Vietnam sends two air force officers to join VINBAX 2024
VOV.VN - The Vietnamese Ministry of National Defence for the first time has sent two air force officers to engage in the Vietnam-India Bilateral Army Exercise (VINBAX) on UN Peacekeeping Operations 2024, which is taking place at Engineering Regiment 67 of Engineering Brigade 474 under the Western Command in Haryana state of India.
The two officers - Lieutenant Colonel Le Thanh Duan of the Air Defence - Air Force (ADAF) and Major Nguyen Van Thieu of Regiment 916, Division 371- are talented pilots who have many flight hours and experience in search and rescue operations.
Accordingly, the two pilots will attend VINBAX as observers.
Over the past few days, the two officers have taken part in a number of activities, including exchanging and sharing experiences on air search and rescue operations, as well as the role of the air force in response to natural disasters, catastrophes, humanitarian assistance, and search and rescue missions according to the four-on-the-spot motto.
They also visited the field landing and take-off sites of transport helicopters in UN peacekeeping operations and observed cargo transportation activities using sky cranes of transport helicopters such as the Mi-17 and Chinook CH-47 of the Indian Air Force. These vehicles were performing the task of supporting the engineering force in transporting construction equipment of UN peacekeeping missions, as well as transporting goods and victims in UN humanitarian assistance operations.
VINBAX 2024, the fifth of its kind, is the third field exercise of UN peacekeeping operations which has been hosted alternatively by Vietnam and India since 2008. After the two successful tabletop simulation exercises held in India in 2018 and in Vietnam in 2019, VINBAX has been expanded and upgraded into a field exercise since 2022.
This year the event opened on November 4 with the theme of “Deployment and utilization of the engineering company with medical personnel in U.N. peacekeeping forces to build and promote positive military relations”. It has brought together 47 members from Indian and Vietnamese engineering and medical forces engaged in UN peacekeeping operations.
Within VINBAX 2024, many cultural and sport exchanges, campfire nights, and other outdoor activities will be held to boost mutual understanding and tighten the friendship between participating forces of the two sides.
Most notably, at the end of the exercise, there will be visits to sites showcasing a range of Indian military equipment.
The military exercise is due to last until November 24.
