Sri Lanka Air Force

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Sri Lanaka Air Force

Founded	2 March 1951
Country	Sri Lanka
Size	20,000 personnel 100 aircraft
Part of	Ministry of Defence
Motto	Defened Lanka
Anniversaries	2 March 1951
Battles/wars	Sri Lankan civil war
Commanders
Commander of the Sri Lanka Air Force	Air Marshal WDRMJ Goonetileke RWP & bar, USP
Insignia
SLAF Roundel
SLAF Fin flash
Aircraft flown
Attack	IAI Kfir, Mikoyan MiG-27, F-7 Skybolt, Mi-24, Mi-35
Reconnaissance	RQ-2 Pioneer,IAI Scout,Beechcraft 200
Trainer	K-8 Karakorum,MiG-23,PT-6,Cessna 150,SIAI Marchetti SF.260
Transport	Hercules, Antonov 32, Harbin Y-12, Bell 212, Bell 206, Bell 412, Mi-17

Sri Lankan Air Force Ensign.

Royal Ceylon Air Force Ensign.

The Sri Lanka Air Force 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 is playing a major role in the ongoing war against Tamil separatists. Although Sri Lanka is only a small island state, its Air Force is ranked as highly capable and outstanding. A force commander led the service and its operational headquarters were located in Ratmalana, south of Colombo. The Sri Lanka 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 which make up about 20% of the land mass of the island.

1 Mission
2 History
3 Fleet
4 Training
5 See also
6 Further reading
7 External links

[edit] Mission

"Establishing an Air Force of high operational efficiency to preserve the Sovereignty of Sri Lanka."

[edit] History

In its early years, the air force was engaged primarily in immigration patrol, with occasional assistance in emergency relief. During the insurgency of 1971, the air force played a major role in restoring internal order; in addition to providing transport of ammunition, food, and troops, it participated in assaults against insurgent strongholds. Following the ethnic rioting of 1983, the air force was placed on permanent active status and participated in counter insurgency activities and airstrikes on the rebel controlled areas of the Northern and Eastern Provinces.

Because of a severe shortage of hard currency for military expenditures in the wake of the 1971 uprising, the Number Four Squadron(Helicopter) began operating commercial transportation services for foreign tourists under the name of Helitours. In 1987 the air force had a total strength of 3,700 personnel, including active reserves. The force had grown gradually during its early years, reaching a little over 1,000 officers and recruits in the 1960s. Rapid growth began in the mid-1980s, when the Sri Lankan civil war against Tamil separatists drew the service into a major, long-term security role. Between 1983 and 1987, the force grew by nearly 50 percent.

As in the other services, a shortage of spare parts plagued maintenance efforts, forcing the service to send a number of aircraft to Singapore and elsewhere for repairs. After the purchase of equipment from Canada in 1986, the air force gained the capability to make structural repairs on its fleet of Bell helicopters, several of which had been damaged in operations against the Tamil separatists. Maintenance of electronic equipment was performed at the communications station at Ekala, in the north of Colombo District.

[edit] Fleet

The air force had a fleet of approximately eighty aircraft, of which sixty-four were reported to be operational in early 1988. The earliest aircraft were small transport airplanes and trainers, were provided by the British and were supplemented in the late 1960s with United States Bell Helicopters. During the 1971 insurgency, the left-leaning Bandaranaike government turned to the Soviet Union for more sophisticated weaponry, and received five MiG-17F fighter bombers, a MiG-15 UTI Midget trainer, and two Ka-26 helicopters. The British also assisted with five BAC Jet Provosts. By the early 1980s, the Provosts and all of the Soviet aircraft had been taken out of active service and were relegated to long-term storage, leaving the air force without any bomber capability.

After the 1983 riots, the government worked rapidly to expand the inventory, relying largely on sources in Italy, Britain, and the United States. Because of tight budget constraints, the air force was compelled to refit a number of non combat aircraft for military uses in counter-terrorist operations against Tamil terrorists. Central in the government's security efforts were six SIAI Marchetti SF.260 turboprop trainers which were used for rocket attacks and strafing. Additionally, the air force, with the help of Heli Orient of Singapore, equipped twelve Bell 212 and Bell 412 helicopters to serve as gunships and as transport vehicles for highly successfulcommando assault operations.

Government forces reportedly also used helicopters on bombing missions; frequently operating without conventional bombs, air force troops reportedly dropped hand grenades stuffed in wine glasses so that the lever would not be released until the glass shattered on the ground. A more effective bombing capability was provided by a small fleet of Chinese Harbin Y-12 turboprop transport aircraft. These were equipped with bomb racks that had been fitted to carry up to 1,000 kilograms of fragmentation and antipersonnel bombs. Transport, training, and surveying functions were carried out by a variety of Cessna and DeHavilland aircraft.

In 1996 Sri Lankan Air Force acquired six Kfir C.2s and a single TC.2 from Israel and further more nine aircraft had been added to the inventory by in year 2005. This included four C.2s and four C.7s in 2001. Currently the SLAF operates two TC.2s, two C.7s and eight C.2s. The SLAF is using these Kfirs to attack against Tamil separatist targets in rebel controlled areas of the island.

On July 24, 2001, Thirteen air crafts including two Kfir jet fighters, one MI-24 Helicopter gun ship and one MIG-27- jet fighter were destroyed in the predawn attack on the Katunayake air base, about 35 km. north of Colombo by the LTTE.Three military trainee planes and five civilian jets were also among the destroyed air crafts^{[citation needed]}

Sri Lanka's airport has remained on alert for a repeat of the 2001 attack, with severe restrictions on the number of people allowed into the terminal buildings.

Huge walls were also built around the terminals and the control towers to prevent impact from car bomb attacks, while a large number of sentries were placed along the approach roads to the facility.

Currently the SLAF is equipped with modern Aircraft including the,

[edit] Training

Under the auspices of the British Royal Air Force, flight training was first offered to Ceylon Air Force pilots at Katunayake Air Base in 1952. In addition, a number of recruits received flight training at the Royal Air Force college in Cranwell, England. After the British withdrew from Sri Lankan military facilities in 1967, the Number One (Flight Training School) Squadron was established at the China Bay Air Base in Trincomalee. With the increase in Tamil separatist activities in the mid-1980s, the air force stepped up its training activities, bringing in foreign pilots to assist in the helicopter training program.

Officer training is provided at the Air Force Academy at the China Bay Air Base. The academy offers a two-year program of basic flight training and a variety of specialized courses. Air traffic controllers receive schooling at special facilities in Colombo, and weapons familiarity training is conducted in conjunction with the other services at the Army Training Centre in Diyatalawa. In addition, approximately twenty-five officers a year receive advanced training abroad, most commonly in Britain and India.