Defence

No 10 Kfir Squadron of the SLAF celebrates its Silver Jubilee

2021-01-05

By : Nalin Jayetileke

The No 10 Squadron of the Sri Lanka Air Force celebrates its 25th anniversary today. A Jet squadron which stared with 6 Kfir supersonic jet aircrafts in 2006 had 6 pilots trained at its first batch in Israel, which included the present Air Force Commander Air Marshal Sudarshana Pathirana. Air Marshal Pathirana, as a young Wing Commander was in charge of this prestigious squadron and was amongst the best jet pilots who did contribute immensely towards the war effort, post 2009 with its skill, capability and accuracy in attacking enemy targets. The Aircraft with its General Electric J79 engine could achieve a maximum speed of over 2,440 Km/ h and is manufactured by Israel Aerospace Industries. World over, there are over 220 Air Crafts in operation.

The Kafir is rated as one of the best Aircrafts the Sri Lanka Air Force has had with its inventory, with which they have been able to make a huge contribution towards achieving positive results during the Elam war, especially during the Humanitarian operations carried out by the Sri Lankan Forces during the period 2006 to 2009. As such the Pilots of the No 10 Kfir Squadron of the SLAF, the Air Crafts and others within the kfir fraternity is highly rated amongst the three services in Sri Lanka.