The 3rd vietnam defense expo will be large-scale, multi-disciplinary, and integrate multiple activities
On the morning of February 26, in Hanoi, Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Truong Thang, Member of the Party Central Committee and Deputy Minister of National Defense, chaired the meeting to prepare for the organization of the 3rd Vietnam Defense Expo in 2026.
Attending the meeting were Senior Lieutenant General Phung Si Tan, Deputy Chief of the General Staff; and leadership representatives from various units: the General Department of Defense Industry, the Air Defense - Air Force; the Department of Foreign Relations (Ministry of National Defense); the Department of Military Science (Ministry of National Defense); the Department of Finance, the Operations Department (Ministry of National Defense); the Military Training and School Department (General Staff); the Military Security Protection Department, the Propaganda and Training Department (General Department of Politics); and the Military Industry and Telecoms Group (Viettel)...
The 3rd Vietnam Defense Expo will be large-scale, multi-disciplinary, and integrate multiple activities.
Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Truong Thang chaired the meeting
The proposal for the 3rd Vietnam Defense Expo in 2026, presented at the meeting by Major General Phan Thi Hoai Van, Deputy Director of the General Department of Defense Industry, continues to affirm the correct foreign policy of our Party and State. This policy emphasizes independence, self-reliance, and international integration; the multilateralization and diversification of relations; and being a friend, a reliable partner to all countries, as well as a responsible member of the international community, on the basis of mutual respect for each other's independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, and political systems.
At the same time, it affirms the maturity and growth of the Vietnam People's Army, contributing to the promotion of defense cooperation and the prestige of Vietnam's defense industry in its relations with international friends.
Senior Lieutenant General Phung Si Tan, Deputy Chief of the General Staff, spoke at the meeting.
Amidst a volatile and unstable globalized environment marked by local conflicts and geopolitical competition among major powers, Vietnam has profoundly conveyed the message of "Peace, Friendship, and Cooperation for Mutual Development" to the international community.
Lieutenant General Ho Quang Tuan, Director of the General Department of Defense Industry, spoke at the meeting.
Major General Phan Thi Hoai Van, Deputy Director of the General Department of Defense Industry, presented the Proposal.
A report from the General Department of Defense Industry indicates that the Vietnam Defense Expo has been held twice (in 2022 and 2024), with an increasingly expanding scale and improving quality.
The 2022 and 2024 expos were organized as comprehensive exhibitions, featuring indoor displays of products and models combined with real products in outdoor areas, without demonstrations of weapons and technical equipment (live-fire, aerial demonstrations, etc.).
The weapons and technical equipment displayed by defense industry enterprises belonged to three domains: the Navy, the Air Force, and the Army, combined with the mobilization and display of products currently equipped by the Military. In 2024, three countries displayed actual physical products: The United States (one C-130 aircraft, two A-10 aircraft, one Stryker armored vehicle, one M777 howitzer); the Russian Federation (Kornet-EM anti-tank missile system on a Typhoon-K vehicle; BMP-3M infantry fighting vehicle; RB-504P-E anti-UAV system; MMT-300 autonomous underwater vehicle); and Italy (TP-150 training aircraft)...
These results show that the Vietnam Defense Expo has made significant developmental strides over its two editions, exceeding all set goals and requirements. It has attracted widespread attention from the domestic public and the international community, and is considered an important milestone affirming the position, prestige, as well as the peaceful and self-defense-oriented defense foreign policy of Vietnam.
The 3rd Expo identifies several outstanding features, such as being large-scale, multi-disciplinary, and integrating multiple activities (product displays, seminars and symposiums, drills, field demonstrations, and business networking; bearing high political and diplomatic significance). It will take place right on the occasion of the 82nd Founding Anniversary of the Vietnam People's Army (December 22, 1944 - December 22, 2026).
Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Truong Thang concluded the meeting.
Based on the report from the General Department of Defense Industry and the opinions expressed by representatives of agencies and units, on behalf of the Ministry of National Defense's leadership, Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Truong Thang acknowledged and highly appreciated the sense of responsibility in the preparation work of the General Department of Defense Industry and relevant agencies and units.
Building on the results of the two Expos in 2022 and 2024, Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Truong Thang requested the General Department of Defense Industry to coordinate closely with relevant agencies and units to continue reviewing the entire Proposal, ensuring it is appropriate, rigorous, realistic, and has specific, detailed plans and timelines for each phase. He requested the completion of the Proposal before March 3, 2026, for submission to the Heads of the Ministry of National Defense and the General Department of Politics. He demanded that all preparation work be completed in March, in order to deploy activities related to the Expo starting from April 2026.
According to Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Truong Thang, the Vietnam Defense Expo is not only a large-scale defense diplomatic event but also a milestone affirming the prestige, organizational capacity, and integration stature of the Vietnam People's Army in a multilateral defense cooperation environment. The success of the expo contributes to spreading the message of a peace-loving Vietnam that is ready to cooperate and clear in its defense policy, while simultaneously demonstrating the development level of the national defense industry.
Given that significance, Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Truong Thang requested that the 2026 International Defense Expo be organized with higher requirements, a more professional scale, and a clearer depth of cooperation, along with the country's increasingly elevated position in the international arena.
This is not only the honor of the Vietnam People's Army but also the honor, image, and prestige of the nation. Therefore, preparation work must be conducted early, comprehensively, rigorously, and thoughtfully in all aspects, from content, protocol, foreign relations, and communications to logistics and technical assurance. In particular, ensuring absolute safety for personnel, vehicles, equipment, and activities throughout the the expo must be placed at the forefront, considered a consistent requirement with no exceptions. The solemnity in organization, professionalism in operation, and absolute safety in all stages are direct measures of organizational capacity, thereby continuing to affirm that Vietnam is a reliable partner and a responsible member of the international community in the fields of defense and security.
Photo news: Nguyễn Hồng Sáng
Source: QDND