The Bangladesh Air Force (; abbreviated as BAF) is the aerial warfare branch of the Bangladesh Armed Forces, responsible for defending the airspace of Bangladesh and supporting national security operations. Operating under the Ministry of Defence, the BAF conducts air defence, reconnaissance, transport, and disaster relief missions. Established during the 1971 Liberation War, the Bangladesh Air Force has actively participated in United Nations peacekeeping operations and regional security initiatives.
The Bangladesh Air Force was officially created on 28 September 1971. Operation Kilo Flight was an operation conducted by the Bangladesh Air Force during the Bangladesh Liberation War. The BAF engages in humanitarian activities in Bangladesh (in any natural calamities, e.g., flood relief activities), and also it takes part in United Nations peacekeeping missions.
History Foundation
The Bangladesh Air Force (BAF) was officially formed on 28 September 1971 during the Bangladesh Liberation War. It consisted of revolting Bengali officers and airmen who defected from the Pakistan Air Force at Dimapur Airport in the Indian state of Nagaland. It was launched formally by flying three repaired vintage aircraft on 8 October 1971. BAF's initial personnel were around 1,000 Bengali members of the Pakistan Air Force, who were stationed in East Pakistan at the outbreak of the war and who defected to the Bangladeshi side. At that time, the embryo of the BAF was formed with less than a hundred officers and around 900 airmen. These numbers were gradually strengthened by the slow but steady defection from among the around 3,000 Bengali officers and airmen stationed and grounded in West Pakistan. By the first week of December, a total of 700 Bengali officers and airmen had defected from the western border. A significant number of BAF personnel participated in the ground warfare roles in the conflict. During the war, initially, officers of the BAF attached to the then Bangladesh Government were Chief Representative to Chakulia Guerrilla Training Camp Squadron Leader M. Hamidullah Khan, Group Captain A. K. Khandker, DCOS Army (Liaison) later Sub-Sector Commander and as Commander - Sector 11, Flight Lieutenant Liaqat as Battalion Adjutant, Flying Officer Rouf, Flying Officer Ashraf, and Flight Sergeant Shafiqullah as company commanders. Squadron Leader Sadruddin Hossain, Squadron Leader Wahidur Rahim, Squadron Leader Nurul Qader, Squadron Leader Shamsur Rahman, and Squadron Leader Ataur Rahman as sub sector company commanders. Wing Commander Khademul Bashar participated in the war as Commander-Sector 6.
Indian civilian authorities and the IAF donated 1 DC-3 Dakota (gifted by the Maharaja of Jodhpur), 1 Twin Otter plane, and 1 Alouette III helicopter for the new-born Bangladesh Air Force. The Bengali rank and file fixed up the World War II vintage runway at Dimapur Airport, then began rigging the aircraft for combat duty. The Dakota was modified to carry 500-pound bombs, but for technical reasons, it was only used to ferry Bangladesh government personnel. The Alouette III helicopter was rigged to fire 14 rockets from pylons attached to its side and had .303 Browning machine guns installed, in addition to having 1-inch (25 mm) steel plate welded to its floor for extra protection. The Twin Otter boasted 7 rockets under each of its wings and could deliver ten 25-pound bombs, which were rolled out of the aircraft by hand through a makeshift door. This tiny force was dubbed Kilo Flight, the first fighting formation of the nascent Bangladesh Air Force. Squadron Leader Sultan Mahmud was appointed as the commander of the 'Kilo Flight'.
The Bangladesh Air Force first went into action on 3 December 1971, at the start of the Indo-Pakistani war of 1971, and attacked the Chattogram-based oil tank depot. The oil tank depot was totally destroyed by that air attack. The air attack was conducted by Capt. Akram Ahmed. The second Bangladesh Air Force attack was on 6 December 1971 at Moulvibazar Pakistani Army barracks under the command of Squadron Leader Sultan Mahmud, where Captain Shahabuddin Ahmed was co-pilot.
After the surrender of Pakistan, all personnel reported to Bangladesh Forces commander-in-chief, Col. M. A. G. Osmani. On 7 April 1972, the post of the chief of air staff went into effect by order of the President of Bangladesh. The combined command of Bangladesh Forces had been abolished with effect from 7 April 1972 and replaced by three separate commands for the three services with acting chiefs of staff. The Bangladesh Air Force gradually began to reoccupy and reform all the airbase structures throughout the country, HQ administrative buildings, and fuel and weapons depots.
For participating in the war, the air force won one Bir Sreshtho, six Bir Uttom, one Bir Bikrom, and fifteen Bir Protik.
After independence
After independence, in November–December 1972, the BAF received a significant donation from the former USSR. Among the aircraft delivered were ten single-seat Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21MFs, two twin-seat Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21UMs, and twelve Mil Mi-8 utility helicopters. Later on, China also supplied some equipment. Apart from the aircraft of Kilo Flight, which were donated by India, most Pakistan Air Force aircraft grounded in Dhaka due to runway cratering by the Indian Air Force during the liberation war were sabotaged before surrender. Of these, four Canadair Sabres were also returned to service by Bangladeshi ground technicians in 1972. The Pakistan Air Force, prior to 1971, had many Bengali pilots, air traffic controllers, technicians, and administrative officers, and the general Bengali representation in the Pakistan Air Force was around 15% (and 18% in the officer ranks) of the 25,000-odd manpower of the Pakistan Air Force in 1971, which, although lower than their share in the population (50%), was much higher than the 6% numbers in the Army. Many of them distinguished themselves during the Bangladesh Liberation War; they provided the nascent Bangladesh Air Force with a good number of trained personnel. It had grown with the repatriation of the around 2,000 Air Force personnel from Pakistan in 1973 after the Simla Agreement.
In 1977, some personnel of the Bangladesh Air Force, led by Sergeant Afsar, attempted to stage a coup, which resulted in the deaths of 11 air force officers. After the mutiny was put down by the then provost marshal, Wing Commander M. Hamidullah Khan, President Ziaur Rahman even considered disbanding the Bangladesh Air Force in favour of an army aviation wing. However, this plan did not go ahead. President Ziaur Rahman placed Hamidullah in charge of Command and Communication Control at the old parliamentary building, present day Prime Minister's office. Hamidullah reorganized the forces intelligence to the directorate general level under the authority of the president. Hence DGFI was born.
Defence co-operation improved with Pakistan considerably under the government of Ziaur Rahman and the military regime of Hussain Muhammad Ershad in Bangladesh, which had grown more distant from its wartime ally India. Common concerns over India's regional meddling have influenced strategic co-operation leading to a gift of several squadrons of refurbished Shenyang F-6 fighter aircraft from Pakistan to the Bangladesh Air Force in the late 1980s. Bangladesh bought 8 MiG-29s from Russia in 1999 under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
The Bangladesh Air Force Academy (BAFA) received National Colours in 2003 from the then-Prime Minister Khaleda Zia. The Recruits' Training School (RTS) was awarded BAF Colours by ex-chief of air staff (AVM Fakhrul Azam) in 2004. In 2017, the Bangladesh Air Force was awarded the Independence Day Award.
COVID-19 pandemic operations The Bangladesh Air Force was active during the COVID-19 pandemic. The BAF provided emergency medevac for many critical COVID-19 patients with their helicopters. BAF also evacuated immigrants and migrant workers, and airlifted tons of relief materials for home and abroad with their C-130B and C-130J cargo aircraft.
Forces Goal 2030
The Bangladesh Air Force has an ambitious modernisation plan to be implemented in upcoming years under Forces Goal 2030. As per the goal, the air force is to be a strong deterrent force to well protect the sky of Bangladesh. Plans are made to strengthen both air power and land based air defence capabilities. Since the formulation of the forces goal 2030, the BAF has developed in many folds.
The Bangladesh Air Force has set up an advanced training unit named the 105 Advance Jet Training Unit which is a dedicated fighter pilot training unit of the BAF. The unit consists of three training squadrons, which will provide advanced training to the pilots selected for operating the fighter jets.
Since 2010, the BAF has taken delivery of sixteen Chengdu F-7BGI fighter aircraft, sixteen Yakovlev Yak-130 advanced jet trainers, two C-130J transport aircraft, nine K-8W jet trainer aircraft, three Let L-410 Turbolet transport trainer aircraft, and twenty-three CJ-6 basic trainers. The process is going on for the procurement of sixteen multirole combat aircraft.
The BAF has also taken delivery of 21 Mi-171Sh combat transport helicopters, four AgustaWestland AW139 maritime SAR helicopters, and two AW 119KX training helicopters since 2010. The procurement process for eight attack helicopters is ongoing.
The BAF gained surface-to-air missile capability by introducing FM-90 short-range air defence missiles in 2011. To date, BAF has taken delivery of two regiments of FM-90 systems. The BAF received an Italian long-range Selex RAT-31DL air defence radar in 2019.
Bangladesh has signed a government-to-government contract with the United Kingdom for the supply of two off-the-shelf C-130J aircraft currently in service with the Royal Air Force. In June 2019, another contract was signed for the procurement of an additional three off-the-shelf C-130J aircraft from the UK. As of September 2020, three of the aircraft have been delivered.
On 20 June 2018, the Bangladesh Air Force signed a contract with China National Aero-Technology Import & Export Corporation (CATIC) for the procurement of seven K-8 jet training aircraft. On 15 October 2020, BAF received these seven K-8 jet trainers.
Recruitment of airwomen For the first time in the history of the BAF, women were recruited as airwomen in 2020. On 25 November 2020, after nine months of training, 64 women passed out from the 'Recruits Training School', which is situated in Shamshernagar (Moulvibazar District), as Aircraftman - II (AC-II), the batch was '48th Entry'.
UN mission deployment
More than 600 BAF personnel, including officers and airmen, and 10 BAF helicopters are currently deployed to various UN missions. Another C-130 transport aircraft is providing support to a UN mission in Africa. With the deployment of C-130 aircraft and its personnel, Bangladesh became the largest troop-contributing country on UN peacekeeping missions.
Chief of Air Staff
The Bangladesh Air Force is headed by an air officer, and he is in the rank of air chief marshal. In 1972, this chief of air staff (COAS) was created (in April 1972), and the first air chief was A. K. Khandker, whose rank was air vice marshal. All air chiefs till Fakhrul Azam (served as air chief from 2002 to 2007) were air vice marshals; Shah Mohammad Ziaur Rahman was the first air chief who served in this post in the rank of air marshal from 2007 to 2012. Abu Esrar (served as air chief from 2015 to 2018) was the first person who served as air chief in the rank of air chief marshal. Since then, all air chiefs have been air chief marshals.
Organisation