A former Royal Australian Air Force King Air 350 arrived in Sri Lanka on October 24 following a ferry flight from Australia.
The aircraft, A32-673, was earmarked for donation to the Sri Lankan Air Force in May 2023. It will be supported in Sri Lanka for 12 months by Australia, before responsibility is turned over to the Sri Lankan Air Force.
It will be used to perform maritime domain awareness missions by the Sri Lankan Air Force, complementing a King Air 360ER provided by the US Government in early October.
A32-673 was fitted with an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance pod before delivery to the Sri Lankan Air Force.
In 2023, fourteen years after handing its four Beechcraft 350 Super King Air aircraft to Air Force, the Australian Army once again decided it needs a fixed-wing support capability.
Defence released an Expressions of Interest (EOI) FCOMD/EOI/37171/1(Army Aviation General Fixed Wing Support) to industry with the aim of leasing up to two single-engine aircraft, with the capability intended to become available earlier this year.
Under the EOI, Army Aviation sought aircraft with the ability to carry small loads (less than 10 people or 1,000 kg of cargo) with good short take off and landing (STOL) capabilities to allow operations from unprepared and austere airfields across northern Australia.
The requirement was for the aircraft selected to be capable of carrying Defence personnel and VIPs on occasion, as well as cargo operations which include the carriage of dangerous goods – primarily small arms ammunition.