2nd patrol ship of Russian make adopted by Vietnam's Navy

HANOI, August 23 (Itar-Tass) -- The second patrol ship of Gepard-3.9
type made in Russia has been officially adopted by the Vietnamese Navy. As
the local press reports on Tuesday, a ceremony, which was held at the
naval base Kamran on Monday, the frigate was given board number HQ012 and
named Ly Thai To in honour of the Vietnamese emperor.
"The vessels of this type are the most up-to-date ships in the
Vietnamese Navy," Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, Deputy National Defence
Minister of Vietnam Nguyen Van Hien said. The adoption of Gepards is an
important stage in modernizing and developing the Vietnamese naval fleet,"
the deputy defence minister stressed.
The contract on building for Vietnam two frigates of the project
"Gepard-3.9" was signed by the Vietnamese National Defence Ministry and
Russia's Rosoboronexport in December 2006. The ships were built at the
Zelenodolsk plant named after A.M.Gorky and, in accordance with the
contract, were transferred to the client in the current year.
Apart from Gepards, Vietnam will adopt in the coming 5-6 years six
submarines of project 636 "Varshavyanka"("Kilo" - according to the NATO
classification) made in Russia for its Navy and other types of modern
armaments. Vietnam, as Vietnamese National Defence Minister Phung Quang
ThanH told journalists in early August, needs such equipment to
effectively defend its territorial integrity and national sovereignty.
According to the defence minister, Vietnam purchases modern
submarines, missiles, aircraft and other kinds of military equipment
exclusively for self-defence. "We are not going to threaten anyone, attack
or intrude into another's territories or territorial waters of other
states, the defence minister said.