A 1970s Israeli Fighter Flies Again for Sri Lanka's Air Force

Israel Aerospace Industries has completed a modernisation programme for the Sri Lanka Air Force's fleet of Kfir fighter aircraft, and an upgraded jet has flown for the first time, the company announced in a statement issued from Jerusalem on 11 June 2026. The work covered avionics and mission systems, structural refurbishment and improved maintenance capability, and was intended to extend the aircraft's operational life and raise mission readiness.

According to the statement, the rebuilt aircraft now have a glass cockpit (a layout in which mechanical dials are replaced by digital displays), along with new navigation and communications equipment and improved precision-strike capability. Israel Aerospace Industries, usually shortened to IAI, is Israel's largest state-owned aerospace and defence manufacturer. The statement said the Kfir, designed in Israel in the 1970s, remains in service with several air forces.

How an embargo produced the Kfir

The aircraft exists because of a diplomatic rupture. France had been Israel's main fighter supplier until it imposed an arms embargo in 1967, halting delivery of Mirage aircraft already being built for the Israeli air force, as documented in reference accounts of the type. Israel first produced an unlicensed derivative, the Nesher, then re-engineered the design around the American General Electric J79 turbojet. The resulting prototype first flew in June 1973 and the Kfir (Hebrew for "lion cub") entered Israeli service in 1975.

Israel itself has long since moved on. The Jerusalem Post reported that 220 Kfirs were built and that the Israeli air force retired the type in the mid-1990s, while the aircraft continued flying abroad, including with Colombia and with a private American company that supplies adversary aircraft for training. The Defense Post reported that the Kfir entered Sri Lankan service in 1996.

What Sri Lanka bought, and why

Sri Lanka is an island nation off the southern tip of India. Its air force flew Kfirs against Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam insurgents during the Sri Lankan civil war, as reference accounts of the aircraft record. Airforce Technology reported that the modernisation covered five aircraft flown by the air force's No 10 Squadron under a $50m contract signed with Sri Lanka's defence ministry in June 2021, and that the package was designed to reduce pilot workload as well as improve weapons employment, mission planning and post-flight debriefing. The Jerusalem Post reported that Sri Lanka originally bought 12 Kfirs and that the upgrade is expected to keep the surviving jets flying into 2030.

Upgrading rather than replacing is a recognisable pattern for smaller air forces: a new-build fighter costs many times the price of refitting an airframe that is already paid for, hangared and understood by local technicians.

What is still unclear

The IAI statement did not say how many aircraft were covered, what the programme cost, when the work began, or which weapons the upgraded jets can now carry. It did not say how long the fleet is expected to remain in service, and it named no Sri Lankan official. Figures in this article for aircraft numbers, contract value and squadron come from trade and news reporting, not from the company's announcement.