Vietnam converts BTR-152 for peacekeeping missions
Vietnam will deploy its first unit-level peacekeeping force to a United Nations Mission in South Sudan for 12 months.
After sending a few officers to "advance" missions to the United Nations Peacekeeping missions, in the coming time the Vietnam People's Army will send a larger force including engineering teams and a level 2 field hospital.
The field hospital is responsible for treating and caring for soldiers, civilians and UN staff who are injured or sick at the station or transferred from a level 1 field hospital.
Currently, the Vietnamese field hospital has 70 staff, including doctors, nurses, and medical staff from Military Hospital 175, Military Region 7, Army Corps 4, Vietnam Peacekeeping Center and the Military Medical Department.
The field hospital is organized into departments including: Examination Department, Surgery - Specialty Department, Internal Medicine - Infectious Diseases Department, Pharmacy - Equipment Department, and Support Department (Logistics).
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| Training activities at Vietnam's Level 2 Field Hospital. |
Due to operations in complex areas, the need to be equipped with specialized vehicles to ensure safety for ambulance work, patient transportation... is an urgent requirement.
Only a small part of the equipment of member countries participating in UN peacekeeping missions is provided, the rest is mostly brought from their own countries, so to be proactive, it is most reasonable for Vietnam to bring its own equipment.
Recently, a photo of a BTR-152 armored vehicle that Vietnam has converted for the above special mission has appeared. The vehicle has had its machine gun removed, its hood installed much higher than the original, and it is painted white with a red cross on the side.
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| Vietnam converts BTR-152 armored vehicles into ambulances. |
The converted BTR-152 armored vehicle is said to provide a fairly reliable level of protection for medical crews, nurses or patients against light infantry weapons that could be used by rebel groups.
The BTR-152's mobility is relatively good, especially since Vietnam recently launched a program to replace the original gasoline engine with a powerful and fuel-efficient diesel engine, helping the vehicle operate much more efficiently.
After the BTR-152 armored vehicle modified into an ambulance, it is very likely that the engineering force will bring its "war vehicle", the IRM-2M on the chassis of a T-72 tank, to Africa for duty.
