Death from Above

This can’t possibly bode well for those of us on the ground here:

Vietnam buys 12 fighter jets

VIETNAM has signed a contract to buy 12 versatile Russian fighter jets as part of a US$1 billion (S$1.42 billion) deal, Interfax news agency reported on Wednesday.Vietnam is buying the Su-30 fighters at a time when disputes with China over sovereignty in the South China Sea are increasing. Vietnam has said it views the disputes with concern.

‘Last week a contract was signed for the delivery to Vietnam of 12 Su-30MK2s in 2011-2012,’ the news agency quoted a military-diplomatic source as saying.

I for one would like to remind that your typical Vietnamese driver is public menace enough on a 150cc motorbike without guided missiles* and 9G load maneuverability. It’s only a matter of time until these aircraft are being used to haul construction materials around with baskets of live pigs tied to the fuselage, pilots madly text-messaging with one hand while steering/accelerating with the other. Brakes? Who needs ‘em? Slowing down for any reason is a sign of weakness, anyway.

The only thing that could make this more frightening is:

Additional arms deals, including the sale of six submarines, were announced when Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung visited Moscow last December. — REUTERS

* Update: From Defense News, 9 Feb. 2010: “On 4 December 2009, it was reported that Vietnam was close to completing a contract for 12 Su-30 MK2s. The initial contract was for 12 aircraft but was reduced to 8 due to the financial crisis, and the contract did not include onboard weapons.” Clearly, this mitigates the potential threat to those of us at ground level. To say nothing of the Chinese.