On November 7 an act was signed by representatives of Rosoboronexport and the Vietnamese Navy authorizing the transfer of Hanoi, the first of six diesel-electric submarines, to Vietnam.
According to the agreement, Russia will deliver the remaining submarines to Vietnam by 2016. The agreement was concluded on December 15, 2009, during a visit of Nguyen Tan Dung, the Prime Minister of Vietnam, to Moscow. The contract was signed by representatives of Rosoboronexport and the import-export company VAN XUAN in the presence of both countries’ heads of state.
The document also stipulated the training of Vietnamese crews, the construction of the necessary infrastructure, and equipment supply. The price of the contract was set at $2 billion, with the construction of the infrastructure costing an additional $4 billion.
Hanoi, the first submarine to be delivered, was commissioned on August 24, 2010, and launched on August 28, 2012. In December 2012 Hanoi successfully completed the first phase of testing, showing that all ship mechanisms functioned correctly.
The second and third boats have already been launched. Danang, the fourth submarine, and Khanh Hoa, the fifth submarine, are currently under construction. Construction on Ba Ria-Vung Tau, the sixth submarine, will begin in 2014.
The double-hull submarine has a length of 73.8 meters, a width of 9.9 meters, and a depth of 6.2 meters. Its out-of-water weight is 2,350 tons and its underwater weight is 3,100 tons. At an average speed it can travel 400 miles underwater. Its depth capacity is 300 meters. It can travel 17 knots on the surface of the water and 20 knots underwater. The boat has an at-sea endurance of 45 days with a crew of 52 people.
The diesel-electric submarines are armed with six torpedo tubes with a caliber of 533 mm. The entire weapons cache includes torpedoes, mines, and Club-S cruise missiles.
The submarines are capable of detecting long-range targets at a distance 3-4 times greater than any enemy submarines.
Vietnam is among the five largest importers of Russian military products. In 2011 their signed agreements totaled $1.3 billion.