Bangladesh receives two new Shadhinota-class Type C13B corvettes from China

The 2 new corvettes for the Bangladesh Navy as they arrive during delivery from China. Photo c/o The Independent.

The Bangladesh Navy (BN) received the last two Shadhinota-class corvettes it ordered from China Shipbuilding and Offshore International Company in 2015, with the ships formally received on 28 March 2019, and arrived at Chittogram Naval Jetty in Chittagong, Bangladesh on 27 April 2019.

The ships, the future BNS Sangram (F 113) and BNS Prottasha (F 114) were built by Chinese shipbuilder Wuchang Shipbuilding Industry Group. Sangram was launched on February 2018, while Prottasha was launched on April 2018.

No date was provided on the scheduled commissioning of the corvettes to the BN.

The Shadhinota-class corvettes were based on the Type C13B design, which in turn was based on the Type 056 corvettes used by the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN). They are 90 meters long, with a beam of 11 meters, and a draught of 4.4 meters. The ships have a full load displacement of 1,330 tons, and a maximum speed of 25 knots. 

The ships are armed with a 76mm H/PJ-26 naval main gun, two 30mm H/PJ-17-1 machine gun systems, four C-802 (YJ-83) anti-ship cruise missiles, and an FL-3000N 8-cell close-in weapon system missile launcher for the HHQ-10 short-range surface-to-air missile.

Based on observations made by defense publications, the two new ships appear to have a different radar compared to its two earlier sisterships BNS Shadhinota (F 111) and BNS Prottoy (F 112), most likely the SR2410C 3D multifunction phase-array radar. But like its sisterships, the new corvettes lack anti-submarine warfare (ASW) capability, as they come without sonar or ASW weapons.



[1] Jane’s Defence Weekly
[2]  Dhaka Tribune 
[3] The Independent (Bangladesh)