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| A Mi-171E helicopter of the Iraqi Army (Image: Wiki Commons) |
By Franz-Stefan Gady
Moscow will provide a $1 billion loan to Dhaka for the purchase of Russian military hardware.
In April of this year, Russia and Bangladesh signed a contract for the purchase of six Russian-made Mil Mi-171Sh combat transport helicopters as well as one Mi-171E medium-lift transport aircraft, according to Ivan Goncharenko, First Deputy CEO of Rosoboronexport .
“A contract was signed in April 2015 on the delivery of six Mi-171Sh military and transport helicopters, and also one Mi-171E transport helicopter in its Salon option,” he told TASS this Monday in Moscow. Earlier reports spoke of only five Mi-171Sh helicopters. In June 2015, Rosoboronexport – the major Russian specialized agency responsible for arms export – also stated that delivery of the first aircraft has already started (production of the helicopters has already begun in February of this year).
Both countries signed an $1 billion arms contract in January 2013 – the biggest since Bangladesh’s independence in 1971. Next to the helicopters it includes armored vehicles, infantry weapons, and air defense systems. Dhaka is allegedly also interested in the purchase of Russian-made diesel-electric submarines. In addition, Moscow announced in February 2015 that it will supply 16 training and combat Fighter Aeroplanes Yak- 130 to Bangladesh.
Read the full story at The Diplomat