On August 24, the Vietnamese Naval Contingent successfully competed in the “shooting a floating target” event of the Sea Cup contest and landed on the first place, while the host Russia ranked the second and China ranked the third.
The contingent’s AK-176 naval gun crew hit the floating target, and the warship reached the finishing line in a timely manner, meeting the set target.
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Vietnamese naval gun crew opens fire to destroy a floating target. |
In the exercise, the 19x5m floating target turned continuously. There were times the target was perpendicular to the ship, creating a cross-section that is difficult for the gunners to shoot. Though the AK-176 naval gun operated in a basic mode and comprehensively synchronized with the radar, sometimes the gunner found it difficult to use optical devices to see the target in the fog. Moreover, the sea state at 5-6 and the wind speed up to 15m/s affected the maneuvering speed of the warship and the stability of the trajectory. In addition to firing at the target, the captain had to keep the ship’s maneuvering speed ranging from 5 to 12 knots/hour and its safe distance to the target to avoid violating the regulations. It was really challenging. However, Naval Senior Lieutenant Pham Ngoc Dat, Head of the Artillery-Missile Division on the 016-Quang Trung said that, when it was difficult to see the target, the shooting crew made use of their experience accumulated during the previous training to define suitable level of difference.
Under the regulations, apart from target destroyed, the maneuvering time of the ship is also an important and decisive factor. Therefore, after hitting the target, the warship must reach the finish line at the fastest time to win the first place. According to the preliminary assessment, the Vietnamese crew met their set target.
Earlier, at the exercise of firing at a floating mine using 14.5mm marine pedestal machine gun, the Vietnamese Naval Contingent performed well, ranking the second after the Russian and followed by the Chinese peers.
The same day, at Forish Military Base in Uzbekistan, four members of the Vietnamese Field Kitchen Contingent joined the AK-74 assault rifle shooting event and scored 320 points in total, winning the second place after the host Uzbekistani with 358 points. They were followed by the Russian, Belarusian, and Tajikistani with 280, 252 and 86 points, respectively.
Also on August 24, Vietnamese shooters entered the second stage “Single Shooter” of the “Tactical Shooter” contest. They completed the shooting exercise No.1 – Fighting indoor. In this test, shooters threw grenades and used pistols and AK assault rifles to destroy indoor targets and targets outside windows at distances of 50m, 100m and 150m. According to Non-commissioned Senior Captain Nguyen Van Quyet, coach of the Vietnamese Tactical Shooter Contingent, Vietnamese shooters, in good mentality, performed the shooting well. Results are expected to be announced on August 25.
* At Algerian Military Sports Complex, the Vietnamese Service Dog Handler Team competed in the Dog Biathlon - Individual Race exercise of the “True Friend” contest. In this test, the Vietnamese handler and service dog ran 3.2km and the handler shot rifle in prone and standing positions in 14 minutes 13 seconds, earlier than the training time and 61 seconds later than the winner of the exercise (the Russian). The Vietnamese ranked the fifth among participating teams.
* On August 24, dancers and singers of the Vietnam Art and Culture Troupe competing at the “Army of Culture” contest performed solo at Frunze Theater in Moscow, Russia.
The solo dance performance of dancer Phi Truong highlights the Vietnamese military’s loyalty to the Party and the people, their sacrifice and combat for the national independence and freedom and socialism as well as their readiness to undertake any missions, overcome any difficulty and defeat any enemies. Meanwhile, dancer Thu Thuy’s performance features faithful and responsible Vietnamese women.
Notably, singer Luong Nguyet Anh surprised the jury with the “chau van” (mediumship ritual singing) song named “Co doi thuong ngan” which is typical in the practice of the Vietnamese belief in Mother Goddesses of the Three Realms recognized by UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage element of humanity. Anh’s singing was accompanied by other dancers.
The same day, the Vietnamese Art and Culture Troupe received good news that Major Trinh Van Phuong was ranked third in the solo singing event in the Russian language. On August 23, he sang famous Russian folk song named “Vendor.”
Reported from Moscow and Vladivostok, Russia
Translated by Mai Huong