Vietnam’s Navy Adds 2 Russian-Design Missile Ships ( Source- The Diplomat / Author- Prashanth Parameswaran)
Russian Project 1241 Tarantul Class ( Image source- Wikimedia Commons / Author- Meiciu K2) Source- The Diplomat Author- Prashanth Parameswaran The Vietnamese Navy received two indigenously built, Russian-design missile ships on Tuesday to enhance its maritime defenses. The two Project 1241 Tarantul-class or Molniya corvettes, built in Vietnam at the Ba Son shipyard under the General Department of Military Industry following a Russian technology contract inked a few years ago, were officially handed over to the Vietnam People’s Navy (VPN) during a ceremony in Ho Chi Minh on Tuesday. The ships, coded HQ 379 and HQ 380, are among the six ordered by the navy, with the first two – HQ 377 and HQ 378 – delivered last year. The vessels are equipped with 16 Uran-E missiles of 130 km in range, two AK-630 ship-borne artillery systems, and an AK-176M automatic gun with. Their endurance is 10 days and they can travel at a maximum speed of almost 70 km/hour in standard conditio