The Sri Lankan Navy is to acquire six fast attack craft to protect its exclusive economic zone.

Navy commander Vice-Admiral Thisara Samarasinghe confirmed that four craft had already been delivered, with to more expected in January 2011.

“We now need bigger vessels as our focus shifts to protecting the country’s economic wealth in the oceans,” Samarasinghe said.

The vessels have been acquired from Israel and are capable of going further out to sea than the country’s previous craft.

Israel has been one of the key suppliers of arms, technology and expertise to Sri Lanka in its war against the Tamil Tiger separatists, according to Lanka Business Online.