The Military’s combat strength is built up by many factors, such as human, materiel, military science. Improving the combat strength of the Vietnam People’s Army (VPA) to ensure victory in all situations is an objective demand and a task of paramount importance to cadres and soldiers of the VPA in today’s cause of consolidating national defence and protecting the Homeland.

Over the past years, under the auspices of the Party, State and people, closely following the Party’s military-defence lines and strategy on building the armed forces, the VPA has adopted measures synchronously to build a revolutionary, regular, elite, gradually modern VPA, with several forces moving forward to modernity, thereby achieving the breakthrough development. The work of political and ideological education has been centred on building up cadres and soldiers’ political zeal and absolute loyalty to the Party, State and people, raising their revolutionary vigilance, and making them ready to undertake and fulfil all assigned tasks. The VPA’s structure has been adjusted on a “compact and strong” basis, ensuring the balance between services and corps, main forces and local force, and active forces and reserve force. The work of military education, training and exercise has been comprehensively renewed and created solid, positive changes. Units have closely followed the training motto of “basics, practicality, and thorough grasp” and attached great value to organizing synchronous, specialized training relevant to the object of struggle, task requirements, organizational structure, materiel, and operating areas. The work of regularity building and discipline management has been valued. Due attention has been paid to conducting the logistics-technical work and building both logistics-technical potential and posture; the method of logistics support has been renewed, and its quality has unceasingly improved. The VPA’s materiel has gradually modernized. Studies on military science (both military science and technology) have gained the encouraging results. All of those results have greatly contributed to enhancing the VPA’s synergy and combat strength.

Sr. Lt. Gen. Nguyen Phuong Nam inspecting the combat readiness work of the Border Guard Post of Tuy Duc in May 2018 (photo: bienphong.com.vn)

However, there have been weaknesses in the improvement of the VPA’s combat strength. A number of cadres and soldiers have yet to fully understand the complication of the situation worldwide and regionally and the fierceness of the war for Homeland defence in the new situation. During training process, several contents have yet to be relevant to reality of warfare in the new condition; attention paid to adjusting and supplementing the plans for practising combat projects in some units has yet to be sufficient. The method of logistics-technical support has yet to be proper sometimes; logistics-technical equipment has yet to meet the task requirements. Studies on military science have yet to be really effective.

It is predicted that in the foreseeable future, peace, cooperation, and development will be still the mainstream worldwide and regionally; however, there will be developments that could destabilize the situation, particularly in the East Sea. Domestically, in the war for Homeland defence (if it occurred), the enemy would use hi-tech materiel and new methods of combat. Besides, hostile forces continue carrying out their “peaceful evolution” strategy to sabotage our revolution in all aspects with cunning artifices. The 4^th industrial revolution will bring opportunities and pose challenges with the intense competitiveness in many areas. That situation imposes new requirements and necessitates the whole Party, people, and particularly the VPA improving the combat strength and playing the core role in firmly protecting national independence, sovereignty, unification and territorial integrity. To accomplish this special task, the entire VPA should well implement a number of measures as follows.

First, making the VPA politically and ideologically strong.

The Military’s combat strength is formed by many factors in which the politico-spiritual factor plays a decisive role. V.I. Lenin ever said that “in any war, victory ultimately depends on the morale of the masses that shed their blood on the battlefield”. Thus, in the current situation, more than ever before, the whole VPA must attach great value to well performing the work of political and ideological education, building up cadres and soldiers’ political zeal and steadfastness in Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh’s ideology, and making them absolutely loyal to the Party, Homeland, and people, determined to fight and win, and ready to fight and sacrifice their life for the national independence and Vietnamese Socialist Homeland. At the same time, due regard  should be paid to enhancing the effectiveness of troop education and training, building strong units politically, ideologically and organizationally, maintaining the Party’s absolute, direct leadership over the VPA in all situations. To do so, it is necessary to continue well executing the Resolution of the 12^th Party Central Committee’s 4^th Plenum on the Party building and rectification, improving the leadership and combativeness of party committees and organizations, making the Military Party Committee strong politically, ideologically, morally, and organizationally. Moreover, it is vital to effectively execute the 12^th Politburo’s Directive 05-CT/TW on studying and following Ho Chi Minh’s ideology, morality and lifestyle, the Determined to Win Emulation Movement, and campaigns, particularly the campaign entitled “promote tradition, devote talent, deserve to be Uncle Ho’s soldiers” in order to give mental impetus to the whole VPA during its process of performing the task. Reality has proved that the country’s culture and tradition form the politico-spiritual strength within each soldier. Thus, units should attach importance to educating their cadres and soldiers on patriotism and pride in the nation’s glorious tradition and making them ceaselessly promote the VPA’s nature and tradition in all operations. At the same time, units should render their troops fully aware of the hostile forces’ plots and acts of sabotage, partners and opponents as well as help them recognize and effectively fight against the hostile forces’ plots of depoliticizing and civilizing the VPA, and prevent “self-evolution” and “self-transformation” from within.

Second, being active in the adjustment of the VPA’s organizational structure, regularity building, and discipline management.

Bringing into play the recorded results, the entire VPA should continue implementing the breakthrough measures to make positive changes in building the VPA’s compact and strong forces with proper structure among their components. Offices and units should grasp and seriously implement the Resolution 606-NQ/QUTW, dated June 16^th 2018, by the Central Military Commission (CMC) on realizing the Politburo’s Conclusion 16-KL/TW, dated July 7^th 2017 on the VPA’s structure towards 2021, the Defence Minister’s Decision on ratifying the Plan to execute the Resolution 606-NQ/QUTW as well as relevant guiding documents. In the process, it is essential to heighten political determination, closely lead and uniformly conduct the ideological, organizational and policy work, take the VPA’s enhanced strength as the ultimate target, and avoid all leftist and rightist signs.

Discipline is the Military’s strength, which is always true in both theory and the VPA’s process of building, fighting and maturing. For the sake of a revolutionary, regular, elite, gradually modern VPA, regularity building and discipline must be an important, routine task. This is also a breakthrough measure set by the 10^th Military Party Congress. Thus, leaderships of offices and units should raise their awareness and responsibility and adopt measures synchronously, comprehensively for regularity building and troops’ observance of military discipline and law. It is necessary to continue grasping and effectively implementing the CMC’s Directive 37/CT-ĐUQSTW, the Directive 85/CT-TM by the Chief of the General Staff on regularity building within the VPA, the Defence Minister’s Directive 91/CT-BQP, dated November 22^nd 2016 on enhancing discipline management, education and observance within the VPA and the Defence Minister’s Directive 917/1999/CT-QP on building strong units comprehensively. It is essential to achieve standardization in all operations and sectors, ensure uniformity and discipline observance, work according to responsibilities, act under the military regulations, and strive to reduce violations of discipline and minimize technical incidents and traffic accidents.

Third, renewing and raising the quality of training, exercises and combat readiness.

This is a decisive factor in the VPA’s combat strength. Therefore, the whole VPA should continue to grasp and well execute resolutions and directives by the CMC and the Ministry of National Defence (MND) on the training work, particularly the Resolution 765-NQ/QUTW on raising the training quality in the 2013-2020 period and beyond. Offices and units, particularly all-level party committees and commands must be fully aware that training and combat readiness is the VPA’s routine, central political task in peacetime and an important solution to improving its combat readiness capacity and combat capacity. Accordingly, it is vital to enhance leadership, direction, and effectiveness of management and operation in the training work as well as actively renew the work of training and exercise under the Party’s new military-defence thought and the requirements for Homeland protection in the new situation. Basing on the results and experience in the 5-year implementation of the Resolution 765, particularly weaknesses pointed out by the CMC, the whole VPA should further renew contents and methods of training and exercises and actively mobilize resources to sufficiently support the training work. Under the motto of “basics, practicality, and thorough grasp”, offices and units should actively supplement, complete and standardize the training programs for all groups of troops in accordance with their function, task, structure and materiel. In this regard, consideration should be given to organizing practical, task-based and situation-based training, increasing combat manoeuvrability on rough terrains and in harsh weather and hi-tech warfare, closely combining training with exercises, military training with political education and discipline management, and building up troops’ faith in our combat methods and existing materiel. At the same time, due regard should be paid to applying information technology to managing and organizing training and exercises. While enhancing the training quality, the entire VPA should renew and improve the quality of exercises at all levels, combine campaign and strategic-level exercises with tactical, aggregate, combat, field, live-firing, and joint exercises associated with local armed forces’ operations within the defensive zones in order to train and enhance all-level cadres’ staff capacity and troops’ combat readiness capability.

Fourth, gradually modernizing weapons and equipment and well performing the logistics-technical work.

Together with the personnel, weapons and equipment play a very important, decisive role in the Military’s combat strength. With the support and investment of the Party and the State, in recent years, more and more new-generation weapons and equipment as well as innovated, modernized ones have been provided for the VPA, which has helped raise the VPA’s combat readiness capacity and combat strength. To promote the obtained results, competent offices of the MND, particularly the General Technical Department and the General Defence Industry Department should adhere to the Party and State’s guidelines on the military-defence mission, particularly the 11^th Politburo’s Resolution 06-NQ/TW, the 12^th Politburo’s Statement 25/TB-TW, dated April 11^th 2017 on the Project entitled “developing defence-security industry, meeting the requirements for Homeland construction and protection in the new situation”, the Politburo’s 29/NQ-TW on the Strategy for the VPA’s equipment; give advice on formulating and implementing plans for building and developing defence industry, plans for using weapons and equipment, and programs/projects for procuring, manufacturing, innovating and modernizing weapons and equipment in line with the VPA’s task requirements and the country’s condition. The whole VPA should continue grasping and well executing the CMC’s Resolution 623-NQ/QUTW on the military logistics work towards 2020 and beyond, the CMC’s Resolution 382-NQ/ĐUQSTW, dated November 29^th 2007 on leading the technical work in the new situation, making timely, comprehensive, sufficient logistics-technical preparations for training, combat readiness and contingencies. At the same time, the VPA should step up the synchronization of weapons and technical equipment, maintain the regulations on reserving materials, vehicles, weapons and equipment for combat readiness as well as the order for preservation, repair and maintenance, while focusing on improving the quality of logistics-technical work, mastering new-generation weapons and equipment, and ensuring the technical coefficient of materiel under the regulations. 

Fifth, developing Vietnam’s military science and art.

To meet the requirements for building the VPA and safeguarding the Homeland in the new situation, it is vital to continue undertaking researches on the history of Vietnam’s military art, particularly lessons on the art of creating the combined strength of all people for fighting the enemy, on taking the few against the many, and on fighting the enemy by strategies, advantages, and opportunities. At the same time, it is important to develop theories about building the all-people national defence, with a focus on building a strong VPA and solid provincial (municipal) defensive zones. Greater importance should be attached to developing theories about military art and studying the combat methods in line with the development of object of struggle and VPA’s structure and materiel in the high-level people’s war for Homeland defence. Grounded on the Party’s military-defence lines, National Defence Strategy, Military Strategy, Homeland Protection Strategy in cyberspace, and National Border Protection Strategy, it is necessary to study and forecast the situations in the enemy’s war of aggression, develop the combat projects, plan the situations, adjust the disposition of mobile main forces in the strategic areas, and create the posture in the war for Homeland defence. Besides, significance should be attached to studying and developing campaign-level military theories in strategic operations of various types and undertaking researches on joint operations and combat coordination between mobile main corps and local armed forces. At the tactical level, it is essential to study the art of applying combat methods, such as thrust, deep penetration, flank attack, division, diversion, and preventive and retaliatory measures in the hi-tech warfare.

In response to the new requirements for modernization of materiel and the challenges posed by the 4^th industrial revolution, for the sake of the improved quality of military science and technology, in the upcoming time, units, offices, and schools within the VPA should grasp the CMC’s Resolution 791-NQ/QUTW, dated December 30^th 2012 on leading the work of science, technology and environment within the VPA towards 2020 and beyond. Due regard should be given to undertaking researches on manufacturing modern, breakthrough military products, concentrating investments on key projects to build and modernize technologies for manufacturing, repairing and innovating materiel. It is necessary to integrate defence industry into the country’s industry in the context of the 4^th industrial revolution, particularly in dual-use technologies, such as precision mechanical and chemical explosive technology, electronic technology, satellite -telecommunications, computer science. At the same time, it is essential to achieve a breakthrough in employing the mechanism for ordering researches, gradually establish science-technology enterprises and socialize several research centres under the task assignment, bidding mechanisms with a view to ensuring the effectiveness of military science-technology operations and contributing to modernizing materiel. Besides, due to the country’s increasingly wider and deeper international integration, it is important to take advantage of international cooperation and proactively, selectively, properly apply the world’s achievements in military science to Vietnam, thereby meeting the requirements for enhancing the VPA’s strength in the new situation.

Sr. Lt. Gen. Nguyen Phuong Nam, Member of the Party Central Committee

Member of the CMC, Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the VPA