Commander of the Air Force (Sri Lanka)

Sri Lanka Air Force
Components
Sri Lanka Air Force Sri Lanka Volunteer Air Force SLAF Regiment SLAF Regiment Special Force Special Airborne Force
General Information
List of bases List of squadrons
History
History of the Sri Lanka Air Force
Aircraft
List of SLAF aircraft
Leadership and ranks
Commander of the Air Force Sri Lanka Air Force Ranks
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The Commander of the Air Force is the professional head of the

All serving air force commanders have been of the rank of air marshal, promoted to the honorary rank of air chief marshal on retirement or on promotion to Chief of Defence Staff (CDS).

List of commanders

No.	Picture	Commander	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Unit	Ref.
1	CBE (1899–1967)	5 May 1950	24 October 1958	8 years, 172 days	–	[1]
2	CBE, DFC (1910–2004)	24 October 1958	12 November 1962	4 years, 19 days	–	[1]
3		Amerasekera, RohanAir Vice Marshal Rohan Amerasekera DFC & Bar (1916–1974)	12 November 1962	31 December 1970	8 years, 49 days	No. 2 Squadron SLAF	[1]
4		Mendis, PaddyAir Vice Marshal Deshamanya Paddy Mendis (1933–2022)	1 January 1971	1 November 1976	5 years, 305 days	No. 2 Squadron SLAF No. 5 Squadron SLAF	[1]
5		Goonatilake, HarryAir Vice Marshal Harry Goonatilake USP (1929–2008)	1 November 1976	30 April 1981	4 years, 180 days	No. 2 Squadron SLAF	[1]
6		Perera, DickAir Vice Marshal Dick Perera VSV	1 May 1981	30 April 1985	3 years, 364 days	No. 2 Squadron SLAF	[1]
7	Air Marshal Walter Fernando VSV	1 May 1985	31 July 1990	5 years, 91 days	No. 4 Squadron SLAF	[1]
8		Gunawardena, TerryAir Marshal Terry Gunawardena VSV	1 August 1990	16 February 1994	3 years, 199 days	No. 2 Squadron SLAF	[1]
9		Ranasinghe, OliverAir Marshal Oliver Ranasinghe RWP, VSV, USP	17 February 1994	5 March 1998	4 years, 16 days	No. 5 Squadron SLAF	[1]
10		Weerakkody, JayalathAir Marshal Jayalath Weerakkody RWP, VSV, USP	6 March 1998	15 July 2002	4 years, 131 days	No. 2 Squadron SLAF No. 4 Squadron SLAF	[1]
11		Perera, DonaldAir Marshal Donald Perera VSV, USP	16 July 2002	11 June 2006	3 years, 330 days	No. 2 Squadron SLAF	[1]
12		Goonetileke, RoshanMarshal of the Air Force Roshan Goonetileke RWP, VSV, USP (born 1956)	11 June 2006	27 February 2011	4 years, 261 days	No. 4 Squadron SLAF	[1]
13		Abeywickrama, HarshaAir Marshal Harsha Abeywickrama RWP, RSP, VSV, USP	27 February 2011	27 February 2014	3 years, 0 days	No. 5 Squadron SLAF	[1]
14		Gunathilake, KolithaAir Marshal Kolitha Gunathilake RWP, RSP, VSV, USP	27 February 2014	15 June 2015	1 year, 108 days	No. 2 Squadron SLAF	[1]
15		Bulathsinghala, GaganAir Marshal Gagan Bulathsinghala RWP, RSP, USP, VSV (born 1961)	15 June 2015	12 September 2016	1 year, 89 days	No. 4 Squadron SLAF	[1]
16		Jayampathy, KapilaAir Marshal Kapila Jayampathy WWV, RWP, RSP, VSV, USP	13 September 2016	29 May 2019	2 years, 258 days	No. 4 Squadron SLAF	[1]
17		Dias, SumangalaAir Marshal Sumangala Dias RSP	30 May 2019	2 November 2020	1 year, 156 days	No. 6 Squadron SLAF	[1]
18		PATHIRANA, SudarshanaAir Marshal Sudarshana Pathirana WWV, RWP, RSP, VSV, USP	2 November 2020	29 June 2023	2 years, 239 days	No. 5 Squadron SLAF No. 10 Squadron SLAF	–
19		Rajapaksa, UdeniAir Marshal Udeni Rajapaksa RWP, VSV, USP	30 June 2023	Incumbent	296 days	No. 2 Squadron SLAF No. 8 Squadron SLAF	–

See also

• Sri Lanka Air Force
• Commander of the Army
• Commander of the Navy

References