Pacific Airlift Rally here from Aug. 22

Ridma DISSANAYAKE and Bakthi MENDIS

The Air Forces of 25 nations, including those of the US, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Australia, will test their disaster relief and humanitarian capabilities at the Pacific Airlift Rally 2011 which is to be held at the Ratmalana Air Force base from August 22-26.

Over 200 foreign airmen will participate in this comprehensive military airlift symposium co-hosted by the US and Sri Lanka Air Forces. Exercise related events include seminars, expert briefings, command post exercise that addresses military airlift support required during natural disasters.

US Air Force C 13-Hercules aircraft from 374th Airlift Wing at Yokota, Japan and one C 130 aircraft from four Air Forces including Sri Lanka will participate.

Air Force Commander Air Marshall Harsha Abeywickrema at a press briefing at the Air Force Headquarters yesterday said that the US has decided to hold this training mission in Sri Lanka considering the peaceful environment in the country.

This training is a biennial mission that aimed at strengthening the interoperability between nations in the Indonesian and Pacific region, he said.

Over 300 foreign and local officers will participate in field training exercise.

The command post exercise which include seminars will be held at Mount Lavinia Hotel.

Air Forces of Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, Canada, India, Indonesia, Laos, Mongolia, Nepal, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, The Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Tonga, Vietnam will also participate in this training.

Improving cross training mutual exchange of expertise, updating existing procedures of air delivery, assessing functional suitability of various equipment, and suggesting improvements and ascertaining the requirements of various equipment that may be useful for future exercise of this nature are the semi objectives of this event.