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SL-Israel in joint Kfir aircraft overhaul   

24 Jul 2021

  • $ 50 m for over 2-year operation 
  • IAI to take apart 2 planes; SLAF to handle 3 under IAI watch 
  • 5-year delay costs $ 25 m in savings 
BY Maheesha Mudugamuwa  In the midst of a severe foreign reserves crisis, Sri Lanka has reached an agreement with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) to jointly overhaul five Kfir aircrafts owned by the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) at a cost of millions of US dollars.  Accordingly, the Government has signed an agreement with the IAI in May in this regard and a group of IAI members arrived in Sri Lanka in June and have begun the overhaul process. The total cost of the agreement is $ 50 million and the overhaul process would be conducted within two years and two months from June this year and the total payment would be paid within four years, The Sunday Morning learnt.  It is also learnt that the IAI would complete the overhaul process of two aircrafts while the rest would be overhauled by SLAF technicians under the monitoring of IAI members.  Prior to the launch this year, the process was said to be delayed for over five years due to the country’s financial situation.   However, it is said that if the country had begun the process five years ago, the total overhaul process could have been conducted at a cost of around $ 25 million. According to the SLAF, the five aircrafts would be overhauled at a cost of $ 50 million and if it was to purchase brand new aircraft from Pakistan or China, it would cost the Government around $ 50 million per aircraft.  When contacted by The Sunday Morning, SLAF Media Spokesman Group Captain Dushan Wijesinghe said that the complete process would be done in Sri Lanka and that they have already started to disassemble the aircrafts with the SLAF technicians.  “The overhaul process will be done jointly by Israeli and SLAF technicians. Two aircrafts will be overhauled by the Israeli group while the SLAF technicians will inspect. The overhaul of the other three aircrafts will be done by the SLAF under the inspection of the Israeli group. In this way, the SLAF technicians will learn the aircraft overhaul process and will be able to carry out future overhauls within the country,” he added.  According to Wijesinghe, all Kfir aircrafts owned by the SLAF are currently grounded, noting that the overhaul process was a very important task.  “We have ground run the aircrafts and kept it at a serviceable status, as otherwise, it could cost a huge amount to overhaul,” he further added.   During this time, the SLAF has also called certain tenders in order to carry out routine maintenance.  “Since we have already agreed with the IAI, we have temporarily cancelled an already floated tender to purchase antennas, until the overhaul is completed. We will see whether we can use the existing antennas, but if we want to replace them in the future, we will do so,” he explained.  The aircrafts which are currently being overhauled were purchased in 1995 and have been grounded for the past eight years. This would be the first-ever major aircraft overhaul that would be conducted for aircrafts other than the repairs that are conducted.   Attempts made by The Sunday Morning to contact Defence Secretary (Retd.) General Kamal Gunaratne proved futile.   


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