Vietnam and Russia have signed an agreement to expand co-operation on military trade and technologies. The Vietnamese-Russian inter-governmental agreement on military-technical co-operation was signed on 1 December in Moscow in talks between Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and his counterpart Phan Van Giang. The new accord is intended to reinvigorate flagging defence-trade ties, with Vietnam increasingly wary that its military deals with Moscow could risk damaging its strategic relationship with the United States. The agreement is supported by a new plan for “joint work in the future” that will feature expanded “military and military-technical co-operation” between the two countries. It did not elaborate.
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu noted at the meeting, between Russia and Vietnam “a unique experience of joint work has been accumulated, based on long-term friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation. Russia and Vietnam invariably pay priority attention to cooperation in the military and military-technical spheres. Vietnam is one of the key states in the Asia-Pacific region with modern and well-equipped armed forces. The Russian Defence Minister recalled that this year Vietnam became the first country in Southeast Asia to host the International Army Games. The competitions were held at a high level. At the closed part of the meeting, the heads of the military departments discussed the prospects for military and military-technical cooperation between Russia and Vietnam.
The defence media publishers Janes reported that military trade and technology ties between Vietnam and Russia have been strong since the 1990s. In the past 10 years, Russian sales to the Southeast Asian country have included Kilo-class diesel-electric attack submarines, Gepard-class frigates, Tarantul-class corvettes, Svetlyak-class patrol vessels, Sukhoi Su-30MK2 ‘Flanker-F’ multirole combat aircraft, and T-90S/SK main battle tanks. Moscow’s most recent major contract featured a deal in 2019 for the supply of 12 Yakovlev Yak-130 advanced jet trainer/light combat aircraft for USD350 million.
