Logistics support in general, logistics support for defending sovereignty over waters and islands in particular is conducted in typical conditions with many difficulties, hardships, large amount of work, and massive involment of ministries, branches, localities, and units. This issue, therefore, needs to be studied carefully in all aspects, including estabilishing potential and posture, organising forces, command, coordination, and support.

Viet Nam is a coastal nation, thus its waters and islands occupy a strategic position of significant importance in terms of economy, national defence, security, diplomacy, etc., in the cause of building and safeguarding the Fatherland. These waters and islands are also the survival and sustainable development space for Vietnamese people in the past, present, and future. Given these roles as well as issues bequeathed by history and intentions of countries concerned, the waters of our country are always laden with complex, unforeseeable risks that may have a direct influence on stability, national sovereignty, security, interests, and sustainable development of the country. To protect sovereignty and integrity of waters and islands firmly and become a powerful maritime nation are strategic, fundamental, enduring missions of our entire Party, people, and military, in which the military plays the key role. To successfully achieve these goals requires strategic guidelines and resolute, persistent, clever, flexible stratagems as well as careful, comprehensive preparation since peacetime, of which good conduct of logistics support for forces in charge of safeguarding sovereignty over waters and islands is one of the important factors. 

Currently, logistics support for protecting sovereignty over waters and islands have fundamental advantages. Achievements of nearly 40 years’ reform under the Party’s leadership have provided a solid premise for logistics support in general, protection of sovereignty over waters and islands in particular. Ministries, branches, military regions, and coastal localities have actively combined socio-economic development with strengthening national defence and security and building increasingly robust logistics potential and posture at all levels in the direction of the seas and islands. Logistics support for the Navy, Coast Guard, Border Guard Soldier, and forces deployed on islands receives great attention and enormous investment in terms of force, material, means of transport, and equipment.

Nevertheless, from an overall angle, there remain certain limitations of combining and building the logistics posture and potential. Most of equipment and means of transport used for strategic logistics and the Navy’s logistics have been in service for many years and have difficulty in their reach. There is a lack of close, unified mechanisms for commanding, controlling, and coordinating logistics activities of military, defensive zones, people in coastal localities, ministries, and branches. The deployment of forces and command and control of logistics support at sea face many difficulties. Those situations require logistics support for forces in charge of safeguarding sovereignty over waters and islands to have many synchronous, suitable solutions as follows.

First, it is necessary to establish and improve mechanisms and methods to prepare and conduct logistics support for defending sovereignty over waters and islands. It is a matter of fact that logistics support for protecting sovereignty over seas and islands is a highly specific activity because it involves many forces and is undertaken in a vast area far from land and in extreme environment, climate, weather conditions. Moreover, the volume of logistics support is huge and there are difficulties in mobility. Consequently, apart from proactively formulating and improving documents and logistics support plans according to operational plans to safeguard sovereignty over waters and islands, functional agencies need to step up making recommendations on improving the mechanisms for coordinating preparation for and conduct of logistics support for this vital mission, in which the order of priority and responsibility of forces, ministries, branches, and localities are stipulated clearly. On the basis of deeply grasping the Party’s guidelines on all-people national defence and people’s war as well as the viewpoint on all-people’s logistics, levels, branches, localities, and units need to bring into play their role and responsibility for building the logistics potential and posture for protecting waters and islands in accordance with the Strategy to Safeguard the Fatherland in the New Situation. During the implementation process, there is a need for being consistent with the position of tapping into the overall power of organisations and forces, of which the military logistics plays the core role, the Navy’s logistics is the key, and coastal defensive zones’ logistics provides the solid foundation. In the near term, attention should be paid to continuous improvement in the mechanism for coordination, command, and control among forces, most notably between the Navy’s logistics and logistics of military regions and coastal localities as well as between the Navy’s logistics and forces doing tasks at seas and on islands. Additionally, there is a need for developing theory and methods to conduct logistics support for operations to defend seas and islands in the market economy in line with development of military guideline, military art, methods for defence struggle at sea, and modernisation of the armed forces.

Second, effort should be put into building truly robust on-site logistics potential in the direction of the sea and island. Our country has large waters spreading from the North to the South. Islands are situated far from one another. Meanwhile situation in each water and island witnesses very complex developments, thus making it difficult for providing logistics support in contingencies. Therefore, establishment of on-site logistics in each water and island is a matter of paramount importance with the aim to provide swift, timely logistics support for both routine and unplanned missions. To do so, in addition to enhanced combination of socio-economic development and strengthening of national defence and security in coastal areas and on islands, ministries, branches, and localities should attach importance to the planning and development of dual-use marine economic sectors; establishment of some marine economic groups, integrated economic zones, and coastal industrial complexes in connection with generation of potential, building of on-site logistics facilities, and development of widespread people’s logistics. More importantly, effort should be put into speeding up the progress of setting up and developing economic – defence zones along the coastline, at sea, and on islands, which aims to spur socio-economic development while strengthening logistic potential and posture in each water and island. The State and localities should have more preferential policies to attract people to settle down on islands; encourage investment in producing and processing agricultural product and seafood; set up civilian infrastructure and the system of ports, docks, factories, warehouses, medical clinics, and logistics services in support of eonomic activities and people’s welfare, ensuring mobilisation for national defence. Military regions pay attention to establishment of provincial, municipal defensive zones’s logistics in terms of forces, material potential, storage devolution, and logistics mobilisation in support of national defence situations and search and rescue at sea. The permanent units deployed at sea and on islands need to store logistics materials comprehensively with focus and depth, especially the critical materials in support of long-time operations.

Third, the logistics posture on the shore, at sea, and on islands must be built in an uninterrupted, robust, in-depth, highly mobile manner. The logistic posture on the shore, along the coastline is the direct backbone and primary base to conduct logistics support for forces at sea and on islands, thus requiring planning and investment. There is a need for making strategic logistics bases and subbases as well as logistics of military regions, the Navy, and defensive zones of coastal provinces and cities truly robust and flexible. The logistics posture at sea must be built in an uninterrupted, highly mobile manner and capable of linking the shore with islands. The logistics posture at the island chains must be the extended arm of the shore and capable of supporting forces operating at sea and on islands for a long time; is ready to be combined with mobile logistics to provide logistics support for contingencies at sea and on islands. Given its leading role, the Navy’s logistics needs to proactively anticipate plans to organise logistics forces and deployment areas at sea according to operational missions and situations. It is possible to place logistics on island chains, especially on the islands far from the land, to ensure close linkage with people’s logistics on islands and mobile logistics at sea. The on-site logistics must be set up in a synchronous, robust manner on each island and cluster of islands in order to form a strong on-site logistics posture. On islands, especially the big ones, it is necessary to exploit and renovate caves or build new systems of warehouses and bunkers for storing food, fresh water, fuel, medicine, etc., in a duel-use, underground, fortified direction, ensuring long-time survival. Investment should also be made in building piers and wharfs along the coastline and on islands to create the connection points between logistics on land, at sea, and on islands and vice versa.

Fourth, strengthening and building of an increasingly regular, modern logistics force. This is the factor that is key to the success of methods to provide logistics support for sovereignty protection operations over waters and islands. Therefore, there is a need for stepping up strengthening the Military Logistics Branch organisationally to build an adept, compact, strong, gradually moderne logistics force, which is capable of playing the core role in recommending party committees and authorities at all levels as well as unit commanders to build potential and posture, mobilise and directly conduct logistics support for sovereignty protection operations over waters and islands. In the near term, it is necessary to sucessfully adjust the logistical-technical force at all levels; actively mobilise resources for improving and modernising logistics equipment and means of transport of the strategic level, Navy, Coast Guard, coastal military regions, and forces on islands  that are used to provide logistics support for safeguarding sovereignty over waters and islands. Modernisation of the Navy’s and Coast Guard’s logistics and weapon, equipment modernisation must be carried out concurrently. Priorities are given to building and procurement of transport ships, hospital ships, and tankers, which are able to be refuelled at sea, have large carrying capacity, travel at high speeds, and can withstand high winds and wave; modernisation of communications systems and equipment used for command and control of logistics support as well as logistics vehicles on land and islands, especially those used for lifting and moving heavy loads and refuelling ships rapidly at wharfs.

Additionally, more effort should be put into building of a robust logistics reserve with high quality. Attention must be paid to development of the Militia and Self-Defence Force in the marine economic sectors and the permanent maritime militia squadron of provinces in connection with establishment of self-defence detachments in charge of logistics support. There is a need for building people’s logistics of provincial, municipal defensive zones along the coastline and in island districts and communes, especially on the populated islands and frontline islands. This will facilitate mobilisation for logistics support as needed.

Logistics support for safeguarding sovereignty over waters and islands is presented with both advantages and difficulties and challenges. Therefore, more research should be conducted in both theory and practice in order to successfully perform this vital task and contribute to firm protection of sacred sovereignty over waters and islands of the Fatherland.

Senior Colonel, Doctor CAO VAN KE