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Fly by over Colombo’s skies
View(s):The Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) celebrated its 70th anniversary this week with a number of events. The official 70th anniversary parade was held on Tuesday at the Katunayake SLAF Base under the auspices of the Commander of the Air Force, Air Marshal Sudarshana Pathirana. A total of 467 Officers and 7290 Other Rankers were also promoted to mark the SLAF’s 70th anniversary.
A commemorative cover, stamp and an official theme song for the SLAF was also launched to mark the occasion, while muti-religious programmes were also held under the patronage of the Air Force Commander to invoke blessings on the SLAF.
The highlight of the celebrations was a grand three day “air show” held at Galle Face Green from Wednesday to Friday. In addition to SLAF aircraft, several aircraft from the Indian Air Force (IAF) were in display including its aerobatics teams ‘Sarang’ and ‘Suryakiran.’
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was the chief guest on the first day of the air show. The inaugural Air Show was also attended by High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka, Gopal Baglay, Western Province Governor, Marshal of the Air Force Roshan Goonetileke, Defence Ministry Secretary Maj Gen (Rtd) Kamal Gunaratne, Army Commander General Shavendra Silva and Navy Commander Vice Admiral Nishantha Ulugetenne. - Pix by M A Pushpa Kumara
The final day of the air show on Friday was attended by Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa.