Colombo, January 17 (newsin.asia): As part of India’s commitment to maintaining high serviceability of weapons equipment provided by government of India to the Sri Lankan Armed Forces, an Indian Air Force (IAF) An-32 aircraft landed at Bandaranaike International Airport on January 10, with 341 Indra Radar Spares worth LKR 200 million to augment maintenance support for four INDRA Mk-II Air Surveillance Radars, gifted to the Sri Lanka Air Force by India in 2011.
The spares were formally presented to the Commander of Sri Lanka Air Force, Air Marshal Sudarshana Pathirana, by Gopal Baglay, High Commissioner of India, at a grand function organized by the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) at SLAF Base, Katunayake.
These spares would ensure continued optimal availability of the radars.
The Indian Defense Forces have remained committed to ensuring high operational availability and capacity building Sri Lanka Defense forces, towards the realization of India’s Vision of Security and Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR).
The INDRA Mk II radars is a mobile 2D radar capable of detecting low flying aircraft. It was developed by the Electronics and Radar Development Establishment (LRDE) wing of the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO).
The radar has been manufactured by M/s Bharat Electronics and is the mainstay of the SLAF Surveillance capability. With friendly assistance from India, SLAF has been able to maintain 100% operational availability of the system. It is testimony to the technological prowess of India’s defense research and development sector and the reliability of the products of Indian defense industry, an Indian High Commission press release said.
The event also marked the successful completion of annual life extension checks of 54 shoulder launched surface-to-air IGLA missiles with the Sri Lanka Air Force. The IGLA System was gifted to Sri Lanka by India in 2007. Thereafter, Indian Air Force Training Team had assisted Sri Lanka Air Force in setting up of the system and had also conducted multiple courses on the missile system.
Further, to ensure the operational availability of the IGLA missiles, they are annually taken by IAF for a Life Extension Check as a goodwill gesture. The entire expenditure of airlifting the missiles, their Life Extension and their repositioning is borne by the govt of India, in the spirit of strong and friendly relations between the two countries.
The assurance of India’s fullest cooperation in the field of security was recently reiterated to Sri Lanka’s leadership by the National Security Adviser of India, Mr Ajit Doval during the recently concluded trilateral Maritime Security Cooperation talks among India, Sri Lanka and Maldives hosted by Sri Lanka in November 2020.
The expeditious positioning of the spares and the IGLA missiles is indicative of the growing cooperation, camaraderie and friendship between the two nations, with Sri Lanka being accorded the status of ‘Priority One’ partner by India, the Indian High Commission said.
Webinar on Indian Defense Supply Capabilities
As part of India’s unwavering commitment to positively contributing towards the Capability Building of Sri Lankan Armed Forces, a Webinar was conducted by the Defense Wing, High Commission of India on January 13, at Hotel Taj Samudra between officers of Indian and Sri Lankan Armed Forces along with representatives from Indian defense manufacturing companies.
The Webinar was chaired by Vinod K. Jacob, Deputy High Commissioner and Maj Gen AWAPK Thilakarathne, Chief Signal Officer, Sri Lanka Army. The Sri Lankan delegation had a large number of representatives participating from all the three services.
Deputy High Commissioner Jacob, highlighted the impetus being given by India to further the interest of the Sri Lankan Defense Forces and the opportunities that can be provided by the highly evolved defense production industry in India.
During the Webinar, products of interest to the Sri Lankan Defense Forces were presented with the aim of promoting close interaction with the Sri Lankan Armed Forces and to valuably contribute to effectively countering common security threats in the region and towards the realization India’s Vision of Security and Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR).
