighter jets which is already more than the whole Vietnamese air force plus one carrier and more on the way plus the fact that there are many fighter jets from Hainan and the mainland that can reach the islands (with air refueling if needed), the picture doesn't look good.

There are too many chinese subs also. The air cover that Vietnam can provide as well as the cover from the air defense network cannot really extend to the seas other than the air defense network cover against high altitude targets because of systems like S-300 and Buk M-2, that's all. They can't protect the ships from missile attack. You need to have systems in place for that that are on site and Vietnam does not have that capability. The coastal batteries can provide anti ship cover up to a limited distance, but there is nothing that can protect the ships from sea skimming missiles and that's my whole point. Naval bases are protected, but once the ships leave the base, the story changes. Air defense systems on land can only detect a low flying cruise missile up to a distance of up to 30km, that's it. Once the ships are out into the sea, there is no cover.

China has the capability to detect and track all the movements of Vietnamese surface ships, that's quite clear to me. Once the ships are detected, they can be targeted, not only by air and naval assets that are in the local area, but also by stand off assets are are totally outside the reach from the land base defensive network. Chinese bombers with stand off cruise missiles can target from a long distance any ship that leaves the Vietnamese mainland. Subs, and there are plenty of them, would also target those ships so how can those ships survive? How is the air sea battle concept going to help those ships if there is no assets on land that can help those ships? The land assets and air force can't do anything about the enemy subs and can't do anything about stoping incoming missiles that have targeted those ships.

The land assets and air force can deter chinese ships / aircraft from coming too close to the mainland, but they can't provide anti missile defense to help Vietnamese ships in the open seas.

@gambit care to give your opinion?

That is the reason why I think Vietnam will need to rethink their surface warship force.

You need to understand the problem with Vietnam Armed Force and Chinese Armed Force is that Chinese can easily outnumber and outclass probably along all line of Vietnamese Platform, which mean a one on one fight, I mean your fighter against Chinese Fighter, your ships against Chinese ships, you will lose because of the sheer numerical difference.

The only way for you to come up with a fight is to work out a combine warfare and defence only in strategic point, you don't need to hold the island when the war break out, but you can anchor the attack around the island, and using a combine force of Air and Naval Power, you can wage war at least in a localized fashion, like a sea base guerrilla warfare. And hopefully you can negate the Chinese advantage by achieve local superiority or local par engagement. And you can defeat the Chinese in detail before the Chinese can bring in Reinforcement on you.

On the other hand, if you uses submarine and cast a net over the whole SCS and try to hit some ship out of pot luck, first of all, you will need a lot, by a lot I mean A LOT of submarine, basically into 3 digits number to be able to cover the whole SCS and all the entry point. Secondly, Submarine cannot used to chase surface warship, not in an inland sea when there are shelfing on the seabed, and they are totally depends on submarine tender to support their forward deployment, which would be easy to track if the Chinese has gain Air Superiority

It's hard to tell you in a few word so....let's just say we agree to disagree on this topic.

The islands are way, way too small. No chance of insurgency action, once the island is taken, that's it.

Absolutely no chance of an amphibious attack to retake the islands when China has full air and naval superiority in the area. Any amphibious force that leaves the mainland gets eliminated right away, they don't have the means to protect themselves.

The concepts that you propose can only have validity if Vietnam were to have a far stronger navy that what it has today; right now or in the near future, I don't see any chance for that.

Vietnam should continue to work to increase their capabilities for area denial / anti access and deterrence to defend the mainland and to retaliate in case the islands get taken, but the islands are indefensible, period.

You can still wage insurgency and delay the occupation regardless how small the island is. During the Falkland war, the 100 men insurgent force left behind to disrupt the Argentina organisation in the island, the force was lead by 2 Royal Marine that was not captured during the initial phase of the invasion. And was credited as the main effort as to why the Brits can retake the island that easily (UK projection before the war would see casualty in thousands) by the factor of 10 to just 240 something KIA and 700 something wounded.

A2/AD is needed for Vietnam by IMO cannot depends upon, when you are in a smaller force and you are up against a bigger force, Julius Caesar say it best, you have to take the initiative, keep the enemy running your round. That's how he defeated Pompey, Vercingetorix and the likes.

 

[Viva_Viet]

More baseless assumptions. Everyone reply to me with tears streaming down their face. Nom nom nom.

Fact: WW2, chinese tactic; human meat grinder. Naval combat ship? 0 combat aircraft? Maybe a couple

Fact 2: korean war, chinese tactic; human meat grinder. Naval combat ship? Aircraft? 0

Fact 3. 1979 border skirmish. Chinese tactic; human meat grinder. Naval combat ship? 0. Aircraft? 0. Too scared the the Vietnamese air force will completely decimate anything that leaves the ground.

Aggregate experience in naval and air combat? 0. Zilch. Nada. Nil. Nothing. Fact.

in 1979, VN didnt even use regular forces. VN border guards and women militia were far enough to kick 'mighty ' PLA back :

 

[dy1022]

in 1979, VN didnt even use regular forces. VN border guards and women militia were far enough to kick 'mighty ' PLA back :

Yeah, VN force so strong, so powerful. CN force can only do WW2 human meat grinder tactic.

 

[xiao qi]

Vietnam’s military engineers assessed for peacekeeping readiness
A UN delegation on June 27 had a working session with the Engineering High Command and watched the performance of a combat engineering team at Brigade 249 to assess their readiness for UN peacekeeping activities.

Military engineers are clearing a bomb



The delegation’s visit aims to examine training, professional capacity and operational standard of Vietnam in terms of military medicine and engineering – the prerequisites for Vietnam to be lifted to Level 2 of the UN Peacekeeping Capability Readiness System.

The team performed tasks in clearing mines and bombs and building high-storey houses, roads, bridges and garrisons.

The UN delegation appreciated the professional competence and experience of Vietnam’s combat engineering force in both military and civil activities, especially in humanitarian UXO clearance, which they said suit the increasing demands of UN peacekeeping missions.

At the same time, Lieutenant colonel Shahab Udin, head of the delegation, said the force needs to improve equipment and officers’ foreign language proficiency among officers, adding that officers and soldiers should gain thorough understanding of standard operating procedures for UN peacekeeping engineers.

Commanders of the peacekeeping combat engineering team affirmed strong determination to send military engineers to join UN peacekeeping operations on schedule.

Meanwhile, the Engineering High Command pledged to take measures to overcome shortcomings and limitations as soon as possible.

They also suggested the UN advise Vietnam on the set of equipment for combat engineers and the UN standard procedure.

The peacekeeping combat engineering team of Vietnam has 268 members, who are undergoing training in their specialized work and foreign language.

Vietnam affirms political determination to join UN peacekeeping mission

Deputy Defence Minister, Sen. Lieut. Gen Nguyen Chi Vinh affirmed Vietnam’s political determination to join the United Nations (UN) Peacekeeping Mission at a reception in Hanoi on June 27 for a delegation from the UN Assessment and Advisory Visit (AAV).

The delegation was led by Bianca Selway, representative from the UN Department for Peacekeeping Operations.

The reception was also attended by UK representative in charge of the UN peacekeeping mission Samantha Hope and UK defence attaché in Vietnam David Houghtonm, who sought to increase coordination among Vietnam, the UN and the UK in transferring the operation of the UK’s second-level field hospital in the South Sudan city of Bentiu, part of the UN Peacekeeping Mission in South Sudan, to Vietnam.

Vinh, who is also head of the Defence Ministry’s Steering Committee on Vietnam’s participation in the UN Peacekeeping operations, thanked the UN for sending officials to Vietnam to make preliminary evaluation of its training, professional capacity and operating standards in military medicine and engineering.

Informing the outcomes of the working session with the Vietnam Peacekeeping Centre and the trip to observing the field demonstration by Vietnam’s military medical and engineering forces on June 26-27, Selway said the AAV delegation commits all possible support to Vietnam to improve its professional and language ability, and working experience in multi-national environment such as the UN Peacekeeping Mission.

Following the visit, the delegation will submit a detailed report to the UN Department for Peacekeeping Operations to prepare for the upgrade of Vietnam’s status to the second level in the UN Peacekeeping Capability Readiness System and help Vietnam arrange a field trip to Bentiu city and the UN Peacekeeping Mission in South Sudan, which is also part of a Vietnam-UN agenda towards negotiating a Memorandum of Understanding on deploying forces to the UN.

The host asked the delegation to give an objective appraisal of Vietnam’s peacekeeping capacity and offer all possible support to Vietnam to improve the capacity of its military medical and engineering forces to join the UN peacekeeping mission.
http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/go...eers-assessed-for-peacekeeping-readiness.html