The defence industry of Vietnam encompasses the research, development, and manufacturing of military arms and technology by Vietnam's government-affiliated entities. It is largely state-owned and managed by the Ministry of Defence, with a focus on achieving self-sufficiency in armaments. Historically, Vietnam has been a major importer of weapons – between 2010 and 2022 it ranked among the top six arms importers in the Asia-Pacific region, relying heavily on Russian-made equipment (about 81.5% of Vietnam's arms imports from 1995 to 2022 came from Russia).
Vietnam has embarked on ambitious programs to build a modern, self-reliant defence industry by 2030, capable of producing advanced weapons for its own armed forces and reducing dependence on foreign suppliers. The government also views the sector as serving dual-use potential for both military and civilian economic benefits, and has signaled the intent to eventually export Vietnamese-made defence products. This drive has been marked by increased investment in domestic R&D, the showcasing locally made weapons at international arms fairs, and high-level policies to integrate Vietnam's defence industry into global supply chains.
Historical development Feudal dynasties
Đại Việt has a relatively early history of using gunpowder weapons. At the end of the 14th century, king Po Binasuor of Champa, while surveying the Hải Triều River, died in battle when he was hit by a hand cannon from the Trần army. In the Hồ dynasty, Hồ Nguyên Trừng successfully invented the Thần Cơ Sang cannon. By the time of the Lê Sơ period, gunpowder weapons was widely used in the army. In Thailand, a gun initially thought to have originated in China was discovered, however, based on the inscriptions on the gun, it was confirmed to be of Đại Việt origin. This is most likely a relic from the invasion of the Lanna kingdom (present day Chiang Mai) under Lê Thánh Tông from 1479 to 1484.
By the 16th century, when Europeans came to Đại Việt for trading, Western weapons were purchased by the Trịnh and Nguyễn lords to equip their armies, and muskets began to be imported into Đại Việt ever since. Tomé Pires in his Suma Oriental (1515) mentioned that Cochinchina had an innumerable number of musketeers and small bombards, and that a lot of gunpowder was used in warfare and amusements. At that time, the firearm techniques of Đại Việt were considered highly advanced — from small-caliber matchlock guns to cannons. Firearms were also widely used by civilians in daily life.The Đại Việt musket was not only used domestically, but it was also introduced to China after the border conflicts between the Mạc dynasty and ethnic minorities in Guangxi and Yunnan.
The Jiaozhi arquebus was not only appreciated by the Chinese, but also highly praised especially by Western observers for its high accuracy from what they saw in the Lê-Mạc and Trịnh-Nguyễn wars. The Ming dynasty also rated Đại Việt arquebus as "the best gun in the world", even surpassing the Ottoman gun, the Japanese gun, and the European gun.The Đại Việt gun could penetrate several layers of iron armor and kill from 2 to 5 people with one single bullet while not emitting any loud sounds when fired. A Qing-era record, 南越筆記 (Nányuè bǐjì), linked the Vietnam arquebus with Java arquebus.
However, later on, due to the country's isolationist policies, firearm casting techniques gradually declined and became outdated. By the Nguyễn dynasty, although the guns produced had impressive appearances and large calibers, they were far less effective compared to French models.
Resistance against French Colonial and Empire of Japan (1885-1945) In the Can Vuong movement, the majority of the resistance troops used homemade flintlock guns and rudimentary weapons, but in there on Hương Khê Uprising, Vietnamese general in the Cần Vương movement, Cao Văn Thắng, managed to copy the design of "an 1874 type fast-firing rifle of French". However, the Vietnamese version did not have a rifled barrel, and the range was limited.
During the Bai Say uprising, the small factory engineers of the insurgents also improved the guns of the French army, or adapted the models to manufacture versions suitable for use in ambushes, or concealable upon a person, or in bundles of firewood: “… In order to achieve high efficiency, they created a remarkable gun: the Mút (Berthier rifle Vietnamese called) cavalry gun with a short stock, long barrel, this gun can be hidden in the sleeve, in the trouser leg or on the chest. This leader (referring to Doi Van) in a short time of surrender also told us that there were many other gun models”
In the early 1940s, the Cao–Bac–Lang Provincial Party Committee mobilized villagers to set up forges making knives, spears, swords, and flintlock gun, laying the foundation for a self-sufficient arms industry. In March 1944, the Lung Hoang workshop was established with only rudimentary tools and donated scrap metal but soon became a key site for repairing and producing mines and grenades. After initial experiments with simple tin-cased grenades and unsuccessful mines, it successfully reverse-engineered American-style cast-iron grenades stamped “V.M.” (stand for Viet Minh) and repaired various firearms.
Following Party instructions, the Northern Regional Party Committee created the Lang Chè weapons factory in Tiên Sơn, Bắc Ninh, which not only repaired small arms but also mass-produced stamped cast-iron grenades marked “V.M.” for liberation forces, contributing directly to the August Revolution of 1945. These early workshops pioneered small, mobile, easily relocatable production, a model that by late 1947 had expanded to around 200 facilities with 20,000 workers, supplying millions of weapons—from grenades and mortars to recoilless guns—forming the technological and organizational backbone of Vietnam's wartime arms industry and earning recognition even from French observers for their unexpected strength and effectiveness.
On May 7, 1944, based on the policy of the Party Central Committee, the Viet Minh General Department issued a directive to prepare for the uprising, which clearly stated: what to use to fight the enemy? There were several ways to get weapons: self-made, bought and seized from the enemy. Our people had to make some of their own weapons so that when they rose up, they would have something to kill the enemy. What they could not make themselves had to be bought or seized from the enemy. To buy, they organized donations and set up a "gun purchase fund". As for seizing the enemy's property, there were two ways: attacking enemy camps, gun depots, and patrol troops to seize weapons and mobilizing enemy soldiers, making them aware, and bringing the enemy's guns back to us.
First Indochina War Vietnam's modern defence industry traces its roots to the First Indochina War (1946–1954) and the Vietnam War (1955–1975), when the country (then North Vietnam) established rudimentary arms workshops to support its military efforts. During this period, Vietnamese technicians produced basic munitions, homemade explosives, and refurbished captured equipment to supplement supplies from abroad.
During the resistance war against the French, due to limited access to foreign weapon supplies, most of Vietnam's weapons came either from spoils of war captured after battles or from military workshops located in safe zones. During this period, the primary task of Vietnam's military industry was to research and produce anti-tank weapons based on bazooka models seized from French forces. This task was assigned to a research team led by Trần Đại Nghĩa, a Vietnamese engineer who had returned from France. The work began in November 1946 and continued until February 1947, with the resulting weapons tested in combat during the war against the French, and later deployed in the Việt Bắc Campaign of 1947. The research team also successfully developed recoilless rifles designated as SKZ, with calibers of 60mm, 81mm and 120mm. These weapons were widely used by Việt Minh units throughout the war.
In addition, the Việt Minh also produced a large quantity of explosives such as landmines and grenades in military workshops located in liberated zones. These weapons were manufactured using cast iron sourced from metallurgy facilities in Interzone IV, and explosives repurposed from bombs and unexploded ordnance left behind by French forces. Although rudimentary, these weapons were widely used in ambush operations conducted by guerrilla units and inflicted significant damage on French troops.
At other infantry weapons workshops, the military also produced a number of improvised small arms, notably submachine guns modeled after the Sten gun, Grease gun (súng Ghít in Vietnamese), as well as various types of pistols like Enfield No2. In addition, infantry ammunition was also manufactured on a small scale in these military workshops at the time.
Vietnam War
During this period, several factories in the Democratic Republic of Vietnam such as Z1, Z2 and X10 —precursors to today's Z111, Z113 and Z117 factories — were established with the goal of producing domestically manufactured weapons. These facilities were built with technical and logistical support from socialist countries, marking an important step in laying the industrial foundation for Vietnam's long-term defense self-sufficiency. These factories began producing a limited number of light weapons such as SKS, AK-47, RPG-2 and TUL-1 light machine guns in Factory Z1. In addition, infantry ammunition was produced on a larger scale at facilities such as Factory Z113 and Factory Z114, contributing significantly to the logistical needs of the People's Army of Vietnam. Nonetheless, the bulk of heavy arms – from rifles to artillery and aircraft – were provided by socialist allies, and the indigenous industrial base remained limited in scope and technology.
In 1965, as the United States escalated its bombing campaign against the North, the resistance war for the liberation of the South entered a highly intense phase. The demand for weapon production increased both in quantity and urgency. On July 13, 1965, China signed an agreement to assist Vietnam in expanding the Z1 and Z2 factories, followed by the construction of eight additional military industry facilities to support weapons production. From these efforts emerged the precursors to factories such as Z115, Z121, and Z129.
At this time, weapons production activities in the southern battlefield of Vietnam were relatively rudimentary. They primarily focused on manufacturing improvised weapons such as landmines and grenades, along with limited production of copied firearms based on captured models such as the M1911 pistol and MAT-49 submachine gun. Some workshops also modified captured weapons to be compatible with ammunition supplied by allied countries or adapted firearms such as the M1 Garand to suit specific battlefield conditions. And any copy and modified gun like Thompson submachine gun, MAS-36 rifle, M1 Carbine, Arisaka, Mauser rifle, Tokarev TT, Mauser C96, Luger P08, BAR, and SVT-40.
1975 to 2000
In the post-war period, particularly after the reunification of the country in 1975, the Vietnamese military redirected its focus toward upgrading existing weaponry and establishing greater self-reliance in defense research and production. This shift was driven by both strategic necessity and the limited access to external military aid due to shifting global alliances. Key efforts included the development of indigenous military technologies and the modernization of aging Soviet-era equipment.