Factory X32, the leading technical establishment of the Tank and Armoured Corps and the whole Army, is tasked with repairing, manufacturing, and inspecting weapons and technical equipment of the Corps and the Army’s tank and armoured force. Established in the last phase of the resistance war against the U.S (on October 20^th, 1972), the Factory took part in providing technical assurance for the Tank and Armoured to implement the strategic determination of the Party Central Committee, the Central Military Commission, and the Ministry of National Defence, conducting small and medium on-shop repairs of hundreds of tank and armoured vehicles,  deploying dozens of mobile repair teams to ensure tanks and armoured vehicle for combat operations and combat units on the battlefields.

During the years of fierce war, the Factory participated in designing and converting combat tanks into barrier-breaking tanks, magnetic bomb-destroying tanks... that were effectively deployed in “opening the entrance, capturing bridgeheads, and raiding to develop combat with the infantry” in the combat formation of the constituent army and served the clearance of bombs and mines on Truong Son strategic military transport route. Over 50 years of building, fighting, and growing,  generations of the Factory’s cadres, technical staff, and mechanics have always uphold their sense of responsibility, positivity, initiative, and creativity in overcoming all difficulties and hardships and proposing multiple undertakings and solutions to improve the quality of repair, manufacturing, and inspection, ensure synchronisation of tank and armoured vehicle,  weapons, equipment, and technical vehicles for units, and meet the requirements and tasks of combat readiness, coaching, and training of the Tank and Armoured, that has been recognised and presented with many noble awards by the State, Army, and Corps.

In recent years, the Factory's tasks have been developed to both approach new technological and technical processes and renovate and improve the quality of tanks and armoured vehicles, existing weapons, equipment and technical means, in the context that there is a high number of tanks and armoured vehicles damaged after a long time of use plus degraded and unsynchronous weapons, equipment, technical means, scarce supplies, etc. Aware of that, the Factory Party Committee and Board of Directors have synchronously and drastically implemented several solutions to improve the quality of repair, manufacturing, and inspection of tank and armoured weapons and technical equipment and achieved quite comprehensive results, including enhanced awareness, consciousness, sense of responsibility, and professional qualifications of the cadres, employees, and mechanics; increasingly modern repair, manufacturing, and inspection technologies; satisfactory results of repair, product quality, and inspection according to technical standards, to contribute to improving the quality of repair of tanks, armoured vehicles, weapons, and technical equipment.

Firstly, to achieve such result, the Factory Party Committee and Board of Directors have always paid attention to strengthening the leadership and direction of the Party committees and commanders at all levels over the task of repair, manufacturing and inspection of tank and armoured weapons and technical equipment.  As a unit allocated with limited budget, the Factory performs its tasks under the superiors-assigned targets with very high requirements on progress and product quality. By thoroughly grasping Resolution No.382-NQ/ĐUQSTW, dated 29/11/2007 of the Central Military Party Committee (now the Central Military Commission) on leading the technical work in the new situation, the Drive 50 campaign on “managing and exploiting weapons and technical equipment effectively, sustainably, safely, and economically and traffic safety” and based on the assigned tasks and targets, annually, the Factory Party Committee issues thematic resolutions on leading the implementation of the task of repairing, manufacturing, and inspecting tank and armoured weapons and technical equipment. Accordingly, the Party committees and commanders at all levels have focused on leading, directing to communicate and raise awareness and sense of responsibility of cadres, employees, and repairmen over this key political task and promote the exemplary and pioneering role of the presiding cadres at all levels in leading, directing, guiding, inspecting, and supervising their subordinates’ organisation of implementation.

To improve the effectiveness and efficiency in leading and directing the implementation of tasks, the Factory has focused on improving the capacity to concretise resolutions of committees at all levels and determining specific measures in repair, manufacturing, and inspection. In particular, importance has been attached to small and medium repair and replacement of machine assemblies; processing, repair, and restoration of machine assemblies on tanks and armoured vehicles; inspection and repair of measuring equipment on tanks, armoured vehicles, construction vehicles, and post-repair machine assemblies; transportation of tanks and armoured vehicles to units; manufacturing and installation of power steering systems for T-54 and T-55 tanks; manufacturing of vibrating racks; processing and repair of 23 mm clamped barrel guns; organisation of mobile repair teams for tank and armoured units throughout the Army; and management, preservation, and maintenance of weapons and technical equipment. Over the past 5 years, the Factory Party Committee and Board of Directors led and directed agencies and workshops to successfully complete their tasks to receive and repair 81 tank and armoured vehicles; repair and synchronise 153 construction vehicles, 2 Maz-537 trucks; and allocate 29 engines and 95 tons of supplies to contribute to ensuring that the tank and armoured units throughout the Army perform well their tasks of training, drills, and combat readiness.

Maintenance of tanks and amoured vehicle

Secondly, improving the competence of the cadres, technical staff, and repairmen. As human resources are considered the decisive factor, over the past years, the Factory Party Committee and Board of Directors have paid regular attention to leading and directing the fostering and training of cadres, technical staff, and repairmen to meet the requirements and tasks. Annually, based on the superiors’ targets, the Factory has sent professional and technical staff with good moral qualities, qualifications, and development potentials to training courses at academies and schools inside and outside the Army. At the same time, it has held on-site coaching training, fostering, and training for cadres, technical staff, and repairmen. The training contents are comprehensive with focuses on training to master new equipment and equipment to be close to each object and each specialty and ensure quality and effectiveness. The Factory has also researched and compiled the manual entitled “Experience in performing technical work tasks” to impart knowledge to generations of technical officers and employees. Specially, it has focused on accessing and transmitting knowledge about the latest tank and armoured equipment; assigned highly qualified cadres, employees, and technicians to foster and mentor low-level workers through specific jobs to impart knowledge and work experience and improve professional and technical qualifications; and create a contingent of adjacent workers to ensure a reasonable structure of age, majors, etc.

In addition, the Factory has regularly organised its own competitions and contests and participated in those of the superiors to ensure the quality, help professional and technical staff to experience, exchange, and learn to improve their skills, and substantively assess the qualifications and capacity of professional and technical staff to take fostering measures. The Factory’s biggest success over the past time has been to train generations of highly skilled technical cadres and staff who are capable of completing all assigned tasks, including unexpected and difficult ones. Many comrades have participated in technical assurance for the whole Army's good tank crew competition and the Vietnam tank team’ training for the International Army Games to gain many high achievements.

Thirdly, actively investing in technology and consolidating the technical infrastructure.  This is an important content that the Factory Party Committee and Board of Directors have paid attention to leading and directing and made positive changes. Accordingly, along with the effective exploitation of equipment in payroll, the Factory has taken advantage of superiors’ funding, combined with mobilising on-site resources, to actively exploit supplies, invest in technology, upgrade repair, manufacturing, and inspection lines, stations, and workshops, and procure new and modern equipment. New equipment and technological lines have contributed to improving the quality, productivity, and technical standards of weapons, equipment, and vehicles after repair and manufacturing, and inspection. Along with that, the Factory has promoted the application of information technology in performing tasks and implemented mechanisms and policies to encourage cadres and employees to actively participate in scientific and technological activities, and initiative promotion and technical improvements in repair, preservation, maintenance, storage, manufacturing, and inspection of weapons and technical equipment. Since 2017, thanks to the active implementation of initiative promotion and technical improvement movement, the Factory has had 48 solutions and initiatives accepted and put into use by the Corps’ Initiative Council to save funding and labour and improve the quality and efficiency of repair work,  manufacturing, inspection, including typical initiatives: Multipurpose external power supply; construction vehicle fuel tank rinsing rack; tank engine tightness testing rack; automobile and tire-wheel armoured vehicle fuel tank rinsing rack; brake and main brake cylinder lifting and disassembling rack,; tank-mounted thermal meter for repair; high-pressure pump and  nozzle pressure field checking, etc.

Finally, well performing the work of regular building and discipline training.  As the Factory has to concurrently perform many tasks, while the operations are scattered, especially mobile repair teams posted to units in the whole Army, the risks of unsafety and disciplinary violations are high. Therefore, the Factory Party Committee and Board of Directors have regularly observed and strictly complied with the Army’s orders and regulations, the Corps’ directives and regulations, and those of the Technical Department on regular building and discipline management and training; strictly maintained the regimes of meeting, working, daily and weekly briefing, troop number, and reporting as prescribed; and enhanced the self-awareness of law and discipline observance and safety assurance in performing tasks and traffic safety for cadres, employees, and soldiers, especially the task forces far from the unit. Besides, the Factory has invested in building and consolidating signboards, campuses, flower gardens, and exercise yards to create green, clean, and scenic landscapes in the unit and regularly done well in environmental sanitation, industrial sanitation, and treatment of industrial wastes to prevent environmental pollution. Therefore, for many consecutive years, the thoughts of cadres, employees, and soldiers have always been stable, and the Factory has ensured safety in all activities without any cases of disciplinary violations to be handled.

Inheriting and promoting the tradition of 50 years of construction, fighting and growth, cadres, employees, and mechanics of Factory X32 are determined to strive to successfully complete all assigned tasks, constantly improve the quality of repair, manufacturing, and inspection of weapons and technical equipment to meet the requirements and task of the technical assurance for the tank armoured force throughout the Army in the new situation.

Colonel NGUYEN QUOC HUNG, Factory Director