Catastrophic failure: Bangladesh tank blast puts Chinese military hardware under spotlight
A Chinese-origin Type 59 tank exploded during a live-fire exercise in Hathazari, Chattogram, killing two Bangladesh Army soldiers and seriously injuring another, who was airlifted to the Combined Military Hospital in Dhaka. The Type 59 is China’s domestically produced derivative of the Soviet T-54 main battle tank and has remained part of Bangladesh’s armoured inventory for decades. Rather than retiring the ageing platforms, Bangladesh has continued upgrading them, with the Directorate General of Defence Procurement having previously issued documentation covering the upgrade of 40 T-59 tanks alongside the modernisation of 58 T-69IIG tanks.Even so, several buyers have shown clear signs of what can only be described as buyer’s remorse. Thailand too had issues with its brand new and modern VT-4 tanks last year during a conflict with Cambodia, when tanks had their barrels blown while firing. With Pakistan, Venezuela and Iran having fielded Chinese air defence systems tat have failed to live up to advertised capabilities. Jordan put its six CH-4B armed drones up for resale within a year of acquiring them. In Iraq, eight of twenty CH-4B drones have crashed, while three Algerian drones of the same type went down in as many months, prompting several prospective buyers to look toward Türkiye instead.The incident lands at an awkward moment for Beijing’s defence export ambitions. China remains the world’s fifth-largest arms supplier, accounting for 5.6% of total global arms exports between 2021-25, according to SIPRI, with export volumes actually rising 11% compared to the previous five-year period. Roughly 77% of Chinese arms exports went to Asia and Oceania in this window, followed by Africa at 13%, with just one country, Pakistan, absorbing 61% of the total.After-sales support and quality of equipment provided remain a persistent complaint, according to MERICS a Berlin based think-tank. Bangladesh has reported issues with its K-8 jet trainers, F-7 fighters and FM-90 air defence missiles, while its army has faced problems with Chinese MBT-2000 tanks.Despite this, Bangladesh is now moving closer to becoming the third export customer for China’s J-10CE fighter, after Pakistan and Uzbekistan, with a government panel preparing a draft agreement for formal negotiations. Local reports suggest Dhaka is eyeing up to 24 jets, with the aircraft alone estimated at around $1.2 billion, and the full package, including weapons, spares and training, closer to $2.2 billion, payments likely spread out until 2035-36 under the Forces Goal 2030 modernisation plan aimed at replacing Bangladesh’s ageing F-7s and MiG-29s.
