Artillery of Sri Lanka

The artillery of Sri Lanka dates back to 1888, when the Ceylon Artillery Volunteers ( Eng. Ceylon Artillery Volunteers ) division was created on April 12, which was a gun battery under the command of Captain . CEH Seimans, the British Royal Artillery . During World War I , Ceylon artillery volunteers were mobilized along with the artillery of the city ​​guard of Colombo to defend the capital of the island. In 1918, the Ceylon garrison artillery, part of the Ceylon defense forces, was formed by merging Ceylon artillery of volunteers and artillery of the city guard of Colombo. In the colonial period, the main duty of the Ceylon garrison artillery was the coastal defense of Ceylon by recruiting coastal artillery batteries .

During World War II, Ceylon garrison artillery was deployed outside the island to support the allies and forces of the Commonwealth in the Indian Ocean, although it also dealt with the defense of Ceylon. Equipped with 6 inch guns, the Ceylon garrison artillery was deployed to protect the Seychelles and Cocos Islands . The remaining units in Ceylon were enlarged and strengthened: the composition of the 1st coastal regiment ( 1st Coast Regiment ) was increased by one field and four coastal batteries, the 2nd heavy anti-aircraft regiment was formed ( English 2nd Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment ) with accommodation in Trincomalee and the 3rd Searchlight and Light Anti-aircraft Regiment ( eng. 3rd Searchlight / Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment ), based in Colombo. ^[2]

In 1949, the Ceylon garrison artillery was turned into the artillery of Ceylon , during the creation of the Ceylon army under the 1949 Army Law. In the same year, the 1st heavy anti-aircraft regiment under the command of Lieutenant Colonel (later Colonel) de Saram was formed as part of the Ceylon artillery corps. In 1953, it was renamed the 1st Light Anti-aircraft Regiment (LAA). In the same year, the 3rd field artillery regiment was formed. The 2nd Reserve Coastal Artillery / Anti-aircraft Regiment was formed in 1949 under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Perera. It consisted of officers and soldiers of the Ceylon garrison artillery. In 1962, when many army officers, including Colonel de Saram, were associated with an attempted military coup, the government began a rapid reduction of troops. As a result, in 1962, the 2nd Reserve Regiment was disbanded, and coastal artillery batteries were decommissioned. The following year, the 1st heavy anti-aircraft regiment was merged with the 3rd and 4th regiments of field artillery, forming the corps of Ceylon artillery, thereby reducing the size of Ceylon artillery to one regiment. Years after this event, the role of air defense of Sri Lanka was transferred to the Sri Lankan Air Force Regiment, which it still performs to this day. The artillery of Ceylon in 1972 was renamed the artillery of Sri Lanka when Ceylon became a republic and changed its name. Only in 1980 a new regiment of volunteers was formed - the 5th reserve artillery regiment.

Currently, Sri Lanka’s artillery consists of 12 regular regiments, 2 reserve regiments and a regimental orchestra. These units form an artillery brigade. Since the beginning of the Sri Lankan civil war in the 1980s, the SLA has provided fire support in almost all military operations conducted by the Sri Lankan army against terrorist forces. It also performs the role of target designation for detecting enemy guns. The SLA deployed 4 regular reinforced regiments and 2 reserve infantry regiments to meet the lack of infantry.

Regular units

• The 4th Field Regiment SLA is the oldest existing corps unit. It was formed on April 26, 1963 in Panagoda. The regiment was originally equipped with 76 mm mountain cannons and supported infantry in suppressing the 1971 uprising . Later, the regiment armed with 85-mm divisional Chinese cannons ( Type 56 , a copy of the Soviet D-44 ), and it served as infantry support during ground operations of the First and Second Wars of Ilam . Later, to cope with the problem of a developing threat, the regiment was re-equipped with 122-mm and 130-mm Chinese cannons , in which form the regiment took an active part in humanitarian operations in the north and east of the country. From November 16, 2011, the regiment commander is Lieutenant Colonel Karunaratne. ^[3]
• The 6th Field Regiment SLA was formed on September 1, 1985 in Panagoda. Initially, he was armed with 25-pound cannons and was engaged in the support of infantry during the First and Second Wars of Israel . Subsequently, the regiment was equipped with 122-mm Chinese guns. The regiment also includes the Ceremonial Saluting Battery ( Eng. Ceremonial battery ). Since March 7, 2011, the regiment commander is Lieutenant Colonel Khevazhe. ^[four]
• The 7th Light SLA Regiment was formed on November 10, 1988 in the Minneriya . This regiment was originally equipped with 120 mortars and supported the infantry in direct combat, which proved to be very effective during the First and Second Wars of Ilam . Now the regiment is equipped with 122-mm Chinese guns. From August 27, 2010, the regiment commander is Lieutenant Colonel Palamakumbura. ^[five]
• The 8th Field Regiment SLA was formed on January 1, 1994 in Panagoda as a reinforcement regiment to increase the military presence in the northern and eastern regions of the country, but the regiment was formed according to artillery norms and traditions. This work was carried out by Lieutenant Colonel V. R. Silva, 1st commander of the unit. The officers and soldiers of the new regiment came, mainly from the already existing artillery units. As a regiment of reinforcement, the 8th Artillery performed infantry duties under the command of SFHQ-W from January 1994 to November 1994 and was stationed at Hajassingepur , Tandikkulam and Musalkutti . Later, a part was transferred to the island of Mannar . From March 6, 1996, the unit was simply declared artillery, and it began to be armed with 130-mm Chinese guns. From December 2, 2009, the regiment commander is Lieutenant Colonel Kariyavasam. ^[6]
• The 9th Field Regiment of the SLA was created on paper on December 14, 1996. Placement in Panagoda ended on January 23, 1997. However, almost immediately the regiment was transferred to an abandoned building belonging to the Mahaweli project earlier, in the city of Talava , 15 kilometers south of Anuradhapura , where the formation of the unit ended, the date of this event is considered February 10, 1997. The regiment performed artillery cover tasks for various units in all campaigns from the very beginning of Operation Edibala in 1997. It was the 9th regiment that gave the last historic salvo in the civil war. From November 16, 2009, the regiment commander is Lieutenant Colonel Seneviratne. ^[7]
• The 10th Field Regiment SLA was established on January 10, 1997 in Aççuveli in the north of the Jaffna peninsula to support defensive operations. During the operation "Jayasikuru" the regiment received 152-mm Chinese howitzers. After that, the unit supported all major operations in the north and east. Since March 4, 2011, the commander of the regiment is Major Dissanayyaka. ^[eight]
• The 11th regiment ( reinforcement regiment ) of the SLA was formed on July 30, 1998 in the town of Tambuttegama south of the city of Anuradhapura , after which part was thrown to the north, where it was highly appreciated as an infantry regiment. Recently, the regiment has been engaged in humanitarian operations in the 58 division , starting with the Vedtivtivu in Nandikadale , where he also deserved respect. Since July 13, 2011, the regiment commander is Lieutenant Colonel Senanayyak. ^[9]
• The 14th SLA missile regiment was formed on September 13, 2001 in Palali (the formation decree was issued on July 25, 2001 ^[10] ). The regiment is armed with Czech , Slovak and Chinese 122-mm MLRS , which consist of four batteries, each of which consists of eight vehicles carrying rocket launchers and machine-command posts. The 14th Regiment is the only part in the Sri Lankan army that is armed with the MLRS. Missiles have a range of 20 175-33 150 meters, and the accuracy of hitting up to 5 meters. In a combat situation, the MLRS are now the weapon of choice and one of the key moments of success in a war, while avoiding unnecessary losses of your own troops. Since November 9, 2009, the regiment commander is Lieutenant Colonel Ranasinghe. ^[eleven]
• The 15th Field (Middle) Regiment SLA was formed on August 29, 2008 in Talava near the town of Anuradhapura (the formation decree was issued on December 1, 2007 ^[10] ). The youngest regiment of the artillery regiments of the corps, the 15th regiment was originally equipped with 122 mm Chinese-made guns and was engaged in supporting infantry during the Third Islamic War . Since May 25, 2010, the regiment commander is Lieutenant Colonel Karunaratne. ^[12]
• The 16th regiment ( reinforcement regiment ) of the SLA was formed on January 16, 2008 in Toppigala (the formation decree was issued on December 1, 2007 ^[10] ). This regiment of reinforcement infantry played a role in the final stages of the civil war, along with other battalions of infantry. Since May 19, 2011, the regiment commander is Lieutenant Colonel Perera. ^[13]
• The 17th regiment ( reinforcement regiment ) of the SLA was formed on April 25, 2008 in Maduru-Oya (the formation decree was issued on February 1, 2008 ^[10] ). This regiment was also created to eliminate the threat of terrorists in the region of Mankulam - Kilinochchi , and coped with the task perfectly. Since May 17, 2011, the regiment commander is Lieutenant Colonel Fernando. ^[14]
• The 18th regiment ( reinforcement regiment ) of the SLA was formed on July 29, 2008 in Mannar (the formation decree was issued on July 1 ^[10] ). This youngest regiment of the corps has already managed to distinguish itself during the recent operations in the region. From December 18, 2010, the regiment commander is Lieutenant Colonel Jayasinghe. ^[15]

• Artillery School was established October 26, 1957. Initially, she was engaged in training personnel to work with light and heavy anti-aircraft guns, as well as tactics of their use. Later, the school was incorporated into the 4th Artillery Regiment (after its formation) in Panagoda . On October 11, 1991, the school was allotted to a separate part of the corps and transferred to the Minneria . From May 26, 2010, the school commander is Lieutenant Colonel Dissanayak. ^[sixteen]
• A separate radar battery was created on September 17, 1995 at the artillery school in Minneria . Its main goal is to determine the location of enemy guns and aim their batteries at them. The battery was originally deployed on the Chinese type 371 radar ( SLC-2 ), and then retrofitted with a monitoring system for the sound range. After creation, the battery took part in all basic operations, using also AN / TPQ-36/37 radars. Rechargeable batteries of the latter played a crucial role in increasing mobility in the conditions of high intensity of operations to support land, sea and air operations. From December 30, 2011 the commander of the battery is Major Viirasinghe. ^[17]

Reserve units

• The 5th reserve SLA regiment was formed in Veloyaya . Initially, the oldest reserve regiment of artillery of Sri Lanka was an infantry and has worked well in maintaining law and order. From December 12, 2011, the regiment commander is Lieutenant Colonel Ranchagoda. ^[18]
• The 12th reserve SLA regiment was formed in Damminna-Maduruoya . The regiment was particularly distinguished during humanitarian operations in the east of the island. From October 7, 2008, the regiment commander is Major Chandrakrishna. ^[nineteen]

The Seva Vanita unit of the Sri Lankan Artillery Corps was established in 1999 in the process of creating these units for each regiment of the Sri Lankan army. The basis of the unit are the wives of military personnel. The purpose of the organization is to support the families of military personnel, both the employees now and those who died in the performance or became disabled in the service. Seva Vanita is also engaged in various charity events in the area of ​​the corps. The first president of Seva Vanita was Dilani Viirasuria. For the spring of 2012, the organization is headed by Pushpa Lijanaje. ^[20]

During the colonial period, the Ceylon artillery garrison was equipped with British coastal artillery batteries . After independence and the creation of an artillery regiment, the corps was armed with weapons of the Second World War : British six-inch coastal guns , 40-mm anti-aircraft guns , 3.7-inch heavy anti-aircraft guns and 4.2-inch heavy mortars. Later, the British 25-pound Mark III QF field guns and 76-mm mountain guns appeared.

In the 1990s and 2000s, weapons for the corps began to be supplied from China and the Czech Republic . With the escalation of the civil war , 120-mm, 152-mm, 130-mm howitzers and 120-mm, 82-mm mortars appeared, and in 2000 the corps adopted the MLRS RM-70 , which in general dramatically increased the power of the SLA. The corps also uses targeting systems (artillery radars) to locate enemy artillery positions. The role of air defense is now completely transferred to the regiment of the Air Force of Sri Lanka .

•   United Kingdom - Royal Artillery Regiment
•   India - Indian Artillery Regiment

• Sri Lankan Ground Forces

• Sri lanka army
• Sri lanka artillery
• Recruitment of the Cocos Mutiny