Bangladesh Air Force gets Yak-130 combat trainer aircraft, AW 139 rescue helicopters

Russian-made Yak-130 combat trainer aircraft and Italian AW 139 helicopters have been inducted into the Bangladesh Air Force (BAF).

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 6 Dec 2015, 06:05 AM
Updated : 6 Dec 2015, 01:08 PM

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina handed them over to the Air Force on Sunday at the BAF Bangabandhu Base in Dhaka.

The Yakovlev Yak-130 is a subsonic two-seat advanced jet trainer and light attack aircraft or lead-in fighter trainer.

The AW139 is a 15-seat medium sized twin-engine search and rescue helicopter developed by Italy’s AgustaWestland.

Bangladesh had signed a deal with Russian state arms export agency Rosoboronexport to buy 24 Yak-130 trainers developed by the Irkut Corporation.

The deal was signed in 2013, according to Rosoboronexport head Anatoly Isaikin in an interview with Russia's ‘Kommersant’ newspaper.

Bangladesh also signed a deal to purchase two AW 139 helicopters, which will be used by the BAF to perform maritime search and rescue (SAR) operations and other utility missions, says AgustaWestland's website.