VCM-01

VCM-01
TEL of variant being exhibited at the Vietnam Defence Expo 2024 under the "VSM-01A" designation
Type	Cruise missile Anti-ship missile Surface-to-surface missile Land-attack missile
Place of origin	Vietnam
Service history
In service	Since 2024
Used by	Vietnam People's Army   Vietnam People's Navy
Production history
Designer	Viettel Aerospace Institute
Manufacturer	Viettel Group Viettel Aerospace Institute Viettel Manufacturing Corp. Z189 Company
Specifications
Engine	VJE-01 turbojet engine
Guidance system	Active radar homing Television guidance, contrast seeker, and/or infrared homing Inertial guidance + terrain contour matching + satellite navigation
Launch platform	VCS-01 Trường Sơn Coastal defence missile system Missile boats, corvettes and frigates Military aircraft (expected and not confirmed)

VCM-01 ("VCM" likely being initialism for "Vietnam Cruise Missile") is a family of Vietnamese subsonic anti-surface cruise missiles that is being developed by the Viettel Aerospace Institute (VTX). Little information has been officially and publicly revealed by Viettel or any parts of the Vietnam Ministry of National Defence; however, according to many pictures and pieces of information shared in the media, VCM-01 is likely developed and derived from the Russian Kh-35UE anti-ship missile, which is currently the backbone anti-ship missiles operated by the Vietnam People's Navy.

Development and Operational history

First appearance

In 2019, the first picture of a missile designated as VCM-01 missile was made public. The model was unveiled on a television show showing that the new missile was identical to the Kh-35, and information printed on the model's body showed that Z189 Shipyard was also engaged in the development of the missile. Z189 has been the local manufacturer for the KT-184 launcher for the Vietnam People's Navy Kh-35E missiles, so it is likely that Z189 will also produce the launchers and the outer shell of the VCM-01 missiles. ^{[1] [2]}

In late 2021, the VCM-01 missile appeared once more time in another television show, indirectly confirmed that the missile will be assembled by the M3 Communication Company (now merged into the Viettel Manufacturing Corporation), which is a unit of the Viettel Group. ^{[3] [4]}

Test fires

According to the Vietnamese authorities' documents ordering prohibitions on some specific coastal areas in 2018, VCM-01 is test-fired for at least twice. Once was in Quỳnh Lưu District, Nghệ An Province ^[5] and another once was in Tiền Hải District, Thái Bình Province. ^[6] No further information was announced or reported by the local authorities as well as Viettel, including the results of those activities and the existence of any other test fires besides those mentioned.

In late 2023, it was reported that the VCM-01 missiles were mounted on a former Vietnam People's Navy and Vietnam Coast Guard Shershen-class torpedo boat for sea trials. ^[7]

Introduction into service

In 2024, it was reported that VCM-B coastal defence missile systems consists of the VCM-01 missiles were delivered to the Brigade 679 of the 1st Regional Command under the Vietnam People's Navy since April of the respective year, confirming that VCM-01 has entered active services. ^[8]

The development of the VCM-01 missile is mainly held by Viettel Aerospace Institute and the production is held by the Viettel Manufacturing Corporation - both are subsidiaries of the Viettel Group.

Engine

In 2020, Vietnam and South Korea entered negotiations for the delivery of the South Korean SSE-750K turbojet engines to Vietnam, presumably for the VCM-01 project. This is the engine used in South Korea's SSM-710K Haeseong anti-ship missile, as well as its tactical land-attack variant SSM-750K Sea Dragon. ^{[9] [10]} It is unconfirmed if Vietnam chose this type of engine for its VCM-01 project or if Vietnam would make another engine choice, such as the Motor Sich MS400 turbofan engines powering the Ukrainian Neptune anti-ship missile. ^{[11] [12]} However, Vietnam is believed to likely choose the South Korean-made engine for the project, as the Korean partners are said being ready to assist and transfer the engine technologies to Vietnam, which made the deal more attractive and reasonable. ^[13]

The production of the VJE-01 turbojet engine was domestically carried out by Viettel Aerospace and was not the result of a licensed production or Transfer of Technology (TOT). ^{[14] [15]}

Confusion with the "KCT-15" project

Many Vietnamese and international sources (including SIPRI) believe that "KCT-15" was a Vietnamese project to copy or assemble the Kh-35E/UE anti-ship missile as an effort to improve self-reliance on the supply and technological mastery of armaments for the Vietnam People's Navy as well as the entire People's Army of Vietnam. ^[16] Another media source believes that KCT-15 was the old designation of the VCM-01 development project before it was taken over and redesignated as VCM-01 by VTX. ^[9] However, "KCT-15" was never a designation for any missile development project undertaken by Vietnam or Viettel, and in fact, the prefix "KCT" is used to designate a set of projects in a program to study and master the operation and maintenance of the Kh-35 missiles used by the Vietnam People's Navy. "KCT-15" is known as the fifteenth project in the KCT program to master the operation of the Kh-35 missile, and the confusion may have arisen when the media took a picture of a Kh-35 look-alike model with the "KCT-15" designation, leading people to mistakenly believe that it was a Vietnamese project to locally produce the Kh-35 missiles; however, that model would be only used for training and studying purposes and it has little relationship with the project carried out by Viettel.

There is also no verified piece of information proving that the VCM-01 is a Kh-35 licensed-production, or any Russian major assistance in the project.

Version

• VSM-01A (codenamed Sông Hồng; lit. ' Red River ') - Short range anti-ship missile has a range of 80 km, subsonic speed, equipped with a VASK-03 seeker with a diameter of 272 mm, operating on the Ku band. It has a maximum target detection range of 20 km for destroyers and possesses high anti-jamming capabilities. ^[17]

Operators

  Vietnam - Vietnam People's Army

• Naval Service
  • Brigade 679 (1st Regional Command)

See also

The VCM-01 anti-ship missile is comparable and influenced by:

• Kh-35 Uran – (Russia)
• SSM-700K C-Star – (South Korea)
• R-360 Neptune – (Ukraine)
• RGM-84 Harpoon – (United States)
• MM40 Exocet – (France)
• YJ-83/C-802 variants – (China)

References

1. "VCM-01 Tên lửa chống hạm do Việt Nam sản xuất". Quân Sự Việt Nam: Tin tức quân sự trong nước, thế giới | phân tích cập nhật. Retrieved 2021-06-03.
2. "Vietnam unveils its new VCM-01 anti-ship cruise missile". Navy Recognition. 28 May 2020. Retrieved 2021-06-03.
3. QPVN. "50 năm: hành trình khát vọng". qpvn.vn (in Vietnamese). Retrieved 2021-12-29.
4. "Hội Hóng Tin Quân Sự Việt Nam và Thế Giới". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2021-12-29.
5. "2689_Phu luc _Huong dan va cam nang xu ly ban tin nguon NAV_SAR Pages 1 - 50 - Flip PDF Download | FlipHTML5". fliphtml5.com. Retrieved 2021-06-04.
6. "Kết quả chỉ đạo, điều hành từ ngày 15/10-21/10/2018 của ..." thaibinh.gov.vn (in Vietnamese). 2018-10-24. Retrieved 2021-06-04.
7. "VCM-T". Hội Hóng Tin Quân Sự Việt Nam và Thế Giới. Facebook . Retrieved 2023-11-12.
8. "Lữ đoàn 679 (Quân chủng Hải quân): "Anh cả đỏ" lực lượng tên lửa bờ". Báo Điện Tử Hải Phòng (in Vietnamese). Retrieved 2024-06-04. ...mới đây Bộ Quốc phòng còn giao cho Lữ đoàn tiếp nhận tổ hợp tên lửa VCM-B và đạn tên lửa VCM-01 do Tập đoàn Công nghiệp Viettel sản xuất cuối tháng 4-2024.
9. VietDefense (2020-03-16). "Brief timeline of the ongoing VCM-01 cruise missile project". Facebook. Retrieved 2021-06-03.
10. "Russian engine ASM Kh-35 in Vietnam can be replaced by the South Korean". weaponews.com. Retrieved 2021-06-03.
11. "Ukraine with the VCM-01 Project". Facebook. Retrieved 2021-06-03.
12. Đông, Vũ (2020-06-12). "Hints on MS-400". Facebook. Retrieved 2021-06-03.
13. Vũ, Phong (2020-02-25). "Việt Nam mua động cơ Hàn Quốc để tích hợp vào tên lửa chống hạm nội địa?". Cơ quan ngôn luận của Hiệp hội Doanh nghiệp Khoa học và Công nghệ Việt Nam (in Vietnamese). Retrieved 2021-06-03.
14. Arthur, Gordon (2024-12-22). "Vietnam unveils new VCS-01 mobile coastal defence system". Naval News. Retrieved 2024-12-26.
15. "Vietnam Develops its Own Anti-Ship Missile VSM-01A". Militarnyi. Retrieved 2024-12-26.
16. defenceadmin (2019-12-27). "Vietnamese Pohang type corvette upgraded with KH-35 Uran-E missile". Asia Pacific Defence News. Archived from the original on 2021-06-03. Retrieved 2021-06-03.
17. Bạch Dương (2024-12-20). "Tổ hợp tên lửa phòng thủ bờ biển VCS-01 Việt Nam sẽ thay thế 4K51 Rubezh". Giáo dục và Thời đại (in Vietnamese). Báo Giáo dục và Thời đại. Retrieved 2024-12-22.