An active naval confrontation for control of the Spratly archipelago continues today between the leading "players" of Southeast Asia and part of the Asia-Pacific region. The entire Spratly island chain is split between Vietnam, China, Taiwan, the Philippines and Malaysia, with Vietnam owning the largest number of coral islands (21), and Taiwan owning the only and largest Taipingdao island with a built runway for basing combat and transport aircraft. China owns no more than 10 islands of the archipelago and does not intend to calmly observe the large-scale military exercises of the marines of pro-American Taiwan, which arrived in Taipingdao in the fall of 2013 with hundreds of anti-tank complexes and mortars. The Celestial Empire begins a program to create additional artificial sand islands to maintain parity with further superiority over Vietnam, Taiwan and the Philippines to control most of Biendong, after all, around the artificially washed islands, the Celestial Empire receives a 200-mile zone that will almost completely block the South China Sea for free movement merchant and military fleets between the Indian Ocean and the APR, which in geostrategic terms for the US Navy and allies will turn the Indo-Asia-Pacific region into a real "swamp". So, the Spratly Islands additionally built or recaptured by the PLA can become an excellent base for the deployment of hundreds of anti-ship missiles and various sonar systems to create long-range anti-ship and anti-submarine defense lines on an ongoing basis. In addition, better reconnaissance will become possible beyond the territory of the Philippines, which has many US SEC facilities, as well as 8 ready-to-redeploy military bases. The largest of these are the Subic-Bay naval base, as well as the Clark and Cubi-Point aircraft. But the global military-political circumstances, described in our review below, may hold back Chinese ambitions for an indefinite time.
Rumors abound in the lands of Southeast Asia regarding Hanoi's plans to sign a new defense contract for the purchase of 4 ++ generation multi-role fighters in order to maintain control over the disputed island archipelago of Spratly in the South China Sea. And these rumors are all the stronger, the more military and political support is provided to Vietnam from the United States. The area around Spratly is increasingly patrolling long-range P-8A Poseidon anti-submarine aircraft, closely monitoring the actions of the Chinese Navy and Air Force, and the US Navy plans to send secret unmanned submarines to the sea to intimidate the PRC, the existence of which has recently become known. Many observers and agencies, calling what is happening "Vietnam's drift towards Washington and away from Russia," begin to make money by spreading rumors on the Internet about Vietnam's preparation of an agreement on the acquisition of Western tactical fighter aircraft, explaining everything by a shift in the foreign policy vector to the west.
So, on April 25, the Internet resource defence-blog.com, with reference to Reuters, published the news about consultations between Hanoi and the companies Dassault and Saab on a possible contract for 12 Rafale or Jas-39 Gripen fighters. . Another unnamed source quickly questioned the Reuters report, calling it a leak, and also released its data on the planned purchase of several Su-35S generation 4 ++ multirole fighters from Russia, but there was no confirmation from the outside. Vietnam, nor from the Russian Federation. This cannot but prompt certain reflections.
In trade and economic terms, Vietnam really continues to "drift in the waters" of the United States: the level of trade between states has reached $ 38 billion, with Russia - only $ 4 billion. First of all, this is due to the establishment of diplomatic relations with Washington, which were signed 20 years ago. The Americans, seeing Vietnam as an excellent friendly springboard for the spread of geostrategic influence in Southeast Asia, began urgently to support all the controversial problems of Hanoi, in particular, the territorial dispute over the Paracel Islands and the Spratly archipelago. First of all, in 2005, at the meeting of Phan Wang Khai with Donald Rumsfeld in Washington, military cooperation between the countries was intensified, which later developed into an exchange of intelligence information and training of Vietnamese military personnel in American military academies according to Western standards. All these initiatives were finally strengthened after D. Rumsfeld's visit to Vietnam in the summer of 2006, immediately after the entry into force of the free trade agreement with the United States. During this visit, a sacramental phrase escaped from the lips of the then US Secretary of Defense that the United States wants to build a path of relations "which is convenient for some and for others." It seems that it is very simple to interpret this statement based on foreign policy and economic relations, but there is also a deep, far-reaching implication here, the result of which is now the militarization of the South China Sea, aimed at controlling the Chinese Navy in the disputed island archipelagos.
Many interesting details of US-Vietnamese cooperation will become known to the international media in May 2016, when Obama arrives in Vietnam on an official visit. But no matter how many high-ranking Western officials visit the republic, and no matter whose support Vietnam does not enlist against the PRC, one thing will remain unchanged for a very long time - the military-technical element base of the SRV, which consists of 90% of Russian weapons.
For example, the Vietnamese Air Force is armed with 24 Su-30MK2 multipurpose fighters, 7 Su-27SK air defense interceptor fighters and 5 Su-27UBK combat training aircraft. The former are capable of launching up to 100 long-range Kh-59MK Gadfly anti-ship missiles with an active radar seeker at the Chinese type 052C / D "Lanzhou / Kunming" EMU missiles in one sortie. Some of the missiles will clearly "break through" the defense of the ship's HQ-9 air defense systems, so there is no need to say that the Vietnamese Air Force cannot "show its teeth" on its own. The Thirties can also conduct air combat with the Chinese J-10A or similar Su-30MK2 / MKK, but the multiple numerical superiority of the Chinese Air Force speaks volumes, so Vietnam really needs additional tactical fighters.
The Su-30MK2V, which are in service with the Vietnamese Air Force, have high maneuverability, a long range (over 1400 km), as well as a "separate" configuration of the AL-31F power plants, which puts the Su family in priority over the more expensive Rafals and less maneuverable "Gripenami". But the Su-30MK2V are equipped with an upgraded N001VE radar with a Cassegrain antenna, which has a fighter-type target detection range of about 130 km, which is not enough for long-range air combat with Chinese licensed Sushki J-11B / D and J-15S, on who have already started to put AFAR. But there are also serious advantages: the N001VE radar received the air-to-ground and air-to-sea modes of operation, from which the range of strike missile weapons is in no way inferior to the same Su-30MKI
And the fact that they should be exactly Russian vehicles is confirmed by both a large number of tactical and technical aspects and the vast experience of Vietnamese pilots, which was gained during the operation of the Su-30MK2 and Su-27SK. It is known that even the training of the Vietnamese Air Force flight personnel was initially carried out in India on the more advanced Su-30MKI multipurpose fighters. Despite the fact that the Thai Air Force mastered the operation of Gripen in Southeast Asia (8 Jas-39C and 4 Jas-39D were purchased), these fighters would very soon become useless for Vietnam. Firstly, a small combat radius (up to 900 km) will not allow long-term patrolling of the airspace near the Paracel Islands and Spratly, and 12 fighters will be too little for any clashes with Chinese aviation. Secondly, the PS-05A airborne radar with a slotted antenna array (SHAR) being installed on the Gripen today does not allow air combat even with standard versions of the J-10A. The detection range of a fighter-type target (EPR 3 m2) for the PS-05A radar is about 65 km, for the Zhemchug radar installed on the J-10A it approaches 100 km. Even the installation of a promising radar with AFAR "NORA" and a high-speed tactical information exchange complex CDL-39 will not affect the situation, since the Celestial Empire will soon receive 24 Su-35S fighters, which can only be resisted by machines with onboard radar parameters similar to the Irbis. In addition, serious progress is being made in fine-tuning the J-31, J-15S and J-20 fighters of the Shenyang and Chengdu companies to a state of combat readiness. The unobtrusive J-31 multipurpose fighter will eventually surpass the F-35A, and the carrier-based J-15S (a hybrid of the Su-33 and Su-30MK) will reach the level of the Su-35S.
"Rafale", which has a significantly longer range (1300 - 1700 km depending on the flight mode) and RBE-2AA radar (range for a typical target - 160 km), also weakly meets the requirements of the Vietnamese Air Force in the current military-tactical situation. The radar remains 2.5 times weaker than the N035 Irbis-E, and the Link's standards for transmitting tactical data are absolutely not coordinated with our K-DlAE installed on the Vietnamese Su-30MK2, and the price for the Rafal "One hundred million dollars is unlikely to attract the SRV Ministry of Defense.
The only available and most effective aviation complex with a reasonable price for Vietnam remains the Su-35S, the costs and time for retraining the flight personnel will be minimal, and the logistic support will be almost identical to that used by the Su-30MK2 fighters today.
The sale of a batch of Su-35S to Vietnam could radically change the balance of power in the region, to some extent leveling its capabilities with the Chinese Su-35S. The contract for these machines could open up prospects for Vietnam to defend its own part of the Spratly archipelago. The N035 Irbis-E airborne radar is capable of operating on a much larger list of targets than the N011M Bars: anti-ship missiles, anti-radar missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles with an EPR of 0.01 m2 can be destroyed when intercepting outside visual visibility, hypersonic air attack weapons with speeds up to 1550 m / s, air defense missiles of ground and shipborne air defense systems and even other air-to-air missiles. Irbis-E continues to be ahead of its time, being the most powerful airborne radar for tactical aviation. Su-35S equipped with this RLPK are a good alternative to expensive airborne early warning and control aircraft. The entry of the Thirty-fifths into the armament of the air forces of small states can pacify all ambitions and claims of regional and, in part, global hegemons for absolute dominance in one part of the world or another, which to some extent contributes to the process of "detente".
The formation of the Vietnamese army around our military-industrial complex is confirmed literally every quarter. So, on April 27, 2016, at the Zelenodolsk plant named after I. Gorky completed the construction of a frigate of the type "Gepard-3.9" of project 11661E (export modification of project 11661K "Tatarstan") for the Vietnamese Navy. This is the third patrol ship of the project built for the Vietnamese Navy. "Cheetahs" are carried on board: 1 combat module ZRAK 3R89 "Palma", anti-ship missile system 3K24E "Uran-E" with 8 anti-ship missiles Kh-35U, 2 PU MANPADS "Igla-M", 1x76-mm AU AK-176, and also a full-fledged sonar system "Zarnitsa" with an additional towed GAS and a suppression device "Serpent". The ships are perfectly prepared for anti-submarine defense in the South China Sea together with 6 diesel-electric submarines of pr. 636.1 "Varshavyanka" (the last submarine is being completed, and the fifth was delivered to Cam Ranh at the beginning of February this year). The coastal zone is perfectly protected by 8 Bastion-S missile launchers, and strategically important objects are covered by two S-300PMU-2 anti-aircraft missile battalions, 6 Buk-M2E air defense missile launchers and 12 Pantsir-S1 air defense missile systems. In addition, there are more than 70 old S-75 Volga-2MV, S-125 Pechora, Kub, Strela-10 and Igla-S MANPADS systems. Vietnam's defense is definitely not a weak point.
In service with the Air Force and Air Defense of Vietnam, there is a little-known "trump card" in the form of 30 divisions of the S-125 "Pechora" air defense system. We remember that the stealthy F-117A was shot down over Yugoslavia by a similar system, which absolutely did not undergo any modernization programs. Vietnamese complexes are being updated to the most advanced version of the C-125-2TM "Pechora-2TM". The work is carried out by the Belarusian unitary enterprise "Tetraedr", which is also known for the development of the T-38 "Stilet" anti-aircraft missile self-propelled system. What is the new Pechora-2TM? Fully updated digital element base of the SNR-125-2TM missile guidance station (MRLS), an increase in the channel capacity up to 2 targets simultaneously fired by the division, digitization of the UNK-2TM combat control point (PBU) high-speed tires for obtaining tactical information from attached radar facilities or longer-range air defense systems and AWACS aircraft). Thanks to the new software for the fire control system, the following increased: the maximum speed of the targeted target - up to 3250 km / h, the minimum RCS - up to 0.02 m2 (even steeper than that of the S-300PS, - 0.05 m2), the minimum target height - up to 20 m, maximum - up to 25,000 m, the maximum reach reached 43 km (only after updating the 5V27D missile engine), and the noise immunity indicator - up to 2,700 W / MHz. The Pechora-2TM complex has many times surpassed the Kub air defense missile system and has become capable of withstanding all modern air threats, including high-precision missile weapons and stealth aircraft. Like other well-known modifications of the Pechora, the S-125-2TM received an optoelectronic sighting system, but with more advanced matrix receivers of the visible and infrared spectra. Day / night OES-2TM, installed at the UNV-2TM antenna post together with SNR, has TV / IR sighting channels with a digital converter for displaying information on the MFI. Optoelectronic complex brings noise immunity to a completely new level
But the Chinese publication mil.news.sina.com.cn hastened to declare that the PRC is capable of destroying the entire fleet of the Vietnamese Air Force with just one blow. As weapons, which are planned to inflict this "decapitating" strike, mentioned multipurpose fighters J-11B and J-11D, stationed at an unnamed airbase near the southern coast of the South China Sea, as well as AWACS aircraft KJ-200/500, which will operate tactical air strike operation, tracking Vietnamese fighters and tactical cruise missiles. It is indicated that the Chinese air base is located only 280 km from the coastline of Vietnam, which will allow it to reach the air borders of Vietnam in just 15 minutes, but the fact is not indicated that without the support of operational-tactical missile systems, the PLA will have to make a lot of efforts and incur tangible losses.
The Vietnamese Troops and Buks will be able to intercept many J-11B / D fighters before being destroyed by dozens of Chinese anti-radar missiles, which will be shot down not only by the S-300PMU-1 itself, but also by 12 Pantsir-C1 complexes. And the Pechory, Strela and Igla will make Vietnamese airspace inaccessible to Chinese WZ-10 attack helicopters and attack aircraft. Such a forecast of the effectiveness of the Vietnamese air defense will correspond to reality only without taking into account the use by the PLA of ballistic missiles of the Dongfeng family, but the use of this weapon was not mentioned in mil.news.sina.com.cn.
In the event of a military conflict with Vietnam, the Chinese can organize a competent ground offensive operation, in which MLRS units armed with high-precision multiple launch rocket systems WS-2D, WS-3, WM-120, etc. will participate. Only they, in conjunction with strike aviation, will be able to quickly disable the modern air defense of Vietnam. But the main part of the Vietnamese aircraft fleet will remain fully operational, which will make the PRC think about the consequences for the "southern air base" mentioned in the Chinese edition.
The distance from the air base to the Vietnamese coast is 280 km, which means that we are talking about Chinese airfields located on the island of Hainan. The Vietnamese Air Force has all the means to destroy military targets in Hainan. Over 100 Kh-59MK2 tactical air-to-ground missiles, designed to destroy stationary fortified objects, are part of the armament of the Vietnamese Su-30MK2. These missiles will become a real nightmare for the air base in Hainan: as it became known from sources, Hainan is covered by an HQ-9 anti-aircraft missile system. It has significant limitations in dealing with low-altitude targets; official sources determine the lower limit of the target hit by the complex - 0.5 km, which does not allow intercepting cruise missiles and other similar air defense systems. The air defense of the Chinese fleet will also not be able to reach the lines of cover for the island air base, since the low-noise diesel-electric submarines of pr.636.1 of the Vietnamese Navy will operate in the South China Sea. And for additional "intimidation" in the arsenal of the Vietnamese Air Force there are 38 Su-22UM-3K / M4 fighter-bombers capable of carrying 2 heavy tactical air-to-ground missiles Kh-29TE. The new, higher quality TVGSN "Tubus-2" made it possible to increase the launch range from 10 to 30 km. Now the Su-22M4, during a low-altitude launch, should not at all approach the target defended by modern air defense systems for a "lethal" 10 km, increasing the pilot's safety hundreds of times. The mass of the high-explosive-penetrating warhead of the Kh-29T missile is 317 kg, due to which the most powerful enemy fortifications can be hit.
This scenario of a local conflict between Vietnam and China has a very real military-political and economic justification. In addition to constant monitoring of the strategically important sea traffic intersection near the Spratly archipelago, there are also huge deposits of the main energy carriers (oil and gas), which the Celestial Empire will definitely not be able to “calmly look at”. But such an aggravation is unlikely to develop into anything more serious, because Beijing realizes that any aggressive action against the SRV will entail an even greater militarization of the US Armed Forces region, which is very disadvantageous for China, especially in the absence of 5th generation strategic bombers.
The United States is also not particularly eager to go into a direct conflict with the PRC, since Washington also realizes that the PLA is capable of destroying the entire developing "network" of American navies in the APR. Another important point is that American military facilities will not appear on the territory of Vietnam, even in the long term. Firstly, thanks to the legislatively approved expansion of the rights for the Russian Navy to use the naval base in Cam Ranh. Secondly, in view of the supply of the most modern Russian weapons, which should not even come close to catching the eye of the American military, and even more so - they should be studied with the help of various electronic reconnaissance systems from short distances; it is not difficult to assume that all these points were long ago agreed upon between the leaderships of Russia and Vietnam. Now, using the example of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, we see such a picture when a small developing state builds its economic base "on the western ridge", has external military-tactical support from the West, and this does not interfere with full-fledged military-technical cooperation with Russia, plus - the provision of its own naval facilities for the needs of our fleet. The “Big Game” model is thoughtful and cunning, partly unpleasant for us, but very profitable. And this is another feature of the many-sided and "multipolar world" under construction today.
