Vietnam warships to compete at int’l Army Games for 1st time

Two Vietnamese corvettes left Cam Ranh on July 13 for Vladivostock, Russia for the Army Games 2021 and Navy Parade, which is scheduled to be held between August 22 and September 4.

HQ-016 Quang Trung frigate leaves Cam Ranh on July 13. Photo: Quan Doi Nhan Dan

Gepard-class frigates HQ-015 Tran Hung Dao and HQ-016 Quang Trung will take part in the International Army Games 2021 and the parade for the 325th anniversary of the Russian Navy that marks the participation of 277 teams from 40 countries.

The Vietnamese warships will compete at the “Sea Cup” competition that covers four contents, including maritime skills (maneuvering and fixing the ship using anchors, mooring the ship to a fixed buoy), responding to sinking at the training base on land, using rescue vehicles (exercise at sea) and gunnery competition (shooting at seaborne and air targets and floating mines).

Major Ma Nguyen Thanh, captain of Ship 015, said the Army Games provide an opportunity to share training results, skills, combat readiness capacity, professional qualifications, mastery of new weapons and equipment, as well as the strength of the Vietnamese People’s Navy in the international arena.

The Army Games will be held in many countries including Russia, Belarus, China, Iran, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Mongolia, Algeria, Armenia, Serbia, and Qatar. Vietnam will hold two contests while Russia hosts 16 competitions.

In the Army Games 2020, the Vietnam tank crew was crowned champion for the Tank Biathlon competition.

Vietnam’s 015 Tran Hung Dao and 016 Quang Trung, which are Gepard-class rocket corvettes were commissioned with Brigade 162, Navy Region 4, since February 2018. The ships are equipped with many modern weapons manufactured by Russia under the contract signed with the Vietnamese People’s Navy.

The two warships are among a fleet of frigates, including the first two 1,500-ton Gepard-class frigates delivered to Vietnam in 2011.