The Bangladesh Navy launched a variety of missiles during exercises in the Bay of Bengal. Among those missiles were the Chinese-origin QW-2 man-portable air defence system (MANPADS).
These shoulder-launched anti-air missile systems are standardised aboard all major Bangladesh Navy warships to provide air defence within range of 6 km.
The QW-2 (Vanguard 2) is a third-generation all-aspect IR-homing, ‘fire-and-forget’ surface-to-air missile developed by Shenyang-based CASIC 119 Factory (Shenyang Hangtian Xinle Ltd). The QW-2 was first revealed during the 1998 Farnborough Airshow. The missile and launcher of the QW-2 bear strong resemblance to those of the Russian 9K310 Igla-1, and the two missile systems are believed to be comparable in performance. It has a comparable performance to the US-made FIM-92E Stinger.
The minimum operating altitude for the QW-2 is 10 m and has a reaction time of below 5 seconds in combat. It features a newly developed dual-band passive IR seeker with strong resistance to heat flares dispensed by the target and solar/ground heat, thus improving the missile’s performance in day/night, all-weather conditions.
The Bangladesh Navy operates an undisclosed number of QW-2 MANPADS however the Bangladesh Army acquired 250 launchers in 2007. The Army has started replacing its QW-2 MANPADS with Saab RBS-70E from Sweden.
