Staff Reporter :
A state-of-the-art radar system will be installed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) in Dhaka to detect all types of domestic and foreign aircraft in a bid to keep the country’s airspace safe.
A memorandum of understanding (MoU), jointly drafted on October 20 by the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) and radar manufacturer Thales LAS France SAS, is scheduled for signing on November 3 at the French embassy.
The installation of the radar is expected to take roughly three years.
CAAB Chairman Air Vice Marshal M Mofidur Rahman, while speaking to the media, said it would be possible to install the desired radar system in the next two and a half to three years. A ruling of the International Court of Arbitration has awarded Bangladesh the right to an area of about 19,000 square kilometers in the sea. However, the 37-year-old analog radar currently installed at HSIA, is unable to detect foreign aircraft flying over that airspace, said CAAB authorities.
The new radar will increase surveillance over Bangladesh’s territorial waters and airspace.
It will also allow Bangladesh to collect fines from trespassing aircraft, which are required to pay a minimum of $500 for a single infringement.
Moreover, the new system will be able to detect aircraft that are landing or taking off. Such procedures have to be conducted with an element of risk due to the current radar’s inability to detect such activity.
The agreement will cover the supply, installation and operation of navigation and surveillance systems, including radar and related air traffic management, officials said.
According to the agreement, the data collected through radar must be strictly kept secret by the French company, so that airspace security is not compromised.
