Parliament was due on Thursday to debate and approve a supplementary estimate of Rs 4.261 billion for the Sri Lanka Air Force to establish an unmanned aerial vehicle system.
The House was scheduled to convene at 9.30 a.m. under the patronage of Speaker Dr Jagath Wickramaratne, NewsFirst reported.
The measure is Supplementary Estimate No. 8 of 2026. It seeks approval to allocate Rs 4,261 million — Rs 4,261,000,000 — from the Consolidated Fund, or any other fund or money belonging to the Government, to the Air Force, according to Parliament’s own announcement.
Taking it up on Thursday was decided at the Committee on Parliamentary Business, which met on Wednesday under the Speaker’s chairmanship.
The stated reason is weather, not conflict
The funds are intended for a UAV system “taking into consideration the changing operational environment and emerging threats arising from persistently adverse weather conditions in the Bay of Bengal and surrounding areas, which are vulnerable to natural disasters,” Parliament said.
That is an unusual framing for a defence procurement. The justification placed on the record is disaster exposure in the surrounding sea area rather than a security threat, which would point toward surveillance, search and damage assessment roles. Neither source states the point more precisely.
Also before the House
The Trusts (Amendment) Bill was set down for its second reading from 11.30 a.m. to 5.00 p.m., provided the Bill is not challenged before the Supreme Court under Article 121 of the Constitution. Business scheduled for Friday was left unchanged.
Not reported
Neither filing states how many aircraft the Rs 4.26 billion buys, their type or supplier, the procurement method, or whether a tender has been called. Neither says whether the aircraft are for surveillance only, nor when the system would enter service. No vote result was available at the time of writing, as the debate had not been held.
This is the second supplementary estimate to reach Parliament this week, after the Rs 47 billion estimate covering the diesel subsidy and low-income family support, which was taken up on Wednesday.
