Defense Update Bangladesh

Two new air bases for Bangladesh Air Force. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said that two new air force base will be built in Sylhet and Barisal to enhance BAF’s operational capabilities. There are no air base in the respective districts.  PM Hasina said about these two bases in her speech during the passing out parade of the newly commissioned officers of the BAF in Jessore. She also stated that Bangladesh Air Force will be one of the most powerful air force in Asia.  Sylhet district of Bangladesh don’t have any air base there right now. Almost 60% of the natural resources are in Sylhet and it is an important region to secure country’s national interest. So setting up an air base in Sylhet will give Bangladesh Air Force essential operational capabilities to face any adversary from that specific regional point.  On the other hand Barisal situated in the middle of the Bangladesh’s coastline. It is safer position for setting high value military installations t...

Laser and satellite guided munitions of the Bangladesh Air Force.  BAF aircrafts deployed mainly Russian & Chinese precision guided munitions (PGMs). PGMs are those aerial munitions which are guided by the laser, satellite & TV guidance systems. These guided munitions are mostly bought along with Russian Mig-29 & Yak-130s, and from China those were came to the Bangladesh Air Force’s inventory with Chinese F-7BGI, K-8W Karakorum and A-5 Fantan fighter jets.  BAF has 250 kg KAB-250LG & 500 kg KAB-500L Russian laser and satellite guided weapons. While Chinese LS and LT series are in active service.  Precision Guided Munitions are used in ground/surface strikes. From low value to high value targets can be destroyed by these weapons. There are various category of PGMs depending on its guidance systems, weights, range etc. Normally these are LGB (Laser Guided Bomb), Satellite Guided Bomb, TV Guided Bomb and unguided free-fall bombs. Some ground stri...

Bangladesh Air Force’s Bangabandhu Aeronautical Center (BAC) is the country’s first of its kind. This is a Bangladesh Ministry of Defense-owned aerospace defense security and advanced technology venture mainly focusing on avionics, aviation, and high-tech electronics. BAC poised to build modern fighter jets in Bangladesh within next decade. BAC’s work domain includes aircraft design, development & manufacturing, and producing avionics systems for country’s armed forces. Manufacture and maintenance of radar, unmanned aerial vehicle and other defense systems for Bangladesh Army & Bangladesh Navy. It also performs maintenance and overhauling of the civil-military airplanes.  There are strict restriction of exporting any product, technology or services to any foreign party. Bangladesh Air Force is operating and managing all the activities of this aviation industry. BAC is going to make operational an F-7 overhaul plant for BAF’s F-BG+F-7BGI fleet upgradation. Unmanned a...

Bangladesh Air Force (BAF) Needs A Fleet of Efficient Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) to Reduce Pressure on Manned Combat Aircraft. BAF doesn’t operate any capable unmanned aerial system (UAS) or UAVs right now. But, to ensure force’s capabilities it’s now time to acquire some drones to conduct surveillance and reconnaissance missions in the regions where manned aircraft operations costs unnecessarily. There are handful options for Bangladesh regarding UAV/UCAVs. First of all China can be the most predictable source as several Chinese surveillance and armed UAVs are emerged as capable system. Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group recently unveiled Wing Loong II Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle (UCAV) which is the successor of the previous version Wing Loong I. on the other side China Aerospace Science and Industries Corporation (CASIC) also offering it’s new version of the RainBow series armed drones named CH-5, which is the most powerful & capable Chinese combat UAV. Besides these ...

Bangladesh Army (BA) will buy Russian Pantsir S1 Surface-to-Air Missile Gun system. Bangladesh Military power increasing by acquiring most advanced weapons systems. Bangladesh Air Force already deployed Chinese FM-90B SHORAD system. Russian Pantsir S1 is an incredible air defense system which will boost Bangladesh’s defense capabilities.  Low to extremely low flying aerial targets can be engaged with high probabilities of hit by this SAM system. Pantsir S1 can detect, track and hit aircrafts, helicopters, cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, UAVs etc. It has a limited capabilities to engage ground targets too. This SAM system can fire some armor-piercing projectiles.  The 30mm dual cannon designed from the aircraft gun and its rounds has a maximum range of 4km while minimum is 2 meter. This dual gun system has firing speed of 5000 rpm and can carry 1400 rounds in its cell and it’s fully automated.  Russian Air Defense Forces and Aerospace Forces has ...

Bangladesh Air Force F-7BGI Fighter Plane Armaments & Specifications/BAF Fighter Jets Update-2017: Bangladesh operating F-7BGI interceptor fighter jets in numbers. Chinese Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group built these single engine fighter aircrafts for Bangladesh with most advanced avionics and other sub-systems. Upgraded F-7BGI can carry and fire BVR & WVR air-to-air missiles, GPS/Laser guided bombs, Anti-Ship Missiles (AShM) and two types of rocket pods to fire unguided rockets. New engine has a wet thrust of 82kN. These fighter jets can carry 3000 kgs of weapons payload. BAF has 32 F-BGI fighter jets operational, mainly deployed as interceptor role. F-7BGIs are the “stop gap” combat jets while Bangladesh Air Force sourcing 4++ generation fighters from Russian origin. In few months past DGDP issued a tender to acquire 8 4++ generation fighter jets with Russian specific technical data and finally Su-30SME has been selected. It was included in the tender that BAF ...