Bangladesh commissions first ever submarines

Bangladesh military on Sunday inducted "Nabajatra" and "Joyjatra", its first ever submarines.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina officially commissioned the two Chinese submarines, reports the Dhaka Tribune.

The submarines were handed over to Bangladesh on November 14 last year. A ship brought the submarines to Chittagong Port from China on December 22, said a statement issued by Inter Services Press Relation office.

The Type 035G-class submarines, for which Bangladesh paid approximately USD 203 million, were reportedly assembled at Chinese state-owned Liaonan shipyard in the Dalian state.

The submarines, also known as Ming-class, are a class of diesel-electric submarines of the People's Liberation Army Navy. A total of 12 were built and commissioned between 1990 and 1999. They are 76 metres in length and 7.6 metres in width.

The primary weaponry for Type 035G is the Yu-3 torpedo. It uses French-made sonar DUUX-5 unit. The 035G-class is also renowned for its anti-submarine weapon capabilities.

They were built with further improvements, especially in terms of noise reduction, weapons, sensors and crew living standards.