Three Chinese-built "battleships" are listed, and the Bangladesh Navy has taken a step forward, two of which are second-hand 053H

In the magical year of 2020, the armament plans of many countries have been affected. However, despite the impact, the arrangements in the plan must be implemented gradually.

At the beginning of November 2020, the Bangladesh Navy ushered in its "big day": 5 naval vessels were installed at the same time.

Three of them are "large ships" with a displacement of more than 1,000 tons, and there are two small catamaran survey ships. It is worth mentioning that these three "thousand-ton ships" (relative to the actual equipment of the Bangladesh Navy) are all from China.

Among them, the F16 frigate is the original Chinese Navy’s 053H3 frigate No. 522 "Lianyungang", F19 is the original Chinese Navy’s No. 523 Putian, and another Chinese-built warship is the C13B type, with the ship number F114. It is the last of the 4 C13B frigates ordered by the Bangladesh Navy from China and is an export type of the 056 frigate.

This model of introducing second-hand Chinese warships and purchasing some cutting-edge warships has become the key to the rapid development of the Bangladesh Navy. This allows the country to have a small and capable modern navy of appropriate scale and relatively advanced without having to consume too much financial resources.

If only the aforementioned warships are mentioned, it is obviously not a development model. From the perspective of the overall development of the Bangladesh Navy, we can clearly find this point.

Next, we will briefly talk about the development context of the Bangladesh Navy, so that everyone has a more comprehensive understanding of the development model of the navy of small and medium countries.

We know that the present Bangladesh is the former East Pakistan. Historically, Bangladesh, India and Pakistan are all part of British India.

After the partition of India and Pakistan, Pakistan had two parts. One part is now Pakistan, which was also called West Pakistan at that time, and the other part is now Bangladesh, which was also called Dongba.

After the Third Indo-Pakistani War in 1971, Dongba, namely Bangladesh, officially became independent and became a brand new country. Its territory covers an area of ​​147,500 square kilometers and has a coastline of 550 kilometers. The southern bay of the country is the famous Bay of Bengal.

Any coastal country has the right and needs to develop a navy, and the same is true for the newly established Bangladesh. However, when the country’s navy was established, the possessions were relatively small, mostly old small ships. When China and Bangladesh cooperated on maritime weapons, the latter initially imported some small missile boats.

In 1989, China sold the Xiangtan ship No. 556, which had just been in service for less than two years and had built meritorious service in the Nansha naval battle, to the Bangladesh Navy.

This kind of resale is actually a strong support for the construction of the Bangladesh Navy. After all, it was not easy for us to take out the 053H1 frigate that was just in service at that time.

After the Bangladesh Navy received the warship, it was renamed the Ottoman, with the port number F18, making the ship the capital ship of the Bangladesh Navy.

Due to topography and climate factors, Bangladesh is deeply affected by floods, coupled with the country’s large population and shortage of land resources, making economic development more difficult. The economic situation directly affects army building, so the development of naval armaments as a "golden beast" has been relatively slow for many years.

In the late 1990s, in order to thank Bangladesh for its support, Saudi Arabia invested 130 million U.S. dollars to help update its naval armaments.

Bangladesh has chosen South Korea’s Daewoo Shipyard for thousands of choices. Korean shipbuilding has always been known for building shells and then piecing together equipment. Coupled with the fact that the small orders from Bangladesh may not be taken seriously, the result is that the problem of the warship after delivery is so serious that it has to be retired early.

However, it is obviously not cost-effective to throw away the heavily-purchased warship. Therefore, the frigate named Benjabande Lake was renovated and returned to service and became the flagship of the Bangladesh Navy.

At the beginning of the 21st century, Bangladesh’s economic development, coupled with the pressure of the security environment, decided to update its armaments and build a modern armed force.

In 2009, Bangladesh launched a development plan called "Military Goals 2030", which required a large-scale expansion of Bangladesh's army, navy and air force, and the promotion of military modernization.

As far as the naval fleet is concerned, the only modern warships that Bangladesh could call the only modern warship were the troubled Lake Benjabande and the Ottoman, which was purchased from China and then modernized and modified.

Although we have a lot of money on hand, Bangladesh is still very pragmatic and did not waste limited funds. Instead, we chose to take the “dual combination” of the introduction of second-hand warships and the procurement of some cutting-edge warships mentioned above.

And this path happened to catch up with the good times, otherwise it would not be implemented.

When the time entered the 2010s, the development of the Chinese Navy entered the fast lane, a large number of old warships were retired, and the new warships were updated very quickly.

Bangladesh has thus introduced two 053H2 guided-missile frigates retired by the Chinese Navy-Huangshi Ship No. 535 and Ship Wuhu Ship No. 536. Both warships have been in service for more than 20 years when they are retired. It can be said that they have dedicated their youth. To the motherland.

However, although the technical status of this type of warship at the time of retirement is of little value to us, it is still a proper capital ship when placed in the position of the Bangladesh Navy.

Therefore, after modification, these two warships were also received by the Bangladesh Navy at a small price, and the modern combat capability of its navy has almost doubled.

The Bangladesh Navy’s vision is not limited to the introduction of second-hand main frigates. Its plan to develop naval armaments in the 2010s is very systematic.

The country also introduced two retired 035G conventional submarines from the Chinese Navy at a price of 200 million U.S. dollars, allowing its navy to extend its combat power from water to underwater. Although the 035G conventional submarine is not very advanced, it is still very suitable for use in the waters of Bangladesh after being modified, and the price of 200 million US dollars to get 2 submarines and corresponding services, which can be said to be "cabbage" in terms of related equipment. Price".

In addition to the introduction of second-hand equipment, Bangladesh has also signed an order for the introduction of C13B frigates.

The C13B frigate has a displacement of about 1,300 tons, a length of about 90 meters, a width of about 11 meters, a maximum speed of 25.5 knots, and a battery life of 2,000 nautical miles. It has air defense and anti-ship capabilities and a certain level of shore attack capabilities. In addition, the frigate is also capable of performing maritime surveillance, patrolling, protecting marine rights, search and rescue, etc., and can perform services in tropical regions.

This type of frigate contract was signed when China was vigorously building the Type 056 frigate, and many indicators of the C13B frigate were comparable to those of the Type 056 frigate. Therefore, the C13B frigate is also regarded as an export version of the 056 frigate. Of course, the specific configuration and equipment must match the user's needs.

At the beginning of 2016, the first batch of two C13B frigates were delivered to the Bangladesh Navy, F111 and F112.

While introducing relatively large warships, Bangladesh has also independently manufactured 50-meter-class Padma patrol boats with the support of China, gradually becoming capable of building warships.

In addition, in 2012, China also manufactured a 600-ton LPC large-scale missile patrol boat for Bangladesh. The boat is equipped with a 76mm main gun, two 6-barrel rocket deep missile launchers, and two 25mm twin artillery. , Two C704 anti-ship missiles arranged symmetrically at a certain angle on the left and right are a typical "small boat carrying cannon" configuration.

Moreover, the follow-up boats of this type of missile boat are also provided by China with key equipment, and the Bangladesh shipyard is assembled and produced in accordance with the license. It can be said that it is another typical example of China's "entitlement to fish."

In 2017, when the next two guided missile boats were launched at the Bangladesh shipyard, the Chief of Staff of the Bangladesh Navy said in his speech: This is a very advanced warship, using China’s advanced shipbuilding technology, and opening the Sino-Bangladesh military trade project cooperation New stage. The addition of the two LPCs will enhance Bangladesh's shipbuilding and defense capabilities.

In addition to introducing various types of Chinese-built ships, Bangladesh is also receiving suitable second-hand warships around the world to enhance its navy’s naval control capabilities.

It is worth mentioning that despite the introduction of second-hand warships and the procurement of cutting-edge light ships, the overall expenditure is not small. Especially the purchase of ships is one thing, and the training, use and maintenance of talents also require large sums of money.

The inherent reason why Bangladesh has such a big deal in a few years is still due to the rapid economic growth.

In 2008, the country’s GDP was only 91.63 billion U.S. dollars, but in 2018 its GDP reached 274.02 billion U.S. dollars; in 2008, Bangladesh’s military expenditure was only over 1 billion U.S. dollars; by 2018, its military expenditures It reached more than 3 billion US dollars-more than the combined military investment of Armenia and Azerbaijan, which are now at war.

In just 10 years, Bangladesh’s GDP and military expenditures are three times that of 10 years ago. This growth rate is extremely rare in the world.

Therefore, a relatively solid family background is the key to the continuous expansion of Bangladesh's naval power.

Therefore, after successively introducing the above-mentioned equipment, the Bangladesh Navy has introduced two C13B frigates made in China and two 053H3 guided missile frigates retired by the Chinese Navy.

The two C13B frigates are numbered F113 and F114. The C13B that was newly listed earlier this month is F114. If there is no problem with Bangladesh’s economy and there is demand, this type of warship may be introduced in the future. .

The two Chinese-made decommissioned frigates introduced by the Bangladesh Navy are the Lianyungang Ship No. 522 and the Putian Ship No. 523 that we mentioned in the article. These two warships and the last C13B frigate were listed at the same time.

So now in the Bangladeshi navy, China’s 1,000-ton battleship has 1 053H1 frigate, 2 053H2 frigates, 2 053H3 frigates, 4 C13B frigates, and 2 035G submarines and a series of guided missile boats and patrol boats. .

It is no exaggeration to say that in the Bangladesh Navy, Chinese-built warships have become the absolute main force.

For small and medium-sized countries, it is not advisable to stay ahead on the road to arms building. This is even true for individual large countries, and Bangladesh has such ready-made examples around it.

Everyone has dreams, but dreams surpass one's actual ability, and that can only mean that the higher the dream, the harder the fall.

As far as Bangladesh is concerned, its own economic strength and national strength are always limited, and it is even more impossible to build the navy without heavy investment. However, while Bangladesh is developing its own national strength, it has chosen a suitable path, which has provided a good example for the military construction of small and medium-sized countries.