BNS Bangabandhu

BNS Bangabandhu is a Guided Missile Frigate of the Bangladesh Navy, and is one of the most modern currently in service. She is currently moored at Chittagong, serving with the Commodore Commanding BN Flotilla (COMBAN). About 200 personnel serve aboard her. This frigate type is said to the most modern frigate of its class according to the Bangladesh Navy.

History
Named for Bangladesh's founding father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman who is popularly termed as Bangabandhu, she is capable of serving in a combat role, as well as performing peacetime maritime duties. She was laid down on March 11, 1998 at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, Republic of Korea, and commissioned on June 20, 2001 as BNS Bangabandhu

Later, the ship was decommissioned for various warranty repair works and placed in reserve class-III as DW 2000-H frigate on February 13, 2002. In 2007 she was commissioned again as BNS Khalid Bin Walid. Later on 2009 she was renamed as BNS Bangabandhu.On 29 August 2013, the ship got the national standard.



Armament
This vessel is said to be the most modern frigate of its class in the region according to official statistics. It is equipped with some of the most advanced systems available; the Otomat Mk.II Block.IV AShMs on board the vessel are an advanced and highly capable missile system with a range of 180+ km; these AShMs can change course mid-flight and the warship does not need to be repositioned to fire at the target (unlike other anti-ship missiles). It will be upgraded with the addition of another quad Otomat AShM launcher. Additionally the vessel is armed with sophisticated point-defence surface to air missile system in the form of 8 FM-90N SAMs (15 km range) and 4 x Otobreda 40 mm/70 (2 twin) compact CIWS. The vessel is also armed with 6 x 324 mm B-515 (2 triple) tubes which fire the EuroTorp Whitehead A244/S Mod.3 torpedoes (which is the latest version of that particular torpedo). All of these weapons systems together with the 1 x Otobreda 76 mm/62 Super Rapid Gun give the vessel extensive combat capability. This frigate is also equipped with Thales sensors including Mirador optical tracking system and Lirod Mk. 2 fire control radar. The combat management system of the ship is Thales TACTICOS.

The Agusta-Westland AW109 Power naval helicopter on board is compatible to fire the C-701 AShMs and torpedoes among other weapons.

Mission
The primary role of this ship is the defence and surveillance of the country’s exclusive economic zone. She also carries out various constabulary tasks within Bangladesh’s maritime boundary against maritime terrorism, environmental pollution, smuggling and can also be deployed for search and rescue operations when necessary.