SL to purchase India’s combat aircraft?

[pga]

Sri Lanka is said to be interested in India’s Light combat aircraft (LCA) Tejas, the multi-role light fighter that is in development with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Indian media reported.

“Though the aircraft has been in development for some years now, India's southern neighbour Sri Lanka is said to be interested in LCA Tejas. Sources close to India Today (via IDRW) have said Sri Lanka could be a possible export customer,” reports said.

LCATejas recently showcased its acrobatic skills successfully at Bahrain International Airshow 2016, a first such display outside India. It had been previously reported that Sri Lanka had shown interest in the Sino-Pakistani collaborative multi-role jet fighter JF-17 Thunder, but the country's defence minister denied such reports.

It was also suggested that the one of the reasons for the cancellation could be New Delhi's "diplomatic missive" deferring it from buying the JF-17 Thunder. During the recent Bahrain International Airshow 2016, the HAL chief had revealed several countries had enquired about LCA Tejas after its successful showcase. LCA Tejas was seen performing 8-G (gravity) pull, vertical loop, slow fly-past and barrel roll, and the officials present at the event termed the flight a "historic event".

Recently, LCA Tejas test-fired Derby Beyond Visual Air-to-Air missile and there will be more such tests. The aircraft is yet to obtain its Final Operational Clearance (FOC) as it has to receive certification of the integration of Derby BVR missiles and GSh-23 autocannon, air-to-air refuelling probe, increase in the angle of attack, and enhanced braking system quartz model of nose cone radome.

An upgraded LCA Tejas MK-1A will feature modern AESA radar, and aerial refuelling probe better for service maintenance. The Indian Air Force has reportedly ordered over 100 Tejas MK-1As. The Mark 2 version of the aircraft is a more advanced version that will feature a powerful engine and incorporate fifth-generation jet fighter elements. -

ඉන්දියාවේ ‘තේජස‘ ට ලංකාවේ හිත ගිහින්

මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ සමයේ පාකිස්තානයේ තන්ඩර් 17 ප්‍රහාරක යානා මිලට ගැනීම වෙනුවට ඉන්දියාවේ ‘තේජස්‘ සැහැල්ලු ප්‍රහාරක යානා පිළිබඳ ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ උනන්දුවක් ඇතිවී ඇතැයි ඉන්දියා මාධ්‍ය කියයි.

හින්දුස්ථාන් ගගන යාත්‍රා සමාගම එම යානා නිපදවා ඇත. බහරේන් අන්තර්ජාතික ගුවන් ප්‍රදර්ශනයේදී තේජස් යානය පළමුවරට සාර්ථක කරණම් පෙන්වීය.

ඉන්දියාවේ විරෝධය නිසා පාකිස්තානයෙන් ප්‍රහාරක යානා මිලට නොගත් බවත් ඉන්දියා මාධ්‍ය පවසයි.

http://www.dailymirror.lk/105300/SL-to-purchase-India-s-combat-aircraft-
http://www.lankadeepa.lk/index.php/articles/384929

indiawata puka deeme seemawak na.

 

[fdk]

meka gaththoth nam maha ponna kamak, wadakata nathi jarawak

 

[මරුසිරා]

පොනිලග පොන්න කම තමා ..ඉන්දියන් බල්ලෝ කියන පදේට නටන්නේ ..මුව ඉන්දියාවේදී පුක්ශනේ කොරලද මන්ද

 

[pga]

Why Sri Lanka Backed Off the Sino-Pakistani JF-17 Thunder

This is not a surprise.
See the last line of this article published on 2016 Jan 11. It seems they had plans to sell HAL Tejas Light Combat Aircraft to Sri Lanka.

By Ankit Panda
January 11, 2016

Did India play a part in scuttling a JF-17 deal between Sri Lanka and Pakistan?

As Benjamin Baker wrote last week in The Diplomat, the JF-17 Thunder, a low-cost multi-role fighter built collaboratively by China and Pakistan, has run into some problems on the global fighter market. Recently, every time it appears to have locked down a buyer, problem crop up. Malaysia became the latest supposed buyer of the JF-17 to come out publicly and say that there was no finalized deal. Despite being competitively priced, the JF-17 has proved to be a tough sell for Pakistan Aeronautical Complex and China’s Chengdu Aircraft Corporation, the joint manufacturers of the fighter.

The case of Sri Lanka is the latest curious case of a prospective JF-17 buyer backing down. As Franz-Stefan Gady reported recently, Colombo was expected to sign a multi-million dollar deal to purchas 8 to 12 units of the JF-17 during Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s state visit there last week. Despite a range of announced deals, a JF-17 purchase was not announced during Sharif’s time in Colombo.

Shortly after Sharif’s visit, Sri Lanka’s minister of defense, Karunasena Hettiarachchi, denied that the JF-17 was even discussed. “The matter did not even come up for discussion during the talks [with the Pakistani government],” he said, according to The Colombo Gazette. He added that “if there arises a requirement for Sri Lanka to procure aircraft of this nature, in keeping with the policy of the Government of Sri Lanka to maintain transparency, expressions of interest will be called for, from all concerned.”

However, mere days after the deal was reported, sources claimed that the deal had been cancelled. The reason for the cancellation of the deal is revealing of current diplomatic dynamics in South Asia. According to The Indian Express, the Sri Lankan government, led by President Maithripala Sirisena, canceled its plans to purchase the JF-17s after a “diplomatic missive” from New Delhi suggesting that Colombo should refrain from adding these aircraft to its fleet.

The report adds that New Delhi included a negative technical assessment of the JF-17 and “pointed out that [Sri Lanka's] defense requirements did not need fighters.” According to the report, the Indian government delivered a “non-paper”–described as a “white sheet of paper without a letterhead of signature”–to the Sri Lankan government weeks ahead of Sharif’s planned visit.

If true, Sri Lanka’s decision to hold back on the purchase of JF-17 fighters demonstrates that the Sirisena-led government in Colombo is far more deferential to Indian interests than its predecessor was. Under Mahinda Rajapaksa, the former Sri Lankan president, the country tilted considerably toward China. After his surprise election victory last January, Sirisena signaled an intent to balance Sri Lanka’s foreign policy by visiting New Delhi before Beijing.

It doesn’t appear that India is planning on offering Sri Lanka a substitute for the JF-17. New Delhi’s suggestion that Sri Lanka does not require multi-role fighters for its defense needs suggests that it does not plan to do so in the future. (The closest Indian analog, in terms of cost-per-unit, is the HAL Tejas Light Combat Aircraft, but its feature-set is very different from what the JF-17 offers.)

 

[කලු පූසා]

ammatahudu mahinda peraduna kiyala denagaththa gaman india walin oya project eka patan ganna eththe. pakistan walin jet ganna epa kiyala ape eunwa baya karala unge ewa wikunanna.
apoo lejjawe be gu 7i un kiyana kiyana widihata natana eka

 

[sanoka]

කාට කාටත් උවමනා වූ වෙනසට ගරු කරමූ... සදා ලිඳ​!

 

[asylum]

oya jarawa gathoth nam iwarai aya udayak awoth api anathai mona redak da mun me karanne JF 17 ganne nathuwa loke danata thiyana wiyadam aduma multirole fighter eka ganne nathuwa.