Bangladesh Air Force officials have expressed concerns with the offer by the Korean Aerospace Industries (KAI) to sell up to 24 primary training aircraft to the Bangladesh Air Force under a Government-to-Government (G2G) agreement.
Under the terms the South Korean government would provide Bangladesh Air Force with a credit package to purchase the training aircraft.
The deal sounds good for a cash strapped air force however it’s more complicated than that as Defseca.com found out.
South Korean companies are notoriously stringent on the issue of spare parts. They manufacture equipment so that spares can only be obtained from them as well as any maintenance services. The cost of maintenance and servicing alone during the life time cycle of the equipment.
On the other hand the Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) offered the higher spec Hurkus training aircraft, which resembles the PC-21 in terms of capability. Bangladesh Air Force officials indicated Turkey was not willing to provide the Bangladesh Air Force with a loan package however they may further negotiate on the price of the aircraft given the recent offer by the Korean Aircraft Industries (KAI).
The Bangladesh Air Force may sign a contract for the aircraft later in September this year to augment their PT-6 primary training aircraft fleet with state-of-the-art trainers.
At present the Bangladesh Air Force operates nearly 60 examples of Chinese origin PT-6 trainers acquired from the 1970s and in 2018-19. Bangladesh hopes to maintain the new generation training aircraft indigenously at its aircraft MRO facilities.
Korean Aerospace Industries (KAI) held a promotional event in Sacheon, 440 km south of Seoul on 18 June. The event was attended by representatives from 16 countries including China, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Mongolia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Laos and the Philippines.
Speaking to the media Bangladesh’s ambassador to South Korea H.E. Abida Islam said Bangladesh will consider placing an order for the KT-1 training aircraft.
