US Ambassador to Bangladesh Peter Haas has said over the next year they expect to deliver the highly capable Blackjack UAS, 35-foot SAFE Patrol Boats, and additional Zodiac Rigid Hull Boats.
"These systems will help Bangladesh conduct the UN Missions and defend its sovereignty," he said adding that the United States is ready to provide Bangladesh with "more advanced capabilities through Foreign Military Sales when the time is right."
A mutually concluded General Security of Military Information Agreement – known as a GSOMIA – is foundational to making that happen.
Under the US government-provided grant programmes, the Bangladesh Navy and Coast Guard have received three different types of patrol boats to help them protect the territorial waters of Bangladesh.
Last year, Ambassador Haas said, they also delivered small Unmanned Aerial Systems to the SWADS and Para Commandos.
Ambassador Haas was speaking at the Defence Service Command and Staff College recently about US foreign policy and its implications on Bangladesh.
The US has also provided these special operations units with modern weapons, ammunition, body armour, advanced radio systems, and first aid equipment, he said.
Along with these deliveries, and at the tactical level, US special operations units continue to provide training to the SWADS and Para Commandos through the Tiger Shark series of joint exercises.
"Our armies exercise together through Tiger Lightning, our air forces through Cope South, and our navies through the Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training CARAT exercise," said Ambassador Haas.
Additionally, he said, the two countries continue to work together in a combined exercise called the Disaster Response Exercise and Exchange – or “DREE” – to elevate their joint ability to respond to natural disasters.
As a matter of fact, Bangladeshi and American teams just conducted the 2023 DREE on the island of Guam in July.
Ambassador Haas said they are also encouraged that Bangladesh’s Indo-Pacific Outlook declares Bangladesh’s vision for a “free, open, peaceful, secure, and inclusive Indo-Pacific for the shared prosperity for all.”
"There is much in the Outlook that overlaps with our own vision for the Indo-Pacific, particularly the importance of upholding freedom of navigation and overflight; promoting an open, transparent, rules-based multilateral system rooted in the principals of the UN charter; and significant discussion of environmental resilience," he said.
The Ambassador said he wanted to give a sense of their vision for U.S.-Bangladesh relations, and how they see them benefitting not just two peoples, but the Indo-Pacific region more broadly.
"Our first goal is to support a peaceful and stable Bangladesh. We are committed to working together to ensure that the Indo-Pacific region remains free, open, peaceful, and secure," he said.