Vietnam negotiates to buy T-90 tanks from Russia

Izvestia newspaper quoted a representative of Russia's Uralvagonzavod Group confirming that Vietnam is negotiating to buy T-90MS tanks.

"Vietnam's armored force will be greatly strengthened by being equipped with Russian-made T-90 tanks. Negotiations are underway. For us, the order is at an average level. The price is being negotiated. The quantity supplied is not too large, about 100 units," said Vladimir Roshupkina - Director of Uralvagonzavod Group.

Before the representative of Uralvagonzavod confirmed this information, at the end of July 2016, the Russian Far East Politics page also posted information saying that Vietnam had received a number of KZKT-7428 Rusich tractors specialized in transporting T-90MS tanks manufactured in Russia.

T-90MS tank.

Although there is no official information showing that Vietnam has ordered T-90MS tanks, according to Russian and Chinese media, the Vietnamese army has ordered Russia's most modern tank line, but the quantity is not really clear.

According to the Protect Russia news site on June 6, Vietnam is preparing to order about 28 T-90MS (the letter S is used to designate the export version of the T-90). A source quoted from China's Sina network said that these tanks are expected to be deployed in the northern border provinces.

Vietnam is currently in the process of modernizing its Army, and is giving priority to the Navy and Air Force. As early as the 2000s, Vietnam planned to buy 150 T-72M1 tanks from Eastern Europe, but these tanks lacked explosive protection and night vision equipment, so the contract fell through, Protect Russia said.

Meanwhile, the T-54 tank upgrade project is also being implemented, but it seems that Vietnam has not yet chosen the optimal configuration, so purchasing T-90MS tanks is extremely necessary for Vietnam's armored force at this time.

However, while the Protect Russia website said that Vietnam is ready to buy 28 T-90MS, the Chinese military network Sina said that Vietnam has decided to spend up to 650 million USD to buy 130 of Russia's latest T-90MS tanks. However, Sina did not cite any of the most reliable sources from Russia.

According to Baodatviet