No, Mig deal was not quite wasteful. At $18 million a piece Mig-29 it was a bargain. Today it is more expensive. BD needs many more Migs and other defensive weapons so that an enemy cannot bring war upon it for fear of a bloody nose.
BD may buy one or two squadrons of Mig-29SMT from Russia. Russia is very angry with India for the latter's decision to choose european fighters instead of Russian. It has cancelled a number of joint naval exercise with India to show its displeasures. Russia needs other markets for its Migs. BD can be one of them considering it has already purchased this from Russia.
Boy, aren't you an expert on Indo-Russ relations
And what enemy are you talking about? India? Myanmar? Yeah, other than tough talking, our military can't really even imagine going into war with those countries. Myanmar boasts the most advanced air-defense system in the region, which we don't have.
The $18 million per piece is the investment cost. There are other costs, such as spares and ammunition. What about the returns on that investment?
Russia and India are still developing their own 5th generation aircraft exclusively for the IAF. Those SU-30s are still good and the Indian Navy ordered a naval version of the MIG-29. Indo-Russ relations are still good. Just because the Indians chose European jets instead of the MIG-35 don't mean the whole house is going down as far as Indo-Russ relations go.
My point is that the MIG-29 is just wasteful as far as Bangladesh is concerned. Sure, it is cheap, but expensive to maintain. And we aren't self sufficient on spare parts and ammunition for the MIG-29, meaning all that have to be procured from Russia. Each air-to-air missile has a shelf life of 2.5 years.
And since it is the Russian MIG-29, would you consider the chances of the Russians giving off the source codes to the Indians? I know I would. It would be a disaster if they go into combat with the IAF.
There is a reason why MIG-29s are rarely seen flying the skies of Bangladesh. In fact, during the BNP administration, they seriously considered selling them off.
The reason for India buying so many toys is mainly because of China. We don't have any stake in Indo-Sino hostilities. As far as we are concerned, all we have to do is sit back, relax and enjoy the show put up by the Indians and the Chinese (no offense).
The sooner they are sold off, the better. There are more pressing issues in Bangladesh than a bunch of fighters!
Not being biased, just stating the facts.
I really wonder just how much money Hasina stashed in her bank account during the procurement of the MIG-29s