Pentagon chief visits Vietnam amid prolonged arms supply talks

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By Francesco Guarascio and Phuong Nguyen

HANOI (Reuters) -U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is set to meet Vietnamese senior officials on Sunday as he visits Hanoi amid prolonged talks over Washington’s potential supply of military equipment to its former foe, including transport planes and helicopters.

Hegseth is expected to arrive in the Vietnamese capital early on Sunday afternoon after a series of meetings in Malaysia with his Asian counterparts, according to a Vietnamese official briefed on the trip. Hegseth was expected to meet Vietnam’s Communist Party chief To Lam, President Luong Cuong and Defence Minister Phan Van Giang, the official said.

Talks on U.S. arms supplies are expected to dominate the agenda, according to the official and another Vietnamese source briefed on the matter. Both mentioned Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules military transport planes among the items to be discussed. A U.S. official also confirmed C-130s would come up in the talks.

One of the Vietnamese sources said the supply of U.S. helicopters could also be discussed, specifically Lockheed Martin S-92s and Boeing Chinooks.

The three sources declined to be named as the information was not public. They all said it was not clear whether any deal or announcement would be made on Sunday.

Boeing deferred questions on the matter to the Vietnamese and U.S. governments.

Vietnam’s government, the Pentagon and Lockheed Martin did not respond to requests for comment outside business hours.

PLANES, HELICOPTERS UNDER DISCUSSION

The Southeast Asian country, which relies heavily on Russian weapons, has been looking for years to diversify its arsenal. Talks with the United States, which lifted an arms embargo in 2016, gained momentum during the Biden administration but have not yet yielded any formal announcement.

Reuters reported last year on discussions for the sale of C-130 planes to Vietnam’s defence ministry, and in July on a preliminary deal on two S-92 helicopters after years of talks on the matter with Vietnam’s public security forces.

The possible purchase of two or three Chinook helicopters by Vietnam’s police was also under discussion, said one of the sources briefed on the matter.

In December, a newspaper controlled by the police said a new airport under development near Hanoi would be suitable for Chinook CH-47D helicopters and other models.

The Chinook was the only aircraft mentioned in the report that is not currently in use by Vietnamese forces.

(Reporting by Francesco Guarascio and Phuong Nguyen in Hanoi; Additional reporting by Idrees Ali in Washington; Editing by Jamie Freed)