Vietnam's Submarines to Counter China?
Vietnam's new submarines could alter the balance in the South China Sea quite dramatically, say maritime security analysts.
Vietnam and China have long contested claims over the Spratly and Paracel islands, including last year's dispute over China's attempted oil drilling and clashes between Vietnamese fishermen and Chinese boats.
As Beijing presses territorial claims in the South China Sea, Vietnam is arming itself for a potential air and sea confrontation with its larger neighbor.
Despite the difference in size between the two nations, particularly in terms of military power, Vietnam is not backing down.
A "confrontation in the South China Sea could be more devastating than any wars, any confrontations that you have seen in the region," said Hoang Anh Tuan, director of the Vietnamese Institute for Foreign Affairs and Strategic Studies.
China's claim to more than 80 percent of the South China Sea threatens 70 percent of Vietnam's exclusive economic zone, Tuan said.
Vietnam's recent acquisition of three new 636MV attack submarines has cast the spotlight on the burgeoning regional submarine race in the South China Sea.
Experts hold that once Vietnam’s submarine force is fully capable of combat, it is very likely to carry out the so-called regional denial activities along its coastline and its military base in the South China Sea.
As the Kilo-class submarines imported from Russia are successively commissioned, Vietnam will soon pose an effective maritime deterrent to China on the South China Sea. This will force China to think twice when it challenges this much smaller neighbor on issues concerning the disputed waters.
Vietnam’s confrontation with China has attracted patrons. The United States, India, and Japan, seeking to rein China in, have made overtures to Vietnam. The United States is looking to sell maritime patrol planes to Vietnam, while Japan is providing ships. India is training submariners for Vietnam’s fleet of brand-new submarines.
