On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Vietnam People's Army (December 22, 1944 - December 22, 2024), Dan Viet reporter had an interview with Senior Lieutenant General - Associate Professor, Dr. Vo Tien Trung, Hero of the People's Armed Forces, former member of the Party Central Committee, former Director of the National Defense Academy.

As a soldier who matured through combat and then became a general and a scientist, how do you evaluate the maturity of the Vietnam People's Army from its founding to today? - It can be affirmed that the maturity of the Vietnam People's Army since its founding (December 22, 1944) is a continuous inheritance, the more it builds, the more it matures, in war the more it fights, the stronger it is, the stronger it is, the more it wins. When talking about the maturity of a force, people often say that there will be ups and downs, ups and downs, weak and strong, but with the Vietnam People's Army since its founding to today, there has been continuous development, the next generation continues the tradition of the previous generation to grow stronger and stronger to meet the requirements of the country's tasks in all circumstances. In terms of quality, the army's ideology is always strengthened and trained to be absolutely loyal to the revolutionary cause of the Party and the people.

Regarding weapons, equipment and military vehicles, it can be seen that the Vietnam People's Army is increasingly equipped with modern technology. Our army is always developing and progressing, worthy of being the heroic army of the people, born from the people, serving the people, worthy of the name that the people affectionately call Uncle Ho's Army. What are the differences between the image of our army today and that of the past, especially during the war, sir? - The image of the Vietnam People's Army in any period in the hearts of the people always has one thing in common, that is the image of Uncle Ho's Army for the people, ready to fight and sacrifice for the people, for the Fatherland. Today's soldiers are different from our time, that is, the army is now more standardized, the equipment and vehicles are more modern, the officers are better trained, and equipped with better knowledge. During the war, a soldier had to go through many battles to become a cadre from the squad, platoon, battalion level...

The army today matures through training, drills, and activities. But when the country is invaded, the army will fight bravely and win, because the patriotism of the Vietnamese people is always deeply engraved in each person and will rise up when the situation arises. I have complete faith in the young generation, in the generation of soldiers today, when the Fatherland needs them, they will also fight bravely like our generation in the past fought against the invaders. The spirit of today's soldiers has been demonstrated through many times when our people have encountered natural disasters such as storms, floods, flash floods, landslides, and epidemics. The army has sacrificed themselves for the people, and many soldiers are willing to sacrifice themselves to save their compatriots. I say this to prove that when the country is in a bad situation, the Fatherland is threatened, the army will promote its heroic tradition to fulfill its sacred mission. The common and consistent image of the Vietnam People's Army through the ages has always been a never-ending succession, the quality of Uncle Ho's soldiers has always been the same. It can be seen that the form of war to protect the Fatherland today is different from the past, now it is a modern war, high technology is decisive, from the perspective of a scientific researcher, in your opinion, how should the military force keep up with the development of the times, meet the requirements of the new situation? - We must admit, war now has completely changed compared to before, this is demonstrated through the war between Russia and Ukraine. Never before have humans had to deal with such high technology, UAVs flying in swarms, not only unmanned aircraft in the sky but also under the sea, on the ground, the activities of the armed forces can all be monitored and adjusted through technology... With such a situation, any army of any country, even an army equipped with modern equipment, to find a way to cope is difficult.

If we compare our military science level with that of advanced countries in the world, many people will be afraid, but I believe that we Vietnamese are creative, especially in intelligence and flexibility, so our army will gradually adapt. We have suggested that we must urgently adapt, urgently invest in the young generation to research science and technology to put into combat command and equipment for the army. With the patriotism, intelligence and experience of the Vietnamese people, we will have a way to overcome the current technological gap. In the past, no country in the world could shoot down a B52, while Vietnam's weapons were much more backward than the enemy's, but thanks to our creativity, we were able to shoot down a B52. As for the Vietnam People's Army today, with its current weapons and equipment, with its current level of science and technology, with the intelligence of the Vietnamese people, we will adapt to the rapid development of science and technology and will apply it appropriately to combat. Of course, if war breaks out, we may encounter initial difficulties because we need to adapt, but step by step we will grasp the situation, step by step change to be proactive in situations. In combat, there is no lesson like the lesson the enemy teaches us. How the enemy acts, what is their combat plan, what are their weapons, what difficulties do we encounter, from there we can draw lessons and have appropriate countermeasures. From practice comes theory and science and technology to deal with each other, and to put it simply, only the enemy teaches us the fastest. In the past, we have organized many national defense exhibitions, through which Vietnam's defense science and technology have been constantly growing, attracting military powers to participate in the exhibition. What is your assessment? - I think this is a very important exchange on military science, through which we can learn more about weapons and modern equipment of other countries. Through that, we have the opportunity to exchange and research on military equipment of other countries. The exhibition is also an opportunity for international friends to know that Vietnamese intelligence is not ordinary. But the principle is always to hide new things. Every country is the same.

What we have is to display with the world, on that basis learn, exchange experiences with each other, research, and innovate to perfect the equipment. Through exhibitions, we also demonstrate that our defense technology is constantly developing, not that we organize exhibitions as a stage for countries to show off. Through exhibitions, we learn, expand our intelligence, and utilize the intelligence of others to create a new intelligence. Only nations and armies that can do that can develop. Through my visits to exhibitions, I see that the speed of development of military science is very fast, the world's military equipment and technology develop too quickly, changing like a storm, that is what impresses me. Through that, it teaches us one thing: never be subjective, never stop, but always develop, take shortcuts, and surpass.

When visiting our booths at the exhibition, I felt proud, but I could not say that I was reassured. In reality, we are still facing difficulties, and the country is in the process of development. It is very difficult to compare with developments in the procurement of weapons and the production of equipment for the army. But to firmly protect the Fatherland, strength is expressed in people, enlightened people, patriotic people; people who master science, weapons and equipment. Those two things must blend together. And an army that only relies on weapons and equipment without the human factor cannot create strength, and practice has proven that. In the past, the Vietnam People's Army has streamlined its apparatus and reorganized its organization. Most recently, it dissolved two more army corps to establish one army corps (the 34th army corps). What do you think? - The army must study and build a lean, compact but strong army. The rearrangement of units to avoid being cumbersome, when dealing with modern warfare, the army must be elite. Elite here means good training, the commander's level must be well-understood, the weapons must be suitable, the way to use the military operations such as how to hide troops, how to use troops to achieve high efficiency. The army must be elite - compact - strong, lacking the word strong is not acceptable. If the staff is reduced, it is easy to be compact, but compact must be elite. Elite soldiers, elite intelligence, elite equipment, when used it must be truly effective to be strong. The army has been for a long time, not just now, gradually implementing elite, compact, strong to build regularity, to use less but increase strength, reduce the staff, reduce the economic burden of the country and to build the army towards a regular army, a modern army, not a relatively modern army anymore. The goal as determined by the Central Military Commission is that by 2030 we will truly be a modern army. We are about to enter 2025, only 5 years left, this is the stage that needs to be accelerated to have a modern army to meet the requirements of protecting the Fatherland in the new situation. Sincerely thank you, General! Source: https://danviet.vn/thuong-tuong-vo-tien-trung-qdnd-viet-nam-thoi-ky-nao-trong-long-dan-deu-co-diem-chung-rat-dac-biet-20241219022731685.htm