List of equipment of the Vietnam People's Navy

Vietnam People's Army

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Vietnam People's Navy honour guard during the 2010 ASEAN Defence Ministers meeting.

Since the Vietnam War, most of Vietnamese vessels were supplied by the Soviet Union and now by Russia, while hundreds more were integrated into the navy after it was left over from South Vietnam although many have been decommissioned due to lack of parts.

The Vietnam People's Navy are the branch of the Vietnam People's Army with the fastest modernisation as the Vietnamese government put it as a main priority, with constant upgradation of its weapons, ammunition and combat capability.

Vessels

Submarines

Class	Image	Type	Ships	Origin	Quantity	Notes
Submarines (6)
Kilo		Submarine	182 Hà Nội 183 Hồ Chí Minh City 184 Hải Phòng 185 Khánh Hoà 186 Đà Nẵng 187 Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu	Russia	6[1]	Active.[1]

Ships

Class	Image	Type	Ships	Origin	Quantity	Notes
Frigates (9)
Gepard 3.9		Frigate	011 Đinh Tiên Hoàng 012 Lý Thái Tổ 015 Trần Hưng Đạo 016 Ngô Quyền	Russia	4	HQ-15 and HQ-16 equipped with anti-submarine capability while HQ-11 and HQ-12 do not.[2]
Petya		Frigate	HQ-09 HQ-11 HQ-13 HQ-15 HQ-17	Soviet Union	5	Three ASW frigate while two converted to gunboats.
Corvettes (14)
Molniya / Tarantul V		Corvette	375 376 377 378 379 380 382 383	Russia  Vietnam	8	6 Built locally.[3]
Tarantul		Corvette	371 372 373 374	Russia	4[4]
Pohang		Corvette	HQ-18	South Korea	2[5]	ASW corvette transferred from South Korea.[5]The second Pohang class delivered at the end of October 2018.
Patrol vessels (26)
BPS-500		Missile boat	HQ-381	Russia  Vietnam	1	Active duty.
Osa		Missile boat	HQ-354 HQ-355 HQ-356 HQ-357 HQ-358 HQ-359 HQ-360 HQ-361	Soviet Union	8	Active duty.
Svetlyak		Patrol boat	HQ-261 HQ-263 HQ-264 HQ-265 HQ-266 HQ-267	Russia	6	Active duty.
TT-400TP		Patrol boat	HQ-272 HQ-273 HQ-274 HQ-275 HQ-276 HQ-277	Vietnam	6	Active duty.
Turya		Patrol boat	HQ-331 HQ-332 HQ-333 HQ-334 HQ-335	Soviet Union	5	Active duty.
Amphibious warfare ships (6)
LST-542		Amphibious warfare	HQ-501 Trần Khánh Dư	USA	1	Active duty. The former USS Maricopa County LST-938 which captured during the Vietnam War.
Polnocny		Amphibious warfare	HQ-511 HQ-512 HQ-513	Soviet Union	3	Active duty.
Hùng Vương		Amphibious warfare	HQ-521 HQ-522	Vietnam	2	Active duty.
Auxiliary vessels (33)
Sorum		Logistics tug	Project 745	Soviet Union	1
Voda		Logistics tug	MTV-6/Project 561		1
Nyrat-2		Logistics tug	Project 376U		5
		Floating drydock		Vietnam	5
PO-2			Project 376	Soviet Union	1
USN YOG-5		Harbour tanker		USA	5	ex-USN YOG-5. Captured during the Vietnam War.
Chaolocco		Tug			5	Captured during the Vietnam War.
USN		Harbour tug			10	Captured during the Vietnam War.
Mines counter-measure vessels (8)
Sonya		Minesweeper	HQ-861 HQ-862 HQ-863 HQ-864	Soviet Union	4	Active duty.
Yurka		Minesweeper	HQ-851 HQ-852		2	Active duty.
Yevgenya		Minesweeper			2	Active duty.
Transport/Logistics support ships (11)
HSV-6613		Ocean surveillance	HQ-888 Trần Đại Nghĩa	Netherlands  Vietnam	1	Active duty.
K-122		Transport/Logistics support ship	HQ-571 Trường Sa HQ-561 Khánh Hòa (hospital ship)	Vietnam	2	Active duty.
HQ-996		Transport/Logistics support ship	HQ-996		1	Active duty.
Trường Sa		Transport/Logistics support ship	Trường Sa 04 Trường Sa 08 Trường Sa 14 Trường Sa 19 Trường Sa 20 Trường Sa 21 Trường Sa 22		7	Active duty.
Training vessel (1)
		Training vessel	HQ-Lê Quý Đôn	Poland  Vietnam	1	Active duty.

Aircraft

Aircraft	Image	Type	Variants	Origin	Quantity	Notes
Patrol aircraft (6)
DHC-6 Twin Otter		Patrol aircraft		Canada	6	Active duty.
Helicopters (16)
Kamov Ka-28		ASW helicopter		Soviet Union	8	Serve in frigates and patrol vessels around Spratly Islands.
Eurocopter Dauphin		ASW helicopter		France	6	Active duty.
Eurocopter Super Puma		Patrol helicopter			2
Unmanned aerial vehicle
Magic Eye 01		UAV		Vietnam		Under development.

Weapons

Ship/submarine missiles

Model	Image	Type	Variants	Origin	Quantity	Notes
Anti-ship missile (AShM)
Onyx		Coastal defence	SS-N-26 Yakhont	Russia	10 launcher 40 missiles	Finished negotiation for technological transferring programme. Two K-300P Bastion-P systems in active.
P-5 Pyatyorka		Coastal defence	SS-N-3 Shaddock	Soviet Union	unknown	Active duty. Already self-produced by Vietnam.
P-15 Termit		Anti-ship missile Coastal defence	SS-N-2 Styx		20[4]	Active duty. Equipped in Tarantul class ships. Some have been replaced by Kh-35.
Kh-35 Uran-E		Anti-ship missile	SS-N-25 Switchblade	Russia	103[4]	Active duty. Equipped in Molniya and Gepard class ships. Already self-produced by Vietnam. 300 more on order.
3M-14/54 Klub		Anti-ship missile	SS-N-27 Sizzler		(50)	Equipped in Kilo submarines. 40 on order.[6]

Firearms

Model	Image	Type	Calibre	Origin	Notes
Pistol
Makarov		Semi-automatic pistol	9×18mm Makarov	Soviet Union	Standard issue pistol.
Submachine gun
Uzi		Submachine gun	9×19mm Parabellum	Israel	Used by Naval Special Forces.
Assault rifles
AK-47		Assault rifle	7.62×39mm M43	Soviet Union	Standard issue assault rifle.
IWI Tavor TAR-21		Assault rifle	5.56×45mm NATO	Israel	Manufactured locally. Used by Marines as standard issue rifle [7][8][9]
Machine gun
IMI Negev		Light machine gun	5.56×45mm NATO	Israel	Used by Marines and Naval Special Forces.
Grenade launcher
DP-64		Grenade launcher	45mm	Russia

Procurement

As the Vietnam People's Navy is responsible for protecting the nation's sovereignty and economic activities at sea, as well to repulse unauthorised foreign vessels intruding into Vietnamese waters, Vietnam's policy has considered the modernisation of the Navy a priority task in the overall military modernisation plan. As stated on 5 August 2011 by Minister of Defence Phùng Quang Thanh:

The direction of building up the armed forces is one to follow the revolutionary spirit, regularisation and effectiveness and gradual modernisation. Within this context, the Navy, the Air Force, the Signal Corps and Electronic Warfare will proceed directly into modernisation to protect the country.^[10]

— Vietnamese Minister of Defence, Phùng Quang Thanh.

• Frigates and corvettes: Two Gepard-class frigates were laid down in 2011 by the Zelenodolsk shipyard in Russia, named HQ-011 Dinh Tien Hoang and HQ-012 Lý Thái Tổ, and two more were ordered. A contract was made in 2011 with Schelde Naval Shipbuilding in the Netherlands to build two Sigma-class corvettes in the Netherlands and two more in Vietnam.^[11] The Vietnam People's Navy has itself built six Tarantul-class corvettes (Molniya class) with Russian supervision and has designed and built the first warships of the TT-400TP gunboat class.^[12]
• Submarines: Vietnam deployed its first submarine flotilla, Flotilla 182, on 1 June 1982. This flotilla was trained in Cam Ranh Bay under the guidance of Soviet submarine officers and used North Korea's Yugo-class submarine. In April 2011, Vietnam ordered six Kilo-class submarines worth about 1.8 billion dollars, said to be the entire defence budget of Vietnam in 2009. With six submarines, the first to be delivered in 2012 and the last one to be delivered by 2016, Vietnam will own the largest and most modern submarines in Southeast Asia.^[13]
• Offshore patrol vessel: When Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyễn Tấn Dũng visited India in October 2014 it was announced that India will supply 4 naval vessels to Vietnam, and quickly operationalise a $100 million line of credit which will allow Vietnam to purchase new vessels from India.^[14]
• Naval air force: The Vietnam People's Navy prepared to build the Naval Air Force to increase the capacity of coastal defence. On 27 February 2010, the Vietnamese People's Army General Staff decided to build and make the 954th Naval Air Force Regiment a regular member of the Vietnamese Navy. Vietnam has purchased three CASA C-212 Aviocar Series 400 aircraft. The aircraft are equipped with MSS 6000 radar and the Naval Air Force will use them for general patrol purposes. Vietnamese Navy received two Eurocopter EC225 Super Puma to offshore patrol and search and rescue missions.^[15] Viking Air Company of Canada contracted to sell to Vietnam six Seaplane DHC-6 Twin Otter Series 400 aircraft from 2012 to 2014. While eight Kamov Ka-28 helicopters also transferred to the naval air force.^[16]
• Coastal defence missile force: Vietnam People's Navy is building a coastal defence missile force (the 679th Coastal Missile Regiment) to become a core force in its maritime security strategy, with Russian and Indian missile systems. The Vietnamese Navy has already produced for itself the P-5 Pyatyorka/Shaddock anti-ship missile, with a range of 550 km. Vietnam was the only customer to which the Soviet Union exported this missile system. The then Russia delivered two K-300P Bastion-P coastal defence systems to Vietnam. The Bastion system uses the P-800 Oniks/Yakhont supersonic anti-ship missile, primarily used to attack targets on land and sea, has an attack range of 300 km, and can be used to protect a coastline of over 600 km.^[17] During a 2014 visit of Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyễn Tấn Dũng to India, the Indian government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi showed willingness to sell their BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles developed by the Russia-India joint venture BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited to Vietnam.^[18] The Vietnamese are now starting to locally produce the anti-ship missile Kh-35 Uran-E after receiving 33 missiles in 2010.

See also

• Vietnam People's Navy

References