Vietnam eyes Western warplanes, patrol aircraft to counter China

Vietnam is in talks with European and U.S. contractors to buy fighter jets, maritime patrol planes and unarmed drones, as it looks to beef up its aerial defenses in the face of China's growing assertiveness in disputed waters.
The battle-hardened country has already taken possession of three Russian-built Kilo-attack submarines and has three more on order. Upgrading its air force would give Vietnam one of the most potent militaries in Southeast Asia.
The previously unreported aircraft discussions have involved Swedish defense contractor Saab, Eurofighter, and U.S. firms Lockheed Martin Corp and Boeing,.
Vietnam has ordered about a dozen more Russian Sukhoi Su-30 front-line fighters to supplement a fleet of older Su-27s and Su-30s.
Vietnam had held talks over the Typhoon warplane made by Eurofighter as well as the F/A-50 light fighter jointly developed by Korea Aerospace Industries and Lockheed.
Lockheed had discussed its Sea Hercules, the maritime patrol version of its C-130 transport plane.
Boeing wanted to sell its maritime surveillance aircraft P-8 Poseidon.
Vietnam has already started moving slowly away from Russia in recent years, buying Canadian Twin Otter amphibious planes and Airbus C-212 maritime patrol aircraft for its coastguard and Airbus C-295 transport planes.
Airbus Defence had been in talks to offer maritime patrol and airborne early warning systems on the C-295.
reuters

Vietnam Buys Deadly New Missiles Capable of Hitting China

Vietnam is in the process of acquiring 50 anti-ship and land attack 3M-14E Klub supersonic cruise missiles for its fleet of SSK Kilo-class diesel-electric submarines.
The Klub is a Russian-made conventional supersonic cruise missile, “designed to destroy targets protected by sophisticated active air defenses and countermeasures,” deagel.com explains. It is an export variant of Russia’s “carrier killer” 3M-54 (NATO designation: SS-N-27A “Sizzler”) and capable of long-range precision strikes.
While it is unknown whether the anti-ship variant of the weapon sold to Vietnam is the 3M-54E Klub-S (range 220km) or 3M-54E1 (range 300km) – both of which can be launched from submarines – the land-attack variant is almost certainly the 3M-14E (range 300km), capable of carrying a 450kg warhead.
Principal targets for the new missile could be the Chinese naval base at Sanya on China’s Hainan Island and military facilities.
The launch platforms for Vietnam’s new weapons will be six 4,000-ton Type 636 Kilo-class diesel-electric submarines.
The Vietnamese Navy has already commissioned two Kilo-class vessels – the HQ-182 Hanoi and HQ-183 Ho Chi Minh City – in 2014, while it received the third sub, the HQ-184 Haiphong, in February of this year.
Once the last vessel is commissioned, Vietnam will have the most modern submarine force in all of Southeast Asia. Its principal purpose will be to act as a credible deterrent force to Chinese “adventurism” in Vietnam’s maritime domain.
thediplomat

Massive Explosion Sinks Indian Submarine At Berth, Salvage On

A huge explosion inside Indian Navy Kilo-class submarine INS Sindhurakshak late last night sunk it in its berth at the Mumbai naval dockyard, with just a tiny portion visible. A major fire spread inside the submarine post the explosion. The navy put out a statement a short while ago to say that 18 personnel were on board when the explosion ripped through the submarine, but doesn't say yet if they've been rescued.
INS Sindhurakshak, inducted in 1997, suffered a fire in 2010 in which a sailore was killed. Three months after the fire, the submarine was sent to Russia for a major refit that lasted three years. All its major systems were overhauled and repaired, and it was given the new Club-S AShM and Porpoise radar, in addition to a modernisation of its cooling system.
livefistdefence

Argelia recibe submarinos clase Kilo/ Algeria receives Kilo Class submarines

Argelia ha recibdo dos submarinos clase Kilo de propulsión diesel-eléctrica, de Rusia, pedidos en 2006, dentro de un amplio paquete de armas. Argelia dispondría de cuatro unidades de este tipo.
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Algeria has reportedly received two Kilo-class (Project 636) diesel-electric submarines from Russia, ordered as part of an arms package signed in mid-2006. The new arrivals take the fleet to four, French media say.
The package included 180 T-90 main battle tanks and 28 Sukhoi Su-30MK fighter aircraft.
The wikipedia notes the Project 636 “Varshavyanka” class is mainly intended for anti-shipping and anti-submarine operations in relatively shallow waters.
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