Should Vietnam re-enter service with V-100 Commando armored vehicles?

Philippine Commando armored vehicles are performing quite well in the fight against IS militants.

In recent days, images from the battle between the Philippine government army and IS rebels have been of V-150 Commando armored vehicles appearing everywhere.

Due to the lack of main battle tanks, this armored vehicle was forced to take on the role of an involuntary assault spearhead. However, surprisingly, it met the mission requirements quite well, despite its "old age", the V-150 still demonstrated incredible reliability.

Given the success of this armored vehicle, should Vietnam re-deploy the spoils of war captured after 1975, the V-100 Commando - the previous generation of the V-150?

V-150 Commando armored vehicle of the Philippine Army.

The V-100 Commando is a light amphibious armored vehicle manufactured by the American company Cadillac Gage. It is very versatile as it can be used as a troop transport, ambulance, fire truck, anti-tank vehicle and mortar carrier.

During the Vietnam War, the US sent hundreds of V-100s to the South to serve the Military Police, the US Air Force and the Army of the Republic of Vietnam.

V-100 has a length of 5.69 m; width of 2.26 m; height of 2.54 m; weight of 9.8 tons; maximum speed on land of 100 km/h and swimming speed of 5 km/h; cruising range of 900 km, ability to climb slopes of 30 degrees.

The V-100 has a boat-shaped body, and the nose is designed to reduce water resistance when swimming. The oval-shaped sides of the vehicle increase the body's load-bearing capacity and have two doors for soldiers to get in and out. The V-100 is armored with 6 mm Cadaloy steel with high hardness, capable of withstanding 7.62 x 51 mm bullets.

After the country was reunified, the captured V-100 armored vehicles were put into actual use. After decades of use, the V-100 had deteriorated badly, its gasoline engine consumed a lot of fuel, many equipments were broken and ammunition supply was difficult.

Vietnam's V-100 Commando armored vehicle tested after upgrade

Faced with that situation, the Military Mechanical Engineering Institute under the General Department of Engineering upgraded the V-100 by replacing the diesel engine with a gasoline engine, upgrading the hydraulic brake system, installing night vision cameras, installing new communication equipment, redesigning the electrical system, and replacing American weapons with Russian weapons.

In just 6 months, the first V-100s were completed and testing began. After the upgrade, the technical features were higher than the original vehicle, ensuring durability and reliability.

In particular, the total modernization cost is only a few hundred million VND/vehicle, significantly saving the state budget compared to the option of hiring foreign contractors to upgrade.

However, it seems that this program has not been widely deployed. The People's Army Television Channel's report has been broadcast for a long time, but since then there have been no more images of the V-100 Commando restored by Vietnam.

According to Baodatviet