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Terry Gunawardena
Air Chief Marshal Makalandage Johnny Terrence "Terry" De Silva Gunawardena, VSV (-2014) was the 8th Commander of the Sri Lankan Air Force. Educated at Wesley College, Colombo, Gunawardena joined the Royal Ceylon Air Force on 31 December 1959 and was commissioned a pilot officer in 1961. He served as a squadron pilot in both the No 1 Squadron and No. 2 Squadron. He was one of the first pilots qualified in fighter jets, flying BAC Jet Provosts and MiG-17s. He served as Commanding Officer, No 2 Squadron and Commandant, Air Force Academy, China Bay. He attended RAF Staff College, Bracknell and National Defence College, New Delhi. He was appointed Chief of Staff of the SLAF in March 1986. On 1 August 1991 he was appointed Commander of the Air Force and promoted to the rank of Air Marshal. He reintroduced fighter jets to the SLAF by acquiring F-7 Skybolts and increased its light attack capability by acquiring FMA IA 58 Pucarás. He added Mil Mi-17 heavy transport helicopters to t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Air Chief Marshal
Air chief marshal (Air Chf Mshl or ACM) is a high-ranking air officer originating from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. An air chief marshal is equivalent to an Admiral in a navy or a full general in an army or other nations' air forces. The rank of air chief marshal is immediately senior to the rank of air marshal but subordinate to marshal of the air force. Air chief marshals are sometimes generically considered to be air marshals. Royal Air Force use and history Origins Prior to the adoption of RAF-specific rank titles in 1919, it was suggested that the RAF might use the Royal Navy's officer ranks, with the word "air" inserted before the naval rank title. For example, the rank that later became air chief marshal would have been air admiral. The Admiralty objected to any use of their rank titles, including this modified form, and so an alternative proposal was put forward: air-officer ranks ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Defence College (India)
The National Defence College, located in New Delhi, is the defence service training institute and highest seat of strategic learning for officers of the Defence Service and the Civil Services. This is a very prestigious course attended only by a few hand-picked defence officers of One-Star rank and civil servants of the rank of Joint secretary to the Government of India. Each year, approximately 25 officers from friendly foreign countries like the US, UK, Canada, France, Germany, Australia, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Nepal, UAE and others attend the course. This college provides strategic leadership to the Government of India in national and international security matters and also acts as a think tank on defence matters and holds a very important position in shaping up the Indian defence outlook. History After India's independence in 1947, senior officers of the Indian Army, Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force attended the Imperial Defence College (IDC) in the United Kingdom befor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alumni Of Wesley College, Colombo
Alumni (singular: alumnus (masculine) or alumna (feminine)) are former students of a school, college, or university who have either attended or graduated in some fashion from the institution. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for groups of women. The word is Latin and means "one who is being (or has been) nourished". The term is not synonymous with "graduate"; one can be an alumnus without graduating (Burt Reynolds, alumnus but not graduate of Florida State, is an example). The term is sometimes used to refer to a former employee or member of an organization, contributor, or inmate. Etymology The Latin noun ''alumnus'' means "foster son" or "pupil". It is derived from PIE ''*h₂el-'' (grow, nourish), and it is a variant of the Latin verb ''alere'' "to nourish".Merriam-Webster: alumnus .. Separate, but from the s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sinhalese Military Personnel
Sinhala may refer to: * Something of or related to the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka * Sinhalese people * Sinhala language, one of the three official languages used in Sri Lanka * Sinhala script, a writing system for the Sinhala language ** Sinhala (Unicode block), a block of Sinhala characters in Unicode * Sinhala cinema * Sinhala Kingdom, the Lankan kingdom mentioned in the ''Mahābhārata'' * "Sinhala", a song from the 1999 album ''The Magical Sounds of Banco de Gaia ''The Magical Sounds of Banco de Gaia'' is an album by Banco de Gaia. It was released in 1999 on Six Degrees Records as part of their ''Travel Series''. Track listing References External links''CMJ New Music Report'', February 22, 1999 ...'' {{disambig Language and nationality disambiguation pages ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sri Lankan Air Chief Marshals
Shri (; , ) is a Sanskrit term denoting resplendence, wealth and prosperity, primarily used as an honorific. The word is widely used in South and Southeast Asian languages such as Marathi, Malay (including Indonesian and Malaysian), Javanese, Balinese, Sinhala, Thai, Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, Nepali, Malayalam, Kannada, Sanskrit, Pali, Khmer, and also among Philippine languages. It is usually transliterated as ''Sri'', ''Sree'', ''Shri'', Shiri, Shree, ''Si'', or ''Seri'' based on the local convention for transliteration. The term is used in Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia as a polite form of address equivalent to the English "Mr." in written and spoken language, but also as a title of veneration for deities or as honorific title for local rulers. Shri is also another name for Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess of wealth, while a ''yantra'' or a mystical diagram popularly used to worship her is called Shri Yantra. Etymology Monier-Williams Dictionary gives the meaning of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Commanders Of The Sri Lanka Air Force
Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. Commander is also a generic term for an officer commanding any armed forces unit, for example "platoon commander", "brigade commander" and "squadron commander". In the police, terms such as "borough commander" and "incident commander" are used. Commander as a naval and air force rank Commander is a rank used in navies but is very rarely used as a rank in armies. The title, originally "master and commander", originated in the 18th century to describe naval officers who commanded ships of war too large to be commanded by a lieutenant but too small to warrant the assignment of a post-captain and (before about 1770) a sailing master; the commanding officer served as his own master. In practice, these were usually unrated sloops-of-war of no m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Andibuduge Fernando
Air Chief Marshal Andibuduge Walter Fernando, VSV, ndc, psc was a senior Sri Lanka Air Force officer, who served as the 7th Commander of the Sri Lankan Air Force and thereafter Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Defence. Air force career Educated at Maris Stella College, Negombo; he joined the Royal Ceylon Air Force as a cadet officer in the second batch of pilots in January 1953. Receiving pilot training in Ceylon, he was commissioned as a pilot officer and soon after under took a course on navigation and ground instruction with the RAF. On his return to Ceylon, he became one of the first helicopter pilots in the RCyAF and in 1958 became the Navigation Officer, RCyAF Katunayake. That year, Fernando accompanied several other pilots to UK to ferry by air two de Havilland Heron to Ceylon acquired for the RCyAF. In 1959, he was appointed Chief Ground Instructor, Flying Wing at RCyAF Katunayake. Thereafter he became the commanding officer, No 4 Flight and oversaw its expansion ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oliver Ranasinghe
Air Chief Marshal Oliver Matthew Ranasinghe, RWP, VSV, USP, ndc, psc was the 9th Commander of the Sri Lankan Air Force. Educated at Dharmapala College, Pannipitiya Ranasinghe joined the Royal Ceylon Air Force on 7 February 1968 as a Sergeant Pilot. He received his Basic Ground Combat training at RCyAF Diyatalawa where he won the trophy for the best marksman. He then went to the Flying Training School at RCyAF China Bay. He trained on de Havilland DHC-1 Chipmunks, de Havilland DH.104 Doves and BAC Jet Provosts, gaining his wings in 1969. Having piloted both fixed wing and rotary wing aircraft in the RCyAF, he went on to command the No. 4 Squadron and serve as Base Commander SLAF Anuradhapura. He had attended the Air Command and Staff College, the National Defence College, New Delhi and completed a Senior Management Course at Monterey, California. He was then appointed Director Operations and thereafter Chief of Staff. On 17 February 1994, he was appointed Commander of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mil Mi-17
The Mil Mi-17 ( NATO reporting name: Hip) is a Soviet-designed Russian military helicopter family introduced in 1975 (Mi-8M), continuing in production at two factories, in Kazan and Ulan-Ude. It is known as the Mi-8M series in Russian service. The helicopter is mostly used as a medium twin-turbine transport helicopter, as well as an armed gunship version. Development Developed from the basic Mi-8 airframe, the Mi-17 was fitted with the larger Klimov TV3-117MT engines, rotors, and transmission developed for the Mi-14, along with fuselage improvements for heavier loads. Optional engines for "hot and high" conditions are the 1545 kW (2070 shp) Isotov TV3-117VM. Recent exports to China and Venezuela for use in high mountains have the new Klimov VK-2500 version of the Klimov TV3-117 engine with FADEC control. The designation Mi-17 is for export; Russian armed forces call it Mi-8MT. The Mi-17 can be recognized because it has the tail rotor on the port side instead of the s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
FMA IA 58 Pucará
The FMA IA 58 Pucará ( qu, Fortress) is an Argentine ground-attack and counter-insurgency (COIN) aircraft manufactured by the Fábrica Militar de Aviones. It is a low-wing twin-turboprop all-metal monoplane with retractable landing gear, capable of operating from unprepared strips when operationally required. The type saw action during the Falklands War and the Sri Lankan Civil War. Development In August 1966 the Argentine state aircraft factory, Dirección Nacional de Fabricación e Investigación Aeronáutica (DINFIA), began development of the AX-2, a Counter-insurgency (COIN) aircraft to meet a requirement of the Argentine Air Force. The project was promoted by engineer Ricardo Olmedo and became under the guidance of engineer Aníbal Dreidemie, who also designed the IA-52 Guaraní II and the IA-63 Pampa. The chosen layout was a low-wing monoplane powered by two turboprop engines mounted in wing-mounted nacelles and fitted with a T-tail. In order to test the proposed la ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chengdu J-7
The Chengdu J-7 (Chinese: 歼-7; third generation export version F-7; NATO reporting name: Fishcan) is a People's Republic of China fighter aircraft. It is a license-built version of the Soviet Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21, and thus shares many similarities with the MiG-21. The aircraft is armed with short-range, infrared homing air-to-air missiles and mainly designed for short range air-to-air combat. The aircraft is also used for close air support. On 30 March 1962, the Soviet Union and China signed a technology transference arrangement pertaining to the MiG-21. Allegedly, while various kits, components, completed aircraft and associated documents were delivered to the Shenyang Aircraft Factory, the design documentation was incomplete, and Chinese designers made efforts to reverse engineer the aircraft. While the two aircraft are greatly similar, areas of difference include the hydraulic systems and internal fuel arrangements. During March 1964, domestic production of the J-7 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
