Bangladesh Air Force bought Yak-130 advanced jet trainer cum light attack aircraft, though it was several times crashed during development! And, even, just after induction there was a fatal accident of this trainer plane. This is the latest Russian trainer plane that enter in service after the fall of Soviet Union.
So, why Bangladesh bought it? Bangladesh Air Force bought Yak-130 fighter trainer aircraft to train their pilots for 4.5th generation and fifth generation fighter jets. It is also can be armed to fight low-intensity aerial & ground threats. Hence BAF choose it as a cost-effective solution.
Other options like South Korean KAI T-50, Chinese Hongdu L-15 and Italian Leonardo M-346 are the analogous of the Yak-130. Among these, Leonardo M-346 is the Italian variant of the Yakovlev-130. And, Italy can’t sell their variant to non-NATO countries as the agreement bares them. On the other side, Korean T-50 is much costly for Bangladesh Air Force in terms of price and maintenance costs. So, T-50 Golden Eagle also ruled out.
Chinese L-15 could be an options, but, then it was not fully developed. When Bangladesh signed the Yak-130 deal, Chinese L-15 wasn’t serially produced then. And BAF was not considering it even. So, only Russian Yakovlev Yak-130 was the only option for BAF. But, the accidental incidents happens with the Yak-130s are solely manufacturers problems, not Bangladesh Air Force’s faults.
Defense Update Bangladesh 