[🇧🇩-Land] Army Aviation Group

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGQ-k9kjaJY&t=1s

The following video is about the aviation wing of Bangladesh army.

 

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Turkish TB-2 armed UAVs for Bangladesh Army Aviation Group.

 

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Army Aviation Group and It's activities.

 

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Bangladesh Army Aviation Group - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Bangladesh Army Aviation Group​

The Army Aviation Group is the army aviation unit of the Bangladesh Army. The AAG conducts military air operations and is responsible for doctrine, manning and configuration for all aviation resources in the Army.

Origin​

The unit started its journey on 1 January 1978 as Army Aviation Flight. At that time, the army had no pilot training facilities of its own. Civil Aviation Authority, Bangladesh took up the responsibility of pilot training. Initially, the unit had no aircraft. The first aircraft in the army aviation unit were two Bell 205 helicopters gifted by Iran government in 1978. On 7 September 1979, the unit was upgraded to Army Aviation Squadron. On 15 July 1980, the unit got regiment strength and named Army Air Regiment. In 1982, four Cessna 152 were procured for the regiment. These were the first fixed-wing aircraft of the army aviation. In 1983, one Piper PA-31T Cheyenne aircraft was procured which was used for VIP transport purpose. On 27 November 1995, the unit was named Army Aviation. Three Bell 206 L4 helicopters and one Cessna 208 Caravan were procured later to strengthen the Aviation Group. On 20 March 2012, the unit was finally named Army Aviation Group.

Present​

The strength of the unit is more than 204 with 30+ pilots. Members from all the corps of Bangladesh Army can join this unit with proper qualification and training. The unit is headquartered at the Tejgaon Airport, Dhaka. After the formulation of Forces Goal 2030, the modernisation and expansion of army aviation is going on in accordance with this goal. Following the goal, modern aircraft like 2 Eurocopter AS365 Dauphin helicopters, 2 C-295W transport aircraft and 12 Mi-171Sh combat and transport helicopters have been added to this unit. Recently six Diamond DA40 aircraft have been procured to slowly phase out the old Cessna 152s and increase training facilities. Four of these aircraft have been already added to the fleet while the rest two will join soon.

A new base for AAG was set up at Lalmonirhat Airport on 2 March 2020. This base will have the dedicated infrastructure for the Army Aviation Training School.

Army aviation maintenance workshop​

This unit is responsible for the maintenance of the aircraft of the army aviation group. Previously, personnel from Bangladesh Air Force did all the maintenance task of army aviation. Later on, army came up with its own maintenance unit with its own personnel.

Aircraft​

Current inventory​

Aircraft	Origin	Type	Variant	In service	Notes
Cessna 152 Aerobat	United States	Light aircraft		5	A152 Aerobat variant
Cessna 208	United States	transport / utility		1
CASA C-295	Spain	transport		2
Diamond DA40	Austria	training		4
Bell 206	United States	training	206L	1	1 Crashed.
Bell 407	United States	training	407GXi	2
Mil Mi-17	Russia	transport	Mi-171Sh	6	6 on order
Eurocopter AS365	France	utility		2
Baykar Bayraktar TB2	Turkey	Unmanned combat aerial vehicle		6
Bramor C4EYE	Slovenia	Small unmanned surveillance and reconnaissance aerial vehicle	Bramor C4EYE	36
Boeing Insitu RQ-21 Blackjack	United States	Unmanned surveillance and reconnaissance aerial vehicle			on order
RQ-12B Wasp AE	United States	Miniature UAV	RQ-12B		on order

Future modernisation plans​

Bangladesh government has adopted a total restructuring plan for the Army Aviation Group. As per the plan, the Army Aviation Group will be renamed as the Army aviation. The total manpower of the unit will be raised from 204 to 704 personnel. By 2021, the number of aircraft operated by army aviation will be twenty-six. The army aviation maintenance workshop with 147 personnel will be re-structured to army aviation engineering workshop with 490 personnel. An aviation directorate will also be formed in the army.

They also have a plan to add fixed wing aircraft, transport aircraft, attack helicopters to the fleet in the process.

 

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১৬ মিলিয়ন মার্কিন ডলার ব্যয়ে যুক্তরাষ্ট্র থেকে ৫ টি Bell-407GXi হেলিকপ্টার ক্রয় করেছে বাংলাদেশ সেনাবাহিনী।এগুলো দিয়ে সেনাবাহিনীর পুরাতন Bell-206L4 হেলিকপ্টারগুলো রিপ্লেস করা হবে।

সেনাবাহিনীর টেন্ডারে Bell-407GXi এর পাশাপাশি ইউরোপিয়ান Airbus H125M এবং আমেরিকান MD M530F হেলিকপ্টার অংশ নিয়েছিলো।তবে সব দিক বিবেচনা করে সেনাবাহিনী Bell-407GXi ক্রয় করে।

 

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পাইলটদের উদ্দেশে যা বললেন সেনাপ্রধান ওয়াকার-উজ-জামান (The chief of army staff General Waker delivered a speech congratulating the newly recruited pilots of Army Aviation Group). The video is in English.