The Regiment Special Force (RSF) is a

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 ...

s elite special force unit, which is part of the SLAF Regiment. It was raised in 2006.The RSF Wing is an independent formation of the SLAF and commanded by a Commanding Officer who is responsible to the Commander of the Air Force through Director Ground Operations for the efficient and effective function.

History

The squadron was formed due to the

Bandaranaike Airport attack The Bandaranaike Airport attack was an assault by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on Bandaranaike International Airport, on July 24, 2001. The attack was one of the boldest the LTTE mounted during its war with the Sri Lankan gover ...

by the

LTTE The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...

.. Initially formed as Air Base Defence and Rescue Squadron on 7 July 2003 it was later renamed as Regiment Special Forces Wing in 2006.

Role

* CA/CP/Reinforcement Operations. * Battlefield Rescue/ Recovery Operations with respect to downed aircraft/aircrew and passengers. * Sea/Air/Land disaster related search and rescue missions related to natural and man made disasters. * Securing landing zones/pickup zones for insertion extraction of special operations forces of Army/Navy/Air Force. * Recapturing air bases. *Provide defenses in an enemy attack as a rapid deployment force. *Rescue operations and recovering of downed air crew in enemy or friendly terrain. *Assist civil authorities in national emergency.

Capabilities

;CQB or Close Combat Fighting Most Air Bases are heavily built up due to availability of aircraft hangars and other related infrastructure. RSF skills on house clearance and close quarter fighting provides an added advantage for operating effectively with minimum collateral damage in Air Bases. ;Special Reconnaissance SR by the RSF can be highly effective when conventional or tactical collection assets are unable to collect information of operational significance. ;Explosive Ordnance Disposal ;Airborne Forces ;Combat Search and Rescue ;Security Warfare And Advanced Tactics Course

Training

The unit's personnel are trained in air base rescue operations, field craft, bomb disposal, fire fighting, water survival and rescue operations. Advanced training is carried out at the Sri Lanka Army Special Force training school at Maduruoya. * RSF basic course * Heli-born Course * Water-born Course * Tactical Urban Fighting Unit (TUF) * Special operations phase for advance Regt Cadets. * Jungle Survival Course for air crews * Orientation courses for Air gunners * Refresher courses for RSF * QRT Course * Leadership Training for out siders * Team building Corse for School cadets

Equipment

;Handguns * Glock 17 * M9 ;Assault Rifles *

M16 The M16 rifle (officially designated Rifle, Caliber 5.56 mm, M16) is a family of military rifles adapted from the ArmaLite AR-15 rifle for the United States military. The original M16 rifle was a 5.56×45mm automatic rifle with a 20-roun ...

QBZ-95 The Type 95 automatic rifle () or QBZ-95 is a bullpup assault rifle designed and manufactured by Norinco, and issued since 1995 as the service rifle for the People's Liberation Army, People's Armed Police and various paramilitary law enforcemen ...

* SAR-21 * Type 56-2 * Type 56 (Ceremonial purposes only) ;Sub-machine Guns *

Uzi The Uzi (; he, עוזי, Ūzi; officially cased as UZI) is a family of Israeli open-bolt, blowback-operated submachine guns and machine pistols first designed by Major Uziel "Uzi" Gal in the late 1940s, shortly after the establishment of the ...

MP5 The Heckler & Koch MP5 (german: Maschinenpistole 5) is a 9x19mm Parabellum submachine gun, developed in the 1960s by a team of engineers from the German small arms manufacturer Heckler & Koch. There are over 100 variants and clones of the MP5, ...

(MP5A3, MP5SD6, MP5KA5) ;Machine Guns * Type 80 machine gun *

FN MAG The FN MAG is a Belgian 7.62 mm general-purpose machine gun, designed in the early 1950s at Fabrique Nationale (FN) by Ernest Vervier. It has been used by more than 80 countries and it has been made under licence in several countries, inc ...

;Snipers *

L96A1 The Accuracy International Arctic Warfare rifle is a bolt-action sniper rifle designed and manufactured by the British company Accuracy International. It has proved popular as a civilian, police, and military rifle since its introduction in th ...

* PSG1 * M93 ;Grenade Launchers * M203 * MGL ;Rocket Launchers * Type 69 RPG ;Anti-Aircraft Weapons Systems * SA-18 * L40/70 *

ZSU-23-2 The ZU-23-2, also known as ZU-23, is a Soviet towed 23×152mm anti-aircraft twin-barreled autocannon. ZU stands for ''Zenitnaya Ustanovka'' (Russian: Зенитная Установка) – anti-aircraft mount. The GRAU index is 2A13. Developm ...

* TCM-20 ;Vehicles * Unibuffel * Defender *

Unicorn The unicorn is a legendary creature that has been described since antiquity as a beast with a single large, pointed, spiraling horn projecting from its forehead. In European literature and art, the unicorn has for the last thousand years o ...

; Mortars *

W84 The W84 is an American thermonuclear warhead initially designed for use on the BGM-109G Gryphon Ground Launched Cruise Missile (GLCM). History The weapon was designed by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory beginning in September 1978 for th ...

* Type 89

External links