Air Chief Marshal Air chief marshal (Air Chf Mshl or ACM) is a high-ranking air officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many Commonwealth of Nations, countries that have historical British i ...

R. A. Udeni P. Rajapaksa RSP & two Bars, VSV, USP was a

Sri Lanka Air Force The Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF; ; ) is the air force, 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 r ...

pilot who served as the Commander of the Sri Lanka Air Force from June 2023 to January 2025. Previously, he served as Chief of Staff of the

, Director Air Operations, Base Commander

SLAF Katunayake Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) (commonly known as Colombo International Airport, Colombo–Bandaranaike International Airport, and locally as Katunayake International Airport) (IATA: CMB, ICAO: VCBI) is the main international airport ...

and Commandant of the Air Force Academy China Bay.

Education

Rajapaksa completed his higher school from Bandaranayake College, Gampaha and

Ananda College Ananda College () is a Prestigious Buddhist school in Colombo, Sri Lanka. It is often known as "The Pinnacle of buddhist education " It is the largest national Buddhist school for boys in Sri Lanka, with a student population exceeding 8000 ac ...

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

Air force career

He joined the Sri Lankan Air Force as an Officer Cadet on 6 October 1988 in the 6th Officer Cadets’ Intake. Having undergone basic combat training, joined the

Kotelawala Defence Academy General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University (KDU) ( Sinhala: ජෙනරාල් ශ්‍රිමත් ජෝන් කොතලාවල ආරක්ෂක විශ්ව විද්‍යාලය ''General Sir John Kotelawala'' ''Ar ...

as a cadet, graduating with a BSc in electrical engineering. He then completed basic flying training at the No. 1 Flying Training Wing, where he was selected the best flight cadet in the 33rd Flight Cadets' course. He then moved to the No. 2 Squadron for advance flying training and was commissioned as a

Pilot Officer Pilot officer (Plt Off or P/O) is a junior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Pilot officer is the lowest ran ...

in the general duties pilots branch on 5 October 1990. He served as an operational pilot with the No. 2 Squadron, the No. 1 Flying Training Wing and the No. 8 Squadron, flying both transport and combat missions in

Cessna 150 The Cessna 150 is a two-seat tricycle gear general aviation airplane that was designed for flight training, touring and personal use.Plane and Pilot: ''1978 Aircraft Directory'', pages 22-23. Werner & Werner Corp, Santa Monica CA, 1977. In 19 ...

Harbin Y-12 The Harbin Y-12 ( zh, c=运-12, p=Yùn-12) is a high wing twin-engine turboprop utility aircraft built by Harbin Aircraft Industry Group (HAIG). It is the first Chinese-designed and produced aircraft to receive type certificate from the FAA in M ...

Hawker Siddeley HS 748 The Hawker Siddeley HS 748 (formerly Avro HS 748) is a medium-sized turboprop airliner originally designed and initially produced by the British aircraft manufacturer Avro. It was the last aircraft to be developed by Avro prior to its absorptio ...

, SIAI Marchetti SF.260,

FMA IA 58 Pucará The FMA IA 58 Pucará () is an Argentine ground-attack and counter-insurgency (COIN) aircraft manufactured by the Fábrica Militar de Aviones. It is a low-wing twin-turboprop all-metal monoplane with retractable landing gear, capable of operat ...

, Beechcraft 200, Antonov 32 and

C-130 Hercules The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed Corporation, Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 w ...

. While flying a night bombing sortie he had to eject from his FMA IA 58 Pucará due to a premature ordnance detonation, joining the Martin-Baker Ejection Tie Club. After stint in the directing staff of the

Defence Services Command and Staff College The Defence Services Command and Staff College (DSCSC) is situated at Batalanda, Makola (South) 12 Kilometers away from Colombo and its aim to develop the professional knowledge and understanding of experienced officers of the Sri Lanka Army, Sr ...

, he was appointed Commanding officer of the No. 2 heavy Transport Squadron. He thereafter served as the

Base Commander The base commander is the officer assigned to command a military base. In the United States armed forces, a base commander is generally at least an O-6 grade officer, which means colonel (Army, Air Force, Marines) or captain (Navy, Coast Guard). ...

, SLAF Hingurakgoda (2011-2012);

Defence Attaché Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indust ...

, Sri Lankan Embassy in Russian Federation (2012-2014), Senior Air Staff Officer, Directorate of Air Operations (2014-2015); Base Commander, SLAF Vavuniya (2015-2016) and Air Secretary (2016-2019). Rajapaksa was appointed Commandant of the

Sri Lanka Air Force Academy The Air Force Academy (AFA) is the Sri Lanka Air Force's training and education academy which provides initial training to all SLAF personnel who are preparing to be commissioned officers. AFA also provides initial training to Officer Cadets of th ...

in 2019 and was thereafter appointed Base Commander of

in 2020. He then served as Director, Air Operations at Air Force Headquarters from 18 March 2022 to September 2022. Then, he was Commander of SLAF Base Katunayake. On 1 April 2020 he promoted to Air Vice Marshal from Air Commodore and became Chief of Staff of the Sri Lanka Air Force on September, 2022. On 30 June 2023, he was promoted to Air Marshal and appointed Commander of the Sri Lanka Air Force. Rajapaksa has completed the Junior Command and Staff Course at the Command and Staff Training Institute in Bangladesh, and is a graduate of the

Air Command and Staff College The Air Command and Staff College (ACSC) is located at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama and is the United States Air Force's intermediate-level Professional Military Education (PME) school. It is a subordinate command of the Air Un ...

and the

Royal College of Defence Studies The Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS) instructs the most promising senior officers of the British Armed Forces, His Majesty's Diplomatic Service and Civil Service in national defence and international security matters at the highest leve ...

in International Security and Strategic Leadership Studies. He holds a Master of Science in Defence Studies in Management from

General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University (KDU) ( Sinhala: ජෙනරාල් ශ්‍රිමත් ජෝන් කොතලාවල ආරක්ෂක විශ්ව විද්‍යාලය ''General Sir John Kotelawala'' ''Ar ...

, a Master of Science in Military Operational Art from the Air University in Alabama, a Master of Arts in International Security and Strategy from

King's College, London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

. He holds a Master Green Rating and a civil Air Transport Pilots Licence (ATPL).

Honors

Rajapaksahad been awarded the

Rana Wickrama Padakkama The Rana Wickrama Padakkama (RWP, Combat Gallantry Medal) (Sinhala language, Sinhala: රණ වික්‍රම පදක්කම) is awarded to Sri Lankan military service personnel serving in both the regular- and volunteer forces as a rew ...

(RWP) two times for gallantry in combat; the

service medal A service medal is an award to individuals who participated in designated wars, campaigns, or expeditions, or who have fulfilled specific service requirements in a creditable manner. Service medals are sometimes also campaign medals. Examples of ...

s the

Vishista Seva Vibhushanaya The Vishista Seva Vibhushanaya (VSV, Distinguished Service Order) ( Sinhala: විශිෂ්ට සේවා විභූෂණය ''viṣiṣta sēvā vibhūṣaṇaya'') is awarded to senior officers of the Military of Sri Lanka in recognit ...

(VSV) and the

Uttama Seva Padakkama The Uttama Seva Padakkama (USP, Meritorious Service Medal) ( Sinhala: උත්තම සේවා පදක්කම ''uṭṭama sēvā padakkama'') is presented to all ranks of the regular forces of the Sri Lankan military for: Award proc ...

(USP) for distinguished service, the

Sri Lanka Armed Services Long Service Medal __NOTOC__ The Sri Lanka Armed Services Long Service Medal ( Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකා සන්නද්ධ සේවා දීර්ඝ සේවා පදක්කම ''Śrī Laṃkā ārakśaka sēvā dhīrgha sēvā padakkama'') i ...

with clasp, the

Purna Bhumi Padakkama The Purna Bhumi Padakkama ( Sinhala: පූර්ණ භූමි පදක්කම ''pūrna bhūmi padakkama'') was a service medal awarded by the Military of Sri Lanka (regular and volunteer) and Sri Lanka Police to all ranks of its forces ...

, the

Riviresa Campaign Services Medal The Riviresa Campaign Services Medal ( Sinhala: රිවිරැස මෙහෙයුම් පදක්කම ''riviræsa meheyum padakkama'') was a campaign medal presented to all ranks of the regular and volunteer forces of the Military of ...

, the

Eastern Humanitarian Operations Medal The Eastern Humanitarian Operations Medal was a Sri Lankan campaign medal for action during Eelam War IV, presented to: * The Minister of Defence, the Deputy Minister of Defence, the Defence Secretary, Service Commanders and the Inspector Gener ...

with clasp, the

Northern Humanitarian Operations Medal The Northern Humanitarian Operations Medal was a Sri Lankan campaign medal for action during Eelam War IV, presented to: * The Minister of Defence, the Deputy Minister of Defence, the Defence Secretary, Service Commanders and the Inspector Gene ...

with clasp and the commemorative medals the

Sri Lanka Air Force 50th Anniversary Medal The Sri Lanka Air Force 50th Anniversary Medal ( Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකා ගුවන් හමුදා 50වන සංවත්සර පදක්කම ''Śrī Laṃkā guwan hamudā panasvana sangwathsara padakkama'') was awar ...

, the 50th Independence Anniversary Commemoration Medal and the 75th Independence Day Commemoration Medal. He has gained the SLAF Pilot Badge and the Staff Qualified Badge.

Sri Lanka Air Force 50th Anniversary Medal ribbon bar

Sri Lanka Armed Services Long Service Medal ribbon bar

Northern Humanitarian Operations Medal ribbon bar

Eastern Humanitarian Operations Medal ribbon bar

Riviresa Campaign Services Medal ribbon bar

Personal life

Rajapaksa married Inoka Kamani Alwis and the couple has a daughter and a son. He has represented the air force at Table Tennis, Tennis and Golf, winning the chairmanship for athletics in the air force. He won the Commander's Cup Golf, Eagles' Challenge Trophy, in 2021.

References

{{Commanders of the Sri Lankan Air Force Sri Lanka Air Force air marshals Sri Lankan aviators Military attachés for Sri Lanka Sinhalese military personnel Graduates of the Royal College of Defence Studies Air Command and Staff College alumni Alumni of Bandaranayake College, Gampaha Alumni of King's College London Alumni of General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University Alumni of Ananda College 1969 births Living people