Avicenna
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Hey man, so for us outsiders who are very supportive and inquisitive as to what the BAF is going to do next, is the Eurtofighter Typhoon deal a tender or is it an official request by the BAF to look into the possibility of acquiring what, 8 of them? Love that aircraft and hope it comes to fruition.
Not sure about specifics.
Only putting together publicly known info.
Just to summarize, BAF has a requirement.
The initial tender was 8 + 4 options pre-2017 which was phrased to be essentially a lock for a twin engined Russian type.
The Yak purchase was probably suggestive of this approach.
I think the Rohingya issues in late 2017 altered the politics of things.
Subsequently, I think Russia is out and the West has become a viable option at this point.
The requirement increased to 16 as per BD officials in official verifiable statements.
There were rumors of Eurofighter after UK offered to "help" Bangladesh acquire "high-caliber" fighters.
Leonardo and BAF are talking and have an established relationship.
For me who is a hardcore skeptic of all things BAF, the confirmation that there may be something to BAF purchasing something big ticket was the French Defence Minister coming to Dhaka and speaking with Hasina.
That meant someone smelled money.
Finally a Eurofighter website listed Bangladesh as a potential customer.
The links to the various sources I have pointed too are found earlier in this thread.