Modernising the Bangladesh Air Force: time to turn away from China and Russia

[Afif]

Why not just buy jf-17 block 3???

It doesn't meet the formal requirements.

 

[FHN]

It doesn't meet the formal requirements.

Oh what's Bangladesh looking for exactly? I think j-10c is another good option with type 039c or buy wl drone variants at much cheaper price.

 

[Alter_Ego]

A type 093c will do just fine
View attachment 64940
Super quiet conventional submarines like these are perfect for defensive wars

https://twitter.com/x/status/1737316075833057379

Actually youre into sometving very fundamental here.

Bangladesh is geographically small and flat riverine deltaland. It will be easy for a potent enemy to strike down critical BAF and BA bases and installations, because Bangladesh lacks strategic depth.

The best way to deter an adversay, is to always have some potent strategic weapons which are put of reach of first-strike from an anemy. In this regard, the BD NAVY is to play the key role in advancing a second strike doctrine and its correspondent procyrement policy.

Ideally BD would have nukes for second strike, but thats not realistic by any means. But what is realistc is to have enough Surface and Subsurface marine vessels that can strike out vital enemey installations.

- long lange cruise missiles
- hypersonic missiles
- stealth subs

 

[FHN]

Actually youre into sometving very fundamental here.

Bangladesh is geographically small and flat riverine deltaland. It will be easy for a potent enemy to strike down critical BAF and BA bases and installations, because Bangladesh lacks strategic depth.

The best way to deter an adversay, is to always have some potent strategic weapons which are put of reach of first-strike from an anemy. In this regard, the BD NAVY is to play the key role in advancing a second strike doctrine and its correspondent procyrement policy.

Ideally BD would have nukes for second strike, but thats not realistic by any means. But what is realistc is to have enough Surface and Subsurface marine vessels that can strike out vital enemey installations.

- long lange cruise missiles
- hypersonic missiles
- stealth subs

Bangladesh doesn't need all the fancy toys just things that help deter threat.
Hq-22 SAM, hq-17 AE (Serbia case)
Suicide Drones are widely used nowadays.
diesel submarines are good for coastal defense because they are very quiet.
Also lots of artillery shells they are cheap to produce in mass numbers that can overwhelm enemy defenses(North Korea for example)
Alot anti ship and ballistic missiles.
the CH-4 and the Wing Loong 2 are estimated to cost between $1m and $2m, while the Reaper costs $16m.
J-10c armed with pl-15 and pl-10 can pose a serious threat to Aerial assets.

 

[UKBengali]

Oh what's Bangladesh looking for exactly? I think j-10c is another good option with type 039c or buy wl drone variants at much cheaper price.

Nothing right now.

A fighter purchase won't happen till maybe 2070-2028 and then we will have the likes of J-31 and even KAAN ready for consideration.

BAF is not going to waste money inducting a new 4th generation fighter in the 2030s. It will go for 5th generation fighters from China/Turkey.

 

[FHN]

Nothing right now.

A fighter purchase won't happen till maybe 2070-2028 and then we will have the likes of J-31 and even KAAN ready for consideration.

BAF is not going to waste money inducting a new 4th generation fighter in the 2030s. It will go for 5th generation fighters from China/Turkey.

J-10c is still a big upgrade from mig-29 and f-7. the goal is to have enough to protect its airspace.im not sure when j-31 will be ready for export anytime soon.

 

[SteppeWolff]

Nothing right now.

A fighter purchase won't happen till maybe 2070-2028 and then we will have the likes of J-31 and even KAAN ready for consideration.

BAF is not going to waste money inducting a new 4th generation fighter in the 2030s. It will go for 5th generation fighters from China/Turkey.

Would it be a good decision to straight up jump from 2nd-3rd Gen fighters to straight 5th Gen?

Bangladesh would still need a 4th Gen jet as their workhorse.

 

[UKBengali]

J-10c is still a big upgrade from mig-29 and f-7. the goal is to have enough to protect its airspace.im not sure when j-31 will be ready for export anytime soon.

Yes it would have made sense to have brought it 5 years ago but not ink a contract for it in 2027-2028 when more than likely the J-31 would also be available.

J-31 is specifically built as an export model and China is now rushing forward to get the naval variant(J-35) ready and so we can expect it to be ready for export by roughly 2027-2028 as well.


Anyway BAF doctrine is now for twin-engine fighters and so that rules out fighters like J-10CE.

 

[Afif]

Would it be a good decision to straight up jump from 2nd-3rd Gen fighters to straight 5th Gen?

Bangladesh would still need a 4th Gen jet as their workhorse.

Mig29 and armed yak-130 are fourth gen. We don't have 2nd gen fighter.

 

[SteppeWolff]

Mig29 and armed yak-130 are fourth gen. We don't have 2nd gen fighter.

Bro my point was, 5th Gen is still a huge leap from those MiG29s, even J10Cs and JeffBlk3s with AESA, HMDs etc had a steep learning arc for PAF pilots. With 5th Gen you'll also need to build an extensive fast data transfer through all sensors of assets making a battlefield picture.

J10Cs, Rafaels, Typhoons or any 4+ gen fighter would probably be better for BD at this point. I agree with your previous posts of having mobile SAMs scattered in BD, tried and tested in Ukraine too.

 

[UKBengali]

Would it be a good decision to straight up jump from 2nd-3rd Gen fighters to straight 5th Gen?

Bangladesh would still need a 4th Gen jet as their workhorse.

BAF operates 8 upgraded Mig-29s and so has been flying 4th generation fighters for 25 years now.

Yes it will be a big upgrade but no logic to inducting a new 4th generation fighter in the 2030s as that woud be a collosal waste of scarce resources.

Of course it will take BAF many more years than PAF to be able to fully utilise the capabilities of the J-31 but it can be done with proper support from the Chinese and willingness of BAF to learn.

BAF will never be as large as PAF and so buying small quantities of 5th generation fighters makes more sense for it in the late 2020s.

It in effect has "missed the boat" when it came to 4th generation as it never followed up on its initial 8 Mig-29 purchase. Well it was 16 planes that were ordered but the idiot BNP cancelled the other 8 when they got into power in 2001 to play politics.

 

[kambhakt]

India does not need to "deter" BD as BD will never attack it first.

BD being the much smaller country needs to deter India.

Like every other smaller neighbour it needs to make the cost of Indian misadventure(however tiny) against BD too costly that it won't even think about it.

This means a minimal airforce but more importantly offensive systems like MLRS such as TRG-300.

We are talking about a world that may be very different in 2040 and beyond and so BD needs to build up its military with neighbours capabilty and not "intention" in mind.

Chances of BD-India war are tiny but still a non-zero number.

Remember that "Forces Goal 2030" had already mapped out that BD needs 10 squadrons(160 fighters) in order to safeguard its sovereignty and that is what it should eventually aim for - now probably by 2040 at the earliest.

BD getting military dominance against Burma is not hard and can be done with a single purchase of fighter planes and MRSAM but obtaining adequate detterence against India will be harder and much more costlier.

BD military has already pretty much decided that its weapons will come from China and Turkey. US and west do not factor at all here.

India does not need to take military action against BD.

One option it has is to stop electricity exports and stop transit electricity from Nepal / Bhutan. You will need your own electricity generation plants to stop India from having this leverage.

Another is to blockage the Bay of Bengal maybe 1500 km south of BD. You will need maybe 8 AIP equipped subs. Also maritime patrol planes that can operate 1500 km from their base to locate Indian naval assets and pass that information to the subs. And also jets that can give cover for these patrol planes 1500 km from their base.

 

[Michael Corleone]

Sounds like the author wants BD to be in US camp, not neutral.

Being neutral does nothing to strengthen your position especially for a country like Bangladesh

 

[Fallstuff]

India does not need to take military action against BD.

One option it has is to stop electricity exports and stop transit electricity from Nepal / Bhutan. You will need your own electricity generation plants to stop India from having this leverage.

Another is to blockage the Bay of Bengal maybe 1500 km south of BD. You will need maybe 8 AIP equipped subs. Also maritime patrol planes that can operate 1500 km from their base to locate Indian naval assets and pass that information to the subs. And also jets that can give cover for these patrol planes 1500 km from their base.

My cat read this post and started laughing and rolling all over the floor. I was like what the heck this cat found so funny !
Man I tell you what, cats these days, smh !

 

[hyperman]

Manufacture as much as possible inhouse, for the stuff you can't manufacture on a reasonable timeline or if its too expensive, Buy from Turkey and for the stuff you can't get from Turkey, buy Chinese.

When making defense purchases, one must account for the region they are in, particularly what they are going to use the equipment for and who they are going to use it against, and where their potential adversary may acquire similar weapons from.

With this regard, India is off the list, Russia is sanctioned and also an India supplier, so lots of baggage there, as the US is supplying India as well, so there should be some level of caution here, particularly with regards to the supply of services and support in the event that you do get into conflict, will you receive support, if they are also selling the same thing to your adversary, and will be prioritize you, or your adversary.