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Australia has committed to providing airlift support for Vietnamese forces contributing to an international peacekeeping mission.
A Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) C-17A Globemaster is set to transport Vietnam People’s Army personnel, equipment and medical supplies to and from Juba, South Sudan throughout April and May 2022.
This forms part of Vietnam’s contribution to the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), which involves the delivery of specialist peacekeeping training, equipment, and strategic airlift support.
Vietnamese President Nguyễn Xuân Phúc bid farewell the RAAF aircraft at a ceremony held in Hanoi.
This marks the fourth time Australia has provided strategic airlift support to Vietnam’s UNMISS operations since 2018.
“Australia is committed to deepening bilateral ties with its regional and strategic partners, including the shared and growing peacekeeping relationship with Vietnam,” Defence noted in a statement.
“…Australia is pleased to be strengthening peacekeeping cooperation with Vietnam by providing strategic airlift support to its peacekeeping mission in South Sudan.
The RAAF’s Globemaster fleet has been active in recent months supporting a number of key international missions.
Most recently, the transport aircraft airlifted Thales-built Bushmaster vehicles to Ukraine in support of the nation’s resistance to Russian aggression.
Earlier this week, the Commonwealth government announced it would send further military support to the embattled eastern European nation, which includes six towed M777 howitzers and accompanying ammunition.
[Related: Australia to send howitzers to Ukraine ]
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