Poland offers Vietnam Krab howitzers, Rosomak carriers and coastal defence radars

Poland is negotiating with Vietnam over sales of armoured personnel carriers, self-propelled howitzers, artillery ammunition and coastal defence systems, Deputy State Assets Minister Konrad Golota told the Polish Press Agency during Prime Minister Donald Tusk's visit to the country.

Golota, who is travelling with Tusk, gave the details at a briefing in Hoi An on Saturday 24 October. He said the talks were the result of two years of close contact between the state-owned Polish Armaments Group, known as PGZ, and its Vietnamese counterparts. The privately owned Polish defence company WB Group is also part of the delegation.

The equipment under discussion includes Rosomak armoured personnel carriers, Krab self-propelled howitzers, military bridges, artillery shells and support vehicles, along with radars and coastal defence systems. Poland is also offering communications equipment and electronic components for combat platforms.

According to Golota, the two sides are looking at three kinds of cooperation: direct sales of equipment, the transfer of some production and technology to Vietnam, and maintenance and modernisation work. He said it was too early to put a value on possible orders, noting that Vietnam usually starts with small contracts and expands them if the equipment performs well.

Golota said Vietnam had long relied on Russian weapons but was now trying to widen its range of suppliers because of sanctions. He said Israeli, French and American companies already had a strong presence in the Vietnamese market, and argued that Polish industry's advantage lay in its experience of modernising Soviet-era equipment.

He singled out coastal defence as an area of particular promise, describing it as a priority for Vietnam. Poland could offer radar and coastal surveillance systems developed under its Digital Baltic programme, while the Polish Naval Shipyard is looking at maritime support options, including rescue ships and minehunters based on the Polish navy's Kormoran class.

The talks also cover aviation maintenance. Golota said defence plants in Bydgoszcz could service transport aircraft such as the C-130 as well as Soviet-designed Sukhoi combat aircraft, provided Vietnam supplies the necessary spare parts.

Polish broadcaster TVP World described the trip as an effort to use Vietnam as a gateway to Southeast Asia, with Warsaw pitching howitzers, armoured vehicles and technology transfers. Defence24, a Polish defence news site, noted that the exact scope of any deal and the value of possible orders remain unknown.

Tusk arrived in Hanoi on the afternoon of 25 October for the final leg of an official visit running from 24 to 26 October at the invitation of Vietnamese Prime Minister Le Minh Hung, Vietnam's state broadcaster VOV reported. Its report on the arrival spoke of friendship and wider cooperation and did not mention the defence talks, and no Vietnamese official comment on the arms discussions has been published.

Golota said the two governments were expected to announce the main areas of cooperation on Monday 26 October, with commercial agreements possibly following in December. He said Poland wanted to present specific contracts then, possibly at an arms fair due to be held in Vietnam that month.