The Military Institute of Science and Technology (MIST), formerly known as the Technical Research Department, was established under Decision No.470/BQP issued on October 12^th, 1960 by the Ministry of National Defence. Over the past 60 years of construction and development, through several times of consolidation, changes in the operational model, and renaming, so far, it has become the leading multi-disciplinary military science and technology research establishment of the Army. The Institute has been honored twice by the State with the title of Hero of the People's Armed Forces. Several collectives and individuals directly under the Institute have been awarded the title Hero of the People's Armed Forces, Ho Chi Minh Prize, State Prize for science and technology, and other noble prizes.

In recent years, facing the high demands of the task of Army building, defence consolidation, and Fatherland protection and the strong development of science and technology, especially the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the Institute has been posed with heavy tasks and high requirements with both favorable opportunities and challenges. In this context, the Institute has focused on strengthening the leadership and direction of the Party committees and commanders at all levels over the task of scientific research and proactively deployed synchronous and drastic solutions to improve the capacity and quality of scientific research and technologies to build the Institute into a strong and specialised scientific one. In particular, attention has been paid to building high quality human resources, intensive investment in modernising infrastructure, equipment, and technology; innovating the managerial mechanism, and making breakthrough in scientific thinking.

Launching missile renovated by the Institute

Recognising the essential and vital role of human resources for a multidisciplinary scientific and technological research establishment, the Institute Party Committee issued Resolution No.128-NQ/ĐU dated October 12^th, 2012 on “Building the contingent of highly-qualified scientific cadres” along with multiple regulations and rules on the cadre work. The Institute aimed to build a contingent of cadres with strong political zeal, reasonable structure, uniformity in majors, and standardisation of professional sector-based qualifications in each research area, capability, intellect, and sufficient ability to conduct independent research and implement scientific and technological projects. Over the past years, the Institute has implemented synchronous measures of ideological work, organisation, and policies in building human resources and closely combined resource generation, planning, training, retraining, and utilisation, prioritising to build and develop a contingent of elite scientists, leading experts, staff in new research fields and strong and specialised research groups. The work of training and retraining has been promoted to combine on-the-job training and fostering with domestic and international intensive training. In particular, the Institute has attached great importance to the training of cadres through practical work, scientific research and created both motivation and encouragement and pressure for the cadres to self-study and foster themselves to improve their qualifications. Along with that, the Institute has paid much attention to the remuneration policy to create conditions for cadres and employees to make them enthusiastic and dedicated to their work. So far, 100% of the Institute's cadres have attained bachelor and higher degrees, in which over 75% have postgraduate degrees. It has initially built a contingent of leading cadres in all sectors to act as “locomotives” for the development of the Institute.

To create a technical foundation for research, design, and testing, the Institute has consulted the superiors and combined different resources to accelerate the implementation of investment projects to modernize infrastructure, laboratories, equipment, and technologies. Since 2015, the Institute has deployed 9 scientific and technological potential investment projects with 7 national standard specialized laboratories. Among which, 4 projects have been put into operation and brought into full play to effectively serve research, design, and testing. In addition, to improve the quality and effectiveness of research, the Institute has promoted the renewal of the managerial mechanism and administration of scientific towards increasing autonomy and self-responsibility of agencies, research institutes, and project managers; and innovated the process and method of selecting research projects and tasks to incorporate basic research with applied research, taking results and end products to evaluate the quality and level of research accomplishment.

Thanks to the synchronous and drastic implementation of the above solutions, the Institute's scientific research capacity has seen a great leap as its scientific and technological research results have increased strongly in both quantity and scale. The works, schemes, and projects conducted by the Institute have practical value and high scientific and technological content, making important contributions to the development of the Defence Industry and effectively serving the tasks of training, combat readiness, and technical assurance, especially for modern weapons and technical equipment warehouses to raise the Army's combat power. Its typical research projects include the development of fire control systems for mobile low-range air defense complexes, anti-tank missiles, and marine radars; technology for manufacturing explosives, flammables, and a variety of weapons, equipment, and materials bearing "Vietnamese brand"; products for ensuring the life and health of soldiers in training and combat readiness, particularly in special military operation conditions; products for climate change response; and technologies for environmental treatment in military specific activities and postwar toxic chemical residues.

To meet the requirements and tasks of building the Army and protecting the Fatherland in the new situation, in the coming time, the Institute advocates to continue enhancing comprehensive capacity and further innovate the quality and efficiency of working aspects and focus on researching, designing, and manufacturing a number of products with national breakthrough high-tech scientific contents and applications to serve national defence and security. At the same time, it develops and transfers the results of projects and products researched by the Institute to units within the whole Army. To accomplish that goal, the Institute continues strengthening the leadership and direction of the Party committees and commanders at all levels over the task of scientific research and promoting the consolidation of the organisation towards “streamlining, compact, and powerful” to preserve and develop high-quality human resources and strive to build strong research groups and general managers on key research directions. It also continues mobilising resources to invest in upgrading and modernising infrastructure, equipment, and technology. In the immediate future, the Institute will well complete the project on “the Centre for manufacturing, assembling, and testing weapons and technical equipment”. In scientific research, it will focus on creating a breakthrough in proposing scientific and technological research tasks towards key programs and projects of the Ministry of National Defence; innovating and modernising existing weapons and technical equipment; exploiting, mastering, and ensuring weapons techniques and new and modern technical equipment; and cooperating in researching, designing, and manufacturing a number of new weapons and equipment. In the field of technology, it will focus on researching, mastering, applying, and developing core and fundamental technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution in electronic engineering, control automation, information technology, and applied physics; mastering advanced technologies for calculation, design, and simulation; researching and developing materials and technologies for manufacturing new materials and military-specific supplies in service of design, manufacture, and technical assurance; applying and developing achievements in bio-technology in service of national defence, security, and economy; and  researching and developing new technological solutions to control and treat environmental pollution and postwar toxic chemical residues.

Promoting the tradition of a two-time heroic unit, the Military Institute of Science and Technology continues to uphold its bravery, intelligence, and aspiration to rise and strive to fulfill its assigned tasks and contribute to the cause of building and protecting the Fatherland.

Senior Colonel, Doctor NGUYEN TRUNG KIEN, Director of the Institute