The Party and Government of Vietnam are determined to develop its defense industry and improve the combat capacity of its army, including its naval and air forces, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has said.

>> Vietnam debuts 2 locally-made missile warships PM Dung made the statement at a meeting in Ho Chi Minh City on last Saturday with the staff of Ba Son Corporation, a Defense Ministry’s unit that is building a batch of six fast-attack missile boats Molniya that use Russian technology, according to the Vietnam News Agency.

The Molniya-class boat, designed by the Russia’s Almaz Naval Design Bureau, can destroy fleets of combat ships, landing crafts, and escort vessels. The boat can also be used for patrolling at a maximum speed of 70 km per hour.

Each boat is equipped with 16 Uran-E anti-ship rockets with a range of 130km, two 6-barrel guns AK-630M firing 4,000-5,000 rounds per minute, an automatic single-barrel gun AK-176M, and an advanced radar system,

Two boats of this kind, HQ 377 and HQ 378, were handed over to the Vietnam People’s Navy after four years of assembly.

In praising the corporation for successfully building the two first Molniya boats, the PM emphasized that such a success demonstrates Vietnam’s ability to master advanced military shipbuilding technology. Currently, Ba Son is building four others Molniya for delivery in  2015 and 2016.

In addition, Ba Son is also building patrol, reconnaissance, search-and-rescue and tug boats. “In order to maintain peace and stability, we must be stronger in terms of politics, economics and defense,” PM Dung said.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!