Vietnam's Petya ship uses more powerful torpedoes than the domestic version

Produced and aided by the Soviet Union, Vietnam's Petya-class submarine hunters are equipped with larger torpedoes than the domestic version.

Stronger than the domestic version

In the 1980s, the Vietnamese Navy received aid from the Soviet Union for a number of warships. Among them, the largest displacement were five Project 159 anti-submarine frigates (NATO designation Petya), with a displacement of over 1,000 tons.

According to public information, the Petya anti-submarine frigate is equipped with a three-shaft propeller structure: one shaft uses a diesel engine to save fuel when patrolling at sea and two shafts use gas turbine engines when pursuing and attacking.

Vietnam loaded torpedoes onto the Petya ship.

This anti-submarine warship can reach a maximum speed of 56km/h and operate continuously at sea for more than 100 days. In its mission to destroy warships, the ship is equipped with two 76.2mm AK-726 twin-barreled gun turrets at the bow and stern, along with a Fut-B fire control system that can fire 45 rounds/minute and has a maximum range of 18.3km.

The gun is also capable of destroying airborne targets at altitudes of 500-6,000m at speeds of 350-650m/s. In anti-submarine warfare, the Petya is equipped with a BB-1 depth charge launcher at the stern, anti-submarine rocket launchers RBU-2500 (using RGB-25 depth charge bombs) and RBU-6000 (using RGB-60 depth charge bombs) with the Burya control system.

The special thing about the Petya ship in the Vietnamese Navy is the torpedo system. According to public information, in the domestic version, this type of ship is equipped with 400mm torpedoes with 5 launch tubes, while in the export version, the Petya ship is equipped with 533mm torpedoes with 3 launch tubes.

New upgrade

According to Daily News in late 2016, the Vietnam Navy's Petya submarine hunters will be upgraded with advanced sonar systems produced by India.

The source quoted a representative of India's defense technical cooperation agency as saying that India's Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) is negotiating to sell BEL HMS-X2 sonar systems to Vietnam to equip on Petya-class warships.

A BEL representative told Daily News that the company had tested the performance of the BEL HMS-X2 sonar system in the presence of Vietnamese officials during a visit to BEL in late 2015.

Three 533mm torpedo tubes on the Vietnamese Petya ship.

Currently, in addition to Vietnam, a number of other countries are also paying attention to the HMS-X2 sonar system produced by BEL.

According to the manufacturer's introduction, the HMS-X2 sonar system has a compact design and can be easily integrated on many different warship models, such as anti-submarine frigates, coastal patrol ships and conventional patrol ships.

It is known that the sonar systems produced by BEL are widely equipped on warships of the Indian Navy. The BEL HMS-X2 system mainly uses active sonar technology combined with passive.

According to Baodatviet