No. 3 Maritime Squadron is a maritime patrol
squadron
Squadron may refer to:
* Squadron (army), a military unit of cavalry, tanks, or equivalent subdivided into troops or tank companies
* Squadron (aviation), a military unit that consists of three or four flights with a total of 12 to 24 aircraft, de ...
of the
Sri Lanka Air Force
The Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) ( si, ශ්රි ලංකා ගුවන් හමුදාව, Śrī Laṃkā guwan hamudāva; ta, இலங்கை விமானப்படை, Ilaṅkai vimāṉappaṭai) is the air arm and the yo ...
. It was disbanded in 1993 and its aircraft taken over by the
No. 8 Light Transport Squadron. It was restablished in 2019.
History
Maritime Squadron was established in 1971 at
SLAF China Bay to provide early warning by them air force commander
Paddy Mendis
Air Chief Marshal Deshamanya Pathman Hariprasadha Mendis, FBIM (24 January 1933 – 18 January 2022) was a Sri Lankan aviator. He was the fourth Commander of the Royal Ceylon Air Force from 1971 to 1976.
Early life and education
The son of a d ...
, its units took part in operational duties during the
1971 JVP insurrection. The Squadron shifted to
SLAF Katunayake and again relocated to SLAF Base China Bay in the year 1988 to conduct surveillance operations against the
LTTE
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...
The SLAF has been in talks to acquire both
Dornier Do228 and
Kingair B360ER maritime reconnaissance aircraft from India and the United States respectively to enhance their operations since 2020. In 2022, the Squadron had been earmarked for expansion with the US Government agreed to provide two Beechcraft 360ER on a gratis basis under a foreign military sales contract to enhance the SLAF's maritime reconnaissance capability. and the Indian government lending a
Dornier Do228 with technical assistants as part of defense agreements around the establishment of a
Maritime Rescue Coordinating Centre. Sri Lanka will purchase two more Dorniers on an Indian line of credit.
The first Dornier was delivered in August 2022.
Aircraft operated
Past Aircraft
*
Cessna Skymaster - 1978
*
De Havilland Dove - 1971
*
Beechcraft Super King Air
The Beechcraft Super King Air family is part of a line of twin-turboprop aircraft produced by Beechcraft. The Model 200 and Model 300 series were originally marketed as the "Super King Air" family; the "Super" designation was dropped in 1996. ...
- 1986
Current Aircraft
*
Beech King Air B200
*
Dornier 228
The Dornier 228 is a twin-turboprop STOL utility aircraft, designed and first manufactured by Dornier GmbH (later DASA Dornier, Fairchild-Dornier) from 1981 until 1998. Two hundred and forty-five were built in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany. In 19 ...
*
Harbin Y-12
The Harbin Y-12 () is a high wing twin-engine turboprop utility aircraft built by Harbin Aircraft Industry Group (HAIG).
Design and development
The Y-12 started as a development of the Harbin Y-11 airframe
called Y-11T in 1980. The design featu ...
Notable members
*
Marshal of the Sri Lanka Air Force Roshan Goonatilake,
RWP & BAR,
VSV,
USP,
ndc,
psc,
SLAF
References
External links
*
ww.airforce.lk/pdf/news%20paper/slaf/srilanka_ariforce.pdf FORCE REPORT SRI LANKA AIR FORCE
{{DEFAULTSORT:No. 3 Squadron Slaf
Military units and formations of the Cold War
Military units and formations established in the 1970s
Military units and formations disestablished in the 1980s
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