Vietnam Defence Forum

[warzone]

I don't think all the military training for students are nonsense. Forget the battle of Quang Tri where almost soldiers in there are students from North Vietnam univer, they proved they fought well in front of massive pressure, If I remember right, they only got 3 months training in Thai Nguyen.

I never think it's was useless to give some short basic training to students, it always good to learn new stuffs. Some countries teach students doing agriculture or navigation, VN teach some basic drills and patriotism. It's some people who though it's useless because of firing 3 bullets.

I know what you mention about students who fought during Viet Nam war, they called them volunteers students brigades (I think) and they received full regular military training and equipped with full standard military gears. I admire those volunteers students during war, gave up studies and join the army to go to the front, they were brave, enthusiast and patriotic.

But we must not comparing those volunteers who got full training and today students who got a very quick one.

 

[Nilgiri]

https://www.voanews.com/a/india-japan-plan-to-up-maritime-activity-at-china/4036453.html

India, Japan Expected to Increase Maritime Activity Aimed at China

TAIPEI, TAIWAN —

India and Japan, anxious to keep Asia’s dominant power Beijing in check, may send patrols into the contested South China Sea or sell arms to rival states following a pair of high-level meetings this month, experts say.

Both Asian countries could sell or donate more weapons to China’s rival maritime claimants, such as Vietnam, so they can build a defense against Beijing. Japan may also use coast guard or naval ships to patrol the sea to show it’s open despite China’s claim to some 90 percent of it.

India will probably continue joint exploration with Vietnam for oil and gas under the 3.5 million-square-kilometer sea, analysts say.

“Delhi and Tokyo have both been stepping up their capacity-building efforts in the region, with Japan focused mainly on providing patrol vessels and training for Southeast Asian states and India selling arms to and training the Vietnamese navy,” said Gregory Poling, director of the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative of the American think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Two High-Level Talks in a Week

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met counterpart Narendra Modi in India Sept. 13-14 to discuss “enhancing maritime security cooperation,” according to a foreign ministry statement from Tokyo.

On Monday their foreign ministers met at the United Nations with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to talk about freedom of navigation and respect for international law, the Indian external affairs ministry spokesman said.

Analysts understood both discussions to be aimed at China, including its expansion in the contested sea since 2010.

Neither India nor Japan claims the South China Sea, but the two have warily eyed China’s ascent to being the largest economy and military power in Asia. And despite the meeting with Tillerson in New York, the U.S. government is seen as preoccupied by the militarization of North Korea.

Arms for China’s Smaller South China Sea Claimants

Japan as well as India could sell more weapons to the four Southeast Asian states whose coastal waters overlap China’s claim to the sea, analysts say.

Japan indicated in January it would give Vietnam six patrol boats to help with maritime security. Vietnam has clashed three times since the 1970s with Chinese vessels. In August last year, Japan began giving the Philippines 10 coast guard boats through a soft loan agreement.

India has talked to Vietnam about supplying it BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles, which are co-developed with Russia, among other missiles, leading a state-backed Chinese media outlet earlier this year to accuse India of causing trouble. India in September 2016 offered Vietnam a $500 million line of credit to buy defense hardware, including patrol boats.

Sending Patrol Missions into the Disputed Sea

Japan may test China with low-key patrols of the sea, said Le Hong Hiep, research fellow with the ISEAS Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore. In May it sent an Izumo helicopter-carrying warship into the sea for port visits in Southeast Asia en route to joint exercises with the United States.

“What they have done is they send a ship to Gulf of Aden and on the way back they do kind of patrol in the South China Sea and do port calls to Vietnam, et cetera,” Le said. “But they do not intentionally design any kind of (freedom of navigation) program in the South China Sea as it may provoke China.

“But in the future I’m not sure, because Japan obviously has some interest in containing China’s ambitions in the South China Sea as well,” he said.

Patrols would show the sea, also packed with fisheries, is open to other countries despite Beijing’s claim of sovereignty to the waterway off its south coast. China has strengthened control and angered rival claimants by using landfill to build artificial islands ready for combat aircraft and radar systems.

Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam and the Philippines claim all or part of the same sea.

India and Japan might patrol the sea together with coast guard ships, said Andrew Yang, secretary-general of the Chinese Council of Advanced Policy Studies think tank in Taiwan. They would occasionally send naval vessels, he added.

“Maybe they will increase the momentum of their joint activities in order to demonstrate that Japan and India are closely cooperating in terms of regulating the so-called rule-based behavior in the South China Sea and the region,” Yang said.

India’s Overtures in Southeast Asia

India, as part of a fast-growing trade and investment relationship with Vietnam, can further assert itself in the South China Sea by working with Vietnamese firms on exploration for oil and gas, Le said.

For the past three years, the overseas subsidiary of India’s government-run ONGC has worked with PetroVietnam Exploration Production Corporation to search for oil and gas in the South China Sea. That cooperation helps Vietnam improve its "bargaining power" with China, Le said.

Since losing a world arbitration court verdict over its claim to the South China Sea last year, China has sought favor with Southeast Asian countries through economic aid and investment. Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines are accepting China’s overtures -- along with the same from other major nations.

The Philippines, for example, welcomes Japanese aid because the public and the China-friendly government have long trusted Tokyo, said Maria Ela Atienza, political science professor at University of the Philippines Diliman. Filipinos know less about India, she said, but Japan could bridge the gap.

“At least people are not so aware of possible positive relations with India,” Atienza said. “But if it’s an alliance, maybe if Japan can vouch for India, perhaps that can build confidence in terms of the partnership.”

 

[AViet]

it is more likely that Vietnam will soon start export its weapon to India, rather than vice versa.

Indian weapons? I doubt Vietnam will ever buy anything from India. Just like Brahmos, which we have heard about since as soon as 2005.

Why Vietnam need to buy from you when we can buy the original version from Russia. Why do we need the tech transfer from you if we can have better from Russia, if Vietnam ever want to manufacture the Yakhont. And with the quality of manufacturing in India is so low, which even Indian-made rifles are not accepted by its army, anything worth to be bought from India will be just likely India assembly work, which can be done in Vietnam as well.

 

[AMCA]

it is more likely that Vietnam will soon start export its weapon to India, rather than vice versa.

Indian weapons? I doubt Vietnam will ever buy anything from India. Just like Brahmos, which we have heard about since as soon as 2005.

Why Vietnam need to buy from you when we can buy the original version from Russia. Why do we need the tech transfer from you if we can have better from Russia, if Vietnam ever want to manufacture the Yakhont. And with the quality of manufacturing in India is so low, which even Indian-made rifles are not accepted by its army, anything worth to be bought from India will be just likely India assembly work, which can be done in Vietnam as well.

Err !! You must compare Yakhont and Brahmos thoroughly before making such a statement. Even the American and Italian weaponry failed to meet the Indian conditions and standards set by the Army. If Vietnam chooses to do so, it very well may! Its really hard to keep the production lines running if the in house demands are low, so be careful what you wish for. Best of Luck however !

 

[Viet]

The last commander of the Hanoi Hilton, the most infamous POW camp in North Vietnam, at a departure ceremony for American POWs. (Michael Dobbs/The Washington Post)

Robert Chenoweth, who was held in a prison camp for five year, talks about his experience in Vietnam. (Photo by Kai Eiselein/ for The Washington Post)

 

[Viet]

Good stuff

Hanwha begins with the construction of Vietnam first ever aircraft engine parts factory. The Korean company with over $53 billion in sales is a big number in business providing aircraft parts in both civil and military aircraft such as F5, F15K and T50 fighter jets.

The Koreans can send F15K fighter aircraft for maintenance to Vietnam.

http://www.hanwha.com/en/news_and_m...aircraft-engine-parts-factory-in-vietnam.html

 

[Nilgiri]

Good stuff

Hanwha begins with the construction of Vietnam first ever aircraft engine parts factory. The Korean company with over $53 billion in sales is a big number in business providing aircraft parts in both civil and military aircraft such as F5, F15K and T50 fighter jets.

View attachment 427026 View attachment 427028 View attachment 427027


The Koreans can send F15K fighter aircraft for maintenance to Vietnam.

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View attachment 427030

http://www.hanwha.com/en/news_and_m...aircraft-engine-parts-factory-in-vietnam.html

This is actually really huge news. Congratulations! As you gain experience and know-how over time, you will do the critical system assembly and even design I am sure. Hanwha also has access to the top of the line catalogues from the West given nature of ROK aviation assets....you can skip many iterations that say India and China had to do with soviet/russian engine tech inheritance (and the frontier curve is quite behind west anyway)....and focus where your HR is best suited in the overall sector.

I might be working on a cpl years old project involving PW and hanwha in future sometime so maybe I will have a work reason to visit Vietnam depending on what Hanwha is outsourcing there. Will have to look up more on this project or maybe you can update as you find here.

 

[warzone]

@xiao qi Did Bao Ninh (author of the sorrow of war) was also a volunteer student and then joined the Glorious 27th youth brigade? Of the five hundred who went to war with his brigade in 1969, he was one of ten to survive at the end of the war. And then 6 of those 10 survivors committed suicide after the war. What a tragic and sad end for everyone in this Glorious 27th youth brigade.

Sorrow of war is my favorite book of all time (and it’s the only book that made me cry..LOL).

Beside those students who volunteers for combat duties, let not forget the hundred thousand of young people (girls and boys) between 13 and 22 years old who were formed into the Youth Brigades [Thanh Niên Xung Phong ) during the war time. They were doing mostly logistic duties like transport (ammunition, wounded soldiers, food), paving the way, clearing bombs, ect… About 10 000 died during the conflicts.

 

[Viet]

This is actually really huge news. Congratulations! As you gain experience and know-how over time, you will do the critical system assembly and even design I am sure. Hanwha also has access to the top of the line catalogues from the West given nature of ROK aviation assets....you can skip many iterations that say India and China had to do with soviet/russian engine tech inheritance (and the frontier curve is quite behind west anyway)....and focus where your HR is best suited in the overall sector.

I might be working on a cpl years old project involving PW and hanwha in future sometime so maybe I will have a work reason to visit Vietnam depending on what Hanwha is outsourcing there. Will have to look up more on this project or maybe you can update as you find here.

Hanwha wants to invest $200 million into the project. The company will recruit 1,000 people in total with many of them technicians and engineers. The industrial park is in the negotiations for additional $500 million investment. So there is a chance to foreigners to apply for a job. VN labor law demands companies to employ domestic workers but companies can select foreign expects if no Vietnamese with required skills can be found within a period. So you are welcome.

VN aero industry is still at infancy. It may take one or two decades to get VN to where RoK is now.

 

[Viet]

Russia made warships Gepard class may come cheaper than expected. The guided missile frigates will get the main weaponry Kh35 AShM and 533mm Torpedo from the domestic production.

Harish Parvathaneni, India ambassador to Vietnam says India will soon begin to deliver 12 patrol vessels to Vietnam as part of $100 million package. Manufactured by GRSE, length 37 m, 140 tons, equipped by 1x 76mm main gun, 2 x 30mm AK-630 rattling cannons.

 

[enquencher]

Indian Navy Brass Band to perform in Hanoi Published September 23, 2017 SOURCE: VIETNAMNET The Indian Navy Brass Band will perform in Vietnam for the first time to enhance the cultural exchange and mutual understanding between the two countries. The band is part of a visit by two Indian Navy ships, docking in Hai Phong Port. The band will perform military marches, patriotic tunes and Bollywood film music. It has performed across the globe at international fleet reviews, music festivals, coronations and parades.The performance will take place at the Indian Cultural Centre, 63 Tran Hung Dao Street, Hanoi. Entrance is free.

idrw.org .Read more at India No 1 Defence News Website http://idrw.org/indian-navy-brass-band-to-perform-in-hanoi/#more-148566 .

 

[xiao qi]

@xiao qi Did Bao Ninh (author of the sorrow of war) was also a volunteer student and then joined the Glorious 27th youth brigade? Of the five hundred who went to war with his brigade in 1969, he was one of ten to survive at the end of the war. And then 6 of those 10 survivors committed suicide after the war. What a tragic and sad end for everyone in this Glorious 27th youth brigade.

Sorrow of war is my favorite book of all time (and it’s the only book that made me cry..LOL).

Beside those students who volunteers for combat duties, let not forget the hundred thousand of young people (girls and boys) between 13 and 22 years old who were formed into the Youth Brigades [Thanh Niên Xung Phong ) during the war time. They were doing mostly logistic duties like transport (ammunition, wounded soldiers, food), paving the way, clearing bombs, ect… About 10 000 died during the conflicts.
View attachment 427132 View attachment 427133
View attachment 427134

I don't know, I also read his book, in the sorrow of war the protagonist is a volunteer student so I guess Bao Ninh describes based on his past. This novel also obsesses me so much.

 

[Viet]

Indian warships make port call in northern Vietnam

By Giang Chinh
September 23, 2017 | VN express
The visit aims to enhance relations, understanding and trust between the two countries' navies.


Two Indian warships docked at Hai Phong's Chua Ve Port on Saturday for a four-day visit to the northern city.

The stealth frigate INS Satpura (F48) and the anti-submarine warfare corvette INS Kadmatt (P29) carry a total of 645 officers and sailors, led by Captain Rahul Shankar, commander of the INS Satpura.

The INS Satpura docks at Chua Ve Port in Hai Phong.


The crews were welcomed by representatives of the city's Foreign Affairs Department, the Ministry of National Defense's Foreign Relations Department, the Vietnamese Navy's 1st Regional Command and local units of the people's armed forces.

During the visit, the crews will participate in joint training drills and knowledge and cultural exchanges, as well as sports games with the Vietnamese Navy. The activities are aimed to enhance relations, understanding and trust between the two navies.

After leaving Hai Phong, the ships' crews would conduct a passing exercise (PASSEX) and a search and rescue exercise with the Vietnamese Navy.

The warships' visit this year comes after the 45th anniversary of Vietnam-India diplomatic relations and the 10th anniversary of the two countries' strategic partnership.

The last visit to Vietnam by Indian naval ships was in May 2016, when the INS Satpura and the corvette INS Kirch visited Cam Ranh International Port in central Vietnam.

@Nilgiri

 

[sahureka2]

Novorossiysk Russia 5 September 2017.
Vietnam's frigate number 487

photo: уфимец

 

[Nilgiri]

Hanwha wants to invest $200 million into the project. The company will recruit 1,000 people in total with many of them technicians and engineers. The industrial park is in the negotiations for additional $500 million investment. So there is a chance to foreigners to apply for a job. VN labor law demands companies to employ domestic workers but companies can select foreign expects if no Vietnamese with required skills can be found within a period. So you are welcome.

VN aero industry is still at infancy. It may take one or two decades to get VN to where RoK is now.

Oh I am settled here in Canada hehe....but I mean more for a short consultancy stint (to impart know how both ways on certain things as they scale up)...I did a cpl in China a while back...learned more about China in the process. Vietnam on my list now if given the chance hehe.

Is the Hanwha facility located in a high-tech park/complex/SEZ of some sort btw?