WORDS ON THE STREET 70th anniversary of Hanoi's Liberation Day Vietnam - Asia 2023 Smart City Summit Hanoi celebrates 15 years of administrative boundary adjustment 12th Vietnam-France decentrialized cooperation conference 31st Sea Games - Vietnam 2021 Covid-19 Pandemic
Dec 30, 2018 / 19:02

Vietnam plans to set up weapons manufacturer

The facility is part of the country’s efforts to modernize the weapons and the entire armed forces through 2025 and the years to come.

Vietnam has outlined a series of plans for strengthening the military in the 2018-2025 period with the establishment of an armament manufacturing and repair corporation, heard at a press conference held by the Ministry of Defense in Hanoi earlier this week. 
 
A Kilo-class submarine of Vietnam's army. Photo: Vostock
A Kilo-class submarine of Vietnam's navy. Photo: Vostock
The facility is part of the country’s efforts to modernize the weapons and the entire armed forces through 2025 and the years to come, the government said on its portal, giving no details.  

In the army structure, the corporation will belong to the General Corporation of Defense Industry which has a workforce of 25,000 people. 

Vietnam has several weapon manufacturing factories under the Ministry of Defense. The Southeast Asian country also signed different contracts to buy weapons abroad, including one worth US$2 billion to purchase a fleet of six Kilo class submarines from Russia. 

In 2012, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin affirmed to tighten cooperation with Vietnam in study, manufacturing, and maintenance of military equipment and weaponry. In return, Vietnam affirmed to allow Russia to set up a vessel maintenance depot in Vietnam’s Cam Ranh military base.

In May 2016, US President Barack Obama announced the full removal of the embargo on sales of lethal weapons to Vietnam.  

So far, Vietnam’s military spending remains nonpublished except for several deals inked with big partners like Russia.