Monday, May 19, 2025, 13:28 (GMT+7)
Air Defence Division 361 raises the quality of training and combat readiness

On 19 May 1965, Air Defence Division 361 - Hanoi Air Defence Unit was established. In the past 60 years of construction, combat, victory, and maturity, generations of cadres and soldiers of the Division have always remained unity, courage, and resilience in combat, promoting proactivity and creativity in construction and development, maintaining good training and high combat readiness, managing and firmly protecting the assigned airspace and crucial targets.

Division Command inspects training models

Fully aware of its pride and responsibility for managing and protecting the airspace of the Capital City - the whole country’s heart, right after its establishment, the Division quickly stabilised its structure, organised training and battlefields, maintained combat readiness, and closely managed the assigned airspace simultaneously. Only 36 days after its foundation, the Division shot down 1 US RF-4C Phantom aircraft violating Hanoi’s airspace. In the resistance war against the US for national salvation, units of the Division manoeuvred for combat across 20 provinces and cities, directly commanding and engaging in 1,800 battles, shooting down 591 US aircraft of various types, contributing to our Military’s victory over the two US wars of destruction against the North. Notably, during the Air Defence Campaign in December 1972, together with friendly units and Hanoi’s people and troops, the Division courageously fought in 12 days and nights, making the landslide historic victory of “Hanoi - Dien Bien Phu in the air”, dealing a fatal blow to US imperialists’ will to invade, forcing them to sign Paris Accords on ending the war and restoring peace in Vietnam.

In the period of Fatherland building and protection, the Division has always promoted its tradition and well performed all assigned missions. In recent years, with priorities given by the Party, State, and Military to move straight to modernity, the Division’s Party Committee and Command have always proactively taken synchronised measures to comprehensively improve the performance of all tasks, especially training and combat readiness, thereby obtaining significant achievements. While troops’ awareness of training and combat readiness has been raised, the work of training management, operation, and organisation has been conducted closely, synchronously. Regulations on combat readiness have been seriously maintained as the basis for the Division to opportunely detect and handle all acts of violating its assigned airspace and firmly protect its assigned crucial targets under any circumstances.

With brilliant achievements in its combat, construction, and development process, the Division has been awarded 1 First-Class Independence Order, 10 First-Class Military Exploit Orders, 7 Second-Class Military Exploit Orders, and 18 Third-Class Military Exploit Orders by the State; 19 collectives and 22 individuals from the Division have been given the title of Hero of the People’s Armed Forces.

Currently, there are rapid, complex changes throughout the world and in the region. The task of defending the Fatherland’s airspace is faced with a lot of difficulties and challenges due to the development of military science and technology; as a result of the 4th Industrial Revolution, there are now many modern weapons, including unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), together with breakthrough developments in aerial warfare. To manage and firmly safeguard the Capital’s airspace and its assigned crucial targets, the Division has to deal with many issues. Therefore, it will keep raising the quality of training and combat readiness as one of the most fundamental solutions.

First of all, enhancing all-level party committees and commands’ leadership and direction over training and combat readiness. To that end, the Division’s Party Committee and all-level party committees will continue grasping higher echelons’ resolutions and directives on training and combat readiness, particularly Resolution 1659-NQ/QUTW, dated 20 December 2022, by the Central Military Commission, Resolution 877-NQ/ĐU, by the Air Defence - Air Force Service’s Party Committee, on raising the quality of training in the period of 2023 - 2030 and beyond, Directive on Military and Defence Work by Chief of the General Staff, and Combat Training Command by Commander of the Service. Under those documents, specialised resolutions on training will be developed together with specific goals, targets, tasks, and measures of leadership, while breakthroughs in performing difficult, new missions will be created. To achieve a solid change in training, the Division’s Party Committee and Command will give priority to renewing and improving all-level party committees and commands’ leadership and direction over training work in a “focalised, uniform, synchronous, effective” manner “without any overlap”, enhancing political and ideological education to achieve uniformity in awareness and action across the Division. Besides, the Division will step up the decentralisation of inspection and re-inspection of training work and take the outcome of training and combat readiness as a yardstick for evaluating party committees and commands’ leadership and direction capacity as well as the task performance of offices and units.

In response to the new requirements and challenges set by air warfare, the Division will well execute Directive 2423-CT/QUTW, dated 9 November 2023, by the Central Military Commission Standing Board, on “renewing and improving political education in the new era”, diversify forms of education and propagation on difficulties and intellectual and physical requirements in training and combat readiness, and render troops fully aware of the decisive role of training and combat readiness in the synergy and combat power of a unit. By doing so, cadres and soldiers will heighten determination and a sense of responsibility to overcome difficulties and successfully fulfil training tasks; they will also resolutely fight against signs of superficiality, complacency, and negligence in training and combat readiness duty.

A training session on C300 PMU1 air defence missile system

Second, renewing programs, forms, and methods of training to meet the new requirements of aerial warfare. Following the motto of “basics, practicality, solidity, safety, thrift”, the Division will continue to collaborate with competent offices of the Service to renew content, forms, and methods of training relevant to the existing weaponry, the development of military science and technology, and the art of air defence warfare against enemy hi-tech weapons. At the same time, it will organise synchronised, specialised, focalised training and apply science, technology, and digital transformation as a breakthrough in renewing training work towards modernity. In the process, it will take tactical training as the centre, specialised technical training as the basis, and training for target groups and under protection projects as the key. Importance will be attached to training troops to master weapons and equipment, particularly the new ones, and intensifying refresher courses for cadres to provide updates and draw lessons on training work. The Division will increase situations-based, night-time training, improve manoeuvrability and coordination among all-level headquarters and between combat teams within missile and air defence artillery units, radar stations, and ammunition production lines, and align combat training with discipline management, physical training, and regularity building.

In response to new methods and means of aerial warfare, especially UAVs of various types, the Division will frequently grasp situational developments, undertake researches, and develop training documents, such as “Several issues on UAVs and methods of reconnaissance”, “Air Defence Division 361’s training procedures and methods of fighting UAVs”. At the same time, it will direct its affiliates, especially missile and air defence artillery units, UAV suppression and low-altitude aircraft firing teams using infantry rifles, observation posts, and all-level headquarters to organise field training and exercises as well as to take part in joint exercises, with a view to improving their command capacity, enabling them to master procedures for detection and settlement, avoiding falling into passivity or missing the opportunity.

Third, raising the quality of situational grasp and forecast, opportunely dealing with situations. The Division will grasp and adhere to Regulation 2582/QyĐ-TM, dated 31 August 2022, by Chief of the General Staff, directives on combat readiness, and other regulations on air defence - air force operational staff work. It will closely maintain duty regulations at all-level headquarters and organise forces in charge of combat readiness duty under regulations. Priority will be given to providing technical and communication equipment for VRS-SRS radar stations, VEE-LRA optoelectronic radar stations, observation posts, and all-level automated headquarters, with the aim of improving coordination in detecting and forecasting situations, raising capabilities in managing aerial vehicles, particularly low-flying aircraft and UAVs, resolutely avoiding omission, belated report, or false report. Due attention will be paid to calibrating and supplementing combat weapons, maintaining bookkeeping work at all-level headquarters, and fostering the operations of Enemy Research Boards from regimental to division levels to grasp new enemy plots and tactics as the basis for identifying methods of combat and command systems. The Division will proactively review, supplement, and adjust combat documents and projects, propose force disposition projects in each area to form a strong, flexible air defence posture and effectively deal with possible combat scenarios.

Additionally, the Division will well carry out logistics and technical support work for training, combat readiness, and other tasks. It will proactively closely work with local authorities and armed forces and friendly units to exchange information and grasp situational developments, while actively taking part in building safe stationed areas and ensuring the safety of military constructions and combat battlefields.

Bringing into play the 60-year tradition of a heroic unit, Air Defence Division 361 will continue to maintain unity and uniformity, overcome difficulties, and improve the quality of training and combat readiness to deserve to be a main unit of the Service and firmly protect the Capital City’s airspace.

Sr. Col. LE ANH CHIEN

Commander of the Division  

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