Even as Bangladesh’s defence forces have taken decisive steps to break from the past and speedily modernise the three-armed wings, three senior executives from Leonardo S.p.A (formerly Finmeccanica) today met Bangladesh Air Chief Marshal Hasan Mahmood Khan to discuss modalities for the acquisition of Eurofighter Typhoon Multi-Role Combat Aircraft.
Major General Luigi Casali, head of the First Department, Industrial Policy and Industrial Cooperation of the Italian National Armaments Directorate, Leonardo S.p.A Senior Vice-President Marketing Sales Tommasso Pani and Vice-President (Fighter Sales) Constantino Panvini landed today at Dhaka’s Hazrat Shah Jalal International Airport.
They will depart Dhaka on December 10.
Leonardo S.p.A., BAE Systems and Airbus Defence and Space form a consortium that builds the Eurofighter Typhoon, Europe’s premier multi-role fighter, with Leonardo playing a crucial role in producing avionics, wings and fuselage sections, while also managing assembly for Italian orders and offering crucial training/support.
The Eurofighter Typhoon is an all-weather, multi-role fighter which boasts air superiority, ground attack and surveillance capabilities.
It is equipped with twin-engines, supersonic, capable of Mach 2.35, with acceleration and agility.
The aircraft is equipped with active and passive avionic systems, giving it attack capability and ensuring its net-centric operation.
The Italian delegation was received by a senior BAF officer and driven to Air Headquarters where the visitors met Air Chief Marshal Hasan to finalise the Bangladesh interim regime’s plans to acquire the Eurofighter Typhoon whose closest competitor would be the advanced Chinese fighter JF-17 which has been co-developed by Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) and China’s Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group (CAIG).
The Bangladeshis are also exploring the J-10CE single-engine, multi-role combat aircraft.
While only China and the Pakistan Air Force operate the J-10CE, in October the Bangladesh Chief Adviser’s Office revealed that a purchase of 20 J-10CE fighters by 2027 would cost US$1.2 billion for just the airframes.
Other costs such as training and spares would bring the total price tag to US$2.2 billion, and payments would be spread over a ten-year period till FY2035-36.
Air Chief Marshal Khan heads a 12-member inter-ministerial committee whose approval would be needed for the purchase of fighter aircraft.
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Leonardo S.p.A. is a major Italian multinational company specialising in aerospace, defence and security, besides providing high-tech solutions for aircraft, helicopters, electronics and space systems, with a significant global presence, government ownership (Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance), and key partnerships.
Leonardo S.p.A. is involved in major defense programmes and focuses on innovation, digitalisation and sustainability in its operations.
The procurement requirements of the air forces of the four partner nations – Italy, the United Kingdom, Germany and Spain – are managed by the NATO Eurofighter and Tornado Management Agency (NETMA).
Eurofighter Typhoons developed by Leonardo for the Kuwait Air Force will be the first aircraft equipped with the new Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar, adding to their capability and performance.
