In a bid to strengthen military ties, IAF Chief Air Chief Marshal N A K Browne will be on a visit to Bangladesh next week.

The IAF Chief will discuss ways of enhancing and further strengthening ties between the two air-forces, IAF officials said here.

Browne will also hold discussions with the senior political and military leadership of the neighbouring country.

This will be the second time in last two years that an IAF Chief will visit Dhaka. Former IAF Chief ACM P V Naik had gone there in January, 2010.

It is understood that there is a possibility of the two sides co-operating in maintenance of the MiG 29 fleet being operated by the Bangladesh Air Force.

Army Chief Gen V K Singh had also visited Dhaka last year and gifted equipment and other aid to the Bangladesh army.

The two countries have developed close defence ties in the last few years and even begun military exercises.

In a recent exercise, special forces of the two countries had held an exercise in Bangladesh and have also started holding staff-level talks

While declining to impose night curfew along the international border to curb illegal migration and smuggling, Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) has instead offered to sensitise people against travelling without valid documents to India, warning them about the “serious legal consequences”. The BGB’s assurance to Border Security Force (BSF) at the end of the 35th Border Coordination Conference between the two border guarding forces comes in the backdropof the 72 suspected Bangladeshis of-floaded from a train in Assam. Briefing newsmen after the signing of the joint agreement here this morning, Director General, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), Major General Anwar Hussain, who led the 21-member Bangladeshi delegation, said that they do not believe in night curfew. “We believe in sensitising the local population about the consequences of travelling without papers,” he said.

Bangladesh today sought enhanced defence cooperation with India, including boosting training facilities for its air wing as Indian Air Force Chief Air Marshal NAK Browne called on the country's top political leadership and military brass here.

The IAF Chief arrived here yesterday on a four-day official visit to Bangladesh to expand bilateral defence cooperation.

During his meeting with his Bangladeshi counterpart Air Marshal SM Ziaur Rahman today, Browne "exchanged views and discussed matters of professional interest".

Bangladesh sought enhanced defence cooperation with India, including more exchange of training facilities with IAF.

Indian Air Chief called on President Zillur Rahman and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

"President Zillur Rahman laid emphasis on exchange of training facilities for the officers of Bangladesh and Indian Air Forces," the President's spokesman told PTI.

The spokesman said the president pointed out that "significant number" of officiers of Bangladesh Air Force underwent training in India since 1974 while many officials from India took part in training in Bangladesh.

Browne, the spokesman said, told the president that the exchange of training and experience-sharing between the air force officers of the two countries would continue in the future.

The IAF chief later called on Hasina who said her government always valued the friendship and cooperation with the neighbouring countries and underlined Dhaka's firm stance against terrorism.

"The Prime Minister said her government is placing emphasis on meeting the basic needs of the common people along with developing our armed forces," a PMO spokesman told reporters after the meeting at Hasina's residence.

source:outlook india

The Myanmar Navy recently received two Jianghu II-class (Type 053H1) frigates declared surplus to requirement by China's naval command. Pictures from the chinese internet taken in early March 2012 in Shanghai show the two frigates already flying the Myanmar flag with new hull numbers from the Myanmar Navy.

The former Chinese frigates are renammed "Mahar Bandoola" (F21) and "Mahar Thiha Thura" (F23).


From 1981 to 1988 Hudong shipyard in Shanghai, designed eight type 053H1 frigates for the PLA Navy and two for Egypt. In 1989, the Xiangtan frigate (hull number 556) was sold from the Chinese Navy to Bangladesh, where it is currently operated as "Osman" (F18). Type 053H1 frigates were somewhat outdated already at the time of construction, and they have low military value nowadays. In recent years, these ships have been gradualy pulled out of service by the Chinese Navy.

According to some reports, two more former PLAN Type 053H1 may soon be sold to Bangladesh.

Even though they are obsolete, they can still be useful for coastal patrols.

China has recently sold used frigates to Myanmar and Bangladesh, two nations that have had naval disputes with each other in the past. Burma got two Type 53H1 frigates, built in the 1980s. The Burmese Type 53s are 2,000 ton ships armed with four anti-ship missiles, two 100mm guns, and lots of depth charges. Bangladesh is getting two Type 53H2, which were built in the early 1990s and are generally the same as the 53H1s but carry eight anti-ship missiles. Both nations paid very little for their Type 53s (probably free), but compared to what these two fleets already had, the used frigates were a step up.

China built 53 Type 53 frigates (that's a lot). Based on the older Soviet Riga class frigates, the Chinese expanded the original 1,400 ton design (armed with depth charges, three 100mm guns, and torpedoes) to a missile laden 2,000-2,500 ton vessel equipped with modern electronics. The latest version, called the F-22, is built only for export. The primary customer is Pakistan (four sold so far). The remaining Type 53s are mainly used for coastal patrol.

The F-22P is the newest version of the Chinese Jiangwei II (053H3). The 123 meter long F-22P displaces 2,500 tons and carries an eight cell short range (8.6 kilometers) FM-90N surface-to-air missile system. There are two, four cell anti-ship missile systems (180 kilometers range C-802s), two, three cell launchers for rocket launched ET-52C anti-submarine torpedoes, and two, six cell RDC-32 anti-submarine rocket launchers. There is also a 76.2mm gun, two 30mm anti-missiles auto-cannon, and a helicopter. Each ship has a crew of 202 and a top speed of 52 kilometers an hour. The F-22Ps are inexpensive, costing about $200 million each.

Source: Chinese Military News Blog