18 January 2021 12:07 am
The Indian Air Force gifted 341 “Indra Radar” spares worth Rs.200 million to the Sri Lanka Air Force to augment maintenance support for the four INDRA Mk-II Air Surveillance Radars, previously gifted to the SLAF by the Indian Government in 2011.
The Indian High Commission in a statement issued said that an Indian Air Force (IAF) An-32 aircraft landed at the Bandaranaike International Airport on January 10, 2021 and the equipment were part of India’s commitment to maintain high serviceability of weapons equipment provided by Government of India to the Sri Lankan armed forces.
The handing over ceremony of air defence and INDRA Mk-II Radar spares equipment was held on Saturday at the SLAF Base, Katunayake with the participation of Indian High Commissioner Gopal Baglay and Commander of the Air Force- Air Marshal Sudarshana Pathirana.
The spares would ensure continued optimal availability of the radars and provide for the redundancy to the SLAF.
The INDRA Mk II radar 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 Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
The radar had been manufactured by M/s Bharat Electronics and had been the main stay of the SLAF surveillance capability. With the assistance from India, the SLAF has been able to maintain 100% operational availability of the system.
The event also marked the successful completion of annual life extension checks of 54 shoulder- launched surface to air IGLA missiles held with the Sri Lanka Air Force. The IGLA System was gifted to the Sri Lanka Government by the Government of India in 2007.
(DSB)