In another first of Sri Lanka Army, the island nation has deployed locally manufactured military vehicles in Sri Lankan UN Peace-Keepers serving in Mali.
The Sri Lanka Army said that the Sri Lanka Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (SLEME) troops of the Army handed over the SLEME-produced nine modernized Unibuffels (improved version of Unicorns), one recovery vehicle and three containers to the shippers.
It will be shipped to the Combat Convoy Company (CCC) of the Sri Lankan UN Peace-Keepers serving in Mali, a landlocked nation in West Africa, affected by an ethnic conflict.
Lieutenant General Shavendra Silva, Chief of Defence Staff, Commander of the Army and Head of the National Operation Centre for Prevention of COVID-19 Outbreak, as the Chief Guest for the occasion have handed them symbolically to Rahileen Booram, Line Manager of Ben Line Shipping Agencies (Pvt) Ltd for onward shipping arrangements.
The landmine-resistant vehicles and equipment, produced locally using technical expertise of SLEME troops, save a large chunk of foreign exchange to the Government and the Army as they have been produced using imported spares on par with international standards to match UN specifications.
The SLEME has been instrumental in producing those vehicles, identical to the South African ones for several years.
(LIN)