Securing The Skies: Why Bangladesh Needs A Multilayered Air Defense System For Future Resilience – OpEd

As the battlefield of the future keeps on evolving, an entirely new dimension of threats is unfolding across a proliferation of drones, missiles, and precision-guided munitions.

The Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) has become more accessible and much more capable, with adversaries in most regions now able to conduct intelligence gathering and precision strikes with minimal risk. Short-range projectiles to Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles continue to pose formidable challenges around the globe due to both their speed and destructive power. Precision Guided Munition (PGMs), designed to precisely engage a specific target with minimal collateral damage, adds complexity to any defense scheme. These developments make it critical that a multi-tiered air defense system be able to detect, track, and defeat a wide range of threats across multiple altitudes and distances.

Bangladesh’s air defense capability comprises short-range surface-to-air missile systems like the TRG-300 MLRS, a Turkish-made medium-range missile system, and the FM-90, presumably offering limited coverage against low-altitude, short-range threats. The Bangladesh Air Force (BAF’s) fighter aircraft comprise the MiG-29 and F-7 series, which are meant for air superiority and ground attack. Yet, the absence of medium to long-range air defense systems creates vulnerability against high-altitude and long-range threats. Therefore, the offensive capacity of modern low-observable unmanned aerial vehicles and advanced missile technologies defeats or is beyond the capability of the existing systems to effectively counter.

The strategic location of Bangladesh, working within the regional dynamics, urgently calls for a robust, multilayered air defense system. Geographically, it shares boundaries with states having developing air capabilities, namely Myanmar and India. Myanmar’s purchase of advanced fighter jets such as the JF-17 Block II and Su-30SME and India’s acquisition of Rafale have given serious reasons for regional security concerns and allowed Bangladesh to improve its air defense in maintaining sovereignty and deterring warriors. On top of all the evolving nature of the aerial threat, ranging from Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to ballistic missiles, requires an integrated defense strategy. A multilayered system, so to say, integrates short, medium, and long-range defenses, hence promising a solid shield against various threats, with enhancement in national security and regional stability.

The basic constituting elements for a comprehensive multilayer air defense system, operationally and technologically required to effectively counter such diverse aerial threats:
SHORAD-Short-Range Air Defense: SHORAD systems operate to neutralize low-altitude threats like drones, low-flying aircraft, and helicopters. These guarantee a fast response through the use of mobile missile launchers and anti-aircraft artillery. The systems should be highly flexible and quick to offer protection to ground forces, as well as all other critical assets. Systems such as the Iron Dome have been effective in neutralizing short-range threats and have so far intercepted over 5,000 rockets at an accuracy of more than 90%.  

Medium-Range Surface-to-Air Missiles (MRSAM): Such systems attack targets at medium altitudes and distances, notably cruise missiles and rotary-wing aircraft. MRSAM fills in operational envelopes on the interface between short-distance and long-distance defenses, therefore providing a multi-layer protective shield. Considerably, there is the David’s Sling system, developed to intercept medium-range missiles and aircraft to date, to enhance defense against regional menaces.

Long-Range Air Defense: Considering the above-said, the role of long-range systems is extremely important: they are crucial for area coverage and might be highly effective in intercepting high-altitude air threats, like ballistic missiles or strategic bombers. Examples include the Arrow system, which was created for chief interception purposes of long-range missiles, including ballistic ones, that work both within and outside the atmosphere.

The proliferation of unmanned aerial vehicles, drones, and ballistic missiles has, to a great degree, altered dynamics both in the field and in modern warfare, as was seen during the Russo-Ukraine conflict. Adversaries can easily access commercially available, low-cost drones capable of conducting surveillance, delivering munitions, and disrupting critical infrastructure. Russia, for instance, has taken to deploying Shahed UAVs targeting Ukrainian energy sites strategic predecessors for what technologies can execute. Also, ballistic missiles pose a heavy threat because they operate with a great deal of speed and potential for massive destructive power. With the increasing proliferation of such technologies, the chance of non-state actors and smaller states posing a threat to conventional defense systems is constantly growing, which is a demand for sophisticated and multilayered air defense systems capable of effectively detecting, intercepting, and neutralizing various aerial threats.

Modernization is highly insisted upon in Bangladesh’s air defense when the evolving nature of threats across the region is considered. The access to advanced technologies can allow an increase in the distance between detection and intercepting capabilities, hence viewed as an important strategic leverage against potential adversaries. It provides investments in radar-guided anti-air systems with enhanced detection and interception capabilities. AI-powered surveillance network architecture will improve response times and operational efficiency by facilitating real-time data analytics and threat assessment. Modernization spells not only enhanced defense preparedness but also brings Bangladesh at par with other military forces of the globe and protects its airspace and sovereignty. Even the Bangladesh Army is modernizing with a host of new technologies, robotics, and AI, evidence that modernization provides an edge in regional security dynamics.

A multilayered air defense system drastically enhances national security for Bangladesh. Maneuvering a short, medium, and long-range defense against the variants of aerial threats provides multiple options, thereby further strengthening deterrence capability in the nation. The repercussions will be very well coordinated among the military branches concerning joint operations and efficiency. In essence, a critical protection system would be designed to ensure the survivability of the critical infrastructure against possible attacks to ensure economic stability and national resilience. It is thus multilayer defense that aligned Bangladesh with the rest of the world’s military standards while reinforcing commitments toward sovereignty and regional stability.