In response to the high requirements of Fatherland protection, cadres and soldiers of Division 363 (Air Defence - Air Force Service) have promoted the unit’s heroic tradition, unceasingly improving their political zeal, mastering weaponry, raising combat readiness and resolve to firmly protect the Fatherland’s Northeastern airspace.
60 years ago, in the fierce period of the resistance war against the US for national salvation, in order to firmly protect strategic targets in the North and maintain a smooth supply system for the South battlefield, on 19 May 1965, the Ministry of National Defence decided to establish Hai Phong Air Defence Command - the forerunner of present-day Air Defence Division 363. Only more than one month after its establishment, the Division won the first battle, shooting down 1 enemy F-104 fighter in the airspace of An Hai, Hai Phong. Promoting the victory in the first battle, the Division’s troops overcame numerous hardships, manoeuvring for combat across 11 provinces and cities, directly taking part in thousands of battles, destroying a large number of enemy aircraft. During Hanoi - Hai Phong Air Defence Campaign in late December 1972, the Division shot down 17 enemy aircraft, including 5 B-52 bombers and 1 F-111 multirole combat aircraft, contributing to our Military and people’s historic victory.
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| Sr. Lt. Gen. Trinh Van Quyet, Director of the General Department of Politics of the Vietnam People’s Army inspects and encourages troops of Regiment 285 |
In the period of Fatherland building and protection, particularly since the Service moved straight to modernity, the Division has continued to affirm its core role, remaining proactive and creative, surmounting all challenges, excellently fulfilling its assigned tasks. With all those brilliant feats and achievements, the Division and 16 collectives and 12 individuals within the Division itself have been given the title of Hero of the People’s Armed Forces. In 2025, the Division was honoured with First-Class Fatherland Protection Order by the State President.
Currently, the rapid development of methods, means, and tactics of aerial warfare, the building of a “revolutionary, regular, highly-skilled, and modern” Service, and the task of defending the Fatherland are imposing new, higher requirements on the Division. Hence, the Division has determined to continue making itself “exemplarily, typically” comprehensively strong, increasingly standardised, and modern, maintaining combat readiness, ensuring victory in combat, and avoiding falling into passivity in any circumstances.
First of all, focusing on building a politically strong Division as the basis for raising its synergy and combat power. In the resistance war against the US for national salvation, despite facing US modern aircraft, with the spirit of “daring to fight, knowing how to fight, and being determined to win”, cadres and soldiers of the Division courageously, cleverly shot down 381 aircraft of various types. That reality has proved political - spiritual strength to be the most important factor in combat. Therefore, the Division has enhanced political and ideological education to raise troops’ fighting morale and guarantee its political strength. To that end, offices and units across the Division have stepped up the execution of Directive 2324-CT/QUTW, dated 9 November 2023, by the Central Military Commission Standing Board on renewing and improving political education in the new era, while closely combining regular education with traditional history education. Great weight has been added to rendering troops fully aware of the Party’s viewpoints and lines on military, defence, Fatherland protection tasks, the Service’s task requirements, partners and opponents as well as updating troops on new means of aerial warfare employed in wars and military conflicts worldwide. As a result, the Division has opportunely orientated troop ideology; all cadres and soldiers have thoroughly grasped their missions, demonstrating their political steadfastness, believing in the Party’s leadership, air defence art, and the existing weapons and equipment, keeping their mind on their work, readily undertaking and successfully accomplishing all their assigned tasks.
Furthermore, the Division has attached special importance to Party building and considered it as the key to making itself politically strong. To that end, it has exercised its direction over the raised leadership capacity and combativeness of party committees and party organisations, particularly in grass-roots units, combining the building of party organisations with the building of command systems and mass organisations. Currently, it has been focusing its leadership and direction on the successful organisation of all-level party congresses towards its 15th Party Congress for 2025 - 2030 tenure in a bid to enhance its grass-roots party organisations’ leadership capacity and combativeness and promote its cadres and party members’ vanguard and exemplary role in performing their tasks.
Second, concentrating on building an “adept, compact, strong”, modern Division with great combat readiness and capability to firmly protect the airspace in any situations. In 1972, with the resolve to “filter out interference to seek the enemy”, radar station P-35, Company 45 (present-day Radar Station 45, Regiment 295) was the first unit to detect B-52 bombers and deliver early information about enemy aircraft en route for Hanoi, creating opportunities for the General Staff and the Service Command to issue an air defence warning and make a resolution to fight the enemy in a correct way. In a (potential) Fatherland protection war, the Division will be one of the first forces to confront the enemy from the sea; hence, stringently maintaining combat duty regulations to opportunely detect and effectively deal with situations becomes more crucial to the Division. Accordingly, the Division has stepped up force adjustments to make itself “adept, compact, strong”, and modern, with priority given to sufficiently staffing combat teams within units responsible for combat readiness, units equipped with new weaponry, and units stationed in border, coastal areas. It has strictly maintained regulations on command and combat duty, practising combat readiness projects, inspecting combat readiness work from detachment to Division command levels, with a focus on operational principles under Command 750/CL-TM by Chief of the General Staff, opportunely detecting and effectively handling air defence situations, avoiding falling into passivity or missing the opportunity.
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| Battalion 83, Regiment 238 takes part in a live-fire exercise |
Furthermore, the Division has worked with localities and relevant affiliates of Military Region 3 and Naval Service to conduct reviews and researches and give advice to the Air Defence - Air Force Service on projects to adjust air defence postures, particularly firepower battlefield system, logistics - technical bases, observation posts, and communication system for coordination and warning. Grounded on those adjustments, it has supplemented and renewed its combat documents in accordance with its organisational structure and new enemy aerial warfare in order to firmly protect the Fatherland’s airspace, seas, and islands under any circumstances.
Third, renewing and improving training work in a synchronous, specialised, practical way to meet the requirements of modern warfare. In the resistance war against the US for national salvation, the Division was tasked with manoeuvring its forces and weaponry to Military Region 4 for combat and researching methods of fighting B-52 bombers; it then excellently fulfilled its assigned task, becoming the first unit to shoot down B-52 aircraft on the battlefield of Vietnam, laying a foundation for designing “Red Book” on how to fight B-52 bombers. Promoting that experience, the Division has continued to renew training work in accordance with the new requirements, focusing on grasping and effectively executing Resolution 877-NQ/ĐU, dated 9 March 2023, by the Service Party Committee, on “raising the quality of training in the period of 2023 - 2030 and beyond”. It has also renewed forms and methods of training relevant to target individuals under the motto of “basics, practicality, solidity, safety, thrift”, taking basic training as the main method, attaching importance to synchronised, specialised training in accordance with each group of troops and its existing weaponry and combat areas, under the conditions of hi-tech warfare and strong electronic warfare. It has focused on training cadres and office commanders to improve their capabilities in operations staff work, organisation, command, and management. As for combat teams within all-level headquarters, emphasis has been placed on training and exercises to improve their combat coordination, their capability in shifting combat levels, and their skills to deal with situations. Detachment-level units have been trained to master and exploit new, upgraded weaponry; the Division has also increased night-time and physical training, improving its troops’ skills in quickly withdrawing and deploying weaponry in complex, harsh conditions, training its troops in radio-related camouflage, combat posture transformation, and diversionary tactics, bring its troops closer to combat reality.
To effectively respond to modern means of aerial offensive and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) flying at a low altitude and conducting intrusions across many estuaries, the Division has intensified training to improve its radar stations and observation posts’ capabilities in detecting and identifying targets, taking advantage of new equipment’ features, anti-jamming system, and optical transmission system, thereby promptly issuing warnings, shifting combat levels, and avoiding missing the opportunity.
Fourth, ensuring logistics and technical support for tasks, especially for training, exercises, and combat readiness. The Division’s Logistics and Technical Office has regularly grasped the Division’s logistics and technical strength to advise the Division’s Party Committee and Command on planning, adjusting, balancing, and distributing logistics and technical materials and equipment at all levels for regular, irregular, and combat readiness missions, with priority given to units in charge of exercises and combat duty and units stationed in isolated, remote, island areas. Besides, it has adjusted, supplemented, and renewed logistics and technical documents in a synchronous, uniform, procedural fashion. Offices and units have stepped up regularity building in Logistics and Technical Sector in tandem with campaigns and emulation movements, such as “managing and using technical equipment effectively, sustainably, safely, economically and ensuring traffic safety” and “Military Logistics Sector follows Uncle Ho’s teachings”. In 2025, the Division will strive to achieve or surpass all logistics and technical targets; the rate of healthy troops will be over 99.5%; it will fulfil all targets of technical maintenance and guarantee the combat readiness of its technical equipment as the basis for raising its synergy, combat power, and capability to firmly protect the Fatherland’s airspace.
Sr. Col. NGUYEN THANH SON
Commander of the Division