Vehicle, machinery, and transport support is an important part of the building of the people’s armed forces and combat service for forces on battlefields. Bringing into play its role and tradition, the Military Vehicle, Machinery, and Transport Sector has always strived to surmount difficulties, make itself comprehensively strong, and improve its task performance for the sake of building the Vietnam People’s Army (VPA) and protecting the Fatherland.

The conference on merging offices and units of the General Department of Technology and the General Department of Logistics

On 18 April 1955, Vehicle Management Department (the forerunner of the Vehicle - Machinery Department) was founded. That event marked a new development in the Vehicle - Machinery Sector in terms of organisation and the work of technical support for vehicles and machinery across the VPA. In the resistance war against the US for national salvation, despite numerous hardships, with their great resolve, generations of cadres and soldiers of the Vehicle - Machinery Department endeavoured to successfully accomplish their specialised tasks of state management, directly giving directions on building and consolidating technical potential, collaborating with other sectors and forces to provide technical support for vehicles and machinery in the building of the armed forces and operations across battlefields, achieving landslide feats of arms to liberate and unify the country together with our VPA and people. In the cause of Fatherland construction and protection, the Vehicle - Machinery Department has given advice to the General Department of Technology and the Ministry of National Defence (MND) on measures to raise the quality and effectiveness of technical support for vehicles and machinery, meeting the building of a “revolutionary, regular, elite, gradually modern” VPA, with several forces moving straight to modernity. In fact, the Department has taken part in providing technical support, vehicles, and machinery in an increasingly specialised way under regulations. The system of technical facilities has been planned, upgraded, and gradually modernised; due regard has been paid to training human resources and especially developing high-quality personnel. Notably, the Vehicle - Machinery Sector has made great progress in synchronously providing equipment and means for full-strength infantry divisions, low-altitude air defence units, and units in charge of training and combat readiness in key areas. It has stepped up research, innovation, and upgradation, gradually mastering technologies for preserving, maintaining, repairing, and producing technical materials for vehicles and machinery, particularly new-generation ones. Consequently, technical support for vehicles and machinery has contributed to raising the VPA’s synergy, combat readiness, and combat power, enabling the VPA to play a core role in Fatherland protection. With its great achievements, the Vehicle - Machinery Sector has been given many noble rewards by the Party, State, and VPA.

Under Decision 366/QĐ-BQP, dated 24 January 2025, by Minister of National Defence, on merging the General Department of Logistics and the General Department of Technology into the General Department of Logistics - Technology (in peacetime), including the merger of the Vehicle - Machinery Department and the Transport Department into the Vehicle, Machinery, and Transport Department, the Vehicle, Machinery, and Transport Sector is now responsible for providing technical support, vehicles, machinery, tanks, and armoured vehicles, for state management of the engineering force’s technical work and traffic safety work within the VPA, as well as for military transport work. To fulfil its functions and assigned tasks, the Sector has been adopting political, ideological, organisational, and specialised measures comprehensively.

First of all, focusing on consolidating the Sector’s organisational structure in line with the building of “exemplarily, typically” comprehensively strong offices and units. It could be affirmed that the foundation of the Vehicle, Machinery, and Transport Department is an important prerequisite for completing the system of management and direction over the Military Vehicle, Machinery, and Transport Sector at strategic, operational, and tactical levels. Thus, in the medium term, the Department will quickly stabilise its organisational structure, consolidate its party organisations and chain of command, well organise all-level party congresses, and enhance the leadership capacity of its party organisations, particularly at grass-roots level. Each office and unit will review, supplement, and perfect their work regulations to improve their task performance. Tasks-based education, political education, and ideological orientation will be strengthened to promote solidarity and resolve among all cadres, employees, and soldiers. The Department will intensify inspections of its specialised affiliates after their merger to opportunely detect shortcomings and give advice to the General Department of Logistics - Technology and the MND on taking remedial measures properly.

Additionally, the entire Sector will conduct reviews to grasp and assess its contingent of cadres and technical employees, proactively develop its standing and reserve forces under regulations, and align personnel planning with the training and use of cadres appropriate to the road map for modernising the VPA. It will continue to improve the training of its staff, promote international cooperation in training work, and encourage its staff’s self-study and self-improvement to meet their new task requirements. All-level party committees and commands will strictly maintain duty regulations, supplement and complete the system of documents after the merger, and practise combat projects. Offices and units across the Sector will stringently, sufficiently provide materials and equipment for vehicles, machinery, and transport during combat readiness, regular, and irregular tasks.

Second, giving sound advice and direction on effectively ensuring technical support, military vehicles, machinery, transport, and ships. Adhering to military and defence work, vehicle and machinery status, demands for use, and transport tasks across the VPA, in the upcoming time, the Sector will focus on giving advice to the Central Military Commission and the MND on hoarding and employing vehicles and machinery, acquiring, manufacturing, innovating, and modernising vehicles and machinery relevant to each force’s tasks, flexibly, properly selecting methods and forms of transport, and combining the use of means of military transport with the exploitation and mobilisation of means of civilian transport to improve the Military’s transport capacity and meet the requirements of VPA building in the new situation. In the short term, it will concentrate on ensuring the technical coefficient of vehicles and machinery for training, combat readiness, contests, and contingency tasks, with importance attached to providing technical support for vehicles and machinery and transport support during the 50^th anniversary of the South Liberation and National Reunification Day and the 80^th anniversary of the Independence Day of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. At the same time, it will step up synchronised maintenance and repair of specialised vehicles and machinery, operational command vehicles, search and rescue vehicles, tanks and armoured vehicles across services and corps. It will continue to decentralise its operations towards campaign-level vehicle - machinery repair facilities and strategic-level factories. It will seek resources to provide offices and units with sufficient, good-quality, synchronised technical materials for vehicles and machinery, enhance technical support work within strategic depots, and store, receive, and distribute equipment and technical materials for specialities. It will continue to allocate, recall, and transfer vehicles, machinery, tanks, and armoured vehicles under Decision of the Chief of the General Staff. It will direct units to train their troops to use new weapons and equipment after their merger. Moreover, it will guide and direct units and offices across the VPA to grasp and execute resolutions, directives, and guidance on traffic safety, particularly the Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety and circulars by the MND on enforcing that Law, as well as well implement the emulation movements, namely “building regular, safe, effective transport units” and “traffic culture with river peace”. It will maintain coordination with competent offices to opportunely detect, report, and strictly handle violations of traffic order and safety. It will inspect and supervise the work of military driving training and testing, while cooperating with press agencies in propagation work to raise military staff’s awareness and sense of responsibility towards their participation in traffic.

Third, well executing programs and projects on designing, innovating, converting, and modernising military vehicles and machinery as well as projects on renewing means of military water transport. In response to a shortage of supply of weapons and technical equipment due to political and military changes around the world, to ensure technical support, vehicles, and machinery, the Sector will continue to implement Resolution 1656-NQ/QUTW and Resolution 1658-NQ/QUTW, dated 20 December 2022, by the Central Military Commission on leadership over technical work and logistics work towards 2030 and beyond, and Plan on digital transformation within the Technical Sector in the period of 2022 - 2025, with orientation towards 2030. In the short term, emphasis will be placed on completing central projects and programs, actively stepping up administrative reform and digital transformation, applying technology and carrying out scientific projects relating to the management, use, and repair of equipment and means, especially new-generation vehicles and machinery, military transport work, and military vessels. Technical initiatives and innovations will be opportunely applied and multiplied in practice. Due attention will be paid to researching and manufacturing technical materials for vehicles and machinery, particularly specialised and scarce ones for the following years. Great value will be attached to forecasting and detecting new issues to achieve breakthroughs in applying scientific and technological advances to commanding and performing tasks.

To meet its new task requirements, the Vehicle, Machinery, and Transport Sector will bring into play traditions of the Vehicle - Machinery Department and the Transport Department, step up innovation and creativity, determinedly improve its task performance, and make itself comprehensively strong to contribute to constructing and protecting the Socialist Vietnamese Fatherland.

Maj. Gen. NGUYEN QUE LAM

Director of the Vehicle, Machinery, and Transport Department