U.S. refused to sell F-16s to Bangladesh

[Zabaniyah]

June 30, 1999 (by Lieven Dewitte) - The United States, which refused to sell Bangladesh its F-16 warplanes several years ago, is concerned about Dhaka's plan to buy eight Russian MiG-29s, State Department officials said on Thursday.

They already had a number of conversations with Bangladeshi officials to explain our concerns and they have also declined to sell high-performance aircraft to Bangladesh for their part.

A State Department official said Bangladesh had wanted to buy several F-16s but the United States felt the planes were "not really appropriate" for Bangladesh. The discussions did not reach the stage of negotiations and were not publicized at the time, he added.

Bangladeshi government and opposition lawmakers squared off in parliament on Wednesday over the decision to buy the MiGs. Members of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party and Jatiya Party said the deal, struck this week, was "unnecessary and expensive compared to the country's defense needs. " But Finance Minister S. A. M. S. Kibria said Bangladesh needed strong armed forces to defend its independence.

It was unclear what prompted impoverished Bangladesh to buy the MiG-29s. The country faces no military threat from India, which surrounds it on three sides, or from Myanmar to the southeast.

---------- Post added at 01:23 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:22 AM ----------

I know this article is old, but it is worth reading.

Source: http://www.f-16.net/news_article188.html

 

[Abu Zolfiqar]

US would probably be wary about rising Chinese influence in Bangladesh so it's a fine thin line and balancing act they have to play.

Bangladesh is a very small country though so i dont see why they'd be averse to selling a couple squadrons of them for defensive purposes. Bangladesh did express some interest in JF Thunder aircrafts though i dont think anything much materialized as of yet.

 

[salvage]

USA suffers from some disease.Who is it to decide what are the needs of a country in another continent?Why do norway and belgium maintain F-16's?

 

[Urbanized Greyhound]

the U.S acts too arrogant in its dealings with small countries ....why not let Bangladeshis decide if they can afford or not ?

 

[Rao Sahab]

i think usa do not want to give f16 to more asian countries

 

[integra]

Whatever the reason was, it seems things didn go all hunny bunny for them later on. As we had to opt for Russian hardware in the long run. Wish if wasn't the case as Russian sales support is a nightmare in disguise, though the birdies are quite a marvel to look at.

 

[Machoman]

Bangladesh should go for jf-17 or J-10b. I don't know why they are thinking mig 29...

 

[Pioneerfirst]

that was 1999,now i think Bangladesh can get old F-16 expired by USA in coming 2-3 years,

 

[Zabaniyah]

Bangladesh should go for jf-17 or J-10b. I don't know why they are thinking mig 29...

J-10 is not available for export.

Also neither the J-10B or JF-17 come with AESA radar, which the MIG-35 has.

that was 1999,now i think Bangladesh can get old F-16 expired by USA in coming 2-3 years,

I heard they don't even sell their used Cobra helicopters to other countries that easily. So, I'm doubtful if they would sell their used F-16s to Bangladesh or even anyone. It is mainly to prevent other countries having access to the technology they use.

 

[Evil Flare]

J-10 is not available for export.

Also neither the J-10B or JF-17 come with AESA radar, which the MIG-35 has.

excuse me .. MIG 29 not 35

 

[InFn-0]

BAF is considering Mig-35 for the next purchase. Zabanya was explaining why BAF would go for Mig-35 instead of J-10B or JF-17.

 

[ProsperBD]

We should not go for f-16's anymore rather mig-35 than that or sukhoi 30 although I don't see why US didn't sell us f-16's it may just be because we are a 'small country', we have more chance now than before into getting squadrons of f-16's but I would not go for them anymore as they are being outdated I would not go for jf-17 and j-10b; its just my preference in all honesty.

 

[Abu Zolfiqar]

What modernization plans -if any - does the BAF have in store at the moment.

 

[great]

BAF is considering Mig-35 for the next purchase. Zabanya was explaining why BAF would go for Mig-35 instead of J-10B or JF-17.

I am sorry MIG 35. DO you know how much those cost? Do you know your defense budget?

 

[Najam Khan]

Buying 'several F-16s' won't have changed anything...after 5-10yrs, these a/c may have faced shortage of spares and other logistics issues....i was reading somewhere that each hr in F16 needs eight hours in maintenance work....buying an a/c is not an issue, keeping it operational for a long span of time is.