Vietnam risks provoking China by arming expanded submarine fleet with land attack missiles

Vietnam is arming its expanding submarine fleet with land attack missiles that could be capable of reaching Chinese coastal cities, a choice of weapon likely to be seen as provocative by China in the ongoing South China Sea dispute.

The independent Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) recently updated data on its website to show Vietnam’s acquisition of the Russian-made land attack variant of the Klub missile for its state-of-the-art Kilo attack submarines.

SIPRI arms researcher Siemon Wezeman said the entry was based on an earlier but little-noticed filing Vietnam made last year to the United Nations’ register of conventional arms.

Regional military attaches and analysts see the missiles as a further sign of Vietnam’s determination to counter the rise of China’s military and part of a broader trend of Asian countries re-arming amid rising territorial tensions.

The choice of weapon is a more assertive one than the anti-shipping missiles Vietnam was expected to obtain.

While those would potentially target Chinese ships and submarines in the South China Sea, the land attack weapons are capable of precision strikes at a range of 300km, making China’s coastal cities potential targets in any conflict.