Comments on F-16
I find O. H. Kabir's comments regarding the procurement of F-16 to upgrade Bangladesh's Air Force quite pointless. The sale of F-16s to both India and Pakistan is nothing more than an income generation exercise to benefit the world's largest arms dealer, Lockheed Martin. Even if Bangladesh were to procure a squadron of the latest, most advanced fighters in the world, it would be of little use since if India were to have ambitions against Bangladesh, its overwhelming military might would be hard to defend against. The most appropriate form of defence for a county like Bangladesh would be to invest in missile technology such as Surface-to-Air (SAM) and Surface-to-Ground batteries in order to inflict as much damage as possible to any invading force. This in itself would be a deterrent against any aggression. Even if one were to invest in aircraft, the most appropriate choice would be the Sukhoi Su-27 multi-role fighter bombers which have more hard points, hence affording an opportunity to carry more offensive weapons, and has high fuel storage capability allowing longer flight duration, than the Mig-29, F-15 Eagles, F-16 Fighting Falcons or F18 Hornets.
Since Bangladesh' military has proved itself fully capable in serving international needs via UN peacekeeping duties, it's my belief that the defence of the nation should focus on missile technology and that any future procurement of combat aircraft should be tailored towards ship-borne take-off and landing which would provide our peacekeepers air support at a moment's notice. The only such aircraft that exists is the FA2 Sea Harrier although the F35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) is planned to supersede the Sea Harrier from the majority of sea-borne forces.
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