The Commander of the Air Force is the professional head of the Sri Lanka Air Force. The current Commander of the Air Force is Air Marshal Sudarshana Pathirana. It is a position comparable to that of Chief of the Air Staff of the Royal Air Force. The Chief of Staff of the Air Force acts as a deputy commander within the command structure.
| Commander of the Sri Lanka Air Force | |
|---|---|
| ශ්රී ලංකා ගුවන් හමුදාපති | |
since 30 June 2023 | |
 Sri Lanka Air Force | |
| Member of | National Security Council |
| Reports to | Ministry of Defence Chief of Defence Staff |
| Residence | Air Force House, Colombo |
| Seat | Air Force Headquarters, Kumaran Rutnam road, Colombo 2 |
| Appointer | The President |
| Term length | Not fixed |
| Constituting instrument | Air Force Act, No. 41 of 1949 |
| Formation | 2 March 1951 as Commander of the Royal Ceylon Air Force |
| First holder | Group Captain Graham Bladon (as Commander RCyAF) |
| Deputy | Chief of Staff of the Sri Lanka Air Force |
| Website | Official website |
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 appointment to Chief of Defence Staff (CDS).
List of commanders
edit| No. | Picture | Commander | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Unit | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Air Commodore Graham Bladon CBE (1899–1967) | 5 May 1950 | 24 October 1958 | 8 years, 172 days | – | [1] | |
| 2 | Air Vice Marshal John Barker CB, CBE, DFC (1910–2004) | 24 October 1958 | 12 November 1962 | 4 years, 19 days | – | [1] | |
| 3 | Air Vice Marshal Rohan Amerasekera DFC & Bar (1916–1974) | 12 November 1962 | 31 December 1970 | 8 years, 49 days | No. 2 Squadron SLAF | [1] | |
| 4 | Air Chief 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 | Air Chief Marshal Harry Goonatilake USP (1929–2008) | 1 November 1976 | 30 April 1981 | 4 years, 180 days | No. 2 Squadron SLAF | [1] | |
| 6 | Air Chief Marshal Dick Perera VSV | 1 May 1981 | 30 April 1985 | 3 years, 364 days | No. 2 Squadron SLAF | [1] | |
| 7 | Air Chief Marshal Walter Fernando VSV | 1 May 1985 | 31 July 1990 | 5 years, 91 days | No. 4 Squadron SLAF | [1] | |
| 8 | Air Chief Marshal Terry Gunawardena VSV | 1 August 1990 | 16 February 1994 | 3 years, 199 days | No. 2 Squadron SLAF | [1] | |
| 9 | Air Chief Marshal Oliver Ranasinghe RWP, VSV, USP | 17 February 1994 | 5 March 1998 | 4 years, 16 days | No. 5 Squadron SLAF | [1] | |
| 10 | Air Chief 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 | Air Chief Marshal Donald Perera VSV, USP | 16 July 2002 | 11 June 2006 | 3 years, 330 days | No. 2 Squadron SLAF | [1] | |
| 12 | Marshal 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 | Air Chief Marshal Harsha Abeywickrama RWP, RSP, VSV, USP | 27 February 2011 | 27 February 2014 | 3 years, 0 days | No. 5 Squadron SLAF | [1] | |
| 14 | Air Chief Marshal Kolitha Gunathilake RWP, RSP, VSV, USP | 27 February 2014 | 15 June 2015 | 1 year, 108 days | No. 2 Squadron SLAF | [1] | |
| 15 | Air Chief 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 | Air Chief Marshal Kapila Jayampathy WWV, RWP, RSP, VSV, USP | 13 September 2016 | 29 May 2019 | 2 years, 258 days | No. 4 Squadron SLAF | [1] | |
| 17 | Air Chief Marshal Sumangala Dias RSP | 30 May 2019 | 2 November 2020 | 1 year, 156 days | No. 6 Squadron SLAF | [1] | |
| 18 | Air Chief 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 | Air Marshal Udeni Rajapaksa RWP, VSV, USP | 30 June 2023 | Incumbent | 1 year, 152 days | No. 2 Squadron SLAF No. 8 Squadron SLAF | – |