VietDefense to tell you the story of a civilian businessman from Vietnam’s Thai Binh Province, the Truong Sa 01 & Hoang Sa mini submarines, and how that connects to today.
Nguyen Quoc Hoa, director of Quoc Hoa Mechanics Ltd. Co, had always toyed with the idea of building submarines. It wasn’t until 2012 that he began carefully studying the principals of submarine operations after learning that “Vietnam had to spend hundreds of dollars buying one Russian submarine (the contract for Kilo submarines) while China can make their own submarines. Why don’t we Vietnamese try to make one ourselves? Vietnamese people are not so talentless”.
The company began building the first minisub began in early 2013, named the “Truong Sa 01” after the Vietnamese words for the Spratly Islands. Resembling a miniaturized version of the Vietnamese Kilos, the sub was 8.8 meters long, 3 meters high and 2.8 meters wide. The vessel’s hull was 15 millimeters thick. Weighing 12 tons when submerged and 9.2 tons while afloat, the vessel, equipped with two 90 horsepower engines, could travel 50 meters and remain at sea for 15 days without refueling. It could stay submerged for 15 hours and travel at an average speed of 40 kilometers per hour within an 800-kilometer range. Radar and GPS systems were also added along with an AIP system, which while easy to research on the internet, was not something publicly taught – Hoa and his company were forced to test the AIP system via trial and error.
Tests were first held for the Truong Sa 01 in 2014 in a private lake with members from the Ministry of National Defense’s Military Ship Design Institute. Despite initially being barred permission from the local provincial government to later test it in provincial waters, Hoa went ahead anyway. The trial was 70% successful – Hoa had accidentally hit a cargo vessel and damaged the sub’s rudder. The collision had also damaged the rear propeller, broke a gear, and left a dent in the hull. While Hoa had to be towed back by a Coast Guard ship, the tests allowed him to evaluate his own designs as well as study the effects of currents, waves, and other challenges on the submarine.
Quoc Hoa Mechanics Ltd. Co constructed a second minisub called the “Hoang Sa” in 2015, named after Vietnam’s words for the Paracel Islands. This design was much sleeker than the Truong Sa 01. It had a 9-ton displacement, was 7 meters long, and 2.5 meters wide. The Hoang Sa had a max speed of 15 knots per hour and could dive up to 50 meters. Unlike the Truong Sa, the Hoang Sa could stay submerged for 36 hours straight while carrying two people. After tons of trial runs at home, Hoa finally received approval from the defense ministry to test the minisub at sea. Under escort by a ship from the Vietnam People’s Navy along with a panel from the Ministry of National Defense to assess the submarine’s performance, Hoa began testing his second submarine. Over the course of two days, the submarine was evaluated on its performances on the surface, underwater, and in a theorized crash situation. The Hoang Sa minisub successfully passed all technical standards set forth by the defense ministry.
Currently, Nguyen Quoc Hoa & Quoc Hoa Mechanics Ltd. Company are working on building a 3rd submarine model, the “Truong Sa 02”. The main takeaway from this though is that this was a civilian program that was closely monitored by the Vietnam People’s Navy & the Ministry of National Defense. Additionally, the Vietnam People’s Navy obtained a copy of all data from the minisub evaluations for their own personal usage. Although they paid close attention to the minisub evaluation, the navy was no stranger to operating submarines - North Korean Yugo class mini subs obtained in the 1990s had been used by Vietnam to study submarine principals while a contract for 6 Kilo attack submarines were signed in 2010.
Not that long ago, a research design concept for a 100-ton Vietnamese submarine surfaced. Knowing how secretive the Vietnamese defense ministry is compared to that of other countries, no word on whether or not that design is official, if theres plans to build anything, if it’s already built, etc. One thing VietDefense is certain about though – while it’s clear the navy has been doing its own independent private military research on submarine development, the data gathered from Mr. Nguyen Quoc Hoa has definitely played a key role. That, and a recent update our sources have learned about. We’re in no position to talk about that now though, heh…although next year will be interesting. We’re predicting hopefully before or during March of 2020.
(VietDefense)
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