Modern Military of Vietnam
- Thread starter Yonkers
- Start date
Sure the armoured corps has never been a priority to them, even though it served them well when the US pulled out of Vietnam and the NVA began to roll into the south in earnest.
For support missions a modernized T-54/55 is good enough under most circumstances.
Nevertheless at one point one has to upgrade the armoured corps. Upgrading old hulls can just be done for so long. At some point reliability and maintenance costs suffer.
Even some sub-saharan African nations purchase T-72s these days...
For support missions a modernized T-54/55 is good enough under most circumstances.
Nevertheless at one point one has to upgrade the armoured corps. Upgrading old hulls can just be done for so long. At some point reliability and maintenance costs suffer.
Even some sub-saharan African nations purchase T-72s these days...
Ananda
The Bunker Group
I tend to think that so. Vietnam considering Spartly more potential conflict area in the future then land clash. They need more air and sea deterences compared to Land, thus put priority more on that. Afterall upgrading something that you already know to maintain (like T-55 in cased of Vietnam) is more easier for Logistics and maintanances then build new capabilities (like buying upgraded T-72).
Still after getting more Flankers and Kilo's I will not count it out Vietnam probability on replacing their MBT's.
Yes, even some African countries with far weaker an economy than Vietnam have purchased T-72 tanks in recent years, but please consider the circumstances. Many of these countries have pressing security issues, be them inner conflicts like civil wars or separation movements or outer threats like bad relations to their neighbours. Also many of these countries are landlocked, so a focus on a strong army is natural. Vietnam is not in such a position, it is stable internally and none of it's neighbours is an immediate threat, while maritime issues are very important for an coastal nation like Vietnam that is also very dependent on free shipping lanes due to it's economic focus on export of goods.
I am sure Vietnam is not planning to keep on using their T-55's forever and ever, but another 10 years or 15 is absolutely fine if the Israelis made a good refurbishment job and the current security situation does not change significantly. Cambodia and Laos are in no position to threaten Vietnam militarily (and are on friendly terms with the Vietnamese regime anyway), and China is currently not concerned to mess with Vietnam.
I am sure Vietnam is not planning to keep on using their T-55's forever and ever, but another 10 years or 15 is absolutely fine if the Israelis made a good refurbishment job and the current security situation does not change significantly. Cambodia and Laos are in no position to threaten Vietnam militarily (and are on friendly terms with the Vietnamese regime anyway), and China is currently not concerned to mess with Vietnam.
I think MBT's still have a very big role to play in Vietnamese military doctrine, especially having played a big part in 'liberating' the south in 75. MBT's were also used extensively in Cambodia by Vietnam. Major orders that have been placed over the years would seem to indicate that Vietnam is more concerned of a possible naval clash rather than a ground conflict in the future with China. This is not to say however there are no plans to upgrade it's army, it's probably just not a priority at the moment given Vietnam's threat perceptions.
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I fully understand that right now Vietnam has no pressing need to seriously upgrade it's tank inventory.
But my thoughts are that maybe in 10-15 years cheap tanks won't be so readily available as they are now with most T-72s being already sold or scrapped.
But my thoughts are that maybe in 10-15 years cheap tanks won't be so readily available as they are now with most T-72s being already sold or scrapped.
Yes, but if the economic and political situation does not change significantly, in 10 or 15 years Vietnam will more likely look for far more modern and capable tanks than second hand T-72's. Until then, the Israeli modernised T-55 gives them a good compromise between combat value and low investment costs into their support infrastructure.
Of course that is just my guess game, and neither me nor the Vietnamese military leadership are beyond doubt that's for sure. But I have the overall impression that Vietnam's plans for development (not only military, but overall) are quite well thought out and they rarely do something for no reason. So maybe they just decided that scrapping their T-55's and purchase cheap basic T-72's today, and then in a decade scrapping these as well and purchase something completely different again is not worth it.
From a tactical point of view I wonder how the T-55 fares with the Israeli package. The 105 mm gun is, well a 105 mm gun. Insufficient against many newer tanks but okay for lesser duties. The armor package looks similar to what Israel put on the Turkish M60T Sabra III tanks or the Kazakh T-72KZ tanks, basically a big chunk of passive armour around the frontal arch of the turret. the gunner's sight looks exactly like what Israel put on the Slovenian M-55S1 tanks (Fontana SGS-55 with day/night/LRF according to a short Google research).
Of course that is just my guess game, and neither me nor the Vietnamese military leadership are beyond doubt that's for sure. But I have the overall impression that Vietnam's plans for development (not only military, but overall) are quite well thought out and they rarely do something for no reason. So maybe they just decided that scrapping their T-55's and purchase cheap basic T-72's today, and then in a decade scrapping these as well and purchase something completely different again is not worth it.
From a tactical point of view I wonder how the T-55 fares with the Israeli package. The 105 mm gun is, well a 105 mm gun. Insufficient against many newer tanks but okay for lesser duties. The armor package looks similar to what Israel put on the Turkish M60T Sabra III tanks or the Kazakh T-72KZ tanks, basically a big chunk of passive armour around the frontal arch of the turret. the gunner's sight looks exactly like what Israel put on the Slovenian M-55S1 tanks (Fontana SGS-55 with day/night/LRF according to a short Google research).
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You're probably right, but my guess is that notwithstanding the scrappings and sales, there still will be T-72's readily available for at least the next 10 years or so, for customers who want them. My guess is that Vietnam will eventually order a batch of T-90's. I don't see any near term alternatives accept maybe buying T-84's from the Ukraine.
I think the big one question we should ask, one that would give us accurate clues as to where Vietnam intends to go with regards to armour modernisation is - what MBT's does China have near it's border with Vietnam? Unfortunatly, that's not a question that can be answered by many here
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If the time scale if 10-15 years, it will be T-90M, or some variant there-of.
But in 10-15 years the T-80s will receive the same fate so they could be available quite cheaply
The re-elected member of the Politburo Defense Minister Phung Quang Thanh announced a couple of weeks ago that Vietnam will focus on modernizing the navy and airforce, ..no mention of ground force at all
From 2009 to mid 2010 we ordered a total of 40 Su-30 and from unconfirmed source we may order another 32 Su-30, 32 Mig-35, 18 Su-35BM, and 5 batteries of S-300PMU2 in the next 5 years. Future orders are just speculation at the moment but it comes from people who predicted that Vietnam would purchase 6 Kilo-class submarines several years ago.
As for radar installation, it's confirmed that Vietnam already put in service Kasta-2E2,Vostok E,Kolchulga,Nebo SV, and 55Zh6 Nebo-UE
From 2009 to mid 2010 we ordered a total of 40 Su-30 and from unconfirmed source we may order another 32 Su-30, 32 Mig-35, 18 Su-35BM, and 5 batteries of S-300PMU2 in the next 5 years. Future orders are just speculation at the moment but it comes from people who predicted that Vietnam would purchase 6 Kilo-class submarines several years ago.
As for radar installation, it's confirmed that Vietnam already put in service Kasta-2E2,Vostok E,Kolchulga,Nebo SV, and 55Zh6 Nebo-UE
Where did you get the news about the Mig-35??The re-elected member of the Politburo Defense Minister Phung Quang Thanh announced a couple of weeks ago that Vietnam will focus on modernizing the navy and airforce, ..no mention of ground force at all
From 2009 to mid 2010 we ordered a total of 40 Su-30 and from unconfirmed source we may order another 32 Su-30, 32 Mig-35, 18 Su-35BM, and 5 batteries of S-300PMU2 in the next 5 years. Future orders are just speculation at the moment but it comes from people who predicted that Vietnam would purchase 6 Kilo-class submarines several years ago.
As for radar installation, it's confirmed that Vietnam already put in service Kasta-2E2,Vostok E,Kolchulga,Nebo SV, and 55Zh6 Nebo-UE
From people of Vietnamese military discussion forum; the kind of people who had predicted in 2005-2006 that Vietnam would purchase 6 Kilo-class submarines and people who had taken up-closed pictures of Vietnam's S-300PMU2
I agree with the Defense Minister that the Navy and Airforce need more modernization than anything else. In this modern day, you must have a solid radar network, anti-aircraft missle systems, and airforce to create a sense of deterrent and make your opponent think twice about their potential losses when launching a war against you. A strong ground force is so outdated in my opinion
When you are operating capable platforms like the Su-30 and the Su-35 why go for the Mig-35? Is it for the Mig's AESA radar? Also as far as I know the Mig-35 hasn't been offered to any other country other than India, so how can your sources tell you that Vietnam will operate Mig-35s?
I do not believe Mig35's AESA radar is anywhere near powerful as the PESA IRBIS-E radar of the SU35BM that can see objects of 0.01 RCS m2 at 96 km. If Vietnam has the intention to buy Mig35, it will be in the Vietnamese realm of knowledge first before any other foreign source ( including Russia) knows it. Migs will need to find buyers anyway, so India buys it or not will not have effect on the decision of Vietnam if we have plan to buy them. I personally like the Su35BM better because of its powerful radar.
Do you have data of AESA radar detection range of such object of x rcs at x distant?