According to the 13th National Party Congress, we will build a revolutionary, regular, elite, gradually modern Vietnam People’s Army (VPA), with a number of services, corps, and forces moving straight to modernity. By 2025, we will basically build a compact, strong VPA; in 2030, we will build a revolutionary, regular, elite, modern VPA. Hence, the raised quality of technical work is an urgent requirement for the Military build-up, national defence consolidation, and the Homeland protection.
Over the years, under the leadership and direction from the Central Military Commission (CMC), the Ministry of National Defence (MND), and all-level party committees and commands, together with efforts made by the entire VPA, technical work has continued achieving significant results. It should be noted that the Military Technical Branch (MTB) and especially the General Technical Department (GTD) have proactively given advice to higher echelons and promoted their core role in directing and comprehensively performing technical work in each period. Due regard has been paid to maintaining the technical coefficient of the existing weapons and equipment and providing technical support for exploiting many types of modern materiel. The MTB’s organisational structure has been consolidated. Due attention has been paid to enhancing an administrative reform in commanding and managing technical work. Consideration has been given to designing and promulgating documents via the MTB’s intranet across the Military. Great value has been attached to closely, drastically managing the quality and synchronicity of weapons and technical equipment with the absolute safety. There have been innovations in applying technological procedures and technical initiatives to raising the quality of technical work. The MTB has effectively organised technical training courses and closely combined in-service training and refresher courses with technical contests on a yearly basis. Those above-mentioned results have greatly contributed to realising our Party and State’s guidelines and policies on building a revolutionary, regular, elite, gradually modern VPA, with several forces moving straight to modernity.
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| Lt. Gen. Tran Minh Duc addressing the conference to review the Military’s technical work of 2021 (photo: qdnd.vn) |
Currently, the Military build-up, national defence consolidation, and the Homeland protection are imposing new task requirements on the VPA in general, the MTB in particular. Meanwhile, the MTB’s organisational structure, equipment, means, and capacity have yet to keep pace with the development of reality. Technical support is confronted with a lot of difficulties and especially impacts made by the 4th industrial revolution. Therefore, in order to meet the requirements set by the building of a modern VPA, the MTB should focus on synchronously, comprehensively implementing several main tasks and measures as follows.
First, proactively give advice to the CMC, the MND, and all-level party committees and commands on effectively performing technical work. The MTB and particularly departments and competent offices of the GTD should proactively make strategic forecasts and give sound advice to higher echelons on taking the initiative in technical work to satisfy military-defence task and the Homeland protection in the new situation. Emphasis should be placed on proposing measures to bring into play resources, keeping raising the quality and effectiveness of technical work, preserving, maintaining, and repairing the existing weapons and technical equipment, and mastering modern materiel for combat readiness, training, exercises, and other missions. The MTB should actively build the technical support potential and posture, consolidate its organisational structure, and synchronously, effectively implement resolutions, conclusions, programmes, projects, and plans by the CMC, the CMC Standing Board, and the MND on technical work, with a focus on Project 324-KT, Project KA-10, and plans for arms procurement, upgradation, and modernisation. Besides, it should carry out a review of the 15-year implementation of the CMC’s Resolution 382/NQ-ĐUQSTW, dated November 29th, 2007 on leadership over technical work in the new situation, with a view to drawing lessons and proposing guidelines for implementing technical work in the upcoming years.
All-level technical offices should grasp and execute plans/programmes to realise goals and targets of technical work set by resolutions of all-level Party Congresses for the 2020-2025 tenure and the 11th Military Party Congress in line with directives, resolutions, conclusions, projects, programmes, and plans on technical work as a solid foundation for building a modern VPA.
Second, gradually modernise and improve technical management work and the building of a strong MTB. Over the years, applying information technology to technical management work has produced practical outcomes. Most of the technical professions have employed pieces of software for facilitating management work, searching information, and establishing database, thereby making technical management work more scientific, effective, and accurate. Technical facilities across the Military have basically applied specialised software to management and production. However, to meet the more demanding requirements of technical work, in the upcoming time, the MTB should continue actively applying information technology both widely and deeply. Due regard should be paid to investing in technology infrastructures (both hardware and software) and setting up and standardising database as the basis for constructing the whole MTB’s command and operation network. In the medium term, it is necessary to raise the processing speed of command and management systems and step by step apply high technologies to modernising the MTB.
Offices and units should proactively supplement and complete standards, norms, and methods of technical support for weapons and technical equipment in line with the modernisation of the VPA. Due attention should be paid to strictly maintaining technical management work within repair facilities from tactical to campaign and strategic levels. Consideration should be given to inspecting, supervising, and appraising contents of technical work under regulations. The whole MTB should focus on implementing Project KA-10 and Project 324-KT, completing Project 08-KT, issuing the VPA’s (amended) Technical Work Regulations, and making its organisational structure “compact, strong, and uniform” to meet the requirements set by the building of a modern VPA. Moreover, it is essential to cooperate with offices, units, and localities in grasping the capacity of central and local industrial facilities in stationed areas and developing regulations on operating technical means and production facilities so as to maximise technical support right in peacetime and readily serve mobilisation work when necessary.
Third, further renew methods of technical support and mechanisms for managing and directing technical support. To that end, the MTB should proactively propose different methods of technical support effectively to satisfy the requirements of technical work in the new situation. The GTD should direct all-level technical offices to closely cooperate with research centres, production and repair facilities, service providers, and units receiving technical support in narrowing the gap of capability and reducing the amount of time for technical support. Doing so will help establish open links in research, development, trial production, manufacture, and repair between materiel manufacture and repair facilities across the VPA and technical facilities outside the Military.
Additionally, the GTD’s departments and units in charge of managing modern weapons and technical equipment should foster cooperation with domestic partners and proactively establish links with foreign partners in ensuring technical support for gradually mastering, exploiting, and repairing new-generation weapons and technical equipment. When executing projects with foreign partners, offices and units should heighten a willingness to learn in order to quickly approach and master technologies, particularly for submarines, aircraft, and missiles. Besides, it is vital to maximise experts’ professional knowledge and competence for technology transfer and the training of cadres and technical employees simultaneously.
Fourth, continue investing in upgrading and modernising arms depots and facilities for repairing weapons and technical equipment across the VPA. Currently, the system of depots and repair facilities has been constructed and consolidated to meet the requirements of technical work. It should be noted that large-scale investments have been made in factories of the Air Defence – Air Force Service, the Navy, and the Signal Corps. Weapons and technical equipment have been basically classified, preserved, and both qualitatively and quantitatively managed. Units across the Military have focused on maintaining weapons, equipment, and ammunition, particularly missiles at the Navy, the Air Defence – Air Force Service, and the Ground Force. Due attention has been paid to storing weapons and technical equipment which had been planned to be used in the long term, while consideration has been given to ensuring storage conditions for hi-tech weapons and equipment. However, in order to meet its increasingly high task requirements, the MTB should concentrate on improving repair and trial production of weapons and technical equipment at its facilities and factories, while making more investments in repairing and synchronising modern weapons and technical equipment. Emphasis should be placed on acquiring assembly lines and technologies so as to gradually master technical support for submarines, aircraft, missiles, and other modern weapon systems.
Fifth, build and develop military technical human resources both qualitatively and quantitatively. The GTD should continue advising the CMC and the MND to develop military technical human resources with great political zeal and professional competence. All-level technical offices and units should proactively employ their cadres and experts both inside and outside the Military for on-the-spot training courses, while taking advantage of foreign experts’ knowledge during periods of warranty, maintenance, materiel transfer, and technical support. Due attention should be paid to cooperating with other countries having advanced military science and technology on training and technology transfer as well as on exploitation and operation of modern weapon systems. It is essential to expand international cooperation, seize opportunities, and gain a head start in military technical field by taking a shortcut, with priority given to cooperation in training high-quality human resources to approach the achievements of the 4th industrial revolution. The GTD’s departments should proactively give advice on organising intensive training courses, with a focus on key, hi-tech sectors in order to step by step completely master modern technologies.
Moreover, all-level technical offices should cooperate with political offices in well conducting the work of personnel planning, training, and use. Significance should be attached to training and developing top experts, technical cadres, and technicians in key, specialised fields as the core force in charge of providing technical support for materiel in general, for hi-tech weapons and equipment in particular. Last but not least, the GTD should continue proposing preferential treatment policies to attract high-calibre technical human resources to the VPA, while ensuring a favourable condition and sufficient entitlements and policies for technical cadres and employees so that they will keep their mind on their work.
Technical work in the upcoming years will be very demanding and necessitate the MTB continuing promoting its core role and proactively cooperating with other relevant forces in successfully fulfilling technical goals and tasks. Doing so will make contributions to building a revolutionary, regular, elite, gradually modern VPA as the basis for a modern VPA in 2030.
Lt. Gen. TRAN MINH DUC, Director of the GTD