A Pohang-class light frigate of the Vietnamese Navy departs from a refitted shipyard for sea trials, with two four-tube VCM-1M anti-ship missile launchers produced in Vietnam clearly visible at the rear section of the hull.
South Korea gifted one Pohang-class light frigate to Vietnam in 2017, 2018, and 2025 respectively. Do not think that receiving these ships for free is an advantage for Vietnam. In fact, all three Pohang-class frigates had already exceeded 35 years of service life, with the oldest one being as old as 40 years. If South Korea were to decommission them domestically, it would still incur substantial dismantling costs. By donating them instead, South Korea avoids these expenses while also cultivating goodwill—thus, from South Korea’s perspective, this donation was essentially offloading a burden. Moreover, when gifting the ships, South Korea required that all ammunition must be purchased from South Korean defense contractors.
After receiving the ships, Vietnam soon expressed dissatisfaction due to the absence of anti-ship missiles (which South Korea had removed during the transfer), resulting in significantly weakened combat capability. As a result, Vietnam sent the first two received Pohang-class frigates to the Z189 Shipyard in Hai Phong for major overhauls and modernization, primarily involving the installation of VCM-1M anti-ship missiles. During the modification process, Vietnam spent heavily: because integrating French-made naval fire-control radars with its indigenous anti-ship missiles proved technically challenging, Vietnam had to seek assistance simultaneously from both French and Russian experts.
Seeking help from France is understandable, but why did Vietnam also turn to Russia? This is because Vietnam’s VCM-1M anti-ship missile is a reverse-engineered copy of Russia’s “Kinzhal” (Kinzhal) missile, yet its propulsion system uses a small turbojet engine imported from South Korea. Despite the resemblance, the copied version differs significantly from the original Russian model—for example, the maximum range of the VCM-1M missile is only 100 kilometers.
After upgrading the first two frigates, the third Pohang-class vessel will undoubtedly undergo similar modernization by the Vietnamese Navy.
Spending vast sums on upgrading outdated and difficult-to-operate light frigates, Vietnam has come to understand a crucial truth: "The cheapest thing is always the most expensive."
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1862259054891019/
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