Combat power of the Viet Nam People’s Army (VPA) is made up by many factors, but after all the two most important ones are humans and weapons. These are the factors that are most influenced by the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). Improving the VPA’s combat power in the face of this revolution to firmly safeguard the Fatherland in any situations is today’s inevitable requirement.

Given its intelligence, integration, and flexibility, notably the integration of new technologies on the Internet, the 4IR has been blurring the boundary between physical, digital, and biological spheres. The most advanced developments are the Internet of Things, Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, 3-D printing, autonomous robots, Virtual Reality, new material technology, and so on. This integration has been bringing about completely new production capabilities, which deeply affect the world in economic, political, and social terms. In the military field, the 4IR has created breakthroughs in terms of cyberspace, cyber operations, smart weapons, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), simulation training, command, control, intelligence, reconnaissance, and so forth.

Our people’s protection of the Fatherland is likely to encounter many challenges, high-tech weapons, and new types of war in the future. Consequently, promoting the VPA’s combat power in the face of the 4IR with a view to building a “revolutionary, regular, highly-skilled, and gradually modernised force with some services and corps advancing straight to modernity. Basically, that the VPA will become adept, compact, and strong by 2025, providing a firm foundation for building a revolutionary, regular, highly-skilled, modern People’s Army,” capable of “firmly protecting independence, sovereignty, unification, territorial integrity, waters, islands, and airspace and maintaining a peaceful, stable environment conducive to national development is a pressing need in the current situation. To accomplish this objective requires focusing on implementing the following fundamental tasks.

First, increased education, training, and leverage of human factor in the VPA to satisfy demand of modern warfare. The 4IR has been entailing vigorous development of science and technology in general, the military field in particular, especially the emergence of many new types of weapons, military technology, and concepts of operations. However, no matter how technologies evolve, humans are still the ones who invent, design, and utilise them. Therefore, enhancing the VPA’s combat power requires, foremost, focusing on “modernising” the human factor; improving cadres’ and soldiers’ qualities in every aspect in order to enable them to fight modern wars. The more modern the war is, the higher quality and comprehensiveness the humans must possess. Consequently, development and leverage of human factor in the VPA currently require firm grasp the comprehensive viewpoint, in which the development in political terms is the most important issue.

Comprehensive development of humans, first of all, requires good implementation of political, ideological education in order to ceaselessly improve cadres’ and soldiers’ quality of the political, spiritual element, which is a fundamental factor and absolute superiority of humans in the war to safeguard the Fatherland. The content of education and training should concentrate on establishing political steadfastness, patriotism, revolutionary vigilance, awareness of combat objectives and ideals, resolution and spirit of being ready to surmount difficulties, hardships, and losses to dare to fight and dare to win the enemy; fostering revolutionary ethic, compliance with discipline and law, and soldiers’ solidarity. In fact, the political, spiritual factor is the most vital condition for victory in a war. It is also the fundamental factor that units the entire people in a unanimous, close bloc to serve the cause of national defence. In the future, the more modern, powerful, and lethal weapon systems will be, the higher combat spirit of cadres and soldiers must be. Consequently, promoting political, ideological education to improve quality of the political, spiritual factor in cadres and soldiers must be at the forefront of training and leveraging human factor. Additionally, combat training is to be enhanced with the aim of raising cadres’ and soldiers’ tactical, technical expertise and capacity to master weapons and equipment. This is an objective demand of modern warfare. Combat training, therefore, must aim to develop cadres and soldiers comprehensively, including intellectual faculties, skills, physical ability; independent, creative, flexible, sensible thinking in scientific research and application; expertise in coordination, deception, camouflage, and use of achievements in information technology for countering electronic, informatic warfare. More importantly, quality of exercises, especially the quality of integrated ones, must be enhanced with a view to improving capability of commanding and coordinating operations and training soldiers’ comprehensive qualities, thereby assessing the VPA comprehensively both in human resources, weaponry, and material, spiritual strength. To enhance quality of exercises requires meticulous, careful preparations, serious conduct, and evasion of subjectivity, simplification, running after achievements, and shortening of scenarios. Besides, there needs to strictly realise the principle, “exercises must be close to combat reality, match operational plans, and satisfy demand of wars, especially in the context of the enemies’ use of high-tech weapons.

Second, stepping up research and application of science and technology, development of the defence industry, and quality of weapons and technical equipment. Although humans are the key factor, weaponry and technical equipment are extremely important and serve as the material basis for the VPA’s combat power. The 4IR has resulted in vigorous developments in science, technique, and military technology, which make weapon systems more powerful and increasingly vital to military operations. Consequently, modernisation of weapons and technical equipment to ceaselessly enhance the VPA’s combat strength on a par with the requirement of safeguarding the Fatherland in the new situation and in the future becomes more urgent than ever.

Increased quality and gradual modernisation of weapons and military technical equipment are extremely important. Nevertheless, this is a long-term, major issue that requires careful preparations in terms of economic potential, material basis, and human resources. Since our economy still encounters many difficulties, we need to work out suitable, effective solutions with focuses, ensuring evasion of wastefulness and strengthening of the VPA’s combat power concurrently. First of all, all resources should be diverted to development and modernisation of some services, arms, and forces such as air force, navy, signal, artillery, engineering, special force, coast guard, and border guard. To improve quality of weaponry requires good leverage of the role of military, technical, scientific cadres; increased research and application of new technologies and materials; creation of breakthroughs in science, technique, and technology in the military field with the aim to develop and improve weapons and technical equipment in accordance with economic conditions of the country. The process of designing, selecting, and evaluating research programs and projects must ensure selectivity and effectiveness, avoiding spreading and wastefulness. The defence industry is to be developed with intensive investment being made in facilities in charge of manufacturing and repairing weapons and military technical equipment. Attention is paid to development of dual-use technologies to meet requirements of industrialisation and modernisations of the country and modernisation of the VPA. More importantly, it is necessary to strengthen military cooperation to take advantage of international friends’ assistance in terms of weaponry and technology while bringing into play self-reliance and resilience of the technical branch, successfully implementing the motto of “good maintenance, durable use, safety, and thrift,” and effectively combining rudimentary and modern weapons to create comprehensive power and contribute to increased combat power of the VPA.

Third, building a strong People’s Army and effectively applying and developing military art of Viet Nam in the new condition. The 4IR has brought about enormous developments in humans and military weapons, thus resulting in changes in organisation and staffing of the People’s Army. To build a strong People’s Army with comprehensive power and increasingly high combat power, capable of fulfilling the mission of defending the Fatherland in the new situation, requires thorough grasp and serious implementation of resolutions of the Party, Politburo, and Central Military Commission (CMC) on building an adept, compact, strong military, most notably the Resolution No. 05-NQ/TW, dated 17 January 2022, of the Politburo (13th tenure) on the organisation of the VPA in the 2021-2030 period and beyond; the Resolution No. 230-NQ/QUTW, dated 2 April 2022, of the CMC on leading the organisation of the VPA in the 2021-2030 period and beyond. During implementation, each level needs to take initiative in formulating the overall plan and scientific, close implementation methodologies, which put forth concrete roadmaps and steps to increase or reduce the number of organisations and strength in accordance with the all-people national defence guideline, people’s warfare, weaponry, equipment, and military art of Viet Nam.

In the event of war, although modern weapons have many advantages, in certain conditions, the less advanced ones can be still leveraged to defeat the more modern ones if we know how to organise and use forces as well as apply proper combat methods. This is completely dependent on form of organisation and concepts of operation of the VPA. Consequently, increased research, application, and development of military art of the people and creation of appropriate fighting methods to safeguard the Fatherland today is of significant importance. Accordingly, there needs to successfully bring into play the role of military scientific cadres in theoretical studies and practical review with a view to drawing typical lessons and battles, contributing to further development of Vietnamese military doctrine as well as the Party’s military guideline in the new situation. It is also important to thoroughly perceive and correctly predict situations; simulate scenarios and response, ensuring scientificness and practicality in training and exercises. Special importance must be attached to scientific solutions, combination of tactics and technology in prevention and response to high-tech weapons, and formulation of plans to preserve military, defence, economic potential from attacks by high-tech weapons at all scales within defensive areas of localities and nationwide.

Additionally, there needs to broaden foreign relations and strengthen international defence cooperation aimed to enhance the role, position, and responsibility of the VPA in the ASEAN Community, regional and international forums, and so forth. This will help to make the international community well aware of foreign policy and defence policy of the Party and State of Viet Nam while taking advantage of international friends’ assistance in building a regular, modern People’s Army and proactively detecting, preventing, and addressing the risk of conflict and war from afar, firmly protecting the Fatherland in any situations.

“Building an adept, compact, strong People’s Army to meet requirements of national construction and defence in the new situation” needs to base on concrete condition of situations in the country and the world to address emerging issues in a timely and effective manner. The matters of principle and consistency are to pay constant attention to leverage of the human factor; raise the spirits of independence, self-reliance, and creativeness in order to ceaselessly improve the quality of the VPA’s weapons and technical equipment; work out the best ways to combine humans and weapons aimed to generate the VPA’s comprehensive power. These are the most pivotal solutions to increased combat power of the People’s Army in the face of the 4IR today.

Doctor PHAM VAN MINH, Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics