The army has sent two of its helicopter pilots for training overseas to equip them with the necessary skills to use the night sun. The night sun is a large powerful lamp resembling a flashlight which is usually attached to the front of helicopters and allows for the  illumination of large areas at night.

Army Chief Of Staff Commodore Gary Best told this newspaper that only one of the army’s Bell 206 helicopters currently  has the night sun installed, although it was not being utilized at present. “That is why we have sent the pilots to be trained to use it,” he said.

According to Best, the helicopters are working and are mainly doing reconnaissance work and surveillance flights. He said teams are taken out to do area mapping. During surveillance operations the army locates and then destroys marijuana farms in outlying areas.

The army acquired the Bell 206 helicopters early last year amid criticism about their crime-fighting capabilities,  but Best had said that the force was very comfortable with the machines, and they had been acquired primarily to function in an aerial reconnaissance role. As such troop transportation was not a major criterion.

The army chief had also argued that the choppers were low maintenance, unlike the Bell 412 which is currently not serviceable.