Bangladesh Army to Procure Attack Helicopter

Bangladesh Army Directorate General Defence Purchase (DGDP) has published an acquisition programme on its internet page making TUSAŞ’s T129 Attack helicopter a “powerful” candidate.

The DGDP which is responsible for acquisition programmes has published a PDF document that is stamped as “restricted”. When compared requested requirements, Turkish Aerospace (TUSAŞ) production T-129 Attack meets major and critical requirements.

According to the document published on September 25th, the army will acquire attack helicopters with armament for 2021-2022. The interested companies are asked to send their documents by September 26th.

The document includes 13 pages’ information about requirements. The army wants a helicopter with a twin-engine as a single-engine helicopter will not be accepted. The helicopter must be multi-mission capable, versatile in operation, carry lethal weapon systems with precision engagement capacity against both air and ground targets. (The document does not mention naval use against surface targets) and it must be agile.

The helicopter must be able to conduct armed reconnaissance missions in all-weather conditions, conduct aerial attacks, carry out precision strikes on point targets, and conduct armed escorts. It should provide fire support to ground troops (CAS) and suppress enemy air defence. The helicopter must conduct a deep strike behind the enemy line.

The army wants helicopters to engage in air-to-ground combat with enemy infantry, tanks, and armoured vehicles, as well as air-to-air combat with UAVs and aircraft.

As previously stated, the helicopter should be able to operate day and night in all weather conditions. To engage a variety of ground and aerial targets, the weapon system must include auto-cannons, machine guns, rockets, and guided anti-tank missiles.

In critical areas, the helicopter should have aircraft survivability equipment and be able to withstand hits from small arms fire.

Active and passive countermeasures, missile warning systems, laser warning systems, radio frequency jammers, radar warning receivers, and infrared countermeasures must all be installed on the helicopter.

The tandem configuration restricts helicopter crew capacity to a minimum of two. With a payload capacity of at least 600 kg. Temperatures ranging from -5 to 44 degrees Celsius should be suitable for the operation of the rotorcraft.

The helicopter"s endurance must be at least 2 hours, with a cruise speed of 200 km/h and a maximum speed of 270 km/h. The maximum climb rate must be 9m/sec, with a minimum service ceiling of 14 500 feet. The combat radius must be at least 170 kilometres.

The tender will be open to countries in Group A and B. However, there is no list of countries available.

The engine must be a turbine with dual FADEC or a similar system. For take-off, the engine power rating must be at least 1,300 SHP. The engine should have a minimum continuous power of 1,200 SHP.

Most of the technical requirements are met by the Turkish T-129 attack and reconnaissance helicopter.

T-129 Technical Details