The Eastern Front

Prasun K. Sengupta

Extremely peeved by China’s and Russia’s support to Myanmar’sstand on the Rohingya refugee issue, Bangladesh’s Awami League-led government has decided to get rid of the Bangladesh Air Force’s (BAF) existing fleet of China-/Russia-origin combat aircraft and go for an initial 16 Eurofighter EF-2000 medium multi-role combat aircraft (M-MRCA) from Italy’s Leonardo Group. The BAF presently operates Chengdu F-7MBs and MiG-29B-12s that were procured two decades ago.

The BAF zeroed in on the EF-2000 back in 2015, following the appointment of the then Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal (ACM) Abu Esrar, who had conducted an evaluation of the EF-2000 during the 2016 Farnborough International Air show. Esrar’s successor, ACM Masihuzzaman Serniabat, was equally enthusiastic, but a detailed evaluation of the M-MRCA with Leonardo’s assistance had to be aborted due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Now Serniabat’s successor, ACM Shaikh Abdul Hannan, has been tasked with the completion of the EF-2000 procurement process.

Bangladesh’s Directorate General Defence Purchase (DGDP) had floated a global tender in 2017 for the procurement of eight M-MRCAs, plus options for an additional four, under the Forces Goal 2030 modernisation programme. Later increased to 16 M-MRCAs, the tender had specified the requirement for a new-build, twin-engined M-MRCA, with each of its turbofans producing at least 12,125 pounds of dry thrust and more than 17,635 pounds with