For many years Bangladesh wanted to purchase heavy weapons from United States . According to the latest development Bangladesh & the US are currently negotiating two agreements ACSA & GSOMIA that are required by the US law for the purchase of its Heavy Military equipment .
A US Department of State spokesperson told Jane’s , “The United States and Bangladesh are working together to expand partnerships in humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, peacekeeping, defence trade, military co-operation, and counterterrorism, as well as maritime security and regional issues.”
US, Bangladesh look to sign ‘foundational’ defence agreements – janes.com
After signing the deal Bangladesh will be able to procure advanced military hardware from the United States . If everything go well Bangladesh Air force will initially procure Boeing AH-64 Apache offered by United States . The Bangladesh Fiscal Year 2018-2019 budget included $3.45 billion in defense and security related expenditures, a 10 percent increase from the 2017-2018 budget .
Bangladesh USA Defense Deal
Back in January 2019 US Ambassador to Bangladesh Earl R Miller confirmed his countries willingness to sell Military weapon to Bangladesh . United States secretary of state Mike Pompeo discussed Acquisition and Cross Servicing Agreement ( ACSA ) with Bangladesh foreign minister Abdul Momen in Washington on 13 April. The issue of defence deal was discussed at the Bangladesh-US partnership dialogue on 10 June . In 2007 and 2008, Bangladesh & US almost finalized the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) but later Bangladesh backtracked from the agreement .
Acquisition and Cross Servicing Agreement (ACSA) – Bangladesh
The Acquisition and Cross Servicing Agreement (ACSA) statute known as “NATO Mutual Support Act” is a defense deal between United states & it’s NATO allies or coalition partners to simplify exchanges of logistic support, supplies, and services . After signing the deal Bangladesh will be part of US defense coalition . The ACSA accomplishes this by establishing a mechanism to provide logistical supplies between two parties in exchange for reimbursement either in cash, replacement in kind, or equal value exchange.
The US offered Bangladesh its Boeing AH-64 Apache Attack helicopter.
According to US 2015 Program Acquisition Costs by Weapon System report every Apache cost around 35.5 Million to 40 Million USD. a squadron of 10 helicopters may cost 400 Million dollars. According to Banglatribune The US officials, however, did not say how much it would cost Bangladesh to make the proposed purchase.They said it was not possible to talk about the prices as long discussions regarding the agreements in discussion.
