TSAMTO, December 28. The Government of Bangladesh has decided to purchase eight Russian Mi-28NE attack helicopters manufactured by Rostvertol PJSC, part of the Russian Helicopters holding, for the country's Air Force.
As reported by Airrecognition.com Recently, the Ministry of Finance of Bangladesh received a proposal for preliminary approval of the purchase of helicopters in Russia. It says about the decision to purchase eight Mi-28NE attack helicopters with financing in the current and next financial years through direct interstate negotiations with the Russian government or an appointed agency (approx.TSAMTO: apparently, it means "Rosoboroexport"). The contract value is estimated at 41 billion. rupees ($478 million).
The project is being implemented within the framework of the Forces Goal 2030 program, which provides for the gradual strengthening of the national defense system of Bangladesh.
The fact that the Ministry of Defense of Bangladesh is holding a tender for the purchase of new specialized attack helicopters to equip the army aviation of the Ground Forces became known last year. At a media briefing held on January 21, 2020, Boeing confirmed that the AH-64E Apache attack helicopter had been selected as a potential candidate for the supply of the Bangladesh Armed Forces.
The Bangladesh Army Aviation Command in the middle of this year published a request for information on the website of the Directorate General of Defense Procurement (Directorate General Defense Purchase). Potential suppliers were asked to provide answers by September 26, 2021.
The Dhaka Tribune published an interview with a senior defense systems consultant on the portal in September Defseca.com Asaf Shahi, who stated that the following candidates for potential acquisition are being considered: AH-64E (Boeing), Tiger (Eurocopter), Mi-28NE (Russian Helicopters) and T-129B (Turkish Aerospace). All helicopters, except the T-129B, are armed with a 30 mm cannon.
As A.Shahi said at the time, the chances of the Mi-28NE are quite high, since Bangladesh is a major operator of the fleet of Mi-171SH helicopters and other modifications in all power structures with a developed maintenance and repair infrastructure.