Lockheed Martin, Boeing Among US Defense Companies In Potential Talks For Military Gear For Vietnam

  • In a bid to reduce its dependence on Russian arms, some Vietnam government officials and U.S. defense firms are reportedly discussing the supply of military gear.
  • The talks are preliminary and may not lead to any deals.
  • Lockheed Martin Corp LMTBoeing Co BARaytheon Technologies Corp RTXTextron Inc TXT, and IM Systems Group met with the officials on the sidelines of Vietnam’s arms fair.
  • The companies offered a range of military gear and had “promising” discussions about non-lethal equipment, including helicopters for internal security, drones, radars, and other systems.
  • “This marks the beginning of a more open-minded Vietnam People’s Army to U.S. weapons and a willingness to engage deeper with the U.S. in defense as a whole,” said Nguyen The Phuong, a military expert, and researcher at the University of New South Wales.
  • Military deals with the U.S. face many potential hurdles, including concerns about the impact on Hanoi’s tense relations with China and whether U.S.-made systems can be integrated with Vietnam’s legacy weapons, Reuters noted, citing some analysts.
  • A second person familiar with the matter told Reuters that talks on drones and helicopters began before the arms fair and have involved more weapons.
  • Both sources said Lockheed Martin separately had discussions with Vietnam about a new communication and defense satellite, replacing one of the two from the U.S. company Hanoi already operates.
  • Photo by alyoshine from Pixabay
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