RESTRICTED

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS IN BANGLADESH AIR FORCE

References:
A. R&D Correspondences (Base level).
B. Joint Service Staff Duties Manual- 2022.
C. Air Force Order 81-4 Dated 12 January 2020.

INTRODUCTION

1. R&D stands for Research and Development. It refers to the activities that
organizations undertake to innovate, develop new products or services, and improve
existing ones. R&D is typically a systematic process of exploring new knowledge,
technologies, or ideas that can lead to advancements in fields such as science, technology,
engineering, and business. R&D is often critical for maintaining long-term growth, as it fuels
innovation and adaptation in an evolving market.

2. In Bangladesh Air Force the scope and range of R&D activities includes, but not
limited to lead the efforts to develop superior technology solutions that enable dominant
military aerospace operation i.e. flight controls, aerospace propulsion, aerospace
structures, equipment and spares etc. It may also include develop, demonstrate and
transition science and technology for air- launched munitions capability on Lasers System,
High Power Electromagnetic Spectrum, Weapon Modeling and Simulation,
communications and networking and any R&D Projects that focuses the requirement of
BAF in relation to mechanical, automobiles, computer science, electrical & electronics.

3. In BAF the R&D projects are to be taken by the Directorates/ Bases/ Units or by the
designated agency/ individual and project proposals will require to be approved by the
competent authority (AFO 81-4). For joint collaboration R&D, necessary steps may be
approached.

AIM

4. The aim of this paper is to describe the step-by-step procedure for initiating,
approving and implementing R&D projects from the base level to get authorization for
accountability.

COMMITTEES FOR R&D PROJECT

5. R&D Standing Committee. There shall be two committees namely, R&D

Standing Committee and R&D Execution Committee functioning for effective
conceptualization, planning, decision making, undertaking project and utilization of fund and
administrative aspect of R&D project. R&D Standing Committee shall be formed at Air
Headquarters, while R&D Executive Committee shall be at Base/ Unit level. These
Committees shall be responsible for facilitating dynamic execution and appropriate
1 of 11
RESTRICTED
 RESTRICTED

supervision of the R&D project.

a. Chairman. Assistant Chief of Air Staff (Plans).

b. OPI Directorate. Directorate of Plans.

c. Members. D Plans will select the members and obtain recommendation/

comments/ suggestion from concerned specialist directorate as deemed necessary.

d. Co-opted Members. Any other officer/unit/ organization as deemed

necessary by the Chairman.

e. Member Secretary. Concerned Deputy Director of Directorate of Plans or

in absence of him, any officer nominated by Director of Plans will act as the member
secretary of the Committee.

6. R&D Execution Committee. There shall be an R&D Execution Committee in

each BAF bases. Any unit/individual may forward a written proposal to R&D Execution
Committee for necessary vetting and onward processing. The committee will be comprised
of the following:

a. President. Officer Commanding Flying Wing of a base. In absence of

Officer Commanding Flying Wing, Officer Commanding Operation Wing of the base
will be the president of R&D Execution Committee. For the project at Air HQs,
respective director and for other institutions respective institution Head/
Dean/Chairman will be the president of R&D Execution Committee.

b. Members. Air Officer Commanding/Base Commander/Director (for Air

HQ)/Institutional Head (for other institutions) will select at least 3 suitable members
and intimate the same to Air Headquarters (Directorate of Plans).

R&D PROJECT SELECTION AND SUBMISSION

7. Proposal for any R&D project must justify few basic requirements to qualify for
selection or approval. A project paper is to be duly filled with necessary justifications and
forward to Air Headquarters. The proposed project must fulfill the following criteria to be
justified the proposed project for approval:

Name of Action Action By Forward To Remarks

Study on Project R&D Execution
Committee
Form a Team for R&D Execution
Project Execution Committee
Prepare an R&D Execution Must communicate in
Standard Job Committee Local Market
2 of 11
RESTRICTED
 RESTRICTED

Specification on
Project
Name of Action Action By Forward To Remarks
Prepare Project R&D Execution It must have proper
Paper Committee justification, financial
and technical viability,
and provide expected
time frame along with
no of phases.
Take nec R&D Execution Concerned OC
Recommendations Committee
on Project Paper
Submission of R&D Execution Concerned Flg Wg
Project Paper Committee of the Base (Ops
Wg in absence of
Flg Wg)

Figure-1: Format of R&D Project Paper

8. After submission of the R&D Project Paper, project approval process starts. OC Flg
Wg (or Ops Wg) scrutinize and consolidates all the received projects from different offices of
the base for further action.

PROJECT APPROVAL PROCESS

3 of 11
RESTRICTED
 RESTRICTED

9. When the Project Paper is submitted to Flg Wg (or Ops Wg), necessary steps for
vetting followed by approval of the project are initiated. Following process will be adhered
to for obtaining vetting of any proposed R&D project:

Name of Action Action By Forward To Remarks

Fwd Project Paper Flg Wg (or Ops PSO/AOC/Base PSO/AOC/Base Cdr
Wg) Cdr approves after
scrutinizing nec
justifications
Fwd Project Paper Flg Wg (or Ops Dte Plans Info Concerned Dte and
Wg) R&D Execution
Committee
Scrutinize the Dte Plans R&D Standing
Financial Committee/ Spl Dte
Proposal, put up
nec prioritization
and fwd
Analyze the R&D Standing Chairmen, R&D
prospect, technical Committee Standing Committee
and financial gives final approval
viability as well as
pros and cons of
the project
Consultation on Dte Plans ACAS (Plans) Get Approval
Project Paper

10. After getting approval from ACAS (Plans), Dte Plans starts necessary proceedings
for financial regulation. In this regard, Dte Finance deals with necessary budget allocation.

FINANCIAL REGULATION

11. Dte Plans requests Dte Finance to allot appropriate annual budget for the R&D
project. Existing financial policies are to be followed for the procurement and payment of
R&D items/ spares including services. Tendering process needs to be followed according to
Air Publication-830, Volume-1, Part-2, Leaflet-B 6/5.

Name of Action Action By Forward To Remarks

4 of 11
RESTRICTED
 RESTRICTED

Alot Fund from Dte Plans Dte Fin, Base Accts R&D Execution
Budget Code Dte Fin Sqn and R&D Committee is auth to
3257103 and Execution execute the project
Code No for R&D Committee works as per AP-830,
Project Vol-1, Part-2, Leaflet-B
6/5 and AFO 81-4.

Figure-2: Authority to allot Fund for R&D Project

12. The R&D Execution Committee starts to execute the project when they receive the
necessary approval form Dte Plans. They follow necessary local procurement procedures
for execution of the R&D Project.

PROCUREMENT AND PAYMENT OF R&D ITEMS/ SPARES

13. The procedures for procurement and payment of R&D items/ spares by the R&D
Execution Committee are as follows:

Name of Action Action By Forward To Remarks

Collect Fund R&D Execution Base Accts Sqn Send Bi-monthly R&D
Showing Proper Committee Progress Report to Dte
Bills/ Vouchers/ Plans and Concerned
adjust TR Dte

5 of 11
RESTRICTED
 RESTRICTED

following existing
Sup procedure

Figure-3: Sample of procurement and payment of R&D items/ spares

6 of 11
RESTRICTED
 RESTRICTED

Figure-4: Format of Bi-monthly R&D Progress Report

14. The R&D Execution Committee will continue sending the bi-monthly R&D progress
report until its completion to Dte Plans. Final proceedings will start when the full R&D
execution will be completed.
COMPLETION AND BOC OF R&D PROJECT

15. When the R&D execution is fully completed, the R&D Execution Committee will take
following actions:

Name of Action Action By Forward To Remarks

Completion Report R&D Execution Dte Plans Info Base Flg Wg.
of R&D Project Committee President R&D will be
resp till completion of
Project.
Req auth for BOC R&D Execution Concerned Dte/ OC Info Dte Plans and Dte
of R&D Project Committee Flg Wg (or Ops Sup. Subsequently, Dte
Wg) through Sup will authorize Base
packing note (BAF Sup Sqn to provide BOC
F-604) of R&D Project

Figure-5: Sample of R&D Completion Report

7 of 11
RESTRICTED
 RESTRICTED

Figure-6: Sample of Authority of BOC

PROVISION OF BRINGING THE PRODUCED ITEMS UNDER R&D AS ‘SCALED ITEM’

16. The procedures for dealing with duplication of project and to reproduce R&D
produced items as a scaled item are as follows:

Name of Action Action By Forward To Remarks

Handover of Base Sup Sqn R&D Execution If TO&E Item, Base/units
completed project Committee will process the
for Commercial reproduction through sup
Production procedure. If non-TO&E
item, Base/unit will
obtain approval Planning
Council Meeting (PCM)
through Office of Primary
Interest (OPI) Dte.
Dispatch 6-monthly/ R&D Execution Dte Plans
yearly evaluation Committee
report on completed
projects for future
implementation/
further continuation
in BAF

8 of 11
RESTRICTED
 RESTRICTED

R&D PROJECTS IN JOINT COLLABORATION

17. Projects implementing team may seek assistance from outside public/ private
organization/ laboratories/ facilities in the form of consultations, evaluation and/or testing.
Before engaging to such agreement, appropriate terms and conditions are to be settled and
approved separately by the R&D Standing Committee at Air Headquarters. It has found
that, there is no set policy for executing any R&D Project in joint collaboration with any
sister services (BA/ BN), civil (govt/ non-govt) organization, or international organization.
However, if BAF wants to proceed with any R&D Project in joint collaboration, the following
steps will be required to be included after getting approval from ACAS (Plans):

a. In case of Jt Collaboration with BA and/or BN.

Name of Action Action By Forward To Remarks

Fwd Project Paper Dte Plans AFD
Analyze the prospect, AFD Get Approval from
technical and financial PSO
viability as well as pros and
cons of the project
Form a Jt R&D Standing AFD Start execution of
Committee R&D Project

b. In case of Jt Collaboration with Civil Organization. There are 02 (two)

types of Civil Organization:

(1) Govt Organization.

Name of Action Action By Forward To Remarks

Fwd Project Paper Dte Plans Concerned Get Approval from
Ministry Concerned Ministry
Fwd Project Paper Concerned Required Govt
Ministry Org
Analyze the prospect, Required Concerned
technical and financial Govt Org Ministry and
viability as well as pros Dte Plans
and cons of the project
Sign MOU for Budget Dte Plans
Allocation and
Required
Govt Org
Form a Jt R&D Dte Plans Info Concerned
Standing Committee and Ministry and start
Required execution of R&D
Govt Org Project
9 of 11
RESTRICTED
 RESTRICTED

(2) Non-Govt Organization.

Name of Action Action By Forward To Remarks

Fwd Project Paper Dte Plans Non-Govt Org
Analyze the prospect, Non-Govt Get approval from
technical and financial Org Head of the Non-
viability as well as pros Govt Org
and cons of the project
Sign MOU for Budget Dte Plans
Allocation and Non-
Govt Org
Form a Jt R&D Dte Plans Start execution of
Standing Committee and Non- R&D Project
Govt Org

c. In case of Jt Collaboration with International Organization.

Name of Action Action By Forward To Remarks

Fwd Project Paper Dte Plans AFD Get Approval from
PSO
Fwd Project Paper AFD International Org
Analyze the prospect, International Get approval from
technical and financial Org Head of the
viability as well as pros International Org
and cons of the project
Fwd Analysis report International AFD AFD authorize Dte
Org Plans to sign MOU
Sign MOU for budget Dte Plans and
issue International
Org
Form a Jt R&D Standing AFD Start execution of
Committee R&D Project

10 of 11
RESTRICTED
 RESTRICTED

18. Joint Collaboration in R&D will act like a catalyst for innovation. It will faster the
development and make it cost efficient. It will also strengthen the strategic alliances and
ensure adoption to global best practices.

CONCLUSION

19. The Research and Development initiatives of the Bangladesh Air Force are
instrumental in fostering technological advancements and operational superiority. By
aligning with structured protocols and leveraging inter-agency collaboration, these projects
enhance aerospace capabilities and establish a robust framework for innovation. The
meticulous project approval processes, financial regulations, and committee oversight
ensure the efficient utilization of resources and strategic alignment with organizational
goals.

MD MOHIUDDIN KHAN
Squadron Leader

MD KHAIRUL HASAN
Squadron Leader

Jashore SANGEET TARAFDER

28 November 2024 Squadron Leader

Distribution:

Staff Instructor, IPC-1

11 of 11
RESTRICTED