Sri Lanka gets more training aircraft

Local media report that the Sri Lankan Air Force is to receive eight TH-57 training helicopters from the US.

These Sea Rangers are to augment the five Bell 206 Jet Rangers currently in use. In 2022, the air force acquired a second hand Bell 206B-3 for the same reason. This donation may even result in the withdrawal of some of the older airframes.

Another gift comes from Pakistan that is to supply an FT-7 jet trainer. Pakistan has some surplus FT-7 aircraft in its inventory. After the introduction of the JF-17B dual seat training aircraft, these were solely used to train future F-7PG pilots and for weapons tactics training and as adversary aircraft.

Sri Lanka only ever had one trainer, an early model FT-7. It is unclear if Pakistan will supply an FT-7P or an FT-7PG, the more modern 'cranked-wing' variant. The latter would be a better fit for the Sri Lankan F-7GS aircraft, although they also still have a couple earlier F-7BS models.

Credit photos: Erik Roelofs (Scramble Archive) and M Umar Aziz (via Jetphotos.com)