Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reporters followed a major general of Vietnam’s air defense force on Wednesday during a surprise military inspection on two of the country’s most modern air regiments in the southeast province of Dong Nai.

Major General Lam Quang Dai, deputy political commissar of the Air Defense – Air Force of Vietnam, led a team of military inspectors to check the readiness of soldiers on duty at two of the most modernly-equipped air regiments based in Dong Nai.

The Air Defense-Air Force is a service which assumes the responsibilities of both national air defense and air forces, according to the Ministry of Defense.

It is the core force responsible for the control and defense of airspace, protection of the nation’s key facilities and its people, and participates in safeguarding the homeland’s seas and islands.

Five-minute deployment

The cry of a military alarm sounded urgently at 8:15 am sharp on Wednesday at the 93 Missile Regiment in Dong Nai.

Minutes later, the quiet atmosphere of the regiment was pierced by the sounds of special-purpose vehicles rushing to combat positions with a range of weapons and ammunition for the S-300PMU-1 surface-to-air missile system.

The fleet was led by a geodetic vehicle in charge of specifying coordinates for the whole unit, followed by the commander’s vehicle, a radar carrier, and two mobile launchers.

Radars, the eyes of the most modern long-range surface-to-air missile system in Vietnam’s air defense force, rotated in search of approaching targets while two self-propelled missiles were fully deployed and ready to launch.

The entire drill lasted exactly five minutes from the initial alarm, two minutes faster than the time allowed.

Observing the operations quietly from the commander’s vehicle, Major General Dai expressed his content at the combat-readiness of soldiers and commissioned officers of the 93^rd Regiment.

Being able to carry out all these precise operations in such a short time is the result of an enduring and serious training process.

Speaking with great pride, Senior Lieutenant Ho Minh Duan, head of the duty shift, said, “These missiles are very smart and are integrated with many functional capabilities not observable in other missiles. Once programmed, they can automatically lock in on a target and fly over turbulent areas and at elevated atmospheres without affecting their accuracy.”

Duan said 100 percent of his troops have been camping at the base for the past weeks to safeguard the country’s airspace during the public holidays last weekend and the upcoming National Assembly election later this month.

Major General Lam Quang Dai (5^th L) speaks with officers operating mobile launchers at the 93Regiment in Dong Nai Province on May 4, 2016. Photo: Tuoi Tre

So that the fatherland would not be taken by surprise

It was 9:30 am at the hangar of the 935Fighter Regiment in Dong Nai and dozens of fighter aircraft together with pilots, engineers, and mechanics were ready to take on missions at short notice.

Apart from combat missions, the regiment is also in charge of training pilots to operate the Sukhoi Su-30MK-2, the most modern warplane in the Vietnamese army’s air fleet.

To create an element of surprise, Major General Dai’s vehicle headed straight to the duty area located just a few hundred meters from the hangar.

The duty shift comprised two pilots and a team of engineers and mechanics gathering next to a Su-30MK2. The fighter aircraft had been receiving thorough up-keep from the crew and were ready to take to the sky at any time.

At Dai’s order, Colonel Dao Thanh Khang and pilot Nguyen Quang Sang swiftly boarded the two-seat plane.

Colonel Khang is an experienced first-rank pilot with over 1,300 hours of flight time while Sang had accumulated 450 hours of flying time with the Su-30MK2 by the age of 27.

Khang and Sang were ready to operate a survey flight ready to engage under the supervision of Major General Dai and two air division commanders.

Minutes after receiving the order, the cockpit cover was sealed and the Su-30MK2 took off with a powerful roar.

All maneuvers were carried out with perfection and it only took the pilots five minutes since the order to finish setting up the IKV navigation system.

Not only did Major General Dai inspect the pilots, he also worked with the engineers and mechanics to check the maintenance of the planes.

Dai himself was once a respected pilot in Vietnam’s air force for his flying skills and broad knowledge of Sukhoi fighter jets.

Being one of the first 15 pilots selected to operate these modern aircraft, Major General Dai had accumulated thousands of flying time on these jets over his 32 years of service, including hundreds of cover flights to protect senior government officials on their trips to Vietnam’s Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago.

In training, Dai was famous for his perfect long-range attack skills, hitting targets in missile-launching and bombing practices with 100 percent accuracy.

Giving advice to the commanding officer of the 935 Regimental Colonel Tran Van Dung, Dai said, “Your regiment has satisfactorily met the allowed deployment time, and I hope you will continue to maintain this level of excellence. We must not let our fatherland be taken by surprise in airborne situations.”

Colonel Dung said all troops at the regiment had received orders to camp at the base with restricted contact with the outside.

“These days, each pilot has to be on duty for 12 hours a day. A flight crew consists of two pilots who take the post day and night without moving outside of the airbase area. When an unidentified plane trespasses on our airspace, we must be ready to take off in under seven minutes,” pilot Nguyen Quang Sang said after landing from the drill flight.

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