Sudarshana Pathirana: Latest News

COLOMBO; Sri Lanka Air Force Proudly Celebrates its 72nd Anniversary today (2). In the seven decades that ensued, the Sri Lanka Air Force has come under the leadership of 17 commanders. Today, its leadership is in the able hands of its 18th Commander, Air Marshal Sudarshana Pathirana. The Sri Lanka Air Force has come a long way since its first flight in a humble Chipmunk and de Havilland DC 1, passing through Mig 27s, Kfir C7s, and F-7s today.

The Sri Lanka Air Force No 10 Fighter Squadron or the Kfir Squadron marked 27 years on Thursday (5).It was founded on 5th January 1996 with the induction of six new graceful tailless delta Kfir C2s based at SLAF Katunayake under the command of Squadron Leader Priyantha Gunasinghe. The Squadron was reinforced in the year 2000 with the arrival of another nine Kfir C2s and C7s enhancing the fleet up to fifteen fighters. The Kfir was developed by Israel as a multirole all weather day night fighter, which satisfied almost all the fighter capabilities of SLAF’s through Battlefield Air Strike, Air Interception, Air Interdiction, Maritime Air strikes with precision and deadly force.  At the outset, the No 10 Fighter Squadron was strengthened with four pilots, four engineering officers and seventy technicians, who were trained by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and instructor pilots from Israel Air Force. The present Commander of the Air Force, Air Marshal Sudarshana Pathirana was first Officer Commanding Operations and succeeded as the second Commanding Officer from 7th of June 2000.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – In keeping with the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Sri Lanka Air Force and the Ministry of Health, a persistent vegetative state patient who met with an accident was airlifted from a Bell- 412 helicopter converting to an air ambulance from Badulla General Hospital to Sri Lanka National Hospital Colombo on Monday (31 October 2022) to retrieve vital organs. It is expected to donate these vital organs to required recipients and also for the heart transplant surgery to be conducted by National Hospital, Colombo. The No.04 Squadron SLAF Base Ratmalana successfully accomplished this operation under the guidance of the Commander of the Air Force, Air Marshal Sudarshana Pathirana.

Colombo (News 1st) – The Sri Lanka Air Force under the guidance of the Commander of the Air Force, Air Marshal Sudarshana Pathirana together with the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Peradeniya and Central Environment Authority launched the seventh wave of seed bombing at Wattegama Kebilitta Government Forest Reserve in the Siyamblanduwa Divisional Secretariat.The Command Agro Unit at SLAF Base Katunayake under the leadership of Group Captain PE Gunawardena and the Department of Forest Conservation organized this mission to achieve the aim of improving the forest density of Sri Lanka to reach the sustainable development goals of the country by increasing the forest cover from 27% to 32% by the year 2030.The first wave of the mission was executed at the Ranorawa government forest in a five acres land area and approximately 5,000 seed bombs were released. During the second wave, 67,000 seed bombs were dropped over a 60 acres area inside the forest of Lahugala in Ampara. The third wave which was conducted in December 2020 saw the dropping of approximately 30,000 seed bombs over 25 acres of land area within the Lahugala National Park. The fourth wave was carried out in the Lahugala National Park where 70,000 seed bombs were dropped over a 60-acre area. The fifth wave was carried out in the Kebilitta Government Forest Reserve where 80,000 seed bombs were dropped over a 75 acres area. Through the sixth wave, 65,000 seed bombs were dropped on over 70 acres of area inside the same forestry at Siyambalanduwa Divisional Secretariat.

COLOMBO (News 1st); The Sri Lanka Air Force will be celebrating its 71st Anniversary on Wednesday (2nd March 2022) under the leadership of the Commander of the Sri Lanka Air Force, Air Marshal Sudarshana Pathirana.This year the traditional celebration will be held at Sri Lanka Air Force Base Katunayaka under the review of Commander of the Air Force.The Sri Lanka Air Force was formed on the 02nd of March 1951 as the Royal Ceylon Air Force and when Sri Lanka became a republic in 1972 the Royal Ceylon Air Force was re-designated as the Sri Lanka Air Force.The Sri Lanka Air Force has come under the leadership of 18 Commanders to date and the Sri Lanka Air Force is geared and ready to face all challenges of the future and to serve and protect the skies of Sri Lanka as the Guardians of the Skies.

COLOMBO (News 1st); The 74th Independence Day will be celebrated with pride with the participation of security forces in accordance with the COVID health guidelines, said General G.D.H.