Translated material
Resuscitation of Cam Ranh
Russia intends to revive its naval base in Vietnam
Russia intends to regain its position in the World Ocean. Both politicians and the military have stated this more than once in recent years. But only now has the first step been taken towards restoring Russia's former naval power. The High Command of the Navy yesterday publicly spoke out in favor of resuscitating the Cam Ranh military base in Vietnam.Officially, this geographical point was called a logistics point (LMTS) in the Soviet years. Today there is civil life there. Last December, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin attended the opening of the Cam Ranh memorial complex, dedicated to Russian and Soviet soldiers.
Yesterday, the High Command of the Navy completed work on plans for the resuscitation of Cam Ranh. In them, according to a source in the Main Command of the Navy, “the need to restore the basing point to support Russian ships in the Asia-Pacific region is justified and calculated.” If an appropriate political decision is made, the Navy is ready to restore the base within three years.
This base in Vietnam, Navy veterans say, is needed to support Russian warships that carry out strategic missions in the Asia-Pacific region. But such tasks have not disappeared and have even become more relevant. There is such an argument as counteracting maritime piracy in the Indian and Pacific oceans. In general, without a network of dispersal bases, the presence of the Russian Navy in the far sea zone is hardly possible. Both surface ships and military submarines cannot do without repairs and replenishment of supplies; the crews need rest.
“Renting a naval base in Cam Ranh will cost Russia less than regularly providing warships in the ocean zone with the help of auxiliary ships, tankers and floating workshops,” Chairman of the Subcommittee on Military-Technical Cooperation of the State Duma, Captain First Rank Mikhail Nenashev, explained to Vremya Novostey. . And this is especially important at a time when Russia has moved from the principle of political and military expediency, in which finances are not taken into account, to market relations even in the defense sector.
The story may continue. An officer of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff told Vremya Novostey that the GRU will never come to terms with the loss of the radio intelligence complex in Lourdes, Cuba. With the help of this complex, according to a source in the GRU of the General Staff, “we looked into the windows of the White House, Congress, the CIA and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.”
It is curious that during the Vietnam War, Cam Ranh was located on the territory of South Vietnam and was a large rear base for the Americans. In 1979, the USSR and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam signed a 25-year agreement on the use of the Cam Ranh port as a base for the Soviet Navy, mainly the 17th squadron of the Pacific Fleet. The base was later renamed the 922nd PMTO of the Pacific Fleet. The port allowed the presence of ten surface ships, eight submarines with a mother ship and six auxiliary vessels of the Navy at the same time.
Oil product warehouses stored 7 thousand tons, an anti-submarine and missile weapons base and a technical and operational unit were deployed, marine units and a separate mixed aviation regiment were based. The Soviet Union did not pay rent. In 1998, the Vietnamese demanded rent of $300 million a year. China and the United States then offered Vietnam $500 million for the lease of Cam Ranh. In 2001, Russia evacuated the PMTO ahead of schedule. The airport, a former Russian military base, was put into commercial operation in May 2004, and began serving international flights in July 2009.
According to observers, it is quite possible to agree on at least a partial return of the Russian naval base in Cam Ranh with the Vietnamese authorities. First of all, because of Vietnam’s tense relations with China, which have not improved at all in the nine years that have passed since Russia left Cam Ranh.