 After the purchase of equipment from Canada in 1986, the air force gained the capability to make structural repairs on its fleet of Bell helicopters, several of which had been damaged in operations against the Tamil separatists.Maintenance of electronic equipment was performed at the communications station at Ekala, in the north of Colombo District.After the 1983 riots, the government worked rapidly to expand the SLAF inventory, relying largely on sources in Italy, Britain, and the United States.