The Sri Lanka Air Force Regiment is a specialized ground combat corps within the Sri Lanka Air Force, responsible for capturing and defending airfields and associated installations. Its members are the SLAF Regiment Officers and the airmen of operations ground specialization. The SLAF Regiment is fully capable of protecting all its air bases, installations by itself using infantry and light armored units as well as launch

air assault Air assault is the movement of ground-based military forces by vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft—such as the helicopter—to seize and hold key terrain which has not been fully secured, and to directly engage enemy forces behind e ...

s with

Airborne Airborne or Airborn may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Airborne'' (1962 film), a 1962 American film directed by James Landis * ''Airborne'' (1993 film), a comedy–drama film * ''Airborne'' (1998 film), an action film sta ...

Infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...

elements (paratroopers). Ground-based air defense of vital military and civil installations around the country is carried out by the SLAF Regiment along with combat

search and rescue Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...

missions (CSAR). The corps itself is simply known as the 'regiment'.

History

The first RCyAF Regiment Squadron was formed under Flt Lt Gerry W. Weeraratna in 1956 to provide ceremonial guards and security for bases and airfields of the

Royal Ceylon Air Force The Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) ( si, ශ්‍රි ලංකා ගුවන් හමුදාව, Śrī Laṃkā guwan hamudāva; ta, இலங்கை விமானப்படை, Ilaṅkai vimāṉappaṭai) is the air arm and the yo ...

based on the

RAF Regiment The Royal Air Force Regiment (RAF Regiment) is part of the Royal Air Force and functions as a specialist corps. Founded by royal warrant in 1942, the Corps carries out soldiering tasks relating to the delivery of air power. Examples of such ta ...

of the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

. However the ground defence of the air bases and civil airports were supplemented by the

Ceylon Army ta, இலங்கை இராணுவம் , image = File:Sri Lanka Army Logo.png , image_size = 180px , caption = Emblem of the Sri Lanka Army , start_date ...

. This limited the ability of the army to deploy it troops in offensive operations and made the air force dependent on the army. This was seen specially during the 1971 JVP Insurrection. With the start of the Sri Lankan Civil War the SLAF Regiment underwent a large expansion due to the SLAF increasing the number of airfields and the threat to these from the

LTTE The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...

. In 1971 SLAF Regiment was formed with 101 squadron, 102 squadron and the only one volunteers suqdron was formed as 106 squadron. In addition to that special squadron was formed as SLAF Commando Unit with elite 52 commandos commanded by Flt. Lt. J.E.Peiris. Later, The Regiment formations increased to a total of 25 Field Wings by 2000 and later to 45 Field Wings. When the Sri Lanka Artillery disbanded its Anti-Aircraft Regiments in 1962, the air defence role of

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

has been taken up by the SLAF Regiment which it provides today, by the Land Based Air Defence Wing. Since 1956, the SLAF Regiment frequently mounts the guard at the Presidents House. In March 2009, the SLAF Regiment was presented with the President’s Colours.

Organisation and role

SLAF Regiment officers and gunners are organized into 45 Field Wings, which are subdivided into squadrons that are and further subdivided into flights specially trained in ground combat. As conduct of operations related to ground defence is placed under the purview of the Directorate of Ground Operations, the Director Ground Operations is the de facto commander of the SLAF Regiment. At first the primary role was airfield security and ceremonial duties. In recent years with expansion of the number of wings the SLAF Regiment has begun supporting the Sri Lanka Army in manning defence lines in the north central part of the country and taking part in offensive operations jointly or independently. SLAF Regiment detachments have been established in Morawawa, Pulukunawa-Mahaoya, Puliyankulam, Mankulam and Poovarasnkulam and has been deployed in Trincomalee and Peraru. But airfield security remains the corps primary task, members of the SLAF Regiment guards both Civilian and military airports around the country. It also handles the Ground-Based Air Defence role of the Sri Lankan military, protecting both civilian and military installations. To achieve its objectives the regiment uses

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...

, light armoured,

parachute A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag or, in a ram-air parachute, aerodynamic lift. A major application is to support people, for recreation or as a safety device for aviators, who ...

, mortar and

anti-aircraft Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...

units. In addition to these roles, the regiment carries out Airborne Rescue Operations and provide ground support such as Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) requirement of the Air Force, its personal serve as SLAF's

firefighters A firefighter is a first responder and rescuer extensively trained in firefighting, primarily to extinguish hazardous fires that threaten life, property, and the environment as well as to rescue people and in some cases or jurisdictions also ...

and

intelligence Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. More generally, it can b ...

. The Regimental Training Centre is located at ''

SLAF Ampara SLAF may refer to *The Sri Lanka Armed Forces, the combined military of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅka ...

'' in

Ampara Ampara ( si, අම්පාර, ta, அம்பாறை) is the main town of Ampara District, governed by an Urban Council. It is located in the Eastern Province, Sri Lanka, about east of Colombo and approximately south of Batticaloa. Hi ...

Special Forces

Regiment Special Force is an elite Special Forces unit of the

Sri Lanka Air Force The Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) ( si, ශ්‍රි ලංකා ගුවන් හමුදාව, Śrī Laṃkā guwan hamudāva; ta, இலங்கை விமானப்படை, Ilaṅkai vimāṉappaṭai) is the air arm and the yo ...

, part of the SLAF Regiment, formerly Air Base Defence Rescue Squadron, established on 7 July 2003. The task and role of RSF's Squadrons involves *Recapturing air bases. *Provide defenses in an enemy attack as a rapid deployment force. *Rescue operations and recovering of downed air crew in enemy or friendly terrain. *Protection of senior air force officers. *Assist civil authorities in national emergency. SPECIAL AIR BORNE FORCE (SABF) A highly trained troops primarily assigned for VIP Protection duties.

SLAF Regiment units

*Field Wings ** No. 1 Wing, SLAF Regiment ** No. 2 Wing, SLAF Regiment ** No. 3 Wing, SLAF Regiment ( Volunteer)SRI LANKA, Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies
** No. 5 Wing, SLAF Regiment ** No. 6 Wing, SLAF Regiment ** No. 7 Wing, SLAF Regiment ** No. 8 Wing, SLAF Regiment ** No. 9 Wing, SLAF Regiment ** No. 10 Wing, SLAF Regiment ** No. 11 Wing, SLAF Regiment ** No. 12 Wing, SLAF Regiment ** No. 13 Wing, SLAF Regiment ** No. 14 Wing, SLAF Regiment ** No. 15 Wing, SLAF Regiment ** No. 16 Wing, SLAF Regiment ** No. 17 Wing, SLAF Regiment ** No. 18 Wing, SLAF Regiment ** No. 19 Wing, SLAF Regiment ** No. 20 Wing, SLAF Regiment ** No. 21 Wing, SLAF Regiment ** No. 22 Wing, SLAF Regiment ** No. 23 Wing, SLAF Regiment ** No. 24 Wing, SLAF Regiment ** No. 25 Wing, SLAF Regiment ** No. 26 Wing, SLAF Regiment KAT ** No. 27 Wing, SLAF Regiment ** No. 28 Wing, SLAF Regiment ** No. 29 Wing, SLAF Regiment ** No. 30 Wing, SLAF Regiment ** No. 31 Wing, SLAF Regiment ** No. 33 Wing, SLAF Regiment ** No. 34 Wing, SLAF Regiment ** No. 35 Wing, SLAF Regiment ** No. 36 Wing, SLAF Regiment ** No. 37 Wing, SLAF Regiment ** No. 38 Wing, SLAF Regiment ** No. 39 Wing, SLAF Regiment ** No. 40 Wing, SLAF Regiment ** No. 41 Wing, SLAF Regiment ** No. 42 Wing, SLAF Regiment ** No. 43 Wing, SLAF Regiment ** No. 44 Wing, SLAF Regiment ** No. 45 Wing, SLAF Regiment *Air Defence Squadrons **No 4 Air Defence Radar Squadron **No. 32 Land Based Air Defence Wing *Other Units ** SLAF Band

Weapons

;Air Surveillance Radars *

YLC-2 Radar The YLC-2 radar (domestic designation: LLQ303, formerly known as 385) is a three-dimensional main guidance and surveillance radar developed by the Nanjing Research Institute of Electronics Technology. In the mid-2000s, an improved version labeled ...

* INDRA Mk-II - 4 units provided by India in 2011 ;Surface to Air Missiles * SA-18 Grouse (9K38 Igla) provided by India in 2007, 54 operational as of 2020 * SA-16 Gimlet ;Air Defense Artillery * Bofors L40/70 40 mm AA guns defencenet
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ZSU-23-2 The ZU-23-2, also known as ZU-23, is a Soviet towed 23×152mm anti-aircraft twin-barreled autocannon. ZU stands for ''Zenitnaya Ustanovka'' (Russian: Зенитная Установка) – anti-aircraft mount. The GRAU index is 2A13. Developm ...

twin 23 mm AA guns * TCM-20 twin 20 mm AA guns ;Land vehicles * Unibuffel – Mine-protected APC *

Unicorn The unicorn is a legendary creature that has been described since antiquity as a beast with a single large, pointed, spiraling horn projecting from its forehead. In European literature and art, the unicorn has for the last thousand years o ...

– Mine-protected APC * Land Rover Defender ;Mortars * Type 84 (W84) 82 mm mortars * Type 89 60 mm mortars ;Small arms Handguns * Glock 17 * Beretta

M9 Pistol The Beretta M9, officially the Pistol, Semiautomatic, 9mm, M9, is the designation for the Beretta 92FS semi-automatic pistol used by the United States Armed Forces. The M9 was adopted by the United States military as their service pistol in 1985 ...

* Enfield revolver Assault Rifles * Type 81 Assault rifles * AK-47 Assault rifles *

M16 The M16 rifle (officially designated Rifle, Caliber 5.56 mm, M16) is a family of military rifles adapted from the ArmaLite AR-15 rifle for the United States military. The original M16 rifle was a 5.56×45mm automatic rifle with a 20-roun ...

Assault rifles *

QBZ-95 The Type 95 automatic rifle () or QBZ-95 is a bullpup assault rifle designed and manufactured by Norinco, and issued since 1995 as the service rifle for the People's Liberation Army, People's Armed Police and various paramilitary law enforcemen ...

Assault rifles * SAR-21 Assault rifles * EMTAN MZ-47 Assault rifles Sub-Machine guns *

Uzi The Uzi (; he, עוזי, Ūzi; officially cased as UZI) is a family of Israeli open-bolt, blowback-operated submachine guns and machine pistols first designed by Major Uziel "Uzi" Gal in the late 1940s, shortly after the establishment of the ...

Submachine Gun A submachine gun (SMG) is a magazine-fed, automatic carbine designed to fire handgun cartridges. The term "submachine gun" was coined by John T. Thompson, the inventor of the Thompson submachine gun, to describe its design concept as an autom ...

s Machine guns * PK machine guns (Chinese version of Russian PKM) * Type 56 LMG (Chinese version of Russian

RPD RPD may refer to: People * Robert Prentiss Daniel, American psychologist * Rahul Peter Das, German professor * Rajendra Prasad Das, Indian archaeologist * Royal Page Davidson, American scholar * Richard Paul Davies, English priest * Richard Pe ...

) Sniper Rifles * Dragunov Sniper Rifles Grenade launchers * M203 Grenade launcher Rocket launchers * Type 69 RPG Rocket launchers (

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

version of RPG-7)

References

External links

Ministry of Defence Sri Lanka
{{Air force infantry Sri Lanka Air Force Military units and formations established in 1956 Airborne units and formations of Sri Lanka Air force ground defence units and formations 1956 establishments in Ceylon