US to send 12 military training aircraft to Vietnam

“Three T-6 trainers are expected to be delivered in the first quarter of 2024,” said Brigadier General Sarah Russ, Mobilization Assistant to the Director of Strategy, Plans, Programs and Requirements at the Pacific Air Force Headquarters at Joint Base Pearl Harbor. “The next two to three aircraft will be transferred by the end of that year, and the remaining six or seven in 2027, ” she said at a press conference at the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi.

Brigadier General Sarah Russ speaks at a press conference in Hanoi, December 9, 2022. Photo by VnExpress/Vu Anh

“We are very pleased to coordinate with Vietnam’s Air Defense – Air Force to train technicians for the aircraft maintenance program,” she added.

The U.S. will support Vietnam with English training for pilots, as well as courses in logistics, flight safety and aviation medicine, she added.

Brigadier General Russ is attending the Vietnam International Defense Expo 2022 in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi. The first large-scale arms fair in Vietnam lasts from December 8 to December 10 and includes the participation of over 170 weapons companies and businesses from 30 countries and territories.

As the globe’s number one arms provider, the U.S. exports more weapons than the next 6-largest international arms exporters combined.

During an online meeting with the press in June last year, Pacific Air Forces Commander Kenneth Wilsbach said the U.S. had agreed to sell T-6 trainer aircraft to Vietnam to help improve pilot training.

“We’re committed to helping the aircraft to be delivered and then operationalizing and improving Vietnamese Air Force pilot training,” he said at a teleconference hosted by the U.S. Department of State Asia Pacific Media Hub.

Vietnam’s Senior Lieutenant Dang Duc Toai in the pilot seat of a T-6 trainer aircraft during a training course in the U.S. in 2019. Photo by U.S. Air Force.

In 2018 Vietnam sent two military pilots to the U.S. for a 52-week training course administered by the U.S. Air Force’s Aviation Leadership Program.

In May 2019, Vietnam Senior Lieutenant Dang Duc Toai became the first Vietnamese national to finish the program, for which he logged more than 167 hours flying the T-6.

His comrade Doan Van Canh also completed the program.