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Bangladesh dissatisfied with quality of military supplies received from China: Reports Bangladesh-China
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Bangladesh dissatisfied with quality of military supplies received from China: Reports

Bangladesh Live News | @banglalivenews | 12 Aug 2022, 06:33 pm

Dhaka: Bangladesh seems to be dissatisfied with the quality of military supplies received from China, media reports said.

China uses the instrument of arms supply as instrumentum regni in Asia, that is, it tries to bind some countries with military dependence. However, the very low quality of the equipment produced, below Western standards, would seem to undermine this project, DIFESA Online reported.

Given the economic situation that was anything but prosperous, Dhaka was forced to turn to the Chinese, who practiced much more advantageous prices than Westerners. For this reason the Army acquired light weapons, artillery and armored vehicles produced (mostly copied) by Norinco, reports the online portal.

Currently, the Dhaka government is engaged in an upgrade program for the armored component. In 2011, in fact, it purchased the Chinese MBT-2000 tank, built by Norinco starting from the Type 90-IIM tank, and is also updating 170 Type 59 tanks to the Type 59G standard. While more recently they have modified the Type 69 fleet to the standard Type 69IIG.

The Bangladesh Army, in an attempt to mordernize artillery, replaced the Chinese-made pieces by acquiring 155/52 mm Serbian self-propelled rotor Nora B-52.

China provided Bangladesh with defense equipment worth a total of $ 3 billion over the period 2011-2020. Beijing is also in the process of setting up a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) center and submarine base in Bangladesh, reports DIFESA Online.

The naval base, located near the village of Magnama in the province of Cox's Bazar, will take on a strategic value of the highest value, as it will be located about 70 km from the border with Myanmar, in the Pekua Upazila area overlooking the Kutubdia canal. All this is probably linked to the purchase by the Dhaka Navy of two Chinese Ming class submarines (Type 035G), the news portal reported.

The Bangladesh Army recently expressed its displeasure with Norinco's supply of tank ammunition, rejecting it as not being tested.

China Precision Machinery Import Export Company (CPMIEC) also supplied Bangladesh with some equipment related to the HQ-7 short-range surface-to-air missiles, the news portal reported.

Several problems, however, have been reported with respect to transport vehicles and missiles, including the engine, communication system and infrared guidance device.

The Bangladeshi Navy also said it was dissatisfied with the radars provided by China Shipbuilding & Offshore International.