Bangladesh, one of the poorest countries in the world, announced the $115m deal for the eight Russian MIG 29 fighters earlier this week.

The United States has expressed concern at the decision and cast doubt on Bangladesh's need for - or ability to afford - the aircraft.

Opposition protest

The deal, which includes equipment, training and technical services, has prompted heated debate from rival parties in Bangladesh on whether it was money wisely spent.

Members of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party and Jatiya Party said the deal was "unnecessary and expensive" for the country's defence needs.

There are concerns that Bangladesh's priorities are misplaced

They said Bangladesh's military policy was defensive while the MiGs were attack planes.

But Finance Minister S A M S Kibria said Bangladesh needed strong armed forces to defend its independence.

Mr Kibria said if small, neutral countries like Switzerland and Sweden needed strong armed forces, so did Bangladesh.

Western diplomats in Dhaka, however, say Bangladesh faces no military threat.

BBC Dhaka Correspondent David Chazan says nationalism is strong in Bangladesh and memories of the bloody independence war against Pakistan are still vivid.

US concern

The US says it has turned down past Bangladeshi requests for fighter planes.

US State Department spokesman James Foley said: "We've already had a number of conversations with Bangladeshi officials to explain our concerns.

"We've also declined to sell high-performance aircraft to Bangladesh for our part.

"The US and Bangladesh's other development partners will certainly want to discuss the implications of this purchase with the government," he said. Mr Foley added: "The debate ... accurately reflects questions about whether there is a legitimate military mission for these high-performance aircraft and whether Bangladesh can afford to buy them."

Bangladesh's defence spending was increased in the recent budget against the wishes of donor countries which are beginning to question why the country's defence budget is so big.