Developing science and technology, stepping up innovation and creativity, especially researching  and applying advanced technologies as well as mastering core technologies and platform technologies for designing, piloting, upgrading, and modernising communication equipment represents a task of critical importance to the building of a modern Signal Corps. To that end, there should be a combination of various elements, ranging from high-calibre human resources and proper policies to modern facilities, advanced research equipment, and transfer of technologies from partners both inside and outside the country. Fully aware of those elements, over the years, the Hi-Tech Communication Technical Centre (under the Signal Corps) has adhered to its functions and tasks as well as higher echelons’ lines, while synchronously taking measures to step up scientific research. In this regard, innovation, creativity, development and master of advanced technologies have been seen as a central breakthrough.

Inspecting the encrypted communication system between the Ministries of National Defence of Vietnam and Laos

First of all, the Centre has focused on designing, adjusting, supplementing, and completing orientations for scientific research towards mastery of core technologies, laying a foundation for its sustainable development. This measure is of paramount importance to enabling the Centre to enhance scientific research, innovation, and creativity under the pre-set lines. Under the Strategy for military communication system development in the period of 2021 - 2030, with a vision towards 2045, designed by the Corps, the Centre has promoted the role of its Council for Science and Technology in grasping trends of technological application to military communication system development and projects for equipment support, technical support, and technical equipment modernisation according to the road map for the building of the Vietnam People’s Army (VPA) in order to formulate orientations for medium-term, long-term, yearly scientific research. Notably, under the Politburo’s Resolution 57-NQ/TW and the Central Military Commission’s Resolution 3488-NQ/QUTW, dated 29 January 2025 on breakthroughs in scientific and technological development, innovation, creativity, and digital transformation within the VPA, the Centre has been reviewing, adjusting, and perfecting its Orientations for scientific research in the period of 2025 - 2030, with a vision towards 2045, striving to make a new breakthrough in scientific and technological research, development, and application. In this respect, innovation in scientific management and mastery of core technologies have been a key task; developing high-quality human resources has been a central task; promoting cooperation and connection in research has been an important, routine task. Those efforts have laid a foundation for the Centre to issue breakthrough resolutions and plans for scientific research, innovation, and creativity, inspect and evaluate the implementation process, and settle difficulties and drawbacks in research and product development.

As the VPA’s top facility for communication technical research and the “tertiary referral hospital” for communication equipment across the Military, cadres and technical employees of the Centre must be experts in three domains, namely exploitation, technical support, and design and piloting. To meet those requirements, the Centre has attached importance to developing, cultivating, and valuing high-calibre human resources. To that end, in addition to personnel recruitment, planning, and use, the Centre has concentrated on training and cultivating its cadres and technical employees, improving their knowledge, and enabling them to quickly adapt themselves to changes in technology. It has actively diversified forms of training, organising on-the-spot refresher courses, sending its cadres to attend specialised training courses both inside and outside the country, encouraging its staff to self-study, participate in research projects, and pass on experiences between generations. Besides, it has deployed its cadres to units and factories so that they would directly take part in technological support for manufacture, gain hands-on experience, propose new guidelines for equipment upgradation and design, and promote their own creative and innovative thinking. It has proactively recommended its higher echelons to apply preferential treatment policies for talents, particularly highly-skilled cadres and brilliant young scientists, with a view to building a contingent of top experts and chief engineers capable of leading research, innovation, and creativity. Since 2020, it has conducted nearly 30 deployments of its cadres to training courses in South Korea, the US, and Australia, organising over 40 refresher courses on telecoms, network administration, operating system, and new software, holding and taking part in more than 60 refresher courses for nearly 600 cadres and employees across the entire VPA. Up to now, all cadres of the Centre have held BA degrees, 66% of them have been masters or doctors, and 22% of them have been trained abroad; many of them have been top experts in military communication. This core force has allowed the Centre to ensure the robust, sustainable development of scientific research, innovation, and creativity in the new situation. 

Technical staff of the Centre install VSAT equipment on a naval vessel

To give a strong incentive for scientific research, innovation, and creativity, the Centre has developed a professional, modern working environment and actively renewed the management and performance of scientific research tasks. Grounded on yearly orientations for research and regulations on science, technology, and intellectual property, the Centre has regularly adjusted, supplemented, and perfected mechanisms for management and financial regulations, decentralising and delegating research tasks and topics to its offices, affiliated units, collectives, and individuals, with a view to raising autonomy and flexibility in designing plans, proposing, testing, and accepting researches/products. At the same time, it has implemented policies to provide assistance for research groups with high efficiency or those in charge of target topics or products towards its central political tasks. Regarding equipment support, it has focused on studying and grasping trends of information technology development, especially forms and methods of communication, information security, cyber warfare, and command automation as the basis for giving advice to the Corps on military communication system planning and development. Due attention has been paid to stepping up in-depth research and mastering core technologies for research, prototype, manufacture in order to localise and modernise military communication equipment under the road map for building an “adept, compact, strong” VPA towards modernity; when upgrading military communication equipment, the Centre has optimised features of those pieces of equipment, improving the integration capability between relevant systems, extending the lifespan of equipment so as to ensure the stability and effectiveness of the military communication system. With reference to technical support for equipment, the Centre has mastered technologies for maintaining and repairing new equipment, while designing and standardising documents for training signal cadres and employees across the VPA. It has proactively researched and developed spare parts and materials, thereby reducing dependence on foreign supply for equipment maintenance, repair, and upgradation.

Furthermore, the Centre has promoted cooperation in scientific research and technological transfer, inheriting research outcomes in the country and throughout the world, taking advantage of its partners’ equipment and technologies to create synergy for scientific and technological development, innovation, and creativity. In addition to taking part in receiving foreign partners’ technologies under cooperation projects by the State and the Ministry of National Defence, the Centre has held scientific workshops to exchange experiences with and learn from other research centres both inside and outside the country. It has proactively worked with other research centres and factories to share technologies and exploit modern, specialised laboratories and research equipment for its projects and topics.

Thanks to its practical, effective, scientific measures, the Centre has encouraged proactivity and creativity among its cadres and employees; its staff members have grasped urgent needs of offices and units and proposed research topics and breakthroughs to improve their task performance. Since 2020, the Centre has excellently fulfilled the task of giving advice to the Corps on optimising VSAT network, transforming broadband network, planning Trunking IP network, changing circuit-switched network into Softswitch. Besides, it has provided support for software update of 237 pieces of optical transmission equipment, accomplishing equipment manufacture and repair under Project 324 on schedule, receiving and repairing thousands of pieces of technical equipment and technical materials for units. Notably, the Centre has basically mastered platform technologies, such as field-programmable gate array (FPGA) technology, digital up-converter (DUC) technology, digital down-converter (DDC) technology, secure signal encryption (DES, AES), IP packet processing, and multiple access network. It has initially researched and applied artificial intelligence to provide technical support and manufacture smart communication equipment, mastering hardware and software platforms, such as database management system, cloud computing, and cyber security, thus contributing to enhancing proactivity in equipment and technical support, reducing dependence on foreign equipment, materials, and spare parts, and manufacturing new equipment for the VPA.

Bringing into play its recorded experiences and results, the Hi-Tech Communication Technical Centre will continue to step up innovation, creativity, and research to master core technologies, create advanced defence products, contribute to modernising the Corps, and meet the requirements of VPA building and Fatherland protection in the new situation.

Col. BUI VAN THANG

Director of the Centre