Will Vietnam Coast Guard have its own air force?

Currently, the Vietnam Coast Guard has been equipped with specialized aircraft, the CASA C-212 series manufactured by Airbus Group and soon the NC-212i variant assembled by Indonesia under copyright.

The C-212s are all painted in a distinctive blue color with the logo and words "Vietnam Coast Guard" on the body, however, the above aircraft are assigned to the 918th Air Brigade for operation.

This is not unusual as the Vietnam Coast Guard has not yet built sufficient facilities to ensure technical logistics and maintenance for specialized aircraft. Having Brigade 918 take responsibility will help overcome this weakness.

However, in the future, when the number of C-212 and NC-212i increases, they may be handed over to the Coast Guard for convenience in mobilization.

Recently, images of the NC-212i aircraft being completed by an Indonesian partner have appeared. Although it has the same paint color as the C-295M and the words "Vietnam Air Force" are printed, it is likely that it will still serve the Coast Guard primarily.

Not only fixed-wing aircraft, Vietnam's maritime law enforcement force now has in its inventory many large patrol ships designed with hangars capable of carrying helicopters on long voyages such as the DN-2000 or the newly received Hamilton class.

While the Navy has Ka-28 anti-submarine helicopters under the 954th Naval Aviation Brigade to coordinate operations, the Coast Guard does not have suitable equipment. Experts say that putting Ka-28s on offshore patrol vessels is wasteful and not really suitable because it causes overlap.

However, at the end of 2016, images of the EC-155B1 helicopter of the Vietnam Helicopter Corporation (Army Corps 18) taking off and landing on the flight deck of the CSB 8004 appeared. The successful test showed that the prospect of this type of aircraft being selected to equip large patrol ships is very high.

If everything goes well, in the future when each large patrol ship is equipped with a helicopter, plus 5 C-212s and NC-212i, is that the time for the Vietnam Coast Guard to establish a separate air force unit?

This is not a far-fetched prospect, especially when we look back at the process of establishing the Naval Air Force, which also went through the same steps as the Coast Guard at the present time.

If a separate air force brigade is established, this will be a new milestone for the Vietnam Coast Guard, helping this force to better fulfill its law enforcement tasks in the country's sea and island areas in the new situation.