prop planes
Hi major liability
Your right it does take balls almost reminds me of that African country who attached bomb racks onto a An-26 or 32 transport and used it as a bomber.
They have used these aircraft a few times already. A while back two Sri Lankan Chinese made J-7 (Fishbed copies but with wider wings) shot down one and I think damage a second.
I don't understand why the new radar's the Sri Lankan's bought didn't pick them up but that's another story. Sri Lankan AF has a few Kfir C-3, and handful of Ukrainian Mig-27 besides the free Chinese J-7s. Currently and are closed to signing a deal for (5) Mig-29 SE Fulcrums which to me seems an overkill. I would like to see the faces on the Sri Lankan government leaders when the maintenance bills for the Fulcrums start hitting in, talk about sticker shock.
I would have gone with one common type and cut cost and would have picked the Kfir since I don’t much about Mig-27s. The C-3 could be upgraded to at least C-7 standards and have an EL-2030 radar for ground attack and used to track prop aircraft for sure. The Python III, IV, and maybe even Derby would have served their purposes. India uses the most of the same equipment on their jump jets now and could still fulfill Sri Lankan maintenance needs like they do now.
Taking on a forth type of aircraft seems like a poor choice and a Mig-29 already has a slightly bad maintenance rep so unless they plan to cut a few type somebody’s getting a finders fee. I would assume a more modern Kfir C-7 or C-10CE like the ones being sold to Colombia are in the same ballpark price wise as a Mig-29SE?