Unfortunately for us .... western option does seem the least risky option.
In war time I do not believe we can trust either the Russians nor the Chinese.
In the long run BAF should explore opportunities to partner with Turkey in their indeginious fighter program.
BD has a very complex geopolitical environment.
Let us look at the 3 major realistic weapons suppliers and the pros and cons of each:
1. China :
Pros:Fantasticly affordable as the prices of weapons are low cost and the Chinese will supply on soft loan basis. Since China does not like India that much it could be relied upon to resupply BD in case of conflict with India. In short, BD can afford vast quantities of Chinese arms and resupply will not be an issue of war with India.
Cons: China cannot be relied upon to resupply in case of war with Myanmar as it has major economic interests in that country.
2. Russia:
Pros: Relatively affordable weapons with loans provided. Russia will not have an issue of resupply if BD is at war with Mynamar.
Cons: Although Russian weapons like fighters are cheap to buy, they require far more expensive maintenance than Western types and so the "life-cycle" cost is the same. BD's major threat is India and so Russia cannot be relied upon to not leak secrets or resupply in case of conflict with India.
3. France :
Pros: Fantastic weapons like Rafale fighters. France will resupply in case of conflict with Myanmar.
Cons: Very expensive upfront cost for weapons. Since India is a major buyer of French weapons, cannot be wholly trusted to resupply BD in case of conflict with India.
So you see, none of the realistic 3 major suppliers can be wholly trusted. Gripen and Eurofighter are not realistic as they are multi-national efforts and would need the clearance from many countries.
I say that BD buys fighters from Russua( SU-30SME), China( J-10b) and wait for Turkish TF-X towards the latter part of the 2020s. If BD military planners are smart, they will stock enough supplies that BD can utterly destroy the Myanmarese military and have enough ammunition left to deter Myanmar from trying to prolong any conflict.
Until countries like Turkey can produce the major systems that BD needs and BD itself can produce much more in-house, it will find itself in a predicament with weapons suppliers.
Why not though?
If Botswana can buy a dozen, why not Bangladesh?
There seriously has to be a broadening of thought when it comes to defense procurement.
Are you aware that Gripen has US engine and will need US clearance to export to BD?
Gripen has parts from all over the Western world and cannot really be called a Swedish fighter.
