Celebration the 70th Anniversary of Lao People's Army

21 Januari 2019

Anniversary the 70th of the Lao People's Army (all photos : Houmphet Manisouk, Lao National Radio)

On January 20, in the Phonhong district of Vientiane province, the Lao People's Army held a review ceremony to celebrate its 70th anniversary with the participation of thousands of soldiers and hundreds of modern military equipment.

Formerly known as Latxavong which was declared by President Kaysone Phomvihane on January 20, 1949 with only 25 soldiers and rudimentary armament, spent 70 years of building, fighting and maturity, Nowadays, Lao People's Army is gradually developing to be formal, sophisticated and modern.

In the photo, the Lao Army representative block with a rifle assaulting a Vietnamese-made Galil ACE, can be seen at first glance as an ACE 32 rifle variant.

In particular, the General Secretary and Lao President Bounnhang Vorachith attended and presided over the military ceremony to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Lao People's Army at Phonhong, besides the leaders of ministries, departments and branches Lao Party and state.

Reportedly, the parade this year is the biggest revision in the history of the Lao People's Army since its establishment, with the participation of thousands of soldiers and hundreds of modern military equipment, representing for troops and soldiers of the Lao People's Armed Forces .

From a company with only 25 soldiers from the beginning, the Lao People's Army has now scale up to 30,000 soldiers, along with 100,000 civilian employees, made up of two Army soldiers and No troops.

The representative of the Lao Army participated in the parade on January 20 at Phonhong, with the main equipment being an AK-47 assault rifle. Known in recent years, the Lao Army has been refitted and modernized quite quickly with a new range of weapons.

Armored Personnel Carrier

In the photo is an armored vehicle carrying Chinese gear of 4x4 Tiger tires, capable of carrying from 9 soldiers and crew of two people. The car is also armed with 12.7mm machine gun.

The Lao Army's armored reconnaissance vehicle BRDM-2, with the protection armor upgrade package and the new optoelectronic reconnaissance system participating in the parade at Phonhong.

Armored vehicles carrying the BTR-60BP army of the Lao Army, built by the Soviet Union, can carry up to 9 soldiers and 2-person combat crews.

Cavalry System

The Lao Army's PT-76 amphibious tank, armed with a 76mm main cannon with a range of up to 400km.

BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicle of the Lao Army.

In the picture is the Lao Army's T-54 tank, this is Vientiane's most powerful battle tank before T-72B is fitted.

The new T-72B "White Eagle" main battle tank was recently transferred to the Lao Army by Russia at the end of 2018, but it still appeared in this parade.

Artillery System

In the photo is the 82mm Type PCP001 self-propelled fast-firing mortar system of the Lao Army, which is placed on the Dongfeng EQ2050 armored vehicle chassis. This mortar system has an effective combat range of up to 6,000m with a firing rate of about 40 rounds/minute.

The M-46 artillery of the Lao Army 130mm has a range of 27 to 38km participated in parade at Phonhong.

Immediately after the HL-70 self-propelled gun was the Lao Army's artillery shells led by the D-20 152mm towing cannon, with an effective range of 17-24km.

Immediately after the HL-70 self-propelled gun was the Lao Army's artillery shells led by the D-20 152mm towing cannon, with an effective range of 17-24km.

Next is the 122mm PCL-09 self-propelled gun, which can be considered the main self-propelled artillery of the Lao Army and staffed in large numbers. PCL-09 has a range of 18 - 27 km.

Rocket System

The Lao Army's BM-21 Grad series of rocket launchers, BM-21 is equipped with a 122mm rocket with a 40-barrel launcher and has a range of up to 20km.

The SR-5 series of anti-aircraft artillery systems were built by China in the Lao artillery payroll. The SR-5 also uses 122mm rocket bullets with modular modular launchers that can fire different types of bullets.

Anti Aircraft System

Leading the Lao anti-aircraft force the 23mm ZSU-23-2 anti-aircraft batteries, directly above the Mi-8 multi-purpose transport helicopter squadron.

The next name may be the strongest air defense system of Laos until now - the mid-range S-125 Neva/Pechora combined by the Soviet Union, has an effective range of 28–35km with The targets fly at altitudes up to 18,000m.

The Yitian low-range anti-aircraft missile system of the Lao air defense, equipped with the Tianlong 6 surface-to-air missile with effective combat range of up to 6,000m.

9K35 Strela-10 short-range air defense missile complex of the Lao air defense. Each of these air defense units is equipped with 4 missiles 9M37 with a range of 500-5,000m with targets of a height of 10-3,500m.

Fleet of LE500 light reconnaissance aircraft of the Lao Air Force.

(KienThuc)