Vietnam Navy's LST Equipped with MLRS

17 November 2020

MLRS on board of Vietnamese LST (all photos : baohaiquanvietnam)

The 125th Brigade of the Vietnam People's Navy recently conducted drills onboard their assortment of amphibious landing ships, a mix of old leftover American WW2-era LST-542 ships that were supplied to the former South Vietnamese navy prior to their capture in 1975 & Soviet Polnocny-class ships supplied in the 1980s. The American LSTs are the oldest vessels serving the Vietnam People's Navy.

There were once three former American/South Vietnamese LSTs serving the Vietnam People's Navy but one sank after the disastrous 1988 naval battle with China. This left Ship #501 (former USS Maricopa County) & Ship #503 (former USS Coconino County) as the remaining LSTs.

Two more ocean-going landing ships and an assortment of other landing vessels were built by the Vietnam People's Navy to supplement these though the aging LSTs remain the largest ship of their type within the VPN. Although locally-built Damen 5612 RoRo vessels were recently acquired, these are more suitable towards logistics/transport rather than amphibious operations.

The 125th Brigade's mission revolves around supporting the naval infantry force of the Vietnam People's Navy to recapture Vietnamese-controlled Spratly Islands in the event of a hostile invasion. Though these ships are reaching their age theres currently no plans to replace them...yet.

The Project 771A 'Polnocny-B' landing vessel Ship #513 firing a 140mm rocket during a live fire exercise. The ship falls under the command of the 125th Brigade, 2nd Navy Region.

(VietDefense)