Feature 6 | VIETNAM
Vietnamese newbuilds grow in sophistication
Vietnam’s naval shipbuilding industry continues to mature. A clear sign of this is the growing complexity of vessels, both warships and auxiliaries that are emerging from Vietnamese yards for the Vietnamese Navy and the Vietnam Marine Police (Coast Guard).
A series of 90m Damen OPVs are being built for Vietnam’s Marine Police.
shipyards in the country have progressed to build ever more complex designs. However, its attempt to build large missile-armed fast attack craſt (FACs) got off to a faltering start with the BPS-500 Project in the late 1980s. Designed by Russia’s Severnoye Design
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bureau, the 62.2m, 609tonne, 32.5knot MTU-powered FACs are fitted with eight Kh-35 Uran surface-to-surface missiles. It was initially envisaged as a programme for up to 10 ships but only one, HQ-381, and possibly a second hull, were completed at Ba Son Company, and the vessel was deemed to be less than successful. No doubt learning lessons from this
abortive project, the Vietnamese have since produced a new series of patrol craſt, the TT400TP – the 400 being a reference to its displacement. Te craſt is nearly identical to the Ukrainian/Russian LAN PC design. Data provided by Vietnamese media
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tarting with relatively simple patrol craft built to Damen as well as Russian/ Ukrainian designs, naval
correlates very closely with that of the LAN PC. A series of three TT400TP are being built by Hong Ha Shipbuilding Company (Z173 Factory) near Hai Phong. Te first ship, HQ 272, whose keel-laying took place in April 2009, was completed in August 2011 and delivered to the Vietnamese Navy in late September 2011 aſter completion of sea and weapon trials. HQ 272 was inducted into the Vietnamese fleet earlier this year. Te second ship, HQ 273 commenced sea trials five months ahead of schedule in late March 2012. Te TT 400TP has a length of 54.16m,
a beam of 9.16m, an estimated draught of around 3.4m and a displacement of 400+ tonnes. Te three-shaſt ship is very likely powered by MTU diesels for a top speed of 32knots. Its range is 2500nm at a speed of about 14knots; endurance is 30 days. Armament consists of one 76.2mm AK-176 gun mounted forward as well as a single AK-630 gatling gun mounted aſt. Sensors include a MR-123 fire control
radar for the guns as well as surface search and navigational radars.
Damen OPVs Other notable warships being built include a series of at least four large, 90m Damen Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs) in two variants’ for the Marine Police. Damen, which has a strong presence in Vietnam, has invested in a shipyard in Da Nang. While the initial contract was for two
units, Damen finalised the order for the second, modified batch, with an integral hangar in January 2012. Te first of these is being built at 189 Shipbuilding Company (Z189 Factory). Others will be built at Song Tu as well as Z189, thus providing numerous vessels for the Marine Police and Navy. Clearly, this will be a major capability boost for the Marine Police in view of the ongoing tensions in the disputed South China Seas. The OPVs will be primarily used for fisheries protection, search and rescue, and
Warship Technology May 2012
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