U.S. sends trainer aircraft to Vietnam in biggest arms deal since war

The former enemies now share a rivalry with Beijing in the South China Sea

20241121 U.S. aircraft

The delivery of T-6C trainer aircraft marks the largest U.S. arms transfer to Vietnam since the end of the Vietnam War. (Photo from U.S. Consulate General HCMC Flickr)

LIEN HOANG, Nikkei staff writer

HO CHI MINH CITY -- The U.S. has delivered five trainer aircraft to Vietnam in the biggest arms shipment to its former enemy since the end of the Vietnam War five decades ago.

The delivery of T-6C trainer aircraft will bolster the Southeast Asian country's "self-reliant defense capabilities," the U.S. Embassy in Vietnam said Wednesday. Vietnam is in a territorial dispute in the South China Sea, where it is building islands at a scale overshadowed only by China, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies. 

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