Bangladesh Army

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The Bangladesh Army (Bangla: বাংলাদেশ সেনা বাহিনী, IPA: Bānglādesh Shenā Bāhini) is the land armed forces branch of the Bangladesh Armed Forces. It was formed on 26 December 1971 following the Bangladesh Liberation War consisting of Bengali soldiers and officers from the Pakistan Army and members of the Mukti Bahini. Its current strength is estimated to be over 200,000 personnel including 50,000 on early retirement (leave prior to retirement (LPR)).^{[citation needed]}

The Bangladesh Army structure is similar to other armies of the Indian subcontinent which are all modelled and organized along British Army lines. However, the Bangladesh Army has adopted U.S. Army tactical planning procedures, training management techniques and noncommissioned officer educational systems.

It is supported by artillery, armored and combat units. In times of war and crisis, the Bangladesh Army can also be reinforced by the Bangladesh Rifles, Ansar (Islamic Guards), Village Defence Parties (VDP), police and other land forces numbering about one million trained personnel.

It is also improving its peacekeeping operations capabilities and is working with the U.S. Military in this area.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Formation 2 Organization 2.1 Structure 2.2 Ranks 3 Weapons Used 3.1 Wheeled Armored Personnel Carrier (APC) 3.2 Tracked Armored Fighting Vehicles (APC/IFV) 3.3 Light Battle Tanks 3.4 Main Battle Tanks (MBT) 3.4.1 Anti Aircraft Artillery 4 MLRS 4.1 Self-Propelled Howitzers 5 Major operations 5.1 Bangladesh Liberation War 5.2 Chittagong hill tracts 6 Peacetime activities 7 See also 8 External links 9 References

[edit] History

East Bengal under the British Rule was a prominent place for recruitment, especially prior to the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857, when entire cavalry and lancer units were named after Bengal. The "Bengal Army" of the late 18th and early 19th century was a reflection of this. After the First War of Independence, many native Bengalis were forbidden from entering military service citing the "martial races theory", primarily because large numbers of them were involved in the revolt against the British. In fact later the Bengal Lancers and Bengal Cavalry often recruited from non-Bengali races.

The Mughal King Bahadur Shah Zafar gave his blessings to the sepoys of Bengal to carry the out the rebellion, his descendants served in the Bengal army(H.R.H Prince Mirza Jalaluddin) and after 1971, the Bangladesh Army, Colonel Muhammad Shahid Sarwar Azam (Retd) and his brother Lt Col. Sarwar Alam, MBBS, hailing from Natore, Rajshahi.

[edit] Formation

The Bangladesh Army was organized into three brigades.

• Z force, under Major Ziaur Rahman, consisted of 1, 3 and 8 East Bengal Regiment.
• S Force, under Major Shafiullah, was created in October 1971 and consisted of 2 and 11 East Bengal.
• K Force, commanded by Khaled Mosharraf was created with 4, 9 and 10 East Bengal.

[edit] Organization

[edit] Structure

The army is divided into the following corps:

• Infantry
• Special operations forces
• Artillery
• Engineers
• Signals
• Aviation
• Armored
• Services (Army Service Corps, Army Medical Corps, Ordnance Corps, Electrical and Mechanical Engineering Corps)

[edit] Ranks

The rank structure of Bangladesh Army is modeled after the British Army. The ranks of commissioned officers are (in increasing order)

• Second Lieutenant
• Lieutenant
• Captain
• Major
• Lieutenant Colonel
• Colonel
• Brigadier General
• Major General
• Lieutenant General
• General
• Field Marshal

[edit] Weapons Used

[edit] Wheeled Armored Personnel Carrier (APC)

• BTR-80 A russian made Armored Personnel Carrier (APC) is Bangladesh's primary APC.

• 66 Al-Fahd Infantry fighting vehicle 240 Built by Egypt, Specially using for UNIKOM PSO mission in Iraq-Kuwait border.

• 9 RN-94 Built by Turkey and Romania, 6 x 6 armoured personnel carrier (APC)

[edit] Tracked Armored Fighting Vehicles (APC/IFV)

• BTR-T Conversion of T-54/55 MBT's into armored fighting vehicles (AFV) by Bangladeshi Engineers. The Army converted 100 or so obsolete MBT's into modern highly protected Heavy APC's and Self-propelled howitzers. Parts for the APC were acquired from Russia and assembled locally.

• M113 This USA-Pakistan made APC in Bangladesh using the M113 for UN missions only on lease basis.

• MT-LB The MT-LB is lightly armored APC's manufactured by Russia. Bangladesh Army has 20 MT-LB APC's.

• YW-531 (Type 85) This Chinese APC consists of a single 12.7-mm heavy machine gun with the capacity of 10 passengers. Bangladesh has 50 of this APC's.

[edit] Light Battle Tanks

• Type 62 Type 62 Light Battle Tank made by China capable of manoeuvring through the riverine, forest, and mountainous terrains. Bangladesh have 142 in total of this tank (42 Type62 LBT and 80 Type 59 II MBT's). Type 62 LBT's were later upgraded with a laser rangefinder and capability of protection against high explosive anti-tank (HEAT) projectile

[edit] Main Battle Tanks (MBT)

• T-54/55 A Russian Main Battle Tank, Currently They have been converted and upgraded to APC's, IFV's and SPH to keep them in service for many years to come. A couple of this type of tank was the donated from Saudi Arabia as Bangladesh deployed its troops their in the Gulf War as part of a broad international coalition effort against Saddam Hussein and his military forces.

• Type 59 II Chinese licensed version of Russian Type 54A Main Battle Tank. Bangladesh Army bought 120 tanks from China including the Type 59 II MBT's till 1990.

• Type 79 Upgrade of the common Type 69 MBT, developed by the Chinese. Now Bangladesh Army operates hundreds of Type 79 MBT's.

[edit] Anti Aircraft Artillery

• M-53/1
• M-53/2
• Type 55
• Type 56
• Type 58
• Type 59
• Type 59
• Type 90
• ZPU-1
• ZU-23
• HN-5 (MANPADS)
• QW-2 (MANPADS) - Manufactured locally by BOF.
• RBS-70 (MANPADS) - Status unverified.

[edit] MLRS

• KRL 122mm This is a Pakistani manufactured MLR system operated by the Bangladesh Army.
• Type 90 This is the Chinese made 122 mm multiple launch rocket system. Is to be acquired by Bangladesh Army.

[edit] Self-Propelled Howitzers

• PLZ-45 Maximum range of 45 Km. Its 155 mm laser-guided projectile has 90% hit probability. In Production at China, as required by Bangladesh Army.
• Locally developed self-propelled howizters The Bangladesh Army developed locally made self-propelled howtzers using surplus T-55 MBT's as their chassis.

[edit] Major operations

[edit] Bangladesh Liberation War

When the sub-continent gained independence, India and Pakistan formed different states. Pakistan was divided into two sections, East Pakistan and West Pakistan. There were many cultural differences between these two divisions. In 1951, a rally took place in East Pakistan, against the establishment of Urdu as the national language. All the students involved were shot by the Pakistani military.^[1] Later, in 1970, elections took place in both divisions as to decide the future of the country. Awami league, a party in East Pakistan, won the majority of the votes in the eastern section, but were not allowed to take power. This ultimately led to a civil war in which about 1-3 million Bangladeshis were killed.^[2] Finally, after 9 months of bloody war with the help of India, on 16 December 1971 East Pakistan formed an independent state, known as Bangladesh.

[edit] Chittagong hill tracts

[edit] Peacetime activities

Bangladesh Army has been actively involved in United Nations Peace Support Operations (UNPSO). During the first Gulf War in 1991, the Bangladesh Army sent a 2,193 member team to monitor peace in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Following that, the Bangladesh Army participated in peace keeping activities in Namibia, Cambodia, Somalia, Uganda/Rwanda, Mozambique, former Yugoslavia, Liberia, Haiti, Tajikistan, Western Sahara, Sierra Leone, Kosovo, Georgia, East Timor, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire and Ethiopia. As of April 2006, Bangladesh had a total of nearly 9,500 troops committed to UN Peacekeeping operations around the world, the most of any nation in the world. As of February 2007, Bangladesh remained the largest contributor with 10,126 troops in the UN Peacekeeping forces.

[edit] See also

• Military of Bangladesh
• Bangladesh Air Force
• Bangladesh Navy

[edit] External links

• Official Website of Bangladesh Army
• Unofficial Bangladesh Military Forces Website
• Library of Congress Country Studies assessment of Bangladesh Army (1988)

[edit] References

1. ^ Language Movement
2. ^ Bangladesh Liberation War