Vietnam's Gepard warships will use domestic weapons

According to Russian media, it is likely that Vietnam's second pair of Gepard 3.9 warships will be equipped with domestic anti-ship missiles and torpedo guides.

According to the latest report on the world's defense procurement situation published by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), there is a very interesting detail related to the number of Kh-35E anti-ship missiles that Vietnam ordered from Russia.

Specifically, in previous reports, SIPRI said that in 2004, Vietnam and Russia signed a contract to supply up to 400 Kh-35 Uran-E anti-ship cruise missiles. The transfer began in 2008 and by 2015 we had received 168 missiles.

Gepard 3.9 frigate tested in the Black Sea.

According to a recently released report, the Russian manufacturer delivered 40 more missiles to Vietnam in 2016, however, the total number of missiles in the above contract has been reduced to only 300.

So what is the reason why the number of Kh-35 missiles ordered by Vietnam has been reduced by 25%? One of the possibilities mentioned by SIPRI and international military experts is that the reduced number of missiles will be replaced by the domestic version KCT 15.

In the near future, the KCT 15 missile will become the core anti-ship weapon of the Vietnam People's Navy. These anti-ship missiles will soon be completed to equip the Gepard 3.9 frigate and Molniya 1241.8 missile boat, the Bal-E coastal defense system, and even the Su-30MK2 fighter.

If the above assessment is correct, this is truly a very promising prospect, marking a remarkable development step for both the domestic defense industry and the combat capability of the Vietnam People's Navy, because the Vietnam KCT-15 is the most advanced version of the Kh-35 line.

Not only facing the possibility of being equipped with domestically produced anti-ship missiles, the Vietnamese Gepard 3.9 frigate is likely to be equipped with domestically produced torpedoes. Up to now, there is no clear information about the type of torpedo that the Gepard is equipped with, however, one possibility is that it will use domestic products.

Specifically, in April 2017, QPVN TV Channel reported that, based on advances in hydroacoustic technology, micromechanical sensors and electronic technology, the Naval Technical Institute has successfully manufactured a torpedo homing head, which can replace old products with technical and tactical parameters and reliability not inferior to imported products, helping torpedoes increase distance and accuracy in detecting targets.

According to the public image, this is a 533mm heavy anti-submarine torpedo homing head, the same size as the torpedo equipped on the Gepard 3.9 frigate. Based on the above information, there is every reason to hope that in the future, Vietnam's Gepard 3.9 will be equipped with a 533mm torpedo with a domestically produced homing head.

According to the latest information about the second pair of Gepard 3.9 frigates that Russia built for Vietnam, on the afternoon of September 21, the spokeswoman of the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ms. Le Thi Thu Hang, said: "Russia's delivery of Gepard destroyers to Vietnam is within the framework of defense cooperation between the two countries, to meet the needs of ensuring Vietnam's national security."

Currently, Russia is transporting the first of the Gepard 3.9 No. 2 pair to Vietnam.

According to Dat Viet Newspaper