AVM Sudharshana Pathirana as new Air Force Chief of Staff

The Commander of the Air Force, Air Marshal DLS Dias, appointed Air Vice Marshal Sudharshana Pathirana as the Chief of Staff of the Sri Lanka Air Force.

Air Vice Marshal Pathirana hails from Kandy and a proud product of Dharmaraja College, Kandy.

He received his commission on 2nd January 1987 to the rank of Pilot Officer, in the General Duties (Pilot) Branch.

His operational career commenced as a reconnaissance pilot in the No 3 Maritime Squadron, based at SLAF Academy China-bay. In 1990 he was selected to be among the first six SLAF pilots to convert to supersonic F7BS aircraft at No.5 Jet Squadron under the training of Chinese Instructors.

Air Vice Marshal Pathirana is a Fighter Pilot, a Flying Instructor and an active operational flyer who has flown over 3500 flying hours over 10 types of aircraft, including Kfir and F 7s. He has participated in almost all the major counter terrorist operations conducted in Sri Lanka and his bravery has been acknowledged through the award of gallantry awards six times. To date he holds the singular honor of having logged the highest number of Kfir operational sorties for any SLAF pilot throughout the operational history of the fighter