BNS ''Abu Bakr'' (sometimes spelt ''Abu Bakar'') is a Type 053H2 guided-missile frigate of

Bangladesh Navy The Bangladesh Navy () is the naval warfare branch of the Bangladesh Armed Forces, responsible for the defence of Bangladesh's of maritime territorial area from any external threat, the security of sea ports and exclusive economic zones of Ban ...

. The warship has been serving with the Bangladesh Navy since 2014. It is named after the first

Rashidun Caliph The Rashidun Caliphate () is a title given for the reigns of first caliphs (lit. "successors") — Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali collectively — believed to represent the perfect Islam and governance who led the Muslim community and po ...

Abu Bakr Abd Allah ibn Abi Quhafa (23 August 634), better known by his ''Kunya (Arabic), kunya'' Abu Bakr, was a senior Sahaba, companion, the closest friend, and father-in-law of Muhammad. He served as the first caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate, ruli ...

Armament

The ship is armed with two quad-pack C-802A

anti-ship missile An anti-ship missile (AShM or ASM) is a guided missile that is designed for use against ships and large boats. Most anti-ship missiles are of the sea-skimming variety, and many use a combination of inertial guidance and active radar homing. ...

launchers. The C-802A missiles have range of . It also carries two Type 79A dual-100 mm gun to engage surface targets. For air defence role, the ship carries four Type 76 dual-37 mm AA guns. For anti-submarine operations, the ship has two five tube

RBU-1200 The RBU-1200 (Russian language, Russian: Реактивно-Бомбовая Установка, Reaktivno-Bombovaja Ustanovka; reaction engine-bomb installation & Смерч; waterspout) is a anti-submarine rocket launcher. The weapon system is r ...

anti-submarine rocket launchers. she also carries two

depth charge A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon designed to destroy submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited ...

(DC) racks and four DC projectors. There are two

Mark 36 SRBOC The BAE Systems Mark 36 Super Rapid Bloom Offboard Countermeasures Chaff and Decoy Launching System (abbreviated as SRBOC or "Super-arboc") is an American short-range decoy launching system (DLS) that launches radar or infrared decoys from naval v ...

6-barrel decoy rocket launchers in the ship too.

Service history

Type 053H2 frigate BNS ''Abu Bakr'' was previously known as ''Huangshi'', which served with People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) in the

East Sea Fleet The Eastern Theater Command Navy (东部战区海军, ETCN) is a formation of China's People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) and the naval component of the Eastern Theater Command. The ETCN was reorganized from the East Sea Fleet (ESF) by 2016. C ...

. She was commissioned in PLAN in 1986. In 2013 the ship was sold to the

. BNS ''Abu Bakr'' was commissioned into the Bangladesh Navy on 1 March 2014. She is currently based at

Chattogram Chittagong ( ), officially Chattogram, (, ) (, or ) is the second-largest city in Bangladesh. Home to the Port of Chittagong, it is the busiest port in Bangladesh and the Bay of Bengal. The city is also the business capital of Bangladesh. It ...

under Commodore Commanding BN Flotilla. From 21 to 25 April 2014, ''Abu Bakr'' took part in the 14th Western Pacific Naval Symposium and International Fleet Review-2014 at

Qingdao Qingdao, Mandarin: , (Qingdao Mandarin: t͡ɕʰiŋ˧˩ tɒ˥) is a prefecture-level city in the eastern Shandong Province of China. Located on China's Yellow Sea coast, Qingdao was long an important fortress. In 1897, the city was ceded to G ...

Shandong Province Shandong is a coastal province in East China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River. It has served as a pivotal cultural and religious center ...

, China. During the tour, the ship visited the ports of Klang,

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

Sanya Sanya; Chinese postal romanization, also spelled Samah is the southernmost city on Hainan Island, and one of the four prefecture-level cities of Hainan, Hainan Province in Southeast China, South China. According to the Sixth National Populati ...

, China and

Phuket Phuket (; , , or ''Tongkah'') is one of the Southern Thailand, southern Provinces of Thailand, provinces (''changwat'') of Thailand. It consists of the island of Phuket, List of islands of Thailand, the country's largest island, and another 3 ...

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

in a goodwill mission. On 12 March 2015, the ship left for Malaysia to take part in the 2015 Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition (LIMA). On her return journey, she visited the port of

Yangon Yangon, formerly romanized as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar. Yangon was the List of capitals of Myanmar, capital of Myanmar until 2005 and served as such until 2006, when the State Peace and Dev ...

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

on a goodwill mission. She arrived at Chattogram on 31 March 2015. The ship took part in Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT), an annual bilateral exercise with

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

, in 2015. ''Abu Bakr'' visited the

port of Colombo The Port of Colombo , (known as Port of Kolomtota during the early 14th Century Kotte Kingdom) is the largest and busiest port in Sri Lanka and the Indian Ocean. Located in Colombo, on the southwestern shores on the Kelani River, it serves as a ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

from 21 to 23 October 2015 on a goodwill visit. In 2017, the ship received an upgrade and its old Chinese ''Type 354'' surface search radar and ''Type 517H-1'' air search radar was replaced with new generation

Selex ES Selex ES was a subsidiary of Finmeccanica, active in the electronics and information technology business, based in Italy and the UK, and formed in January 2013, following Finmeccanica's decision to combine its existing SELEX Elsag and SELEX ...

-made ''Kronos NAVAL'' 3D multifunction C-band AESA radar. This new radar has a range of 250 km. BNS Abu Bakr participated in ''Exercise Bongosagar-2020'', a bilateral exercise with

Indian Navy The Indian Navy (IN) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Navy, maritime and Amphibious warfare, amphibious branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of the Naval Staff (India), Chief ...

, held on 4 to 5 October 2020 in the northern

Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. Geographically it is positioned between the Indian subcontinent and the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese peninsula, located below the Bengal region. Many South Asian and Southe ...

region. She also took part in the IN-BN ''Coordinated Patrol (CORPAT)-2020'' exercise along the Bangladesh-India maritime border after the Bongosagar exercise ends.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abu Bakar Ships of the Bangladesh Navy Frigates of the Bangladesh Navy Type 053H2 frigates of the Bangladesh Navy Ships built in China 1985 ships

Armament

Service history

See also

References