To fulfil the requirements and tasks in the new situation, the Air Defence - Air Force Service’s Technical Department continues promoting its tradition and obtained results, improving its capacity comprehensively, and encouraging its role in counselling and directing the technical work of a Service which is being modernized.

The Air Defence - Air Force Service’s Technical Department (hereafter the Department) was founded on September 4^th 1969 under the Decision 90/QĐ-QP by the Ministry of National Defence (MND). Over the past 50 years of construction, combat support, and combat, generations of the Department’s cadres and soldiers have always stayed close to their units and combat reality, overcome all difficulties and challenges, fulfilled all assigned tasks, built up the tradition of “absolute loyalty, unity, resilience, proactiveness, creativity”, and greatly contributed to the glorious achievements and development of the heroic Air Defence - Air Force. It should be noted that in recent years, the Department has proactively advised the Service and higher echelons on various measures for enhancing the technical work’s quality and effectiveness, while directly directing and performing this work, thereby making a comprehensive positive change in the operation of the Service’s Technical Branch and opportunely meeting the requirements set by the training and combat readiness task and the building of a modern Service. With those outstanding achievements, the Department was given the title of Hero of the People’s Armed Forces and many other noble awards by the State.

Sr. Col. Le Ngoc Bao inspecting a missile system

In the upcoming years, the tasks of modernizing the Air Defence - Air Force Service and managing and protecting the Homeland’s airspace impose higher requirements on the Service’s technical work as the Technical Branch has to provide technical support for weapons and technical equipment of all types and the demand for maintaining and repairing the materiel is great. Meanwhile, the Branch’s organizational structure, equipment, and capacity have yet to keep pace with the technical and technological developments. To fulfil its assigned task, the Department has been taking the measures synchronously as follows.

First, giving sound advice to the Service and the MND on the technical work. Grasping the Party’s guidelines on the military-defence task, higher echelons’ directives, and the Service’s task, the Department has focused on raising the quality of staff work, particularly the quality of giving advice at the strategic level on the air defence - air force technical work, undertaking research and proposing measures for building and adjusting the organizational structure of strategic-level offices and factories in a compact, effective manner, and standardizing all-level technical offices. At the same time, the Department has improved the capacity of technical support establishments, proposed measures for renewing and completing the method of technical support for new-generation weapons and equipment to meet the task requirements in both long and short terms. It has cooperated with competent offices in advising the Service on submitting a proposal to the Central Military Commission (CMC) and the MND to use, acquire, and upgrade materiel in line with the budget capacity, the force organization, and the modernization of the Service. Over the past years, the Department has advised the Service to make plans on exploiting and effectively using the existing materiel, while proposing and appraising many projects on the procurement of modern materiel and directly executing the projects on upgrading weapons and equipment. It has directed units to well receive new equipment, organize refresher courses for new equipment, and implement technology transfer, thereby raising the capability in combat readiness and airspace management, creating the Service’s new combat strength.

A singing competition held by the Department in 2019

Second, stepping up the work of propagation and education to raise cadres and soldiers’ awareness and responsibility towards the technical work. Grounded on its experiences in directing and performing the technical work, the Department has cooperated with sectors and units in enhancing the all-level party committees and commands’ leadership and direction over the technical work as well as promoting propagation and education to render cadres and soldiers, particularly the technical staff fully aware of the importance of the technical work in the new situation. At the same time, it has directed all-level technical offices and units within the Service to grasp and strictly implement higher echelons’ resolutions and directives on the technical work, particularly the CMC’s Resolution 382/NQ-ĐUQSTW and Conclusion 763-KL/QUTW on enhancing leadership over the technical work in the upcoming time as well as the Action Program by the Service’s Party Committee for the Resolution 382. To deal with difficulties in the budget for technical support and a scarcity of materials and spare parts, the Department has directed units to step up the Campaign entitled “managing and exploiting weapons and technical equipment in a sustainable, effective, safe, economical manner and traffic safety” in line with the Politburo’s Directive 05-CT/TW and the Determination to Win Emulation Movement; to stringently maintain the order for repair and maintenance at each level and build up troops’ awareness of observance of the regulations on using and maintaining materiel.

Third, further consolidating the organizational structure and building strong technical offices and units at all levels comprehensively. In the time to come, the Department will continue to consolidate the organizational structure of its affiliated units; to advise the Service on making the technical force at all levels compact and effective; to make technical offices and units strong comprehensively; to build a contingent of technical cadres with political zeal, proper quantity and structure, and standardized professional competence. At present, there is a dearth of technical staff within the Service while their professional competence is limited. The number of top technical cadres and experts increasingly reduces. To meet the task requirements, the Department has directed units to make the plans on training, preparing, and using human resources. Importance has been attached to building a contingent of top experts in aviation technology, missile, and radar and making technical staff capable of mastering the technology, exploiting, using, maintaining, and repairing new weapons and technical equipment. In the medium term, the Department will direct units in charge of hi-tech weapons and equipment to review and adjust their contingent of technical cadres and increase the number of technical cadres who hold bachelor’s degree. Besides, consideration will be given to building a pool of top cadres in strategic offices and making them capable of proposing measures for exploiting and mastering hi-tech weapons and equipment. Due regard will be paid to training, retraining, and making young cadres and technicians capable of mastering the technical features of new-generation weapons and equipment and the  technological procedures and technical support for them; advising higher echelons on renewing the training method at military schools to keep pace with the development of science and technology.

Fourth, enhancing technical facilities’ capacity. In spite of the fact that investments have been made in the Service’s Technical Branch, its equipment and technology for the work of technical support are now limited. The work of maintaining and repairing new-generation weapons and technical equipment is very complex. Against that backdrop, the Department has advised the Service and higher echelons on exploiting the resources to upgrade and modernize the equipment and technology of technical establishments as well as enhancing factories, stations, and workshops’ capacity and quality of repair in line with the road map for acquiring, innovating, and modernizing weapons and equipment, with a focus on building the factories into technical centres. It has focused its leadership and direction on promoting the hi-tech projects, improving the quality of repairing weapons and equipment, particularly carrying out large-scale repair and extending the lifespan of engines, aircraft, missiles, and artillery as well as continuing to implement the projects to upgrade and modernize anti-aircraft missiles, air defence artillery, and radar systems. Investments have been made in modernizing assembly lines of factories to repair new equipment and manufacture and restore spare parts, stepping up transition projects and launching projects on assembly lines and large-scale maintenance and repair technology for new-generation aircraft.

In addition, the Department has concentrated on performing the planning work, raising its depots’ capacity in technical support and their conditions for preserving equipment in order to ensure the absolute safety, maintain and extend the lifespan of weapons and equipment, particularly the new-generation and rare ones. At the same time, it has directed technical sectors and factories to cooperate with research centres both inside and outside the Military in implementing technology transfer, undertaking researches, promoting technical initiatives, design, and trial manufacture so as to enhance the capability in technical support and particularly master the technology for maintaining and repairing new-generation weapons and equipment.

Promoting the tradition and achievements gained over the past 50 years, the Department and the technical force within the Service will determinedly fulfil all assigned tasks to make contributions to modernizing and making the Service capable of managing and defending the Homeland’s airspace in all situations.

Sr. Col. Le Ngoc Bao, Director of the Department