Bangladesh Navy frigate program

Bangladesh Navy frigate program is a planned project of building 6 multi-role stealth guided missile frigate for Bangladesh Navy. In 2017, plan for the frigate project under the Forces Goal 2030 officially announced. Bangladesh Navy is inspecting proposals from several companies to evolve their designs into a prospective design for the proposed six guided-missile frigates.

Development
Chittagong Dry Dock Limited (CDDL) had been selected as prime contractor for the frigate program of Bangladesh Navy, however no further progress had been made. The frigates were supposed to be equipped with state of the art military hardware, sensors, electronic warfare systems etc. The lifespan of each frigate was estimated to be 30 years in average. The project has been delayed due to some financial, geo-political and recent changes in foreign policies. At the beginning of the project, it was estimated that all of the frigates will be built with Chinese technical assistance and complete transfer of technology but the program was revised in 2017, following the Rohingya refugee crisis. In 2018, Commodore Mohammad Nazmul Karim said, two frigates will be commissioned in 2022, two by 2025 and two by 2030. However, Bangladesh Navy made huge new requirements on the project mainly to focus on NATO standards. As a result, many renowned shipbuilding companies from European countries have shown interest. The project has become a major priority of Ministry of Defence and Prime Minister's Office. But due to the COVID-19 and the current Russia-Ukraine war, any Frigate built under this project cannot be inducted into the Navy before 2036 at the earliest. At the moment the implemantation of the programe seems uncertin.

Current Progress
Although as of now the program is officially active albeit without any actual funding or budget, however there is no actual progress or working on ground happening. Similarly as previous years there had been no mention of the Frigate Program nor there had been any funds allocated for the program in 2024-2025 annual budget.

Supposed Contenders
Turkey, UK, Netherlands China and Italy.