Bangladesh Defense
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Bangladeshi C-130J fleet reaches full strength with Marshall delivering last five aircraft
Marshall Aerospace and Defence Group has delivered the last of five C-130J Super Hercules aircraft to Bangladesh Air Force (BAF), marking a key milestone in the nation's long-term investment in sovereign airlift capacity
Bangladeshi C-130J fleet reaches full strength with Marshall delivering last five aircraft
Photo: Collected
Marshall Aerospace and Defence Group has delivered the last of five C-130J Super Hercules aircraft to Bangladesh Air Force (BAF), marking a key milestone in the nation's long-term investment in sovereign airlift capacity.
Representatives from the Bangladesh High Commission in London and the BAF joined the Marshall team at the company's headquarters in Cambridge on Monday to formally celebrate the handover of the final aircraft.
Marshall's multi-million pound programme to upgrade and enhance the BAF C-130J fleet originated in 2018 and 2019, following the acquisition of the aircraft from the UK Ministry of Defence, Bangladesh High Commission in the UK, said in a statement today.
"I am delighted to be here to preside over a proud moment for the entire Bangladesh Air Force, as we mark the culmination of a multi-year investment into our fleets towards realisation of Forces Goal 2030 as envisioned by her excellency Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina," said Saida Muna Tasneem, High Commissioner of Bangladesh to the UK and Ireland.
"The work performed here in Cambridge will directly support us in fulfilling our operational commitments for decades to come, and I would like to thank the Marshall team for their expertise and commitment."
"The BAF-Marshall relationship perfectly exemplifies the collaborative spirit and commitment to shared interests that underpin the growing UK-Bangladesh defence relationship."
While all five aircraft are now in active service with the BAF, Marshall is scheduled to deliver further modifications in near future.
Marshall will also continue to support the BAF with a range of technical services including global engineering support, supply chain and logistics management, spare parts procurement and provision of training.
"It has been a privilege to partner with the Bangladesh Air Force over the last six years as they have created a world-leading tactical airlift capability," said Chris Dare, Marshall's Director of Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul Services and Solutions.
"Fielding these five C-130J Super Hercules aircraft with a range of sophisticated upgrades will ensure the BAF's mission-readiness to support UN peace-keeping and humanitarian missions around the world, and this is something we are proud to have contributed to."
Photo: Collected
Marshall Aerospace and Defence Group has delivered the last of five C-130J Super Hercules aircraft to Bangladesh Air Force (BAF), marking a key milestone in the nation's long-term investment in sovereign airlift capacity.
Representatives from the Bangladesh High Commission in London and the BAF joined the Marshall team at the company's headquarters in Cambridge on Monday to formally celebrate the handover of the final aircraft.
Marshall's multi-million pound programme to upgrade and enhance the BAF C-130J fleet originated in 2018 and 2019, following the acquisition of the aircraft from the UK Ministry of Defence, Bangladesh High Commission in the UK, said in a statement today.
"I am delighted to be here to preside over a proud moment for the entire Bangladesh Air Force, as we mark the culmination of a multi-year investment into our fleets towards realisation of Forces Goal 2030 as envisioned by her excellency Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina," said Saida Muna Tasneem, High Commissioner of Bangladesh to the UK and Ireland.
"The work performed here in Cambridge will directly support us in fulfilling our operational commitments for decades to come, and I would like to thank the Marshall team for their expertise and commitment."
"The BAF-Marshall relationship perfectly exemplifies the collaborative spirit and commitment to shared interests that underpin the growing UK-Bangladesh defence relationship."
While all five aircraft are now in active service with the BAF, Marshall is scheduled to deliver further modifications in near future.
Marshall will also continue to support the BAF with a range of technical services including global engineering support, supply chain and logistics management, spare parts procurement and provision of training.
"It has been a privilege to partner with the Bangladesh Air Force over the last six years as they have created a world-leading tactical airlift capability," said Chris Dare, Marshall's Director of Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul Services and Solutions.
"Fielding these five C-130J Super Hercules aircraft with a range of sophisticated upgrades will ensure the BAF's mission-readiness to support UN peace-keeping and humanitarian missions around the world, and this is something we are proud to have contributed to."
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Bangladesh receives first C-130-configurable AeroMedical Evacuation System - Airforce Technology
The new AMES capability will enable Bangladesh to conduct aeromedical procedures during HADR transit operations.
www.airforce-technology.com
Bangladesh receives first C-130-configurable AeroMedical Evacuation System
Bangladesh recently received its fifth and final C-130 after being upgraded by Marshall, which has now delivered the new aeromedical capability.
Richard Thomas
July 5, 2024
The AMES aeromedical system can be integrated into a C-130J tactical transporter. Credit: Marshall
Aerospace maintenance and systems provider Marshall has delivered of the first AeroMedical Evacuation System (AMES) to the Bangladesh Air Force, providing the service with a new humanitarian assistance, disaster relief (HADR) capability.
In a 3 July 2024, release, Marshall stated that the AMES system was designed, engineered, tested and assembled in-house as part of the company's Adaptable Role-fit Capability (ARC) family of palletised products, providing medium and high dependency patients with advanced medical care during airlift transport.
Developed alongside medical experts and fleet operators, AMES can be installed onto or removed from an aircraft in a matter of hours without any permanent modifications, Marshall said.
The AMES system was created to be used interchangeably on the Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules or other tactical airlifters compatible with 463L pallets and is reconfigurable for specific medical needs.
Workstations are also provided in the AMES system to be used by the Bangladesh Air Force. Credit: Marshall
The Bangladesh Air Force also recently took delivery of its fifth and final C-130J Super Hercules, the company announced in June. All five aircraft were upgraded and prepared by Marshall and likely primarly for use in peacekeeping and HADR missions.
The project began in 2018 with the acquisition of the aircraft from the UK Ministry of Defence. The programme's major components included decommissioning the aircraft from their previous roles in the UK Royal Air Force, upgrading avionics, and enhancing the aircraft's capabilities for passenger transport and survival operations.
Marshall's ARC family
An earlier medical evacuation system, co-developed by Marshall and Nodin Aviation, was designed to convert a Scandinavian Airlines Boeing 737-700 commercial airliner into an airborne hospital. The system has seen use in response to recent high-profile incidents, including evacuating Norway's King Harald V from Malaysia on 3 March 2024 and evacuating injured Ukrainian soldiers in 2022, Marshall stated.
Other products within Marshall's ARC family include ARC radar, a modular sensor suite that allows operators of tactical transport aircraft to temporarily outfit an aircraft for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions.
Bangladesh recently received its fifth and final C-130 after being upgraded by Marshall, which has now delivered the new aeromedical capability.
Richard Thomas
July 5, 2024
The AMES aeromedical system can be integrated into a C-130J tactical transporter. Credit: Marshall
Aerospace maintenance and systems provider Marshall has delivered of the first AeroMedical Evacuation System (AMES) to the Bangladesh Air Force, providing the service with a new humanitarian assistance, disaster relief (HADR) capability.
In a 3 July 2024, release, Marshall stated that the AMES system was designed, engineered, tested and assembled in-house as part of the company's Adaptable Role-fit Capability (ARC) family of palletised products, providing medium and high dependency patients with advanced medical care during airlift transport.
Developed alongside medical experts and fleet operators, AMES can be installed onto or removed from an aircraft in a matter of hours without any permanent modifications, Marshall said.
The AMES system was created to be used interchangeably on the Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules or other tactical airlifters compatible with 463L pallets and is reconfigurable for specific medical needs.
Workstations are also provided in the AMES system to be used by the Bangladesh Air Force. Credit: Marshall
The Bangladesh Air Force also recently took delivery of its fifth and final C-130J Super Hercules, the company announced in June. All five aircraft were upgraded and prepared by Marshall and likely primarly for use in peacekeeping and HADR missions.
The project began in 2018 with the acquisition of the aircraft from the UK Ministry of Defence. The programme's major components included decommissioning the aircraft from their previous roles in the UK Royal Air Force, upgrading avionics, and enhancing the aircraft's capabilities for passenger transport and survival operations.
Marshall's ARC family
An earlier medical evacuation system, co-developed by Marshall and Nodin Aviation, was designed to convert a Scandinavian Airlines Boeing 737-700 commercial airliner into an airborne hospital. The system has seen use in response to recent high-profile incidents, including evacuating Norway's King Harald V from Malaysia on 3 March 2024 and evacuating injured Ukrainian soldiers in 2022, Marshall stated.
Other products within Marshall's ARC family include ARC radar, a modular sensor suite that allows operators of tactical transport aircraft to temporarily outfit an aircraft for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions.
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Although I am not in agreement with the logic put forth by the author to turn away from China and Russia for the modernization of Bangladesh air force, I am posting the article here in the hope that it will generate healthy and constructive discussion.
Modernising The Bangladesh Air Force: Time to Turn Away From China and Russia
Khandakar Tahmid Rejwan | 12 September 2024
The Bangladesh Air Force (BAF) needs modernisation. This time, rather than arming itself via Russia and China again, it should look west.
The deposing of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina presents an opportunity for a change of direction. The new government of Muhammad Yunus can modernise the BAF with western equipment. Doing so will strengthen Bangladesh’s long-standing foreign policy of non-alignment. Major BAF weapon systems, such as fighters, utility helicopters and surface-to-air missiles, were made by Russia or China. They are already decades old and have proven unreliable in the field.
Since independence in 1971, Bangladesh has stressed its principle of non-alignment. In maintaining this stance, Dhaka should be careful about Beijing’s and Moscow’s attempts to co-opt developing nations for their strategic advantage. To maintain neutrality, Bangladesh must strike a balance by also turning westward, curtailing over-reliance on Russia and China.
The dependence of Bangladesh’s neighbour Myanmar on China and of India on Russia are further reasons for Bangladesh to seek the superior equipment from the West.
Dhaka already faces tremendous challenges in executing its guiding modernisation program, ‘Forces Goal 2030’. It was offered as a solution to the BAF’s inability to operate modern aircraft, the risks to personnel lives from the existing systems and the need to enforce Bangladesh’s sovereign air space. It also aimed at bringing diversity to the armoury with NATO equipment, but it is likely that it will fall short of this goal.
According to a 1999 RAND report, some developing countries buy Chinese weapons because the equipment is ‘cheap and available’. The same can be said about Russian arms sales. And both of those countries also try to achieve strategic influence over a developing nation by providing broad access to their designs.
The BAF has had to pay a hefty price for this compromise. Four of the 16 Russian Yak-130 fighter-trainers crashed in less than a decade, in one case resulting in the death of the pilot. A pilot ‘went missing’ and was never found when a F-7MB newly acquired from China crashed in the Bay of Bengal in 2015. It has become normal for Chinese-made fighters and basic trainers like K-8 or PT-6 to crash due to malfunctions.
Dhaka should start procuring high-end systems, such as multi-role combat aircraft from reliable and efficient western suppliers. Potential partners include European countries, which make such fighters as the Rafale, Typhoon and Gripen. Though not strictly Western, Japan and South Korea could supply other types of aircraft.
All these states share warm bilateral ties with Bangladesh. Britain and the US perform joint exercises with Bangladesh and pay reciprocal visits. Because of these ties, the BAF’s personnel would welcome the introduction of Western equipment.
The West was critical of Hasina’s blind eye to eroding democratic values and her rigged re-election campaign. Consequently, defence ties were not deepened during her second tenure from 2009 to 2024. That was another reason for Hasina preferring to buy from Beijing and Moscow.
There are also military-technical reasons for the BAF to look to the west in its attempts to modernise. The war in Ukraine has become a graveyard of the Russian military-industrial complex. The sheer amount of Russian hardware lost against a much smaller army is shocking. Chinese systems are predominantly based off on Russian systems and are not battle-tested, as China has not seen an active combat situation since 1979.
Bangladesh’s change of government opens an opportunity to buy from democratic countries that will no longer hesitate in dealing with it as an autocracy. It’s a chance that should be seized.
Khandakar Tahmid Rejwan is a research data analyst at the Bangladesh Peace Observatory-Centre for Alternatives.
Khandakar Tahmid Rejwan | 12 September 2024
The Bangladesh Air Force (BAF) needs modernisation. This time, rather than arming itself via Russia and China again, it should look west.
The deposing of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina presents an opportunity for a change of direction. The new government of Muhammad Yunus can modernise the BAF with western equipment. Doing so will strengthen Bangladesh’s long-standing foreign policy of non-alignment. Major BAF weapon systems, such as fighters, utility helicopters and surface-to-air missiles, were made by Russia or China. They are already decades old and have proven unreliable in the field.
Since independence in 1971, Bangladesh has stressed its principle of non-alignment. In maintaining this stance, Dhaka should be careful about Beijing’s and Moscow’s attempts to co-opt developing nations for their strategic advantage. To maintain neutrality, Bangladesh must strike a balance by also turning westward, curtailing over-reliance on Russia and China.
The dependence of Bangladesh’s neighbour Myanmar on China and of India on Russia are further reasons for Bangladesh to seek the superior equipment from the West.
Dhaka already faces tremendous challenges in executing its guiding modernisation program, ‘Forces Goal 2030’. It was offered as a solution to the BAF’s inability to operate modern aircraft, the risks to personnel lives from the existing systems and the need to enforce Bangladesh’s sovereign air space. It also aimed at bringing diversity to the armoury with NATO equipment, but it is likely that it will fall short of this goal.
According to a 1999 RAND report, some developing countries buy Chinese weapons because the equipment is ‘cheap and available’. The same can be said about Russian arms sales. And both of those countries also try to achieve strategic influence over a developing nation by providing broad access to their designs.
The BAF has had to pay a hefty price for this compromise. Four of the 16 Russian Yak-130 fighter-trainers crashed in less than a decade, in one case resulting in the death of the pilot. A pilot ‘went missing’ and was never found when a F-7MB newly acquired from China crashed in the Bay of Bengal in 2015. It has become normal for Chinese-made fighters and basic trainers like K-8 or PT-6 to crash due to malfunctions.
Dhaka should start procuring high-end systems, such as multi-role combat aircraft from reliable and efficient western suppliers. Potential partners include European countries, which make such fighters as the Rafale, Typhoon and Gripen. Though not strictly Western, Japan and South Korea could supply other types of aircraft.
All these states share warm bilateral ties with Bangladesh. Britain and the US perform joint exercises with Bangladesh and pay reciprocal visits. Because of these ties, the BAF’s personnel would welcome the introduction of Western equipment.
The West was critical of Hasina’s blind eye to eroding democratic values and her rigged re-election campaign. Consequently, defence ties were not deepened during her second tenure from 2009 to 2024. That was another reason for Hasina preferring to buy from Beijing and Moscow.
There are also military-technical reasons for the BAF to look to the west in its attempts to modernise. The war in Ukraine has become a graveyard of the Russian military-industrial complex. The sheer amount of Russian hardware lost against a much smaller army is shocking. Chinese systems are predominantly based off on Russian systems and are not battle-tested, as China has not seen an active combat situation since 1979.
Bangladesh’s change of government opens an opportunity to buy from democratic countries that will no longer hesitate in dealing with it as an autocracy. It’s a chance that should be seized.
Khandakar Tahmid Rejwan is a research data analyst at the Bangladesh Peace Observatory-Centre for Alternatives.
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