What fighter can you buy for $5.85 million?

bdmilitary

New Member
Bangladesh government recently signed a deal with the Chinese friends for 16 fighter aircraft. I am wondering what fighter aircraft they have purchased as media reports did not specifically name the fighter models.

What fighter could the BAF possibily purchase if each fighter costs around $5.85 million USD?

Thanks.

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Govt to purchase 16 fighters for $93.6m
Staff Correspondent

The government will purchase 16 fighter aircraft from China for $93.6 million, Water Resources Minister Hafiz Uddin Ahmed, in charge of the defence ministry in the parliamentary affairs, informed the Jatiya Sangsad yesterday.

"An agreement was signed in the FY 2004-05 for purchasing the fighter planes from China," Hafiz Uddin said replying to a question of Jatiya Party lawmaker GM Quader. "Each plane will cost $5.85 million," he said.


Hafiz Uddin said purchase of fighter aircraft for the air force is a continuous process. The minister, however, did not elaborate the purchasing process.

The lawmaker concerned did not have scope to raise any supplementary question on the topic as the question-answer session was not held yesterday. The written questions and their replies were distributed.

The previous Awami League (AL) government purchased eight Mig-29 fighter planes from Russia at $123.98 million that raised widespread controversy.

Major (retd) Aktharuzzaman, lawmaker of the then main opposition BNP and also a member of the parliamentary standing committee on defence ministry, had instituted a suit in the High Court against the purchase.

The allegations made were: The aircraft were old and hence there had been a misuse of public funds, an advance payment had been made in violation of the terms of the agreement and the purchase process lacked transparency.

Following the suit, the High Court issued a rule nisi on the government and asked it to explain why the purchase agreement should not be declared illegal. Later, it decided that the parliamentary committee should not be prevented from examining the issue and the rule was vacated.

After coming to power, the present government filed corruption cases against the then prime minister, Sheikh Hasina and others, regarding the purchase of the planes.

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tphuang

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alright, a Chinese article on this, pretty clear the plane is J-7
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孟加拉国营的BSS通讯社报导说,孟加拉代理国防部长阿梅德(Hafizuddin Ahmed)23日在国会中表示,孟加拉已经和中国签署一项9千3百60万美元的合约,将向中国采购16架喷射战斗机,以供孟加拉空军使用。
  
  根据这项合约,孟加拉将采购的战斗机平均每架大约585万美元。虽然阿梅德并没有说明,孟加拉将向中国采购哪一型战斗机,不过,孟加拉武装部队发言人已经证实是歼七(F-7)系列战斗机。
  
  孟加拉和中国的军事关系向来稳固,孟加拉军队当中的许多军事硬体,都是购自中国。中国国务院总理温家宝去年4月展开首次南亚之行,曾经访问孟加拉首都达卡,并且签署了一份涵盖研发、贸易、经济和国防的协议草案。中国和孟加拉的贸易持续扩大,今年并且将超越印度,成为孟加拉最大的进口国。
 

Fairthought

Junior Member
Is it the J-7B, J-7E, or J-7G?

If its the J-7G, then $5 million is a bargain.

But its most likely the J-7MG (said to be the export version of the J-7E)
 

adeptitus

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The purchase is likely for used or old surplus stock. Military jet's airframe have usable lifespan of ~3,000 hours, so if the planes are well used, it'd explain the low price. Consider the numerous old Soviet fighters that went for sale on Ebay.

If the aircraft is new, then the purchase is probably subsidized by the PRC government. In a recent Nigerian purchase of 12 F7NI and 3 FT7NI aircraft, the unit cost was $16.73 million each for new aircraft.
 
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bdmilitary

New Member
The aircraft are most likely to be new because Bangladesh does not buy second hand equipment from China normally. They only purchased the Jianghu class frigate as second hand in the 1980's I think.

It was reported that Bangladesh Air Force personnel visited the Chengdu Aircraft Company plant a few days ago for inspection.

Does anyone know when the JF-17 will be ready for export and the likely price of the aircraft if fitted with Western avionics?
 

tphuang

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bdmilitary said:
The aircraft are most likely to be new because Bangladesh does not buy second hand equipment from China normally. They only purchased the Jianghu class frigate as second hand in the 1980's I think.

It was reported that Bangladesh Air Force personnel visited the Chengdu Aircraft Company plant a few days ago for inspection.

Does anyone know when the JF-17 will be ready for export and the likely price of the aircraft if fitted with Western avionics?
I can't imagine any new fighters (even one that is as low-tech as J-7) cost 5.85 million these days. I'm guessing the price then would not be including missiles and training kits and such?

JF-17 will be ready for export probably in 2009 when the full rate production starts. Of course, it will be offered earlier than that. The likely price fitted with Western avionics is not known, since both the plaaf and paf version are slated to use Chinese avionics for the first bunch.
 

Red not Dead

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tphuang said:
I can't imagine any new fighters (even one that is as low-tech as J-7) cost 5.85 million these days. I'm guessing the price then would not be including missiles and training kits and such?

JF-17 will be ready for export probably in 2009 when the full rate production starts. Of course, it will be offered earlier than that. The likely price fitted with Western avionics is not known, since both the plaaf and paf version are slated to use Chinese avionics for the first bunch.


Actually the MAPO mig was offering their 29A series at 8 mio, guess the j-7 has a lower cost. And the 29A is a way better deal than the J-7 (disregarding the refinment).
 
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