Vietnam could become a key importer of Russian weaponry if several contracts on the purchase of diesel submarines and aircraft are signed in the near future, a Russian newspaper said. According to the Vedomosti business daily, Moscow and Hanoi are close to sign deals on the purchase of six Kilo class diesel-electric submarines and 12 Su-30MK2 Flanker-C multirole fighters. The submarine contract, worth an estimated $1.8 billion, includes the construction of on-shore infrastructure and training of submarine crews and will be the second largest submarine contract concluded by Russia since the Soviet era after the 2002 deal on the delivery of eight subs to China. The Project 636 Kilo class submarine is thought to be one of the most silent submarine classes in the world. It has been specifically designed for anti-shipping and anti-submarine operations in relatively shallow waters.
The purchase isn’t a response to some American mischief in the Pacific, but the naval build-up underway by the Red Chinese. The United States does not produce or operate diesel subs. All the other major players in Asia do. That means that the United States Navy cannot operate in the shallow waters where ChiCom subs lurk. The sale would be a boon for the Russians, who are selling less weaponry to China every year as China develops its own indigenous arms industry (built largely through the theft of Russian, and to a lesser extent Western, intellectual property), but it also highlights what Robert Kaplan describes as “the military trend that is hiding in plain sight…the loss of the Pacific Ocean as an American lake after 60 years of near-total dominance.”
