US, European, Chinese firms seek to draw Vietnam arms deals from Russia

US, European, Chinese firms seek to draw Vietnam arms deals from Russia
by AFP Staff Writers
Hanoi (AFP) Dec 19, 2024

Major US weapons manufacturers including Boeing and Lockheed Martin, along with Europe's Airbus and Chinese firms, put their wares on show at an arms fair in Hanoi Thursday as Vietnam looks to diversify its defence supplies away from Russia.

A US Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt attack aircraft and a C-130 Super Hercules transport were on the tarmac at Hanoi's Gia Lam military airfield for the event.

Thousands of people attended including hundreds of uniformed Vietnamese soldiers, some of whom posed for selfies with US troops ahead of next year's 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War.

The defence expo featured Chinese firms for the first time, including major state-owned defence conglomerate Norinco, or China North Industries Corporation.

Successive Vietnamese governments have been heavily reliant on arms supplied by Russia for decades.

The country accounted for more than 80 percent of Vietnam's arms imports between 1995 and 2023, according to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

But imports from Russia have dropped off in recent years amid international sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine.

"The war in Ukraine has exposed the vulnerabilities of relying too heavily on Russian arms," said Nguyen Khac Giang, a visiting fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore.

"Diversification isn't just a necessity, it's an opportunity for Vietnam to upgrade to more advanced systems while reducing dependence on any single partner," Giang said.

"The expo is Vietnam's way of signalling it's open to new partnerships."

Boeing and Lockheed Martin were among 14 American companies at the fair, while two exhibitors were Chinese and others were from Germany, Iran, Israel and Ukraine, as well as Russia.

As well as aircraft, they put on display tanks, missiles, drones, firearms and radar systems, including by several Vietnamese firms.

Speaking on the sidelines of the fair, US Ambassador to Vietnam Marc Knapper said US and Vietnamese companies could potentially work together in areas such as joint production and technology transfers.

"Our goal is to ensure that Vietnam has what it needs to defend its interests, at sea, in the air, on the ground and in cyberspace," he said.

Both Washington and Hanoi share concerns about Beijing's moves to assert its presence in the contested South China Sea, where Vietnam and other Southeast Asian nations have competing claims with China.

At the opening ceremony, Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh described the expo as "delivering a message of peace, cooperation, and shared development".

Key facts from the Pentagon's annual China military report
Beijing (AFP) Dec 19, 2024 - The Pentagon has released its annual congressionally mandated report on China's military and security developments.

Beijing's military -- which it has been working to modernise for several decades -- has made recent advances, the report said, citing intelligence and open source data.

But efforts to improve its armed forces have been hampered by corruption that led to the removal of top leaders, it added.

Here are the key takeaways about the People's Liberation Army (PLA) from the report:

- Navy -

China's navy -- the largest in the world -- has more than 370 ships and submarines, up from the approximately 340 that the Pentagon said China had in its 2022 report.

The navy has also continued to "grow its ability" to perform missions beyond the first island chain -- which includes Japan's Okinawa, Taiwan and the Philippines -- it added.

- Nuclear arsenal -

China's stockpile of operational nuclear warheads has also increased from more than 500 last year to more than 600 in 2024, the report said.

It will have more than 1,000 by 2030, the Pentagon said, as Beijing pushes "to modernize, diversify, and expand its nuclear forces rapidly".

This, it said, would enable China to "target more US cities, military facilities, and leadership sites than ever before in a potential nuclear conflict".

- Air Force -

The PLA's air force is "rapidly approaching technology" up to US standards, the report said.

It is "modernising and indigenising" its aircraft, as well as unmanned aerial systems.

- Missiles -

China is also developing new intercontinental ballistic missiles that will "significantly improve" its nuclear-capable missile forces and require increased nuclear warhead production, the report said.

The country also "probably completed" the construction of three new silo fields in 2022, which would contain at least 300 new ICBM silos where it has loaded some of the missiles.

Beijing may also be exploring the development of conventionally armed intercontinental-range missile systems that could threaten the United States, it added.

- Overseas footprint -

China is looking to expand its overseas infrastructure and logistics to "project and sustain military power at greater distances" beyond its base in Djibouti, the Pentagon said.

The PLA has likely considered having military logistics facilities in countries from Myanmar, Pakistan and Bangladesh to Kenya and Nigeria, among others.

A global Chinese military logistics network could "disrupt" US operations, the report added.

- Pressure on Taiwan -

China "amplified" its diplomatic, political and military pressure against Taiwan in 2023, the report said.

The country "continued to erode longstanding norms in and around Taiwan by employing a range of pressure tactics", it added.

This includes maintaining a naval presence around the self-ruled island, which Beijing claims as its own territory; increasing crossings into Taiwan's self-declared centerline and air defence identification zone; and conducting highly publicised major military exercises nearby.

Citing data from Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense, the Pentagon reported an increase in Chinese airplanes crossing the Taiwan Strait centerline in 2023.