The Sri Lanka Air Force formally inducted the newly acquired Beechcraft King Air 360ER on Thursday (October 10) at a ceremony headed by Secretary to the Ministry of Defence, Air Vice Marshal Sampath Thuyacontha (Retd) as the chief guest.
US Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Julie Chung and Commander of the US Pacific Fleet, Admiral Stephen Koehler were the guests of honour.
This aircraft will be assigned to No. 3 Maritime Squadron at SLAF Academy China Bay, marking a major step forward in Sri Lanka’s maritime surveillance operations.
The acquisition resulted from extensive discussions between the Governments of Sri Lanka and the United States, focused on enhancing Sri Lanka’s maritime surveillance capabilities.
Since 2019, several rounds of talks have taken place to secure a suitable aircraft. The United States, through the Department of Defence’s Building Partner Capacity program, agreed to provide the Beechcraft King Air 360ER to the SLAF on a gratis basis, thereby strengthening the country’s capacity to secure its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and maintain maritime security within Sri Lanka’s Flight Information Region (FIR). A team comprising pilots, observers, flight engineers and technicians from the SLAF have received training in the United States of America on the Beechcraft which is capable of performing various multi-purpose missions.
