Bangladesh Navy commissions five new vessels

The Bangladesh Navy (BN) commissioned five new vessels – including two frigates, one corvette, and two survey ships – in a ceremony held on 5 November at its naval facilities in the port city of Chattogram (also known as Chittagong).

Among the ships entering service that day were the frigates BNS Umer Farroq – also spelled Umar Farooq – (with pennant number F 16) and BNS Abu Ubaidah (F 19); the Shadhinota (Type C13B)-class corvette BNS Prottasha (F 114); and survey ships BNS Darshak and BNS Tallashi , according to a statement by Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the Bangladeshi military.

The BN commissioned five new vessels on 5 November, including frigates BNS Umer Farroq (also spelled Umar Farooq ) and BNS Abu Ubaidah , both of which were previously in service with the Chinese navy. (ISPR)

China had handed over the two Type 053H3 (Jiangwei II)-class frigates to the BN in December 2019 following an overhaul. The 112 m-long vessels, which can reach a top speed of 24 n miles, were previously in service with the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) where they were known as Jiaxing and Lianyungang .

According to Chinese media, the BN procured the two ex-PLAN frigates under a deal signed in June 2018.

The primary armament on the ships comprises a twin-barrelled Type 79A (H/PJ-33A) 100 mm gun, YJ-83K anti-ship missiles fired from slant-mounted containerised launchers, an octuple launcher for HHQ-7 short-range surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), and two H/PJ-12 (Type 730A) seven-barrelled 30 mm close-in weapon systems.

As for BNS Prottasha