Vietnamese warships to make int'l Army Games debut

The Vietnam People's Navy will send missile defense vessels 015 Tran Hung Dao and 016 Quang Trung, currently charged with protecting the country's south-central coast, to the Games, the Hai Quan (Navy) Newspaper reported.

The two vessels will compete in the "Sea Cup" category that requires the crew to take part in a damage control and rescue training, seamanship, and artillery contest.

Russia had said last month it expects to hold International Army Games 2021 from Aug. 22 to Sept. 4 with 34 disciplines hosted by several countries.

Some 50 countries are set to take part in the International Army Games, Russian news agency TASS said last December.

Vietnam will host Military Medical Relay Race and the second group stage of Sniper Frontier contests for countries in the Asia-Pacific region, Major General Tran Van Ba, deputy director of the Department of Politico-Military Training under the General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army (VPA), said last month.

He added the department had agreed with the contest format provided by Russia's Ministry of Defense.

The VPA sent its soldiers to participate in 11 of 31 disciplines at International Army Games 2020 and "Friendship Without Borders" Festival organized by Russia.

In its third year at the games, Vietnam took home three bronze medals and a champion cup in Group 2 of the Tank Biathlon, beating Abkhazia, Congo, Laos, Myanmar, Qatar, South Ossetia and Tajikistan.

Vessels 015 Tran Hung Dao and 016 Quang Trung were both built by Russia. They were launched in 2016 and had their commissioning in February 2018.