20 killed as Bangladesh Air Force jet crashes; issues with China-made aircraft persist

Chinese-made Bangladesh fighter jet F-7 that crashed in a college campus in Dhaka on Monday, killing at least 20 and injuring many others, has brought to fore the quality of China's defence hardware being used by South Asian states.

The F-7 fighter jets in the Bangladesh Air Force have been facing challenges. ET has learnt that Bangladesh had, in the past, formally complained to Beijing about defective spare parts across all three military services, specifically citing problems with K-8 trainers, F-7 fighters and MBT-2000 tanks. As many as 20 aircraft of F-7 were delivered to Bangladesh between 1989 and 1990, with an additional 20 aircraft delivered between 1999 and 2006. Around 16 F-7BGI were delivered between 2012 and 2013. And, 36 F-7 fighters and 11 FT-7 trainers were listed as active by Bangladesh Air Force in 2023.

Myanmar Air Force F-7 had also faced technical difficulties and their ground-attack performance was not deemed sufficient, ET has learnt. Nigeria, which has a strong military apparatus in Africa, had to return seven of the nine F-7 aircraft to China for repairs it couldn't obtain locally, according to informed sources. China's poor documentation practices compound problems. Technical manuals arrive in Chinese or with translation errors that render them useless. Design changes occur without notification, making spare parts incompatible, alleged persons familiar with the Chinese defence industry.