A trio of Bangladesh Air Force (BAF) MiG-29.

[Paksanity]

Mig-35 is the most likely.
Su-30 has an outside chance.

For some reason, BD does not look at Western technology. I would say Gripen makes for a perfect candidate. So does F-16 and Mirage-2000. J-10 is also a good choice. Russian aircraft will sap your budget due to operating costs and availability of aircraft will remain a problem. Just my thoughts.

 

[UKBengali]

For some reason, BD does not look at Western technology. I would say Gripen makes for a perfect candidate. So does F-16 and Mirage-2000. J-10 is also a good choice. Russian aircraft will sap your budget due to operating costs and availability of aircraft will remain a problem. Just my thoughts.

BD cannot really afford the upfront cost of Western planes. They are cheaper to maintain but come in at
80-100 million US dollars unit cost.Mig-35 can be brought for only 40 million US dollars a unit. Yes overall both Western and Russian planes would have similar cost, but the price to start operating Russian aircraft is far cheaper.

I am not sure whether China would risk supplying the advanced J-10 fighter to the current BD administration
that is so friendly to India.

 

[Paksanity]

BD cannot really afford the upfront cost of Western planes. They are cheaper to maintain but come in at
80-100 million US dollars unit cost.Mig-35 can be brought for only 40 million US dollars a unit. Yes overall both Western and Russian planes would have similar cost, but the price to start operating Russian aircraft is far cheaper.

I am not sure whether China would risk supplying the advanced J-10 fighter to the current BD administration
that is so friendly to India.

Wouldn't Gripen-C come just slightly more expensive than MiG-35s? Close $55-60 million? Comparing it's single maintenance friendly engine with two maintenance intensive of MiG-35, I think within 10 years it will cover the upfront costs and then start saving money for you guys. We are talking 12-14 jets here right? Difference in upfront costs is no more than $250 million. Over 10 years period that's $25 million more per year but look at the cost savings over this period and more so there after. One very important thing is how these aircraft would remain available to your pilots so they can fly more and train better. But anyways, your air force would always be better judge on such matters.

 

[UKBengali]

Wouldn't Gripen-C come just slightly more expensive than MiG-35s? Close $55-60 million? Comparing it's single maintenance friendly engine with two maintenance intensive of MiG-35, I think within 10 years it will cover the upfront costs and then start saving money for you guys. We are talking 12-14 jets here right? Difference in upfront costs is no more than $250 million. Over 10 years period that's $25 million more per year but look at the cost savings over this period and more so there after. One very important thing is how these aircraft would remain available to your pilots so they can fly more and train better. But anyways, your air force would always be better judge on such matters.

Brazil paid 5.4 billion US dollars for 36 Gripens last year. Not sure what the total package was but this may have included weapons, maintenance and training, the per unit cost is likely to be around 100 million US dollars. This is the Gripen NG and BD would not be interested in anything less advanced as the fighters would only come into induction from 2020 onwards. Also BD already operates Mig-29 and so the training and infrastructure burden would be a lot less than with any other fighter if it opted for Mig-35.

The thing to bear in mind with BD is the government has decided to focus on the economy and the social welfare
of the people above that of the military. That is why you are seeing infrastructure projects like Padma Bridge, Roopur nuclear power station, railways, upgrading of highways to 4-lane and the recent centralised welfare system that comes in with an initial budget of nearly 5 billion US dollars happending at a very fast pace.Military spending is likely to take a back seat for many more years.

 

[asad71]

1.I have heard that out of eight F-29s only one is kept air worthy to show off during Victory Parade, etc. Another two seater is kept fit to allow pilots to log in hours. The other six are used for cannibalization to provide parts for these two.
2. Delhi will not allow BD to acquire top tanks, fighters or subs. These are offensive eqpt not necessary under the current doctrine of passive defense.
3. To keep BAF happy, the Air Chief has been made an ACM although BAF's force level does not deserve more than an Air Commodore as chief.

 

[UKBengali]

1.I have heard that out of eight F-29s only one is kept air worthy to show off during Victory Parade, etc. Another two seater is kept fit to allow pilots to log in hours. The other six are used for cannibalization to provide parts for these two.
2. Delhi will not allow BD to acquire top tanks, fighters or subs. These are offensive eqpt not necessary under the current doctrine of passive defense.
3. To keep BAF happy, the Air Chief has been made an ACM although BAF's force level does not deserve more than an Air Commodore as chief.

1. More than one Mig-29 has been seen in flight at one time.

2. BD's newest corvettes have 200km range anti-ship missiles.

 

[ghost250]

1. More than one Mig-29 has been seen in flight at one time.

2. BD's newest corvettes have 200km range anti-ship missiles.

i have seen three....nd those ming subs can fire long range torpedo's..

 

[asad71]

i have seen three....nd those ming subs can fire long range torpedo's..

1. You are unique. Nobody has seen more than two of these birds together. And we are not talking of availability/sourcing of rockets/missiles/ammo replenishment in battle.
2. These ancient subs will be toys for IN to play with. Various BN sources have claimed these are for training/familiarization. But one would have been sufficient for that.

 

[Bilal9]

Wouldn't Gripen-C come just slightly more expensive than MiG-35s? Close $55-60 million? Comparing it's single maintenance friendly engine with two maintenance intensive of MiG-35, I think within 10 years it will cover the upfront costs and then start saving money for you guys. We are talking 12-14 jets here right? Difference in upfront costs is no more than $250 million. Over 10 years period that's $25 million more per year but look at the cost savings over this period and more so there after. One very important thing is how these aircraft would remain available to your pilots so they can fly more and train better. But anyways, your air force would always be better judge on such matters.

While Gripen can be a very reasonable choice (which Bangladeshis have been talking about since the inception of that programme here and in other forums), the fact remains that Volvo Flygmotor RM12 turbofan engine is a license-manufactured derivative of General Electric F404. While this is a well-proven engine (modern, powerful and far less maintenance-prone than Russian powerplants) it still comes with strings, which can be pulled in the forms of sanctions.

This is something that the BAF will have a hard time agreeing to - considering what happened to the Pakistani F-16's that were not supplied for a good couple of decades (or more?).

According to Volvo, the RM12 can be modified to provide supercruise (exceeding Mach 1 without the use of afterburners) with a full load of weapons in future versions of the Gripen.

 

[UKBengali]

1. You are unique. Nobody has seen more than two of these birds together. And we are not talking of availability/sourcing of rockets/missiles/ammo replenishment in battle.
2. These ancient subs will be toys for IN to play with. Various BN sources have claimed these are for training/familiarization. But one would have been sufficient for that.

Let us wait till 2020 and see if modern subs are ordered before jumping to conclusions.

 

[kobiraaz]

For some reason, BD does not look at Western technology. I would say Gripen makes for a perfect candidate. So does F-16 and Mirage-2000. J-10 is also a good choice. Russian aircraft will sap your budget due to operating costs and availability of aircraft will remain a problem. Just my thoughts.

It is because we are familiar with Chinese and Russians birds, opting for western fighters doesn't make sense if any special credit isn't offered.