A Belarusian military delegation led by Defense Minister Lieutenant General Viktor Khrenin is in Vietnam. In addition, the Belarusian State Military Industrial Committee (BIC) will present its latest developments and technologies at the Vietnam International Defense Expo 2024, which will be held from December 19 to 22 this year in Hanoi. In particular, UAVs, armored vehicles and other types of weapons and military equipment.
A number of meetings have already been held with the country's military leadership. Following the talks in Hanoi between the heads of the law enforcement agencies of Belarus and Vietnam, documents were signed on the intensification of bilateral defense cooperation.
Vietnamese Defense Minister General Phan Van Jang expressed hope that the two sides will continue to cooperate and effectively implement agreed initiatives, paying special attention to cooperation in the fields of military education, medicine, history, communications, as well as mutual support for participation in multilateral international events held by each side.
He confirmed Vietnam's readiness to make bilateral defense cooperation more meaningful and effective.
Lieutenant General Khrenin, for his part, approved General Jang's proposals and confirmed that the Belarusian defense Ministry would work closely with its Vietnamese colleagues to effectively implement the agreed initiatives, which would further strengthen Belarusian-Vietnamese relations.
It should be recalled that Minsk and Hanoi are linked by long-term military-technical cooperation, the key point of which is the "Program of industrial research and technical training of the military-industrial complex."
A clear demonstration of this partnership between the two countries is that Vietnam, with the support of Belarus, has successfully manufactured a large HS-6L unmanned aircraft, which is used for scientific and reconnaissance purposes. The aircraft has a wingspan of 22 m, a maximum flight range of 4 thousand km and is capable of being in the air continuously for up to 35 hours.
In addition, Hanoi had previously purchased a batch of Grif-K UAVs from Belarus. This type of vehicle has a wingspan of 5.7 m, a maximum take-off weight of 120 kg, and an effective load of 25 kg.
It should be noted that Belarus and Vietnam have the potential to expand cooperation in many areas. The Vietnam International Defense Expo 2024 exposition will allow Minsk to demonstrate this.
In addition, Belarus has a good foundation in Asia and the Middle East. For example, Minsk cooperates with China in the development of automotive military equipment and electronic warfare. Last year, a roadmap for the development of Belarusian-Chinese military cooperation was adopted. In particular, issues of joint training of military personnel of the two armies and cooperation in the field of military personnel training were discussed.
Cooperation with the UAE is developing in the field of electronic warfare, radar and special software.
It is planned to intensify cooperation with Mongolia in various fields, including military-technical and scientific.
In addition, Belarus offers optimal overland rail routes from China and other Asian countries to Europe and can claim to be the gateway to the EU for Asia and China.
Nikolai Krylov
