Bangladesh Naval Aviation ( bn, বাংলাদেশ নেভাল এভিয়েশন, Bangladesh Nebhala Ebhiẏesana) is the Aviation wing of

Bangladesh Navy The Bangladesh Navy ( bn, বাংলাদেশ নৌবাহিনী, Bangladesh Nou Bahini) is the naval warfare branch of the Bangladesh Armed Forces, responsible for Bangladesh's of maritime territorial area, and the defence of imp ...

. The unit started its journey on 14 July 2011 making the Bangladesh Navy a two-dimensional force.

History

The

started its journey during the Bangladesh liberation war in 1971. At that time navy was a force equipped with surface ships only. Coming in the new millennium, the Bangladesh Navy started to feel the necessity of being a three-dimensional force equipped with

submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

s and

aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines ...

. It was the year of 2009 when the first two aircraft were ordered for the navy. The aircraft were two

AgustaWestland AW109 The AgustaWestland AW109, originally the Agusta A109, is a lightweight, twin-engine, eight-seat multi-purpose helicopter designed and initially produced by the Italian rotorcraft manufacturer Agusta. It was the first all-Italian helicopter to ...

search and rescue Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

s. The naval aviation formally started its journey on 14 July 2011 with the induction of the helicopters. Two

Dornier 228 The Dornier 228 is a twin-turboprop STOL utility aircraft, designed and first manufactured by Dornier GmbH (later DASA Dornier, Fairchild-Dornier) from 1981 until 1998. Two hundred and forty-five were built in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany. In 19 ...

maritime patrol aircraft A maritime patrol aircraft (MPA), also known as a patrol aircraft, maritime reconnaissance aircraft, or by the older American term patrol bomber, is a fixed-wing aircraft designed to operate for long durations over water in maritime patrol roles ...

joined the service in 2013 to mark the beginning of fixed-wing aircraft fleet. After the formulation of the

Forces Goal 2030 Forces Goal 2030 is a military modernization program of the Bangladesh Armed Forces which began in 2009 and revised in 2017, designed to the capabilities of the three services of the Bangladesh armed forces: the Army, the Navy and the Air Forc ...

in 2010, the development of the naval aviation is going on in accordance with the goal. Bangladesh Naval Aviation joined in the search operation of missing

Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 (MH370/MAS370) was an international passenger flight operated by Malaysia Airlines that disappeared on 8 March 2014 while flying from Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia to its planned destination ...

with a Dornier 228NG MPA in March 2014. The search was renewed in May 2014 when an Australian exploration company claimed to have traced aircraft debris in the Bay of Bengal.

Markings

Bangladesh Navy aircraft uses green and red roundels keeping similarity with the

flag of Bangladesh The national flag, national flag of Bangladesh, was adopted officially on 17 January 1972. It consists of a red disc or sun on top of a dark green banner. The red disc is offset slightly toward the hoist so that it appears centered when the flag i ...

. The naval ensign is placed at the tail of the aircraft. The service titles BANGLADESH NAVY appear on the port side in English and starboard side in Bangla script.

Air bases

Currently naval aviation operates from their own hangar situated beside the

Shah Amanat International Airport Shah Amanat International Airport ( bn, শাহ আমানত আন্তর্জাতিক বিমানবন্দর ''Shah Amanôt Antôrjatik Bimanbôndôr'') is an international airport serving Bangladesh's southeastern port ...

Chattogram Chittagong ( /ˈtʃɪt əˌɡɒŋ/ ''chit-uh-gong''; ctg, চিটাং; bn, চিটাগং), officially Chattogram ( bn, চট্টগ্রাম), is the second-largest city in Bangladesh after Dhaka and third largest city in B ...

Inventory

Current

Future modernization plans

BN has issued two tenders for the procurement of four helicopters with anti-submarine warfare (ASW), anti-surface vessel warfare (ASuW), over-the-horizon targeting (OTHT), maritime search and rescue (MSAR), medical evacuation (MEDEVAC), casualty evacuation (CASEVAC) and special mission capabilities. In December 2019, the prime minister discussed about the past, present and future development programs for the Bangladesh Navy at the winter passing out parade of the

Bangladesh Naval Academy The Bangladesh Naval Academy is situated at the mouth of the Karnaphuli River at Patenga, Chittagong District, Bangladesh. Bathed by the river Karnaphuli on the east and sheltered on the south by the Bay of Bengal, BNA stands in a panoramic natu ...

. She told that, there is a plan to induct more

anti-submarine warfare Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations are t ...

s and long range MPA in the near future.

References

{{authority control Bangladesh Navy Aviation in Bangladesh Naval aviation services