SLAF Jet Squadron reborn

№5 Squadron comes to life again

The Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) was mortified when a foreign power blatantly breached the country’s airspace in 1987 (see Operation Poomalai). Although frustrated at being ordered to stay on ground by a government worried about antagonizing a powerful neighbor, the SLAF brass understood that even if they had been ordered to prevent the incursion, it would not have been practical given the nature and composition of the country’s air arm.