List of equipment of the Vietnam People's Air Force

Since the Vietnam War, most Vietnamese aircraft were supplied by the Soviet Union and later Russia, while hundreds of others were left by the United States via South Vietnam. Most of these are no longer in service either due to the unavailability of parts or the age of the aircraft.

Aircraft

Current

Aircraft	Origin	Type	Variant	In service	Notes
Combat Aircraft
Sukhoi Su-22	Soviet Union	fighter-bomber	Su-22UM3K/M4	32^[1]	1 unit crashed in 2024^[2]
Sukhoi Su-27	Russia	fighter	Su-27SK	6^[3]
Sukhoi Su-27	Russia	fighter	Su-27UBK	5	UBKs provide conversion training
Sukhoi Su-30	Russia	multirole	Su-30MK2V	35^[3]
Maritime Patrol
PZL M28	Poland	maritime patrol	M28B-1R^[3]	1^[1]	Inactive.
Transport
CASA C-295	Spain	transport	C-295M	3^[1]
CASA C-212	Indonesia	transport	NC212i	3^[1]
Helicopters
Mil Mi-8	Russia	utility	Mi-8/-17^[3]	87^[1]
Trainers
Yakovlev Yak-52	Russia	trainer aircraft	IaK-52^[4]	36^[5]
Beechcraft T-6 Texan II	United States	trainer aircraft	T-6C^[5]		12 on order^[6]^[7]
Aero L-39	Czechoslovakia	jet trainer	L-39C	24^[1]
Aero L-39	Czech Republic	jet trainer	L-39NG	? (12)	An unidentified number out of the 12 has been delivered as of early 2024^[8]
Yakovlev Yak-130	Russia	LIFT	Yak-130	12^[9]

Munitions

Name	Origin	Type	Notes
Air-to-air missile
K-13 (AA-2)	Soviet Union	air-to-air missile	2,550 missiles (1000 R-3S, 800 R-3R, 750 R-13M)^[10]
R-60 (AA-8)	Soviet Union	air-to-air missile	400 missiles^[10]
R-73 (AA-11)	Russia	air-to-air missile	375 short range missiles^[10]
R-27 (AA-10)	Russia	air-to-air missile	320 missile^[11]^[12]
RVV-AE (AA-12)	Russia	air-to-air missile	Unknown number^[13]
Air-to-surface missile
Kh-29 (AS-14)	Russia	anti-surface missile	100 missiles^[10]
Kh-31 (AS-17)	Russia	anti-surface missile	100 missiles^[10]
Kh-59 (AS-13)	Russia	anti-surface missile	200 missiles^[10]

Air defence

Name	Origin	Type	In service	Notes
Surface-to-air missile
S-300PMU1	Russia	SAM system	12 launchers^[14]	Two systems were acquired.
SPYDER-MR	Israel	SAM system	30 launchers	Five systems (including 6 launchers each) and 750 missiles ordered^[15]
S-125M/-2TM/-VT	Soviet Union	SAM system	Unknown	Indigenously developed S-125-VT modernization.
S-75M3	Soviet Union	SAM system	Unknown
Igla/Igla-S	Soviet Union / Russia	MANPADS	Unknown	Locally assemble Igla/Igla-S missiles^[16]
9K35 Strela-10	Soviet Union	SAM system	Unknown	tracked short-range surface-to-air missile system
9K32 Strela-2	Soviet Union	MANPADS	Unknown
Anti-air artillery
61-K 37 mm	Soviet Union	Autocannon	Unknown
S-60 AZP 57 mm	Soviet Union	Autocannon	Unknown
ZU-23-2	Soviet Union	Twin Autocannon	Unknown
ZSU-23-4	Soviet Union	Self-propelled anti-aircraft gun	Unknown

Former

Aircraft	Type	Variants	Origin	Quantity	Notes
Fighter aircraft
Shenyang J-5	Fighter		China	10	The Vietnamese Air Force used J-5s alongside the Soviet supplied MiG-17s for interception missions until the 1990s when they were retired, along with the remaining MiG-19s, being replaced with newer MiG-21s and Su-27s.
Shenyang J-6			China	30
MiG-17 Fresco		MiG-17A/P/PF	Soviet Union	367
MiG-19 Farmer				~45
MiG-21 Fishbed		MiG-21bis/UM/bison/PF/PFM/MF/F-13/UM		645	Retired from service in November 2015.^[17] Replaced with Su-22.
Northrop F-5		F-5A, F-5E	United States	191	Captured during Vietnam War.
Cessna A-37 Dragonfly	Light ground-attack	A-37A A-37B	United States	254	Captured during Vietnam War.
Cargo/transport aircraft
Antonov An -2	Transport		Soviet Union
Antonov An-26				48
Beriev Be-12				6	^[18]
Lockheed C-130 Hercules			United States	34	Captured during Vietnam War.
Fairchild C-119			United States		Captured during Vietnam War.
Training aircraft
MiG-15 Fagot	Trainer		Soviet Union	60
Aero L-29	Trainer		Czechoslovakia
Helicopters
Mi-4	Transport		Soviet Union
Mi-6 Hook		Mil Mi-6	Soviet Union	26
CH-47 Chinook		CH-47A	United States	unknown	Captured during Vietnam War.
UH-1 Iroquois	Utility		United States	unknown	Captured during Vietnam War.

References

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