Vietnam is one of the largest arms markets for Russia in Asia. The country's combat aircraft are only equipped with Soviet-Russian aircraft, including the Su-22, Su-27, Su-30 and Yak-130.
Points of attention
- Vietnam, a major arms buyer for Russia in Asia, announced plans to diversify its arms purchases, shifting towards Western models like the Dassault Rafale from France.
- Russia's loss of Vietnam as a buyer of Russian weapons could impact other areas such as tank sales, as Vietnam opts for Western weapons over Russian ones.
Vietnam buys Western weapons instead of Russian ones
Vietnam announced its intention to diversify its arms purchases in 2022 to reduce its dependence on Russia. Now, it has been reported that Hanoi and France have advanced in negotiations on future purchases of Dassault Rafale fighter jets.
It is noted that the situation with the refusal to further purchase Russian weapons will affect other areas as well. For example, instead of ordering additional T-90S tanks, Vietnam decided to modernize its old T-54 and T-55 tanks with the participation of Israel.
In addition, in 2016, the United States lifted an arms embargo on Vietnam. Since then, the Vietnamese have ordered about $400 million in weapons from the Americans, including coast guard ships and training aircraft. The country is also planning to buy C-130J transport aircraft.
Moreover, Vietnam has been in talks with the US about a possible purchase of F-16 fighter jets. However, analysts note that there has been no progress in this direction.
Analysts also emphasized that Vietnam would have to rebuild its entire airfield infrastructure and create a new stock of aviation weapons in the event of a transition from Soviet-Russian aircraft to Western models.
Vietnam has also ordered Korean 155mm K9 self-propelled guns. They believe that this only confirms the country's intentions to gradually rearm its army to NATO standards.
