In 1986, the SLAF acquired the first two Shanxi Y-8 transports from China: when one was written off, a replacement was acquired in 1993. All came from civilian use and thus retained their civilian livery during the early years of their service in Sri Lanka. The first two, CR-871 and CF-872, were painted in white overall, with blue cheat lines and decorative lines (as shown in the inset). While originally purchased for transport purposes and having no rear barbettes installed, they were also heavily utilised for attack purposes as barrel-bombers. A premature detonation of one such weapon led to the catastrophic loss of CR-872 on 5 July 1992. A replacement was acquired less than a year later in the form of the Y-8 registered as CR-873, which wore a gaudy livery in bright red and white, with black and yellow cheat lines. (Artwork by Tom Cooper)