Bangladesh buys five Russian helicopters

Bangladesh Ministry of Defense concluded with the company "Rosoboronexport" contract for the supply of five military transport helicopters Mi- 171SH . On this, as reported by ITAR - TASS news agency, said the director of the Special Assignments "Rosoboronexport" Nikolai Dimidyuk . Transaction amount is not specified. Supply helicopters will be on account of export credit in the amount of a billion dollars , issued by Bangladesh Russia .

Agreement to provide export credit Bangladesh signed in January 2013. On account of the same transaction will be delivered to Bangladesh combat training aircraft Yak-130. Their transfer to the customer , according to Dimidyuk begin in the second half of 2015 . In total, the Bangladeshi military should get 15 Russian aircraft.

Early last year , when it signed an agreement on the allocation of export credit Bangladesh , Russia also agreed to provide the country $ 500 million for the first phase of construction of nuclear power plants " Ruppur ." It began last fall.

China biggest weapons supplier to Bangladesh

China was the biggest supplier of arms to Bangladesh from 2009 to 2013, with the country accounting for 82% of the total arms imported by Bangladesh during the period.“China was also a major supplier in the region, accounting for 54% of total Pakistani arms imports,” according to a press release issued by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

The Swedish think-tank reported that China exported arms to 35 countries and of those, Bangladesh was the second biggest importer. It also reported that Bangladesh last year agreed on procurement of its first two submarines from China.Former major general and security analyst Abdur Rashid said that China had been the major arms supplier to Bangladesh for a long time. “Most of the arms are used by the armed forces while some aircraft were also purchased from China,” he added.

Asked why Bangladesh purchased mostly from China, Rashid pointed out two key reasons: lucrative financial arrangements and lower cost of arms.“Bangladesh doesn’t have adequate budget to procure arms from the wider global market,” he said.Bangladesh can buy arms from China on credit and in some cases, the loans are soft loans, the former army official added. “In 2013, Bangladesh and Russia inked a $1bn defence purchase agreement with an interest rate of 4.5%.”In a press conference in Dhaka yesterday, Chinese ambassador in Dhaka, Li Jun, said procurement of Chinese submarines by Bangladesh would help bring stability in the region.

China is helping Bangladesh to strengthen its national defence mechanism in accordance with Bangladesh’s defence strategy and this kind of co-operation would make its own contribution to ensure stability in the region, he observed.Earlier this month, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said Bangladesh navy would get two submarines by 2015 and the process of construction of a submarine base was underway. On that day, two new frigates – Abu Bakar and Ali Haider – procured from China were commissioned.According to IHS Jane’s, Bangladesh was the second biggest importer of Chinese arms, spending over $350mn in 2012.SIPRI data shows Bangladesh procured anti-ship missiles, tanks, fighter aircrafts and other arms from China between 2008 and 2012.

Bangladesh would like to buy Russian-made 8x8 armoured vehicles personnel carrier BTR-80

All South Asian countries do not have military technology of their own, hence they keep importing and importing thereby devaluating their currencies.
 

Bangladesh is negotiating with Russia for the supply of 8x8 armored vehicles personnel carrier BTR-80 with a Russian credit of one billion dollars, announced in Bangalore, India, Alexander Fomin, Director of the Russian Federal Service for Military and Technical Cooperation (FSVTS)

"We are in talks about which type of military equipment could be delivered under the contract. But Bangladesh is particularly interested about BTR-80 armoured vehicles personnel carrier," said Mister Fomine at the Air Show Aero India 2013 in Bangalore.

Moscow provide a credit of one billion dollars to Bangladesh for the purchase of Russian weapons and equipment in accordance with an agreement reached in January between President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina.

Russia will loan to Bangladesh $1 billion to purchase Russian-made arms and military equipment

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday, January 15, 2013, his country will loan Bangladesh $1 billion to purchase Russian-made arms and military equipment. Bangladesh is likely to use the money to buy MiG-29SMT fighter jets, upgrade an earlier batch of MiG-29s and purchase BTR-80 armored vehicles and Mi-171 military helicopters, the official Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported.

Announcement of the loan came during talks between Putin and Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheik Hasina in Moscow.

In addition to the arms contract, Russia will also grant a loan worth USD 500 million to Bangladesh for the construction of a nuclear power plant in northwestern Ruppur.

"We will not only provide the most up-to-date technology. ...but also provide financial support for the construction of the nuclear power plant at the initial stage," Putin said.

The head of Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom, Sergei Kiriyenko, said technical and environmental assessments would be carried out this year for the plant, which is to have two 1,000-megawatt reactors and will be completed in the early 2020s.

Energy-starved Bangladesh signed an initial deal with Russian state-owned nuclear agency Rosatom in November, 2011, to build a nuclear plant with two 1,000 megawatt reactors at a cost of upto USD 2 billion each against the backdrop of its dwindling reserve of natural gas.

Bangladesh Air force trainer aircraft makes emergency landing in India

There are reports that a military training aircraft (believed to be PT6 aircraft) from Bangladesh has made an emergency landing at Salar in West Bengal's Murshidabad district. The plane took off from an airbase Jessore in Bangladesh.

The pilot Rashid has been found. The plane couldn't handle the strong winds and landed in a field. They also suspect that it might have run out of fuel. The two-seater Bangladesh Air Force plane has suffered minor damages.Earlier, in Dhaka, a senior police official had said that the pilot apparently lost direction and entered the Indian skyline after it took off from Jessore.