Pakistan Air Force team in Dhaka proposes advanced training for Bangladesh Air Force pilots

Defence affairs analysis - Def-Geopolitics

A Pakistan Air Force delegation, which is on a five-day visit to Dhaka, gifted a Chinese JF-17 fighter’s flight simulator to the Bangladesh Air Force, besides proposing advanced training for BAF pilots at the Mushaf airbase in Sargodha, Punjab.

The PAF team, led by Air Vice Marshal Aurangzeb Ahmed, sought to convey to the BAF hosts that the JF-17’s multirole combat system was highly advanced and emphasised the Chinese fighter aircraft’s superiority over the Rafale, which India used during the May 2025 India-Pakistan conflict.

The five-day air staff talks between Pakistan and Bangladesh air force officers began in Dhaka on May 10.

Sources say that on the first day, discussions focused on advanced training for Bangladeshi pilots at Mushaf Air Base, at Sargodha in Punjab, and the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC).

Also present at the lavish dinner were Air Commodores Shah Khalid and Abdul Gafur Bajdur, Group Captain Mahmud Ali Khan, and Wing Commander Hasan Tariq Aziz.

In several formal and informal meetings with senior Bangladesh Air Force officers, the PAF officers have already reached an understanding regarding “advanced training of Bangladeshi pilots in Pakistan”.

The PAF and BAF agreed to initiate a training curriculum that would include:

1. Beyond-visual-range (BVR) combat doctrine

2. Supersonic interception training

3. Multi-role strike coordination

4. Electronic warfare (EW) survivability modules

5. Simulator-based JF-17 Block III mission rehearsals

6. Avionics, radar, and engine maintenance training

7. Advanced weapons employment in maritime environments

Based on this understanding, discussions on the procurement of Chinese-technology-based JF-17 aircraft from Pakistan are at a final stage.

After returning from his visit to the United States, Army Chief General Wakar-uz-Zaman had spoken about the necessity of “multirole combat fighter aircraft.” Bangladesh’s potential purchase of the JF-17 is part of a broader and deeper geopolitical strategy.