Viettel displayed specifications of the VSM-01A Song Hong missile, with “VSM” standing for Vietnam anti-Ship Missile, which is at the heart of the VCS-01 weapon system. It has a listed range of “up to 80 km”, although Vietnamese observers expect a longer-range version also exists, even if it was not on display at VIDEX 2024.
Powered by a domestically developed VJE-01 turbojet engine, its speed is described as high subsonic. Dimensionally, the VSM-01A missile is 5 meters long and has a diameter of 315 mm. It weighs approximately 600 kg, according to Viettel data. Its fielding will allow Vietnam to begin replacing older Soviet-era P-15/P-20 Termit anti-ship missiles.
A Viettel spokesperson told Naval News at VIDEX 2024 that the missile is brand new. Few details are available about the guidance system and its Ku-band seeker head, but an official confirmed they do emanate from Viettel.
Information provided by Viettel stated:
“The system can deploy in centralised or standalone combat modes. Command and control in the system is centralised; missile firing and trajectory are calculated and generated autonomously.”
The new VCS-01 coastal defence missile system comprises five types of truck-mounted components:
1. The VLV-01 launcher vehicle is based on a KAMAZ-6560 8×8 truck chassis. At the show it was exhibited with a single pod containing four rectangular launch canisters, but up to eight canisters can be carried on the launcher. The missiles are ready to fire within ten minutes of arrival, and each VLV-01 vehicle weighs around 40 tonnes. A battery contains up to eight launcher vehicles.
2. The VTRV-01 transporter and reloader vehicle, again a KAMAZ-6560 8×8 chassis, carries eight spare missile canisters and has a hydraulic crane to transfer them to the launcher vehicle. It takes less than 40 minutes to reload a pod of four canisters using this 12.2m-long VTRV-01.
3. The VTIV-01 technical inspection vehicle is used to check the technical status and readiness of missiles, something that can be done when the weapons are either inside or outside their canisters. The 6×6 chassis used for the VTIV-01 is the KAMAZ-5350.
4. The VTAR-1 target acquisition radar vehicle weighs nearly 40 tonnes and employs a KAMAZ-6560 8×8 chassis. Elevated on a hydraulic mast, the medium-range radar detects, locates and tracks surface targets at sea, and transfers this azimuth, range, speed and direction data to the system’s C4ISR system. The radar operates continuously and has integral electronic counter-countermeasures capabilities; it can begin operating within 25 minutes of arriving in a location. While only one radar is necessary per battery, an additional VTAR-1 can increase coverage.
5. The VCPV-01 command and processing vehicle, based on a KAMAZ-5350 6×6 truck chassis, includes requisite communications and C4ISR equipment to manage the coastal defence battery.
The VCS-01 Truong Son is an important product for Viettel since it represents the military-owned company’s first move into the missile field. Viettel has traditional strengths in communications, radars, electro-optics, command and control and, more recently, unmanned aerial vehicles. The state-owned Z189 Shipyard is also involved in the project, likely producing the launchers and missile bodies.
Testing of this enigmatic missile occurred as far back as 2018 from land-based launchers, and the weapon formally entered service under Brigade 679 of the 1st Regional Command in April 2024. The latter is an independent naval warfare command that manages the waters in the Gulf of Tonkin in Vietnam’s north.
Last year, Vietnamese sources reported that the VSM-01A was also launched from a Shershen-class torpedo boat, an indication that the same missile will eventually arm Vietnamese naval vessels as well.
Vietnam has traditionally relied upon Russian military equipment and weapons, and indeed the Vietnam People’s Navy operates the K-300P Bastion-P and Redut-M coastal defence systems already. Interestingly, Russia was a prominent exhibitor at VIDEX 2024, and it displayed overseas for the first time the Rubezh-ME coastal missile system. Armed with Kh-35UE missiles, the Rubezh-ME has an integral radar on a single vehicle. Moscow remains optimistic about sales in Vietnam, despite the arrival of the indigenous VCS-01 system.
However, with an indigenous weapon now available, Hanoi is able to reduce its dependency on foreign suppliers. This is an important consideration, as exemplified by challenges presented by worldwide pandemics and ill-advised Russian military invasions that have disrupted defence equipment supplies worldwide. Vietnam has a serpentine 3,260km-long coastline that spans the Gulf of Tonkin, South China Sea and Gulf of Thailand. With China throwing its weight around the South China Sea and having militarized a number of reefs there, the ability to deter, and to enforce if necessary, is important for Vietnam. The VSM-01A Song Hong is thus an important component in Vietnam’s anti-access/area denial strategy, especially since the South China Sea is vital to Vietnamese trade and for economic activities such as fishing and hydrocarbon exploitation.
