Russian-made Yak-130 combat trainer aircraft and Italian AW 139 helicopters have been inducted into the Bangladesh Air Force (BAF).

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina handed them over to the Air Force on Sunday at the BAF Bangabandhu Base in Dhaka.

The Yakovlev Yak-130 is a subsonic two-seat advanced jet trainer and light attack aircraft or lead-in fighter trainer.

The AW139 is a 15-seat medium sized twin-engine search and rescue helicopter developed by Italy’s AgustaWestland.

Bangladesh had signed a deal with Russian state arms export agency Rosoboronexport to buy 24 Yak-130 trainers developed by the Irkut Corporation.

The deal was signed in 2013, according to Rosoboronexport head Anatoly Isaikin in an interview with Russia’s ‘Kommersant’ newspaper.

Bangladesh also signed a deal to purchase two AW 139 helicopters, which will be used by the BAF to perform maritime search and rescue (SAR) operations and other utility missions, says AgustaWestland’s website.