US to transfer 12 trainer aircraft to Vietnam

“Three T-6 trainers are expected to be delivered in the first quarter of 2024, the next two-three aircraft will be transferred by the end of that year, and the remaining six-seven in 2027,” said Brigadier General Sarah Russ, Mobilization Assistant to the Director of Strategy, Plans, Programs, and Requirements, Headquarters Pacific Air Forces, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii.

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 said at a press conference held at the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi.

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

Brigadier General Russ is in Hanoi to attend the Vietnam International Defense Expo 2022. The first large-scale arms fair in Vietnam lasts from December 8 to December 10 and is participated by over 170 military companies and businesses from 30 countries and territories.

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

He did not mention how many aircraft would be delivered to Vietnam back then.

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.

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

In May 2019, Vietnam’s Senior Lieutenant Dang Duc Toai became the first Vietnamese to finish the program, for which he flew the T-6 for more than 167 hours.

His comrade Doan Van Canh also finished the training program around a month later.