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Bangladesh Army correspondence shows it is pursuing with the US-based L3Harris Technologies for local assembly of 4,000 tactical radios under a phased transfer plan with strategic implications.
by Chandan Nandy
June 20, 2026
US defence giant L3Harris Technologies has formally proposed setting up a local assembly line in Bangladesh for its Falcon tactical radio systems under a phased technology-transfer programme, according to an official proposal submitted to the Bangladesh Army’s Signal Directorate.
The document indicates that the Bangladesh Army will pursue a six-year roadmap to develop domestic assembly capability for one of its most sensitive battlefield communications platforms, beginning with semi-knocked-down (SKD) production in the 2025-26 fiscal year.
The technology transfer and supply of semi-knocked down and complete knocked down kits, along with other related equipment, will cost Bangladesh Army US$ 91.49 million or Taka 11.22 billion.
The November 30, 2025, proposal, which was addressed to the Director, Signal Directorate, Army Headquarters, Dhaka Cantonment, lays out a plan for local assembly of 4,000 Falcon III VHF/HF tactical radios—equipment central to battlefield communications, command-and-control, and operational coordination.
Angikar International Pvt Ltd, a Bangladesh company, which is in defence equipment supplies business (for the Army, Air Force, Navy, police and Rapid Action Battalion), is the local entity through which the assembly line for the tactical radios will be built.
Sometime in the summer of 2025, Angikar International CEO Monzur Hossain Zimmu had a luncheon meeting with Bangladesh Army chief General Waker-uz-Zaman, along with another company executive, in Dhaka.
It was in this meeting that the deal was discussed before plans were finalised by bringing in L3Harris Technologies which has subsidiary in Bengaluru, India.
Between September 7, 2025, and November 12, 2025, Bangladesh Army’s Signals Directorate and L3Harris Technologies exchanged as many as six letters, indicating a fast-paced approach to seal the partnership.
L3Harris specialises in tactical Software Defined Radios (SDR), with more than 350,000 Falcon radios fielded worldwide and in service with the US Department of Defence and allied forces. In the past, it has delivered RF-7800H HF, RF-7800V VHF, RF-7850M Multiband, RF-7850S UHF Soldier, and RF-7850W High-Capacity radios.
The document suggests that the Bangladesh Army has already moved beyond a general expression of interest and issued a series of detailed follow-up communications to the US company, refining both the structure and timeline of the programme.
In its submission, L3Harris says it has aligned its offer with the Army’s “firm direction” to begin SKD production in FY2025-26 and to build toward broader local capability over a six-year period.
That language is significant. It points to an Army-backed localisation push in a sector traditionally dominated by direct foreign procurement, and indicates that Bangladesh is no longer merely seeking to import tactical communications equipment but to establish the foundations of a sovereign military communications ecosystem on home soil.
At the centre of the proposal is Phase 1: a priced plan to establish an SKD production line in Bangladesh for assembly, testing and quality assurance of Falcon tactical radios.
L3Harris says the line would be designed not only to meet the Army’s current requirement of 4,000 radios, but also to retain additional capacity for future expansion.
The proposal describes this first phase as including assembly and testing infrastructure, quality-assurance systems, production layout concepts, training modules for local personnel and supply of SKD kits for radio assembly.
Under this proposal, L3Harris will establish a fully equipped SKD assembly line in Dhaka, complete with tooling, test systems, documentation, work instructions, and a comprehensive training programme for Army personnel.
In effect, the plan would allow Bangladesh to start assembling imported radio kits locally rather than relying solely on fully built imported systems.
For the Army, that could reduce long-term dependency on overseas supply chains while creating a platform for maintenance, sustainment and, eventually, deeper localisation.
But the document also makes clear that the immediate offer stops short of full manufacturing.
Beyond the priced first phase, L3Harris outlines a possible future Phase 2 progression toward CKD (completely knocked down) capability—an expanded localisation model that could involve surface-mount technology, testing facilities, research and development laboratories, and accreditation steps for more advanced production.
The company also sketches out the possibility of a Level-4 limited maintenance capability inside Bangladesh, allowing more advanced in-country repair, calibration and diagnostics over time.
Those sections are explicitly described as indicative rather than contractual, but they reveal the strategic horizon of the programme: Bangladesh’s military leadership appears to be exploring not just assembly of imported kits, but the gradual construction of a domestic tactical communications support base capable of repair, sustainment and perhaps future component-level integration.
One of the most revealing parts of the submission is L3Harris’ acknowledgement that the Bangladesh Army updated the original structure of the Letter of Interest and subsequently imposed more specific requirements.
The company states that it revised its technical, commercial and programme architecture to match the Army’s updated demands, including:
This suggests that the Army was not passively receiving an off-the-shelf vendor offer. Instead, it appears to have been actively reshaping the terms of the programme, including the timeline, production model and capability goals.
The correspondence trail cited in the proposal points to a sustained exchange between the Army’s Signal Directorate and L3Harris between September and November 2025, indicating that the proposal emerged from a structured procurement dialogue rather than a single unsolicited pitch.
“The L3Harris ToT framework is designed to establish a sustainable, high-value defense manufacturing and maintenance ecosystem in Bangladesh. It follows a phased, structured progression—beginning with Semi-Knocked Down (SKD) production, advancing to Completely Knocked Down (CKD) production, and culminating in limited Level 4 Maintenance capability in the next phase,” an L3Harris Technologies request for final proposal says.
The significance of the programme extends beyond procurement. Tactical radio systems are not ordinary military hardware. They are the backbone of secure field communications and directly affect battlefield coordination, operational secrecy and command resilience. A decision to localise assembly of such systems carries both military and political implications.
For Bangladesh, the proposal appears to fit into a broader effort to build selective self-reliance in sensitive defence technologies without severing dependence on foreign suppliers altogether.
For L3Harris, it offers a route to lock in a longer-term relationship with one of South Asia’s increasingly important defence markets by embedding itself not only as a supplier, but as a technology partner in the Army’s communications architecture.
The company itself frames the project in those terms. In the proposal, it describes the initiative as part of a “strategic collaboration” aimed at building “a sustainable and sovereign tactical communications capability” for Bangladesh, alongside human-capital development and support for the country’s defence-industrial ecosystem.
Yet the proposal also contains the familiar caveats of a tightly controlled defence transfer arrangement.
L3Harris says its offer is subject to a detailed set of terms, clarifications and assumptions covering programme structure, technical conditions, payment terms, warranties, facility requirements and export licensing approvals.
Among the conditions referenced are TAA/MLA export-licensing prerequisites, indicating that any meaningful transfer of communications technology would still remain subject to US regulatory controls.
In other words, while the programme is being marketed as a path toward sovereign capability, the actual degree of sovereignty Bangladesh would enjoy could still be constrained by licensing terms, scope limitations and the phased nature of the transfer.
The proposal also appears to place a number of responsibilities on the Bangladesh Army, including infrastructure and facility requirements necessary to host the production line.
The document’s copy list includes Angikar International Pvt Ltd, suggesting that a local commercial or facilitation partner may already be tied to the process.
The exact role of the company is not detailed in the proposal, but its inclusion raises further questions about how the programme would be structured on the Bangladesh side, who would manage implementation, and whether any local private-sector entity would gain a gatekeeping role in one of the Army’s most sensitive communications procurements.
Taken together, the proposal indicates that the Bangladesh Army is considering far more than a routine radio procurement deal.
What is under discussion is the creation of a local assembly and support structure for tactical communications systems—one that could become a test case for how far Bangladesh is willing, and able, to push defence localisation in high-sensitivity sectors.
Whether the programme ultimately proceeds in full will depend on price, licensing, political approvals and the Army’s willingness to commit to a long-term industrial partnership.
But the L3Harris submission makes one thing clear: by late 2025, the Bangladesh Army was already exploring a structured path toward domestic assembly of one of its most critical battlefield communications platforms, with a US defence major positioning itself at the centre of that transformation.
by Chandan Nandy
June 20, 2026
US defence giant L3Harris Technologies has formally proposed setting up a local assembly line in Bangladesh for its Falcon tactical radio systems under a phased technology-transfer programme, according to an official proposal submitted to the Bangladesh Army’s Signal Directorate.
The document indicates that the Bangladesh Army will pursue a six-year roadmap to develop domestic assembly capability for one of its most sensitive battlefield communications platforms, beginning with semi-knocked-down (SKD) production in the 2025-26 fiscal year.
The technology transfer and supply of semi-knocked down and complete knocked down kits, along with other related equipment, will cost Bangladesh Army US$ 91.49 million or Taka 11.22 billion.
The November 30, 2025, proposal, which was addressed to the Director, Signal Directorate, Army Headquarters, Dhaka Cantonment, lays out a plan for local assembly of 4,000 Falcon III VHF/HF tactical radios—equipment central to battlefield communications, command-and-control, and operational coordination.
Angikar International Pvt Ltd, a Bangladesh company, which is in defence equipment supplies business (for the Army, Air Force, Navy, police and Rapid Action Battalion), is the local entity through which the assembly line for the tactical radios will be built.
Sometime in the summer of 2025, Angikar International CEO Monzur Hossain Zimmu had a luncheon meeting with Bangladesh Army chief General Waker-uz-Zaman, along with another company executive, in Dhaka.
It was in this meeting that the deal was discussed before plans were finalised by bringing in L3Harris Technologies which has subsidiary in Bengaluru, India.
Between September 7, 2025, and November 12, 2025, Bangladesh Army’s Signals Directorate and L3Harris Technologies exchanged as many as six letters, indicating a fast-paced approach to seal the partnership.
L3Harris specialises in tactical Software Defined Radios (SDR), with more than 350,000 Falcon radios fielded worldwide and in service with the US Department of Defence and allied forces. In the past, it has delivered RF-7800H HF, RF-7800V VHF, RF-7850M Multiband, RF-7850S UHF Soldier, and RF-7850W High-Capacity radios.
The document suggests that the Bangladesh Army has already moved beyond a general expression of interest and issued a series of detailed follow-up communications to the US company, refining both the structure and timeline of the programme.
In its submission, L3Harris says it has aligned its offer with the Army’s “firm direction” to begin SKD production in FY2025-26 and to build toward broader local capability over a six-year period.
That language is significant. It points to an Army-backed localisation push in a sector traditionally dominated by direct foreign procurement, and indicates that Bangladesh is no longer merely seeking to import tactical communications equipment but to establish the foundations of a sovereign military communications ecosystem on home soil.
At the centre of the proposal is Phase 1: a priced plan to establish an SKD production line in Bangladesh for assembly, testing and quality assurance of Falcon tactical radios.
L3Harris says the line would be designed not only to meet the Army’s current requirement of 4,000 radios, but also to retain additional capacity for future expansion.
The proposal describes this first phase as including assembly and testing infrastructure, quality-assurance systems, production layout concepts, training modules for local personnel and supply of SKD kits for radio assembly.
Under this proposal, L3Harris will establish a fully equipped SKD assembly line in Dhaka, complete with tooling, test systems, documentation, work instructions, and a comprehensive training programme for Army personnel.
In effect, the plan would allow Bangladesh to start assembling imported radio kits locally rather than relying solely on fully built imported systems.
For the Army, that could reduce long-term dependency on overseas supply chains while creating a platform for maintenance, sustainment and, eventually, deeper localisation.
But the document also makes clear that the immediate offer stops short of full manufacturing.
Beyond the priced first phase, L3Harris outlines a possible future Phase 2 progression toward CKD (completely knocked down) capability—an expanded localisation model that could involve surface-mount technology, testing facilities, research and development laboratories, and accreditation steps for more advanced production.
The company also sketches out the possibility of a Level-4 limited maintenance capability inside Bangladesh, allowing more advanced in-country repair, calibration and diagnostics over time.
Those sections are explicitly described as indicative rather than contractual, but they reveal the strategic horizon of the programme: Bangladesh’s military leadership appears to be exploring not just assembly of imported kits, but the gradual construction of a domestic tactical communications support base capable of repair, sustainment and perhaps future component-level integration.
One of the most revealing parts of the submission is L3Harris’ acknowledgement that the Bangladesh Army updated the original structure of the Letter of Interest and subsequently imposed more specific requirements.
The company states that it revised its technical, commercial and programme architecture to match the Army’s updated demands, including:
- SKD production to begin in FY2025-26,
- a six-year capability roadmap,
- and a confirmed requirement for 4,000 Falcon III VHF/HF radios during the ramp-up phase.
This suggests that the Army was not passively receiving an off-the-shelf vendor offer. Instead, it appears to have been actively reshaping the terms of the programme, including the timeline, production model and capability goals.
The correspondence trail cited in the proposal points to a sustained exchange between the Army’s Signal Directorate and L3Harris between September and November 2025, indicating that the proposal emerged from a structured procurement dialogue rather than a single unsolicited pitch.
“The L3Harris ToT framework is designed to establish a sustainable, high-value defense manufacturing and maintenance ecosystem in Bangladesh. It follows a phased, structured progression—beginning with Semi-Knocked Down (SKD) production, advancing to Completely Knocked Down (CKD) production, and culminating in limited Level 4 Maintenance capability in the next phase,” an L3Harris Technologies request for final proposal says.
The significance of the programme extends beyond procurement. Tactical radio systems are not ordinary military hardware. They are the backbone of secure field communications and directly affect battlefield coordination, operational secrecy and command resilience. A decision to localise assembly of such systems carries both military and political implications.
For Bangladesh, the proposal appears to fit into a broader effort to build selective self-reliance in sensitive defence technologies without severing dependence on foreign suppliers altogether.
For L3Harris, it offers a route to lock in a longer-term relationship with one of South Asia’s increasingly important defence markets by embedding itself not only as a supplier, but as a technology partner in the Army’s communications architecture.
The company itself frames the project in those terms. In the proposal, it describes the initiative as part of a “strategic collaboration” aimed at building “a sustainable and sovereign tactical communications capability” for Bangladesh, alongside human-capital development and support for the country’s defence-industrial ecosystem.
Yet the proposal also contains the familiar caveats of a tightly controlled defence transfer arrangement.
L3Harris says its offer is subject to a detailed set of terms, clarifications and assumptions covering programme structure, technical conditions, payment terms, warranties, facility requirements and export licensing approvals.
Among the conditions referenced are TAA/MLA export-licensing prerequisites, indicating that any meaningful transfer of communications technology would still remain subject to US regulatory controls.
In other words, while the programme is being marketed as a path toward sovereign capability, the actual degree of sovereignty Bangladesh would enjoy could still be constrained by licensing terms, scope limitations and the phased nature of the transfer.
The proposal also appears to place a number of responsibilities on the Bangladesh Army, including infrastructure and facility requirements necessary to host the production line.
The document’s copy list includes Angikar International Pvt Ltd, suggesting that a local commercial or facilitation partner may already be tied to the process.
The exact role of the company is not detailed in the proposal, but its inclusion raises further questions about how the programme would be structured on the Bangladesh side, who would manage implementation, and whether any local private-sector entity would gain a gatekeeping role in one of the Army’s most sensitive communications procurements.
Taken together, the proposal indicates that the Bangladesh Army is considering far more than a routine radio procurement deal.
What is under discussion is the creation of a local assembly and support structure for tactical communications systems—one that could become a test case for how far Bangladesh is willing, and able, to push defence localisation in high-sensitivity sectors.
Whether the programme ultimately proceeds in full will depend on price, licensing, political approvals and the Army’s willingness to commit to a long-term industrial partnership.
But the L3Harris submission makes one thing clear: by late 2025, the Bangladesh Army was already exploring a structured path toward domestic assembly of one of its most critical battlefield communications platforms, with a US defence major positioning itself at the centre of that transformation.
