The Pulse | Diplomacy | South Asia

Bangladesh-Turkiye Defense Cooperation Grows to Include Joint Production

Drones are the centerpiece of the bilateral cooperation. The two countries are also discussing manufacture of military hardware in Bangladesh.

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Tarique Rahman at a meeting with Türkiye’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (left) during the latter’s visit to Dhaka, Bangladesh, June 6, 2026.

Turkiye’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan’s three-day visit to Bangladesh in early June marks the start of a “new era” in Bangladesh–Turkiye relations, particularly in the realm of defense cooperation.

While defense cooperation reportedly dominated informal discussions during the visit, no specific provisions on military cooperation appeared in the signed memoranda; the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) only covered cooperation on cultural heritage preservation.

Bangladesh’s foreign minister highlighted progress on a possible free trade agreement and preferential trade agreement aimed at lifting bilateral trade to $2 billion.

However, it is defense cooperation between Dhaka and Ankara that has generated a buzz in Bangladesh’s diplomatic and security circles.

The two countries have been building a military partnership over the past decade. Fidan’s visit crystallized this trajectory by institutionalizing political and defense ties. The two sides agreed to set up ministerial-level joint committees on defense and foreign affairs and hold annual “2 2” consultations involving foreign and defense ministers. This format elevates military cooperation from transactional purchases to structured strategic dialogue, a hallmark of deeper partnerships.

The most tangible expression of this partnership is in drones. Bangladesh’s engagement with Turkiye’s unmanned systems dates back to 2022, when its armed forces signed a contract with Baykar Technology to procure Bayraktar TB2 combat drones, platforms that have already proven their mettle in Nagorno-Karabakh and the war in Ukraine.

Bangladesh’s arms purchases from Turkiye have grown rapidly since 2018, with the country acquiring 15 types of modern weaponry, including Cobra armored personnel carriers, mine-protected vehicles, multi-dimensional rocket defense systems and ground surveillance radar. During his visit to Dhaka in December 2020, Turkiye’s then Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu spoke about Ankara’s interest in selling drones to Dhaka. In June the following year, Bangladesh signed an MoU with Roketsan, Turkiye’s state-run arms manufacturer, which produces equipment to NATO standards.

Bilateral defense cooperation has already translated into enhanced operational capability on the ground. The Bangladesh Army has already deployed 12 Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 medium-altitude long-endurance UAVs, six of which have been operational since 2023, alongside Roketsan’s TRG-300 Kaplan guided multiple rocket launch system, a roughly $60 million acquisition that began arriving in 2021 and now comprises at least 18 launchers, reload trucks and mobile command posts. Together, the drones and rockets form a sensor-to-shooter “kill chain,” pairing TB2 reconnaissance with Kaplan’s precision strikes, accurate to within 10 meters, in a doctrine modelled on Azerbaijan’s approach during the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

In addition to defense systems from Turkiye, Bangladesh operates Chinese-made WS-22 rocket launchers and Nora B-52 howitzers, illustrating a layered and diversified firepower network, rather than a wholesale pivot to any single supplier.

Fidan’s visit earlier this month also pushed the military relationship toward a new phase: domestic production.

A former advisor of the interim government told The Diplomat that Dhaka is now interested in producing some of........

© The Diplomat