Sri Lanka is adopting more American Bell 206 helicopters and a Pakistani Chengdu J-7 aircraft to enhance the country’s air force capabilities.
The investment stipulates eight of the 206 choppers in their TH-57 Sea Ranger military derivative ordered from Washington DC and a single Chinese-made J-7 in its FT-7 export trainer variant from Islamabad.
Sri Lanka Air Force Commander Air Marshal Udeni Rajapaksa confirmed that the Bell fleet is scheduled to arrive later this year, Colombo-based news agency Daily Mirror reported.
Meanwhile, Rajapaksa’s recent bilateral meeting with Pakistan allowed the FT-7 order to be delivered as a grant, with the shipment expected “in the near future.”
“By acquiring modern drone security units and advanced air defence weapons, the SLAF has initiated a programme in collaboration with the government to upgrade both the air defence and radar systems,” Rajapaksa remarked.
“As the government aims to boost the economy by enhancing the tourism industry, the Sri Lanka Air Force has also launched several programmes to support these efforts.”
Airborne Fleet Expansion
The Sri Lanka Air Force’s latest project follows the service’s induction of a Beechcraft King Air 360ER aircraft last year as part of a contract signed with US-based Textron Aviation in 2022.
Concurrently, the military received a Beechcraft King Air 350 from the Royal Australian Air Force to bolster Sri Lanka and Canberra’s maritime security partnership across the Indian Ocean.
Sri Lanka is also engaged with Jerusalem’s state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries to upgrade its air force’s existing Kfir fourth-generation fighter jets.
The modernized planes will obtain Kfir’s latest C12 configuration, replacing the older C2 and C3 models by 2025.
Additionally, the South Asian government accepted two Harbin Y-12s from China to bolster its tactical airborne cargo and personnel transportation.
