Vietnam joining elite submarine club
VIETNAM is set to become the third Southeast Asian nation with working submarines after a deal with North Korea.
Asian defence sources have confirmed Jane's Defence Weekly reports that Vietnam obtained two second-hand Sang-o class vessels as part of an upgrade of its cash-strapped navy. The deal has been noted with considerable interest in Beijing and Washington.
'This is a highly intriguing development. It could mean that China no longer has the feeling of unbridled naval freedom in the South China Sea,' one diplomat said. 'The region is watching with interest to try to figure out how Vietnam will use its new power.' Hanoi officially appeals for the maintenance of peace and stability across the disputed Spratly Island chain, but has long been vocal about what it sees as Chinese encroachments. Vietnam and China are the only two states to claim possession of the Spratly and Paracels archipelagos in their entirety.
Privately, Hanoi officials describe their relationship with China as Vietnam's most important, while warning that China represents the biggest threat to Vietnam's hard-won security.
Classed as mini-submarines, the vessels can still wage a range of traditional undersea warfare, from searching for and torpedoing ships to laying mines and releasing commandos.
The subs have an estimated range of 2,700 nautical miles - putting much of the South China Sea within reach. They can carry a crew of 25 and dive to 180 metres.
The run-down craft were sent in secret to Vietnam about 18 months ago and are being refitted at Cam Ranh Bay on Vietnam's south-central coast, a naval and intelligence base still operated by Russia.
Sources said the refit was almost finished, completing a deal that has given Vietnam 'cut-price' access to a long-sought-after submarine force.
'They may be small but they can do virtually everything a bigger submarine can do . . . they should not be underrated,' a source said.
The deal also suggests a warming of the once-frosty ties between Pyongyang and Hanoi, for decades ideological opposites.
Currently only Indonesia and Singapore boast submarines, but Thailand and Malaysia have long been eyeing them. Chinese and US vessels are thought to be the only regular underwater visitors off Vietnam's coast.
Vietnam has trained submarine teams for years on Russian vessels calling at Cam Ranh Bay.
