Prime Minister attends national flag-raising ceremony for two Kilo submarines

On the morning of April 3, the Navy held a national flag-raising ceremony for ships HQ-182. Hanoi and HQ-183. Ho Chi Minh City at Cam Ranh Military Port. Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung attended and delivered a speech at the flag-raising ceremony.

Attending the flag-raising ceremony were former General Secretary Le Khai Phieu, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Binh Minh and leaders of several ministries, branches and localities.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung presented the national flag to the commanders of submarines HQ 182 Hanoi and HQ 183 Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: VNA

Vietnam's Kilo 636 submarine is a third-generation submarine with a displacement of 3,100 tons, a speed of 20 nautical miles/hour, a diving depth of 300m, and a crew of 52 people.

Western military experts nicknamed the Kilo 636.3 submarine “Black Hole in the Ocean” due to its outstanding features of noise reduction during operation as well as its ability to operate undetected. This type of submarine is also equipped with six 533 mm torpedo tubes, torpedoes, mines and 3M-54 Klub multi-purpose missile system.

The Kilo 636 class submarine is a multi-purpose submarine capable of performing anti-ship and anti-submarine missions in shallow waters, and can be used for patrolling, protecting territorial waters, military facilities, or for maritime reconnaissance.

Directly handing over the national flag to the two captains of the submarines HQ-182 named Hanoi and HQ-183 named Ho Chi Minh City, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung emphasized that this is an event marking a particularly important new development step of the Vietnam People's Navy and the Vietnam People's Army.

According to Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, building and defending the country, constructing and protecting the Fatherland has always been a vital law throughout the historical development process of our nation and our country. This is also a fine tradition and a sacred duty of generations of Vietnamese people. Our Party and State always thoroughly understand, steadfastly and consistently, dialectically and effectively carry out these two strategic tasks: developing, building and protecting the country. In the context of the world and the region, both in the immediate and long term, our entire Party, people and army must join hands and hearts with the combined strength of the whole country to strive to build and protect the sacred independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Fatherland.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung also emphasized: "As a nation that has suffered much pain and loss from brutal wars of invasion, we yearn for peace to build the country, to improve life and care for the happiness of the people. But peace cannot be achieved by just wishing for it, we must become stronger in all aspects, in politics, economics, culture, society, national defense, security, foreign affairs, and build a strong and united national unity bloc. Only then can we maintain peace and firmly protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the nation."

Commanders of submarines HQ 182 Hanoi and HQ 183 Ho Chi Minh City hoist the national flag on the submarine's roof. Photo: VNA

With that spirit, our entire Party, army and people must continue to thoroughly grasp and effectively implement the Party's policies and resolutions, along with rapid and sustainable socio-economic development, focusing on developing a strong, revolutionary, disciplined, elite and gradually modern people's army and public security force, in which we must go straight and quickly into building a strong, disciplined, elite and modern navy, air force, missile force and other important forces so that our people's army and public security force have high fighting power and are truly the core force in ensuring peace, in defending and firmly protecting the Fatherland in all situations.

“Here, we once again affirm that Vietnam's defense policy is peace and self-defense. We modernize the army for defense and to protect the Fatherland,” Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung stated.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung also emphasized that today we are truly happy and proud of the fine tradition, the heroic tradition and the new great development of the people's army and the people's navy, a navy with surface ships with high combat power such as missile frigates, missile boats, torpedo boats, gunboats, patrol boats, submarine hunters, minesweepers, landing ships, transport ships, medical ships, along with the coast guard, fisheries control force and other forces such as naval armored tanks, naval air force, modern naval shore-to-sea missiles, naval radar information force, marines, water special forces and naval island defense force.

The Prime Minister stated: Today, we are truly happy and proud to witness the birth and official operation of the first submarine brigade with high combat power of the Vietnam People's Navy to protect the sovereignty and sacred seas and islands of the Fatherland with two modern submarines HQ 182 Hanoi and HQ 183 Ho Chi Minh City. In the near future, there will be four more modern submarines joining the Vietnam Submarine Brigade, which will be named Hai Phong, Da Nang, Khanh Hoa and Ba Ria Vung Tau.

The flag-raising ceremony was solemnly held on the first two modern Kilo submarines of the Vietnam Navy. Photo: VNA

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung highly appreciated and commended the Ministry of National Defense, the Navy, officers and soldiers of Submarine Brigade 189, submarines HQ 182 Hanoi and HQ 183 Ho Chi Minh City for their efforts to overcome many difficulties and obstacles to successfully carry out the modernization process of the Navy.

“Our Party and State will continue to care for, look after and ask localities to support and help wholeheartedly and hope that you will promote your fine tradition to excellently fulfill the important responsibilities and assigned tasks so that the Vietnam People's Navy can truly be a revolutionary, disciplined, elite, modern force, truly a core force, a force with high fighting capacity in firmly protecting the sacred sovereignty of the sea and islands of the Fatherland in any circumstances,” Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung affirmed.

On this occasion, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung expressed his thanks to fraternal countries and international friends, especially Russian President Putin, Russian Prime Minister Medvedev, the Government of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Defense and Russian friends for their valuable support and assistance to Vietnam in the process of modernizing the Vietnam People's Army and the Vietnam People's Navy.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and leaders of several central ministries and branches inspected training and combat readiness at several units at Cam Ranh Military Port.

According to Vietnam+