Sri Lanka Air Force

Sri Lanka Air Force
ශ්‍රී ලංකා ගුවන් හමුදාව (Sinhala) இலங்கை வான்படை (Tamil)
Badge of the Sri Lanka Air Force
Founded	2 March 1951; 73 years ago (1951-03-02)
Country	Sri Lanka
Type	Air force
Role	Aerial warfare
Size	27,000 personnel[1]
Part of	Sri Lanka Armed Forces
Headquarters	SLAF Colombo, Colombo
Motto(s)	සුරකිමු ලකඹර Surakimu Lakambara "Guardian Of The Skies"
Colours
March	Guwana Ara Lak Deraņa Purā "Over the skies of Sri Lanka"
Anniversaries	2 March: Air Force Day
Engagements	1971 JVP insurrection 1987–1989 JVP insurrection Sri Lankan Civil War
Decorations	Military awards and decorations of Sri Lanka
Website	www.airforce.lk
Commanders
Commander-in-Chief	President Ranil Wickremesinghe
Commander of the Air Force	Air Marshal Udeni Rajapaksa
Chief of staff	Air Vice Marshal RS Wickremeratne
Deputy Chief of the Air Staff	Air Vice Marshal Ranjith Senanayake
Insignia
Roundel
Fin flash
Ensign
Aircraft flown
Fighter	IAI Kfir
Attack helicopter	Mil Mi-24
Multirole helicopter	Bell 212, Bell 412
Trainer helicopter	Bell 206
Utility helicopter	Mil Mi-17
Interceptor	Chengdu F-7
Patrol	Beechcraft Super King Air, Dornier 228
Reconnaissance	IAI Searcher, EMIT Blue Horizon 2, Lihiniya MK I, AAI RQ-2 Pioneer, IAI Scout
Trainer	K-8 Karakorum, Nanchang CJ-6 (PT-6), Cessna 150
Transport	C-130 Hercules, Antonov An-32, Harbin Y-12, Xian MA60

The Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF; Sinhala: ශ්‍රි ලංකා ගුවන් හමුදාව, romanized: Śrī Laṃkā guwan hamudāva; Tamil: இலங்கை விமானப்படை, romanized: Ilaṅkai vimāṉappaṭai) 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 Commander of the Air Force is the professional head of the Sri Lanka Air Force who holds the rank Air Marshal.