Sinhala warriors of the 16th century, from a contemporary Portuguese codex
Sri Lanka has a military history going back to more than 2000 years. The roots of the modern Sri Lankan military lead back to the colonial era when the Portuguese, Dutch and British established local militias to support their wars against the local Kingdoms. The British created the Ceylon Rifle Regiment during the Kandyan wars. Although it had natives in its ranks, it was largely composed of Malays. It was disbanded in 1873.[5]
Imperial service
The lineage of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces dates back to 1881, when the British created a volunteer reserve on the island named the Ceylon Light Infantry Volunteers. Created to supplement the British garrison in Ceylon in the event of an external threat, it gradually increased in size. In 1910 it was renamed the Ceylon Defence Force (CDF) and consisted of several regiments. The CDF mobilized for home defence in World War I and again in World War II when its units were deployed along with allied forces in Asia and Africa. At the end of the war it has grown in size to that of an independent brigade, but was de-mobilized in 1946 and disbanded in 1949. In 1937 the Ceylon Naval Volunteer Force was established (later renamed as the Ceylon Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (CRNVR)), it was mobilized for war in 1939 and was incorporated into the Royal Navy.[5]
Dominion of Ceylon
Prime Minister D. S. Senanayake watching the Ceylon Light Infantry training.
Following the establishment of the Dominion of Ceylon with Britain granting independence in 1948, work began to establish a regular military. The Army Act No. 17 of 1949 was passed by Parliament on 11 April 1949 and formalized in the Gazette Extraordinary No. 10028 of 10 October 1949. This marked the creation of the Ceylon Army, and the CDF and the CRNVR were disbanded to make way for a regular navy. On 9 December 1950 the Royal Ceylon Navy (RCyN) was established. Finally, in 1951 the Royal Ceylon Air Force (RCyAF) was established as the youngest of the three forces. From the outset Britain played a significant role in helping the Ceylon government in developing its armed forces.[5]
The growth of the Ceylon Armed Forces was slow due to lack of foreign threat, since Ceylon maintained cordial relations with its neighbor India and had a defence treaty with Britain. In the 1950s it was mainly employed in internal security assisting the police. There was an attempted coup in 1962 by a group of reservists, which led to cuts in military spending and the disbandment of several regiments. This, together with the lack of an intelligence agency, left it ill-prepared for the insurgency launched by the MarxistJVP in April 1971.[5]
The 1971 JVP Insurrection saw Ceylon Armed Forces mobilizing for combat operations. for the first time and its size grew rapidly. The insurrection was brought under control in a few months.
Republic of Sri Lanka
In 1972, Ceylon became the independent socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, with it the Ceylon Armed Forces became known as the Sri Lanka Armed Forces as the Ceylon Army became the Sri Lanka Army, the Royal Ceylon Navy became the Sri Lanka Navy and the Royal Ceylon Air Force became the Sri Lanka Air Force.[6]
Sri Lankan Civil War and the Second JVP Insurrection
By the early 1980s, the Sri Lanka Armed Forces mobilized against the insurgency of Tamil militant groups in the north of the island. This was the beginning of the Sri Lankan Civil War. The size of the Armed Forces grew rapidly in the 1980s. By the mid-1980s, the Armed Forces began launching operations in the like of conventional warfare against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) which had by then became the most powerful of the Tamil militant groups and had been proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the Sri Lanka.
This led to India intervening by entering Sri Lankan air space to carry out food drops. Shortly afterward the Indo-Sri Lankan Accord was signed and the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) was sent to Sri Lanka to establish peace.
The military was redistricted to its bases but was soon involved in another insurrection by the JVP in the south of the island from 1987 to 1989. In the north, tension increased with the LTTE and the IPKF leading to open war with the two suffering heavy casualties. In 1990 the IPKF pulled out and the war commenced with the Sri Lanka Armed Forces and the LTTE.
In 1994, a brief ceasefire came into place and peace talks began. The ceasefire ended when the LTTE sack two SLN gunboats. The phase of the war that followed, known as Eelam War III, saw a conventional war taking place in the northern and eastern provinces of the island and LTTE attacks in other parts of the country, which included several largescale suicide bombings. The Sri Lankan Army began deploying full divisions in offensive operations and the Navy and Air Force increased their inventories to support the Army.
In 2002, a new Cease-Fire Agreement (CFA) was established with Norwegian mediation and peace talks began. The SLMM was established to monitor the ceasefire and certain progress archived until the LTTE withdrew from the peace talks in 2003. Although the ceasefire continued no peace talks took place till 2005. In 2006, the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) reported that the LTTE had violated the CFA 3,471 times and the Sri Lankan security forces 162 times since the signing of the ceasefire.[7]
Some defense reforms also commenced in 2002 when the Prime Minister established the Defence Review Committee (DRC) which formulated extensive recommendations that encapsulate force modernization as well as the restructuring of command and control in ways that would make the army more responsive to civil control.[8] The first task of the Committee was to assess the Higher Defence Organisation, given the decision by the President to relinquish the defense portfolio. When a paper drafted by the Committee was inadvertently made public, concerns were raised that the Committee's recommendations for restructuring Higher Defence Organisation might be constitutionally flawed in relation to the role of the President as Commander-in-Chief of the Sri Lankan armed forces. Although the work of the Committee thereafter proceeded apace, the DRC itself became a political football amidst the growing tension between the President and the Prime Minister. In 2003 the President took the decision to bring an end to the work of the DRC and, instead, assigned the task of SSR to the Joint Operations Headquarters, since when little progress has been evident.
In April 2006 following a suicide bomb attack on the Commander of the Army, airstrikes began followed by skirmishes, however, both the government and the LTTE claimed that the ceasefire was still in place. The offensive by the Armed Forces was launched when the LTTE closed the sluice gates of the Mavil Aru reservoir on 21 July and cut the water supply to 15,000 villages in government controlled areas. This led to several major attacks by the LTTE in the eastern province and the north. The Armed Forces went on the offensive successfully recapturing LTTE control areas in the eastern province during 2007. By then the LTTE had been proscribed as a terrorist organisation by 32 countries.[9]
In 2017 Sri Lanka Armed Forces deployed nearly 10,000 personnel and equipment for relief, help and rescue operations of 2017 Sri Lanka floods. This is the biggest military deployment of the peacetime.[10]
On 3 January 2008 the government informed Norway of its decision to quit the ceasefire, with it the ceasefire officially ended on 16 January 2008, following several bombings in the capital. Along with the ceasefire operations of the SLMM also ended.[11]
During 2008 there was heavy fighting in the northern province where the Sri Lanka Armed Forces launched major offensives and succeeded in recapturing LTTE controlled areas of the Mannar District, the Vavuniya District and moving into the Mullaitivu District and Kilinochchi District. During December 2008, the Sri Lankan Armed Forces were engaged in offensives on all fronts, with heavy fighting around Kilinochchi (where the LTTE had its headquarters) and close to Mullaitivu.
In early 2009 the Armed Forces recaptured in quick succession Kilinochchi and the strategically important Elephant Pass. Thus establishing a land route to the government controlled Jaffna Peninsula which had been supplied by sea and air for over 10 years after its recapture in 1995. Shortly thereafter Mullaitivu was recaptured by the 59th Division of the SLA. Boxed into a small land area north of Mullaitivu, the LTTE with its remaining cadres and leadership was effectively trapped, with this land mass being slowly reduced until May 2009.
On 19 May 2009, the Sri Lanka Armed Forces won its final battle against the LTTE with the death of several LTTE leaders, including its head Velupillai Prabhakaran while he was attempting to flee.[12]
On 22 May 2009, Sri Lankan Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa confirmed that 6,261 personnel of the Sri Lankan Armed Forces had lost their lives and 29,551 were wounded during Eelam War IV since July 2006.[13]
The Armed Forces along with the LTTE have been accused of committing war crimes during the war, particularly during the final stages. A panel of experts appointed by UN Secretary-GeneralBan Ki-moon to advise him on the issue of accountability with regard to any alleged violations of international human rights and humanitarian law during the final stages of the civil war found "credible allegations" which, if proven, indicated that war crimes and crimes against humanity were committed by the Sri Lankan Armed Forces and the LTTE, with most civilian casualties in the final phases of the war being blamed on indiscriminate Sri Lankan Army shelling and the LTTE being blamed for using civilians as a human buffer.[14][15][16] The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights accused the Sri Lankan Armed Forces of committing widespread and often extremely brutal sexual violence against both Tamil females and males alike in a report in 2015.[17][18]
The posture of the military has been defensive due to the nature of the strategic threats to Sri Lanka. In the short-term, internal security is considered the main threat to the nation's future. In the long-term, the threat is seen as primarily external from current and future superpowers in their rival quests for dominance of the Indian Ocean; at one point these were the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics or more commonly known as the Soviet Union
Command organization
As head of state, the President of Sri Lanka, is nominally the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. The National Security Council, chaired by the President is the authority charged with formulating and executing defence policy for the nation. The highest level of military headquarters is the Ministry of Defence, since 1978 except for a few rare occasions the President retained the portfolio defence, thus being the Minister of Defence. The ministry and the armed forces have been controlled during these periods by either a Minister of State, Deputy Minister for defence, and recently by the Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Defence. Prior to 1978 the Prime Minister held the portfolio of Minister of Defence and External Affairs, and was supported by a Parliamentary Secretary for Defence and External Affairs.
Sri Lanka Army Peacekeeper with the US Marine Corps
Ceylon's first involvement in United Nations peacekeeping took place in 1957 in the wake of the Suez Crisis as the United Nations General Assembly moved to form an Advisory Committee to plan the deployment of what was going to be the United Nations Emergency Force. Ceylon was a member of the Advisory Committee and offered a peacekeeping contingent.[24]
First peacekeeping deployment of the island's armed forces took place in 1960, when Ceylon held the Commonwealth Seat as a Non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. Six peacekeepers were dispatch to the United Nations Operation in the Congo which was the first major peacekeeping operation undertaken by the United Nations.[25][26] This was followed by a second contingent in 1961.[27]
The Sri Lanka restarted contributing to UN peacekeeping missions with the deployment of an infantry battalion for the United Nations Stabilisation Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) in 2004, deploying over 16,292 personal between 2004 and 2017.[28] Sri Lankan peacekeepers have been embroiled in a child sex ring scandal in Haiti, with at least 134 soldiers being accused of sexually abusing nine children from 2004 to 2007.[28]
BTR-80 Armoured Personnel Carrier - Sri Lanka Army
The Sri Lanka Army is the oldest and largest of Sri Lanka's three armed services. Established as the Royal Ceylon Army in 1949, it was renamed when Sri Lanka became a republic in 1972. The Army of approximately 255,000 regular and reserve personnel including 90,000 National Guardsmen and is responsible for overseeing land-based military and humanitarian operations.
At present the army has deployed 12 divisions and forming 4 more in while carrying out combat operations. Since 2004 the Sri Lankan Army maintains a battalion and support units of around 1000 personnel in the United Nations peacekeeping operations.
The Sri Lankan Navy with approximately 48,000 personal is the key maritime division of the Sri Lankan Armed Forces and is classed as the most vital defence force of Sri Lanka. It conducts maritime operations at sea for the defence of the Sri Lankan nation and its interests. The professional head of the navy is the Commander of the navy, who exercises his command from the Naval Headquarters in Colombo. Established in 1950 as the Royal Ceylon Navy it was renamed as the Sri Lanka Navy in 1972.
The Sri Lanka Air Force with approximately 28,700 personal is the aerial defense division and the youngest of the Sri Lankan Tri Forces. Founded in 1951 as the Royal Ceylon Air Force, it relied on the British Royal Air Force for its earliest equipment, training, and leadership. The Air Force played a major role in the war against Tamil separatists. Although Sri Lanka is only a small island state, its Air Force has proven highly capable and efficient. In recent times the air force has expanded to specialize mainly in providing air-support to ground forces and landing troops and carrying airstrikes on rebel held areas in the Northern and Eastern provinces.
Today the training of all armed services are carried out in Sri Lanka. With a Defence University, a Staff College, three Military Academies for the three armed services and many specialized training schools and centers members of the Sri Lanka armed forces have a high-level training and professionalism.
Referring to the overseas military training given to Sri Lanka, the U.S. government's contribution at a higher level. The Foreign Military Financing (FMF) and International Military Education and Training (IMET) programs helping to standardizing and strengthening the country's military greatly.[37]
Development
Although much of the current military hardware used by the Sri Lanka Armed Forces is acquired from China, Pakistan, Israel, India, Russia, and the United States. Indigenous weapon systems have been developed and produces within Sri Lanka to suit its requirements. Most of these have been produced by the armed forces. In 1992 the Ordnance Factory was established beginning the manufacture of artillery and ammunition including trip flares in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (SLEME) is responsible for the production of armoured vehicles and other equipment to the armed forces and have produced several MRAP-type vehicles such as the Unibuffel. Naval Boat Building Yard (NBBY) of the Navy is responsible for the production of small boats such as the Cedric and Wave Rider classes alongside other private companies such as Solas Marine Lanka while the Colombo Dockyard supplies larger vessels.[38][39][40][41]
Centre for Research & Development (CRD) is the Research and Development organisation of the Ministry of Defence and has developed UAVs, electronic warfare equipment, weapon systems, various simulators and network-centric warfare systems for the military.[42][43][44][45][46][47] The tri-forces have their own R&D organisations with the Army Research Analysis Projection & Development Branch (RAP&D) of the Sri Lanka Army, Research and Development Unit of the Sri Lanka Navy and the Research and Development Wing of the Sri Lanka Air Force.[48][49][50]
Equipment developed in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka Air Force and CRD developed medium range UAV Lihiniya MK I
The highest military decoration awarded by the tri-forces is the Parama Weera Vibhushanaya, awarded to all regular and volunteer officers and service personnel who display extraordinary individual bravery in combat; thus far, all PWVs have been posthumous. A related award is the Uththama Pooja Pranama Padakkama, an exclusively posthumous decoration awarded to the family or next-of-kin of service personnel confirmed to be killed- or missing in action.
Since the end of the civil war in May 2009 Sri Lanka's 300,000 strong military has increased its non-military activities, leading to accusations of militarisation and even military rule.[51][52][53] The military is involved in everything from large-scale property developments to the running of roadside cafes. The military has built roads, bridges, houses and stadiums.[51][54] The Urban Development Authority, which spends hundreds billions of rupees a year, was taken over by the Ministry of Defence in 2010.[55][56] A year later the ministry was renamed Ministry of Defence and Urban Development.[57] The ministry will have a budget of 229.9 billion rupees ($2.1 billion) in 2012, the largest of any government ministry.[58]
In early 2011, as food prices soared, the Army bought vegetables from farmers and then sold them to the public at below market prices.[51][54][59] Some of the vegetables came from military farms.[51] The Army also runs a travel agency called Air Travel Services (Pvt) Ltd selling air-tickets and foreign package holidays.[51][54][56] In the war affected north of the country, where the military presence is significantly higher than the rest of the country even after the end of the conflict, the military operates numerous small restaurants and shops catering mainly for tourists from the south.[56][60] Most of the roadside cafes along the A9 highway are owned and operated by the Army.[51] The Army runs a luxurious holiday resort called Thalsevana near Kankesanthurai inside the Valikamam North High Security Zone where the residents were forcibly expelled in the early 1990s and have not been allowed to resettle despite the end of the civil war.[51][54][56][61][62] The Army also runs two other holiday resorts, one in Kukuleganga and the other in Wadduwa.[51][62] In November 2011 it was announced that the Army would build a five star hotel in Colombo.[63] During 2010-11, whilst local government was suspended in Colombo using emergency regulations, the Army took over many of the functions of the Colombo Municipal Council such as supervision of the collection of rubbish, demolition of low income housing and even decoration of the streets during festivals.[51][54][64]
The Navy's Jetliner (A542) passenger ship is used as a recreational cruise ship providing onboard weddings, receptions, corporate events, parties and other social functions.[65] The Navy's A543 vessel provides a whale and dolphin watching service for tourists.[51][54][56][62][66] The Navy also provides a canal-boat service in Colombo from Wellawatta to Nawala, a boat service to Adam's Bridge for tourists and a vegetable shop.[51][54][62]Helitours is the commercial arm of the Air Force established in the 1970s.[67] It was inactive during the civil war but after its end the business has started functioning again, taking advantage of the country's booming tourism.[52][65]
Many senior military commanders have been appointed to senior positions in the diplomatic and civil services: Air Chief Marshal Jayalath Weerakkody is the High Commissioner to Pakistan; Air Chief Marshal Donald Perera is the Ambassador to Israel; Major General Nanda Mallawaarachchi is the Ambassador to Indonesia; Major General Udaya Perera is the Deputy High Commissioner to Malaysia; Major General Jagath Dias is the Deputy Ambassador to Germany, Switzerland and the Vatican; Major General Shavendra Silva is the Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN; Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda is the Ambassador to Japan; Admiral Thisara Samarasinghe is the High Commissioner to Australia; Major General Amal Karunasekara is the chargé d'affaires in Eritrea; Major General G. A. Chandrasiri is the Governor of Northern Province; Mohan Wijewickrema s the Governor of Eastern Province; Rohan Daluwatte is the Chairman of the National Gem and Jewellery Authority; and Lieutenant General Jagath Jayasuriya and Air Chief Marshal Roshan Goonetilleke are board members of the Water's Edge Complex.[73]
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam was a Tamil militant organization, that was based in the northern and eastern Sri Lanka. The LTTE fought to create an independent Tamil state called Tamil Eelam in the northeast of the island in response to violent persecution and discriminatory policies against Sri Lankan Tamils by the Sinhalese-dominated Sri Lankan Government.
The Sri Lankan civil war was a civil war fought in Sri Lanka from 1983 to 2009. Beginning on 23 July 1983, it was an intermittent insurgency against the government by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam led by Velupillai Prabhakaran. The LTTE fought to create an independent Tamil state called Tamil Eelam in the north-east of the island, due to the continuous discrimination and violent persecution against Sri Lankan Tamils by the Sinhalese-dominated Sri Lanka government.
The Special Task Force (STF) (Sinhala: විශේෂ කාර්ය බලකාය Visesha Karya Balakaya; Tamil: சிறப்பு அதிரடிப் படை) is the tier one police tactical unit of the Sri Lanka Police specialising in anti-irregular military, apprehension of armed and dangerous criminals, clandestine and covert operations, combat and patrolling in urban areas, counterterrorism and hostage rescue crisis managements, crowd control, executive protection, high-risk tactical law enforcement situations, indirect fire for support operations, irregular warfare, operating in difficult to access terrain, protecting high-level meeting areas, search and rescue people who are in distress or imminent danger from disaster, support crowd control and riot control, tactical special operations, and other tasks requiring special training. It was formed in 1983 not as a military force, but rather as a highly specialised armed police unit.
The Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) is the naval arm of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces and is classed as the country's most vital defence force due to its island geography. It is responsible for the maritime defence of the Sri Lankan nation and its interests. The role of the Sri Lanka Navy is to conduct operations at sea for the defence of the nation and its interests and conduct prompt and sustainable combat operations at sea in accordance with the national policies.
The Sri Lanka Army is the oldest and largest of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces. The army was officially established as the Ceylon Army in 1949, though the army traces its roots back in 1881 when Ceylon Light Infantry Volunteers was created; the army was renamed as the 'Sri Lanka Army' when Sri Lanka became a republic in 1972. In 2024, the Army had approximately 150,000 personnel.
The Sri Lanka Air Force is the air arm and the youngest of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces. It was founded in 1951 as the Royal Ceylon Air Force (RCyAF) with the assistance of the Royal Air Force (RAF). The SLAF played a major role throughout the Sri Lankan Civil War. The SLAF operates more than 160 aircraft.
The Sri Lankan Armed Forces award medals and their associated ribbon bars in recognition of various levels of service, personal accomplishments and commemorative events while a regular- or volunteer serviceperson is a member of the Sri Lanka Army, Sri Lanka Navy and the Sri Lanka Air Force. Together with military badges, such awards are a means to outwardly display the highlights of a serviceperson's career.
Field Marshal Gardihewa Sarath Chandralal Fonseka is a retired Sri Lankan army officer and politician. He was the eighteenth Commander of the Sri Lankan Army, and under his command the Sri Lankan Army ended the 26-year Sri Lankan Civil War in 2009, defeating the militant group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam; he thereafter briefly served as the Chief of Defence Staff. After retiring from the Army with the rank of General, he entered politics as the common opposition candidate in the 2010 presidential election contesting against President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
The Department of Civil Security is an auxiliary force administered by the Ministry of Defence.
The Tamil Eelam Air Force or Sky Tigers was the air service branch of the Divisions of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, who used it against the Government of Sri Lanka. They also called themselves the Tamileelam Air Force (TAF). Though the existence of the Sky Tigers had been the subject of speculation for many years, the existence of the wing was only revealed after an attack in March 2007, during Eelam War IV.
Eelam War IV is the name given to the fourth and final phase of armed conflict between the Sri Lankan military and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Renewed hostilities began on the 26 July 2006, when Sri Lanka Air Force fighter jets bombed several LTTE camps around Mavil Aru anicut. The government's casus belli was that the LTTE had cut off the water supply to surrounding paddy fields in the area. Shutting down the sluice gates of the Mavil Aru on July 21 depriving the water to over 15,000 people - Sinhalese and Muslim settlers under Sri Lankan state-sponsored colonisation schemes in Trincomalee district. They were denied of water for drinking and also cultivating over 30,000 acres of paddy and other crops. The fighting resumed after a four-year ceasefire between the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) and LTTE. Continued fighting led to several territorial gains for the Sri Lankan Army, including the capture of Sampur, Vakarai and other parts of the east. The war took on an added dimension when the LTTE Air Tigers bombed Katunayake airbase on March 26, 2007, the first rebel air attack without external assistance in history.
Sri Lanka Police is the civilian national police force of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. The police force is responsible for enforcing criminal and traffic law, enhancing public safety, maintaining order and keeping the peace throughout Sri Lanka. The police force consists of 43 Territorial Divisions, 67 Functional Divisions, 432 Police Stations with more than 84,000 people. The professional head of the police is the Inspector General of Police who reports to the Minister of Law and Order as well as the National Police Commission. The last Inspector General of Police was Deshabandu Tennakoon.
The Battle of Mullaitivu, also known as the First Battle of Mullaitivu and codenamed Operation Unceasing Waves-1, was a battle between the militant Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and the Sri Lankan military during the Sri Lankan Civil War for control of the military base in Mullaitivu in north-eastern Sri Lanka.
Major General Janaka Perera, RWP, RSP, VSV, USP, VSP was a Sri Lankan General and politician. He served as the Chief of Staff of the Sri Lanka Army and is considered one of the most distinguished generals in Sri Lankan history. After retiring from the army he served as a Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Australia and Ambassador to Indonesia. He was the opposition leader of the North Central Provincial Council until he and his wife were killed on 6 October 2008 by a suicide bomber. The LTTE have been blamed for the bombing by Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Sri Lanka and the United States established diplomatic relations on 23 October 1948.
General Tissa Indraka Weeratunga, VSV was a Sri Lankan general. He was the Commander of the Sri Lankan Army from 1981 to 1985 and the first General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the Joint Operations Headquarters (JOH), he was later Sri Lanka's High Commissioner to Canada from 1986 till 1990.
General Hamilton Wanasinghe, VSV was a full general in the Sri Lanka Army. He served as the 11th Commander of the Sri Lankan Army (1988–1991), third General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the Joint Operations Headquarters (JOH) (1991–1993) and Defence Secretary.
The Sri Lankan Armed Forces have established numerous academies and staff colleges across Sri Lanka for the purpose of training professional soldiers in military sciences, warfare command and strategy, and associated technologies.
The Commander-in-Chief of the Sri Lankan Armed Forces is the ultimate commanding authority of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces, an executive role vested in the President of Sri Lanka.
Major general Prasanna Chandrasekera, is a retired Sri Lankan Army general. He was the former Master-General of the Ordnance of the Sri Lankan Army, During the Sri Lankan civil war he was the Brigade Commander, 65 Division of the Kilinochchi District.
↑ OECD DAC, DAC Guidelines and Reference Series, Security System Reform and Governance, A DAC Reference Document, 2004, Box 4A2.2. Defense reform as a political process, p.100
↑ "Archived copy". www.defence.lk. Archived from the original on 27 October 2016. Retrieved 24 February 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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Sri Lanka Air Force and CRD developed medium range UAV Lihiniya MK I
Wave Rider Class patrol boats which were donated to Seychelles Coast Guard by Government of Sri Lanka
Special Combat All-Terrain Vehicles manufactured in Sri Lanka for Sri Lanka Marine Corps
