Lesson 1: Creating the foundation for building a modern army
Starting from “zero”
At the end of 2022, the Vietnam International Defense Exhibition 2022 attracted 174 defense industry enterprises from 30 countries (120 foreign enterprises, 54 Vietnamese enterprises), participating in displaying defense and security industry products. At the exhibition, there were 303 products researched, manufactured and produced by the Vietnam Defense Industry on display, including:
Army weapon groups; new generation guns and ammunition; optical equipment; warships; logistics and technical supplies and equipment; equipment for soldiers in the 4.0 era...; radars, communication devices; electronic warfare equipment, command and control, unmanned aerial vehicles.
In addition, there are also vehicles, equipment, and synchronized weapons of the Vietnam People's Army selected and mobilized for display. In particular, at the exhibition, units of the General Department of Defense Industry signed a number of contracts with companies from the Netherlands and Israel, with a total value of about 25 million USD; as well as learning about the development of weapons and technical equipment in other countries, opening up many other opportunities for cooperation and export... The exhibition marks the development of Vietnam in international cooperation in the defense industry, contributing to affirming the prestige and position of the Vietnam People's Army in particular and Vietnam in general in the international arena.
The above initial success originated from the continuation of the heroic tradition of the Military Industry. That is, 78 years ago (September 15, 1945), President Ho Chi Minh issued a Directive to establish the Military Industry Department under the Ministry of National Defense - the predecessor of today's Defense Industry.
During the two resistance wars against France and the US, although the Military Industry started from almost "zero": no basic industrial production facilities; no essential raw materials; no team of scientific and technical staff and skilled workers...; however, generations of officers, soldiers, engineers, workers and Military Industry employees overcame all difficulties, hardships and dangers, researched, improved, repaired, manufactured and produced millions of tons of weapons, ammunition and equipment of all kinds to supply the armed forces and the entire people to fight the enemy, achieved many resounding victories, and recorded brilliant milestones in the history of the nation's fight against foreign invaders.
After 1975, the country was at peace and unified, the Military Industry entered a new stage of development, focusing on developing defense production and participating in production to build the country's economy.
Entering the period of innovation, the General Department of Defense Industry has successfully fulfilled its role and function as a strategic advisory agency for the Party, State, Central Military Commission, and Ministry of National Defense in building national defense industry potential; mobilizing collective strength and intelligence, investing, innovating technology, expanding foreign relations, successfully researching, developing, and producing many types of weapons and technical equipment to meet the training and combat readiness of the entire army.
The Institute of Weapons (General Department of Defense Industry) is considered a bright spot in the research and design of weapons and technical equipment. Colonel Dr. Nguyen Phuc Linh, Director of the Institute of Weapons, proudly recalls a glorious past. Established on February 4, 1947, the Technical Research Department (the predecessor of today's Institute of Weapons), despite many difficulties and challenges, opened its first specialized class.
The practical lesson of the students was to load a batch of bazooka bullets according to the special request of the Ministry of National Defense. The first bazooka bullets were used by the troops in combat and destroyed the French colonial tanks when they attacked Tram Pagoda, forcing the enemy to retreat.
Next, the unit continued to perfect the bazooka bullets, and carried out research and testing of AT bullets (a type of bullet equipped for infantry, with the effect of penetrating, killing, and firing on AK guns through a secondary barrel). At the end of 1948, when we had guns, bazooka bullets and AT bullets that could shoot tanks and penetrate 300mm thick bunkers, the French had built a very solid bunker system. To destroy the enemy entrenched in the bunkers, we needed weapons more powerful than the bazooka.
To meet that requirement, the Technical Research Department had to quickly design and manufacture a series of new weapons. In mid-1949, the SKZ60 gun and bullet were born, this weapon had three times the penetration capacity of the bazooka. The first series-produced SKZ60 product was used by many units and was very effective in many battles. From then on, the SKZ60 was mass-produced and equipped for main force divisions.
From 1954 to 1973, the Technical Research Department actively researched new designs and improved weapons according to the requirements of equipping the troops, typically the AK submachine gun; TUL-1 medium machine gun; B40 anti-tank gun and ammunition; detonating grenades; MDH.10 directional mines; 120 mm and 60 mm mortars; weapons to fight the enemy on rivers and seas... The products were born at the right time, meeting the requirements of the battlefield, contributing to improving the combat effectiveness of the troops.
Production of realistic defense products
Colonel, Dr. Nguyen Phuc Linh said that in recent years, with the attention of the Party, State and Ministry of National Defense in the field of military science and technology, especially Resolution No. 06-NQ/TW dated July 16, 2011 of the Politburo on building and developing the defense industry to 2020 and the following years; and most recently Resolution No. 08-NQ/TW dated January 26, 2022 of the Politburo on promoting the development of the defense industry to 2030 and the following years; promoting the tradition of the twice heroic unit, the Institute has innovated, created, closely followed the tasks and production practices of the factories, actively, proactively and creatively in scientific research.
In the past 10 years alone, the Institute has carried out hundreds of scientific and technological topics and tasks on research, design, and manufacturing of weapons and technical equipment for the military, many of which have been rated excellent by the Science and Technology Council.
Up to now, the Institute's research, design and manufacturing capacity for weapons and technical equipment has shifted from model-based design research to non-model-based design research and formed research groups on new weapons and technical equipment, such as: New generation anti-tank weapons; artillery and artillery shells, chaffing shells on naval ships; new generation artillery and artillery shells on tanks; new model mortar shell systems; thermobaric gun and ammunition combinations; submachine guns; new generation sniper rifles and light machine guns; all kinds of observation and shooting equipment, day and night, integrated with laser rangefinders...
One of the highly appreciated products is the project of a day-shooting scope with integrated laser rangefinder for infantry guns by Major, Master Nguyen Xuan Hieu, an officer of the Institute of Weapons, which was recently awarded second prize by the Organizing Committee of the Youth Creative Award in the Army.
Major Hieu said that currently, sniper rifles are often synchronized with day-shooting scopes to improve efficiency when used. However, the day-shooting scope model currently equipped for sniper rifles in military units has limitations such as: measuring the distance from the shooter to the target based on the measuring principle on the scope is often inaccurate, so it will affect the effectiveness of the shot.
To overcome this limitation, it is necessary to use an additional device to measure the distance from the gunner to the target, but there are still limitations such as: increasing the amount of equipment and weight when carrying it on the march; when using it, it is necessary to add an assistant (the person using the device)...
Therefore, the product of laser rangefinder integrated day sight put into testing has more superiority: the ability to measure distance up to 1,000 m, high accuracy, supporting the gunner to take aim points faster and more accurately than traditional day sight; the gunner crew is reduced from two people to only one person. In addition, the sight is not only used for aiming but also helps soldiers and commanders observe the battlefield, measure the distance to necessary targets with high accuracy, ensuring compactness, lightness, reducing weight when carrying it on the march.
This is the first sight model to be researched, designed and tested domestically, not based on an existing model, capable of integrating multiple firing panels, and flexible use with many different types of infantry guns.
“Through contact with the types of daytime sights of infantry guns trained on the training ground, from the shortcomings of those types of sights, I have cherished the research of new daytime sights since 2017 and started implementing them since 2020. After five tests, I found the principle and succeeded; the topic has been accepted by the Scientific Council” - Major Hieu excitedly said.
Factory Z173, under the General Department of Defense Industry (formerly Ban Ca No) was established on October 30, 1965. On the first day of establishment, Ban Ca No had only 20 staff, and the facilities consisted of only two Grat trucks transporting equipment and materials to production facilities in Hanoi, Thai Nguyen, and Hai Phong for processing orders. From 1965 to 1975, the factory was responsible for ordering, building, and repairing wooden boats, bamboo boats, motorboats, canoes, and barges for transportation, detecting magnetic bombs, and serving national defense missions.
Since 1975, the factory has had the function and task of building and repairing military ships for national defense purposes; participating in building ships for domestic economic sectors and for export. Entering the renovation period, the unit faced many difficulties and challenges when shifting from a subsidized mechanism to a socialist-oriented market mechanism: due to degraded facilities, outdated and unsynchronized equipment, limited defense products, and difficulties in developing economic products due to fierce competition in the market.
Faced with the above reality, the Party Committee and factory commanders have proposed a new policy and direction: shifting from river ship repair to sea ship repair; reorganizing production in a streamlined direction; mobilizing all capital sources to upgrade facilities, equipment, and factories...
With the right approach and direction, the factory gradually overcame difficulties and became a shining example during the period when the country entered the period of innovation. In 1989, the factory was honored to receive a letter of praise from General Secretary Nguyen Van Linh for "Accepting the competition for market dominance". Up to now, Factory Z173 (Hong Ha Shipbuilding One Member Co., Ltd.) is one of the key units of the General Department of Defense Industry in the field of building and repairing ships and boats for the entire army.
Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Huu Doan, Deputy Director of the factory, shared that the adjustment of force organization, merger, restructuring, innovation, arrangement of military enterprises, and consolidation of shipyards have had a significant impact on the thinking of a number of cadres, professional soldiers, workers and laborers.
Competition among shipyards in the area is increasingly fierce; products require high technology, quality, and progress, while factory capacity is still limited...
However, promoting the tradition of a twice-heroic unit, the factory has strived to excellently complete its tasks: building a number of Made in Vietnam military ships (code TT-400TP), which are modern patrol ships with many superior features for the Navy; building new products under the sea and island program according to Resolution 72/2014 of the National Assembly, including a series of TT-400 ships (high-speed patrol ships), a 3,000-ton multi-purpose oil tanker for the Coast Guard; a 3,000-ton multi-purpose transport ship for the Navy...
Assessing the current defense production capacity, Lieutenant General Nguyen Manh Hung, Party Secretary and Political Commissar of the General Department of Defense Industry, said: Currently, the General Department has many production and repair lines for weapons and technical equipment of all kinds with new investment, advanced and modern technology.
For example: new generation infantry gun production line; artillery shell fuse production line; production of most types of weapons and technical equipment for a full-strength infantry division, with the following types: weapons, ammunition, optical equipment, propellants, explosives...; some types of weapons and technical equipment reaching the world's advanced level such as: 7.62 mm submachine guns; anti-tank guns and ammunition, explosive reactive armor ammunition; thermobaric ammunition; naval anti-aircraft ammunition; extended-range mortar ammunition; 40 mm hollow-point grenade launchers, anti-frogman grenades... Shipyards have mastered the design and construction, building more than 50 grams of new military ships with a load capacity of up to 4,500 tons, such as:
Fast attack missile boats, patrol gunboats, coast guard ships, offshore search and rescue patrol boats, multi-purpose submarine search and rescue boats...; capable of repairing submarines to medium level; converting, modernizing, major repairing and providing technical support for missile frigates, anti-submarine ships and surface ships for combat forces, law enforcement at sea... contributing to enhancing the combat strength of the armed forces, creating the foundation for building a modern army.
Lesson 2: Production to serve domestic and export needs
The Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress clearly stated: “Building and developing a modern, dual-use defense industry that both meets the requirements and tasks of protecting the Fatherland and makes an important contribution to socio-economic development”. Accordingly, building and developing a dual-use, modern defense industry, becoming a spearhead of national industry; closely combining defense with economy, economy with defense is an important orientation, of strategic significance of the Party and State, of special significance to the cause of building and protecting the Fatherland in the new situation.
The combination of defense production with the economy has been paid attention to and effectively promoted by the Defense Industry; many economic sectors have created a solid position in the market serving the people and export.
Improve economic production capacity
The Ship Hull Enterprise, under Factory Z173 (General Department of Defense Industry), specializes in building and repairing the hulls of military and economic ships, and was formerly a military ship repair workshop. Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Nang Dung, Director of the Enterprise, said that in recent years, the unit has built and processed the hulls of military ships and produced hulls for the General Department of Customs, the Department of Fisheries Surveillance (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development), firefighting and rescue ships of the Hai Phong City Police; built the hulls of 3,300-ton and 2,600-ton ships (cargo ships) for export to the Netherlands...
The enterprise produces high-tech defense and economic products, which not only solves employment but also creates conditions for training and building a team of highly skilled workers. Through exported products, under the strict control of foreign inspection organizations, the quality of the unit's products must meet international standards. To successfully complete the assigned tasks, the unit attaches importance to building high-quality human resources, considering this a key factor to successfully carry out the tasks.
The combination of defense production with the economy has been paid attention to and effectively promoted by the Defense Industry; many economic sectors have created a solid position in the market serving the people and export.
Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Huu Doan, Deputy Director of Factory Z173, said that implementing the policy of superiors on combining defense production with the economy, although there are still difficulties, in recent years, the Party Committee and the Factory's Board of Directors have proposed many appropriate policies and measures, always receiving and completing assigned tasks well.
In addition to building ships and boats for military units, the Factory also builds new high-speed boats for export to the African market, tugboats for the Damen Group, many products for the Fisheries Control Department, the General Department of Customs and hundreds of boats of all kinds for the General Department of State Reserves... From 2019 to present, there have been years when the Factory's revenue from economic products and exports reached more than 90%, contributing to maintaining the team, accumulating to reinvest in facilities, innovate technological lines, expand production and ensure social security, improve the lives of workers.
The Firearms Workshop (the predecessor of today's Z121 Factory) was established on September 7, 1966, with the mission of researching and manufacturing fire-tool products - products considered as the "heart of weapons" used to ignite the central part of bullets and mines, contributing to ensuring the power of weapons for combat troops. In the conditions of both building, producing and researching and testing weapons, with countless difficulties and hardships, but with the determination, creativity and effort of the Z121 military weapons workers, many weapons products were born in time to support the southern front.
After the complete liberation of the South and national reunification in 1975, the whole country shifted to carrying out two strategic tasks: building and defending the Fatherland. Factory Z121 and other factories in the General Department of Defense Industry all shifted their tasks from wartime to peacetime, both carrying out defense production tasks and participating in economic production.
Having made a name for itself in researching and manufacturing weapons products to serve soldiers in wartime, the factory faced many difficulties and challenges when its mission was transferred from wartime to peacetime. Colonel Tran Anh Manh, Deputy Director of Factory Z121, said that the biggest difficulty at this time for the leaders and commanders of Factory Z121 was ensuring jobs and livelihoods for the staff, workers and employees who were only used to producing weapons and now had to participate in economic production on defense production lines.
With the spirit of self-reliance, self-improvement, overcoming difficulties, the Factory has exploited the dual-use of existing production lines to research, manufacture and mass-produce items such as: Sports bullets, hunting bullets, T100M nozzles, bicycle spare parts, knives, pots, pans... The products made, although not of high value, create more jobs to improve the lives of cadres, workers and employees, while maintaining the skills of the workforce for the long-term defense production task. Entering the renovation period (after 1986), the Factory continued to face difficulties and challenges such as: unstable production tasks, lack of capital, lack of jobs, and many difficulties in the lives of cadres, workers and employees.
In the light of the Resolution of the 6th National Party Congress and Resolution 05 of the Politburo on building and developing the defense industry, with a proactive and creative spirit, the Party Committee and the Factory's commanders have proposed new policies and directions. In particular, the Factory has proactively designed and completed the "Production line of black powder for military use, slow-burning fuses" and boldly invested in "Production line of industrial explosives", "Production line of detonating fuses", creating jobs for nearly a thousand workers, contributing to increasing the revenue of the Factory.
Promoting the tradition of a twice-heroic unit, since 2006, the Factory has increased in-depth investment, modernized technology, and created a new breakthrough for sustainable development. The Factory has focused on implementing and applying many topics and scientific research projects with high technical content to serve the task of national defense production, in which priority is given to implementing research topics to improve modern weapons such as: Fire tools for anti-tank ammunition, types of ignition sets for ammunition of the navy, air force, etc.
Colonel Tran Anh Manh said that in recent years, in addition to manufacturing defense products for training and combat readiness as the core task, the Factory has also promoted core technology in manufacturing firearms to develop economic products serving the people. The Factory has launched many new products to serve soldiers in training and combat readiness.
In addition, the Factory proactively invested in new technological lines to replace the previously equipped lines, such as: Innovative lines to improve the quality of fire tools; automatic detonator compression lines; fireworks production technology lines; emulsion explosive production lines... From here, many products of the Factory affirmed their reputation and quality to customers such as: detonators, slow-burning fuses, explosives, fireworks...; in which, the fireworks products of the Factory have created trust and conquered customers who require high quality such as: America, Japan, Korea, France...
Find output for the product
As a unit specializing in the production and supply of decoy and military equipment, entering the period of innovation, Factory Z176 encountered numerous difficulties and challenges, especially the transformation of the mechanism from centralized bureaucracy to market economy accounting. With the will, determination and will to innovate, the Factory soon found a suitable direction: self-borrowing capital, promoting internal resources, investing in equipment, innovating products, innovating management methods, and actively finding outlets for products.
Thanks to that, the Factory has stood firm in the market mechanism, solving the problem of employment and income for workers. In the early years of the 21st century, implementing the Party's resolution on promoting the country's industrialization and modernization, the Factory actively and proactively sought partners, markets, and products suitable for its production and business sectors; at the same time, participating in international integration, with the first supermarket bag order for IKEA Group (Sweden). This is the premise for the success and brand of the "Worker Soldiers 76".
Lieutenant Colonel Hoang Xuan Duong, Party Secretary and Chairman of One Member Co., Ltd. 76 (Factory Z176) said: In recent years, the tasks of the Factory have become increasingly difficult and burdensome due to the impact of the market economy, increasingly fierce competition; limited facilities, machinery and equipment, difficulties in labor resources; the implementation of the project to reorganize military enterprises, especially in 2020 when the Covid-19 pandemic broke out... has had a comprehensive and profound impact on all activities of the Factory.
To successfully complete its tasks, the Factory always thoroughly grasps and correctly, flexibly and creatively applies the Party's viewpoint on combining economy with national defense, defense production and economic development; directly Resolution No. 06-NQ/TW, dated July 16, 2011 of the Politburo on "Building and developing the defense industry until 2020 and the following years"; Resolution No. 520-NQ/QUTW, dated September 25, 2012 of the Central Military Commission on "Leading the task of production, building the economy combined with national defense of the Army until 2020", in the condition that the annual assigned group I defense products account for a very low proportion, but the Factory always identifies defense production as the central political task, economic production as an important task, focusing on promoting the production of export economic products.
Accordingly, the Factory's Board of Directors has closely followed the military's equipment needs, proactively sought solutions to overcome difficulties; actively exploited defense orders in group II, researched and applied scientific and technological advances in production, and dual-used invested equipment lines, thereby many products with high scientific and technological content were successfully researched and produced for the first time, many new defense products met training tasks, combat readiness and modern combat requirements, and were highly appreciated by units.
Factory Z176 has proactively sought and expanded export markets; invested in modern equipment, expanded factory space, developed new suppliers, products, markets, and customers. Thanks to the above breakthrough, the Factory's products always ensure: beautiful, durable, cheap, convenient and environmentally friendly - an important factor that helps the Factory compete in the international market, meeting all requirements of partners.
When the Covid-19 pandemic broke out, it had a negative impact on the world economy, including Vietnam. As a business with revenue mainly from exports, the Factory seemed to have difficulty overcoming the above difficulties. However, thanks to its dynamism and creativity, in addition to producing defense products, the Factory promptly switched to producing epidemic prevention items such as: masks, anti-epidemic shields, anti-epidemic pants and shirts, etc., while boosting exports.
Thanks to that, despite the complicated developments of the pandemic, the Factory still maintains good defense and economic production, maintains export orders, ensures revenue, jobs and income for workers. Factory Z176 has become a bright spot of the General Department of Defense Industry in turning challenges into opportunities, firmly overcoming the crisis caused by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Currently, in addition to the traditional customer IKEA Group (Sweden), Factory Z176 has developed new customers such as: Decathlon Group (France), Bikezac (Denmark)... The factory's annual export revenue is higher year after year, leading the General Department of Defense Industry in terms of export value; for many consecutive years, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has ranked it as a "Prestigious Export Enterprise"; IKEA Group (Sweden) ranked it as a "Priority Supplier"; Decathlon Group (France) ranked it as A. In 2021, the factory entered the top 100 Golden Star enterprises of Vietnam; in 2022, the factory surpassed the export milestone of 2,000 billion VND and entered the top 10 typical military enterprises..., contributing to maintaining the development of national defense potential while promoting the development of export production.
(To be continued)
(★) See Nhan Dan Newspaper from the issue dated August 29, 2023.
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