Bangadesh Air force Fighters to Trainers Ratio

[Riaz Hussain]

Fighters
-----------
MiG-29B - 6
BG - 12
BGI - 16
MB - 7
---
Total - 41 Fighters



Trainers
-----------
MiG-29UB - 2
FT-BG - 4
F-7MB - 3
PT-6 - 24 + 16
L-39 - 7
K-8 - 9
Yak-130 - 16
T-37 - 11
------------
Total trainers - 93


That's 41 fighters and 93 trainers. Is Bangladesh a trainer air force?

 

[Manticore]

2 seat fighter aircrafts are included in yours trainers list

So the ratio might become 50/80

 

[Riaz Hussain]

Ofcourse they are included. Since they already have 2 seat versions of trainers, still they go on to procure even several different types of dedicated trainers of numbers which are adding up to more than their actual fighters. So weird

 

[livingdead]

@BDforever @bongbang ...

 

[Pomegranate]

why would they include more trainers than fighters ........ its like you are training 100 people and you have got 10 fighters .

 

[bongbang]

2 seat fighter aircrafts are included in yours trainers list

So the ratio might become 50/80

Also minus the retired 11 T 37.
16 PT 6, 5 k8, 16 YAK 130 still didnt arrive.

 

[Bilal9]

My hunch is the govt. walks a very slender tightrope not to offend neighboring states with large armed fighter arsenals. Bangladesh has always had a large trainer inventory.

Also - properly maintained, a combat airplane is earning it's keep better while it's in the air regularly for sorties by multiple staff rather than sitting on the apron. Keeps the maintenance staff busy too which is a good thing.

Some two-seaters (Mig-29UB and F-7UMB versions) retain full radar and BVR missile launch capability however.

Trainer aircraft see a lot more use for the amount of trainee pilot induction in Bangladesh. Hence the larger trainer force. Bangladesh has a lot of diverse trainer types, more than many larger AF's. If they made it we almost always had it.

You guys forgot my favourite - the ex-German AF Fouga Magisters

Do PAF staff serve in Overseas AF's? Bangladesh AF staff do as well I think but not sure which country.

Just my two cents.

 

[BDforever]

Fighters
-----------
MiG-29B - 6
BG - 12
BGI - 16
MB - 7
---
Total - 41 Fighters



Trainers
-----------
MiG-29UB - 2
FT-BG - 4
F-7MB - 3
PT-6 - 24 + 16
L-39 - 7
K-8 - 9
Yak-130 - 16
T-37 - 11
------------
Total trainers - 93


That's 41 fighters and 93 trainers. Is Bangladesh a trainer air force?

K-8 -5 still to arrive
Yak130-16 still to arrive
PT-6 -16 still to arrive
and T-37 -11 retired

Note: when Yak-130 arrives, L-39 will retire. New PT-6 will replace old PT-6

 

[Khalid Newazi]

Fighters
-----------
MiG-29B - 6
BG - 12
BGI - 16
MB - 7
---
Total - 41 Fighters



Trainers
-----------
MiG-29UB - 2
FT-BG - 4
F-7MB - 3
PT-6 - 24 + 16
L-39 - 7
K-8 - 9
Yak-130 - 16
T-37 - 11
------------
Total trainers - 93


That's 41 fighters and 93 trainers. Is Bangladesh a trainer air force?

The Government sees the Yak-130 as a light attack aircraft. The plane can't even reach supersonic speed and can't carry 2 tonnes of payload. Instead of spending $1 billion on 24 trainer aircrafts the government should have gone for the J-10 or even Mig-29's later versions.

You also need to realize that Russia is a close Indian ally and supplying weapons advanced weapons to Bangladesh will hinder India's plans of dominating the region, thus they wouldn't want to sell advanced weapons.

We already have a $hitload of trainers and if we need to replace the old trainers, then K-8 can be good trainers and bought at cheaper prices.

But the military procurement is one of the main sources of corruption and since the deals are mostly done silently and very few details are published.

Also, Hasina is pro-India and India helped her come to power, thus she wouldn't want to upset them too much.

Personally I would have gone for long-range SAMs such as the S-300 (one system costs in the region of 115-150 million and a million for each missile)

Or Chinese HQ-9A which is much cheaper than the Russian one's (some sources claim half the price) and it has AESA radars.

 

[Arthur]

PT-6 -16 still to arrive

They are buying those again??!!!

Any info about Tot??If they don't get ToT then it's a fucking useless dill.

 

[BDforever]

They are buying those again??!!!

Any info about Tot??If they don't get ToT then it's a fucking useless dill.

PT-6 for primary training, always need that. no info about TOT

 

[Nike]

My guesstimate is Bangladesh Air Force has another roles for some of their trainer include ground attack (CAS) roles, surveillance and daily border patrol (especially for Yak, L-39 and K-8)

 

[Arthur]

My guesstimate is Bangladesh Air Force has another roles for some of their trainer include ground attack (CAS) roles, surveillance and daily border patrol (especially for Yak, L-39 and K-8)

well,regular operations with dedicated fighter are costly,It can be real cash cow for an small budget constricted air force like BAF. Aircraft's like PT-6,k-8,L-39 has their own advantages.They are cheap to maintain and operation costs are much less than the actual fighters.

Annual operation and maintenance cost Of BAF :
F-7 : 59 crore BDT (35 aircraft)

MIG-29 : 229 crore BDT(8 aircraft)

BAF uses F-7BG/BG1 for Day/Night sovereignty Patrol,Combat Air Patrol,Surveillance of national air space ,F-7MB 's for reconnaissance.

It's very rare to see the MIG 29 's fly,they fly only for training purposes.Sometimes they also carries out the CAP,tough very rare.F-7 and the trainers are the busiest aircraft in BAF inventory.

 

[Riaz Hussain]

Instead of spending 1 billion on 24 Yak, they could have easily bought more than 40 JF-17 Block-I for that same price. Something is seriously wrong with Bangladesh Air Force.

And also, the MiG-29 trainer versions dont have any radar at all, and you people are talking about BVR missiles.
Even the F-7 trainer versions dont have the full radar, its a practice radar with reduced power and training modes. It does not have the standard modes of the regular F-7 radar. And no F-7 till date has any bvr missiles.

So basically the only decent fighters in the BAF is 6, yes 6, no not 6 squadrons, JUST 6 FIGHTERS which are capable of any serious challenge. What a pathetic situation the airforce is in.

 

[Icewolf]

What does Bangladesh even have a Air Force for? Their Air Force could literally be wiped out by a squadron of Su-30MKI or Rafale or F-16 or JF-17... They don't even have BVR...