The Bangladesh Navy officially commissioned its third Shadhinata class guided missile corvette, BNS Sangram (F113) on 18 June 2020 at an official ceremony.
The C13B corvette is the most advanced warship exported by China to any country in the world to date. It is equipped with advanced sensors and weaponry besides a stealthier hull compared to the Type 056 corvettes it’s based on. But unlike the Type 056, the Shadhinata class corvettes are mainly designed for surface and anti-air warfare.
The corvette has a displacement of 1,330 tons and are 90 metres in length. It is armed with a H/PJ-26 76 mm gun, C-802A anti-ship missiles, FL-3000N SAMs and two H/PJ-17 30mm remote controlled gun turrets. The C13B lacks ASW weapons. In similarity to the Type 056, there is a helicopter landing deck without any aviation hangar. The corvette has a reported speed of 25 knots (46 km/h).
The first batch of two corvettes was ordered from Wuchang Shipyard in Wuhan in October 2012. The ships were laid down on 8 January 2013. Shadhinota (F111), the lead ship, was launched on 30 November 2014. The second ship, Prottoy (F112) was launched on 30 December 2014. Shadhinota and Prottoy were commissioned on 19 March 2016 respectively.
The second batch of two corvettes was ordered on 21 July 2015 to China. Construction of the ships began on 9 August 2016. The third ship of the class, Sangram (F113), was launched on 12 February 2018. The fourth ship of the class, Prottasha (F114) was launched on 8 April 2018. The Bangladesh Navy has received the final two Sangram and Prottasha corvettes. The corvettes were handed over to the service on 28 March and arrived at the naval base in Chittagong on 27 April 2019 BNS Sangram is headed to Lebanon to undertake a United Nation’s sanctioned UN peacekeeping mission on 9 July.
