Air Force 60th Anniversary exhibition opens

Sandasen Marasinghe

The Sri Lanka Air Force 60th Anniversary celebration was held at the Ratmalana Air Base yesterday with the participation of President Mahinda Rajapaksa as the Chief guest. After the arrival of the invitees Air Force Commander Air Marshal Harsha Abeywickrama arrived at venue at around 8.10 am.

Later Chief of Defence Staff Air Chief Marshal Roshan Goonetilake arrived. He was followed by the Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa.

Chief Guest President Mahinda Rajapaksa arrived at the venue in a motorcade. He was accorded guard of honour and inspected a Drill Parade. The President then delivered his address.

Later on a Fly past was held with many air craft and helicopters including PT-6, Chipmunks, Mi 24, K-8, Y-12 and other sophisticated craft. One of the special features of the fly past was the absence of Kfir aircraft. While the fly past was on the vintage vehicles were paraded.

After the celebration was over the President launched the Sri Lanka Air Force 60th commemorative stamp and commemorative coin and declared open the six day exhibition.

The exhibition was open to the public from 2 pm yesterday and lasts until March 8. Army Commander Lieutenant General Jagath Jayasuriya, Navy Commander Vice Admiral D W A S Dissanayake and IGP Mahinda Balasooriya were also among the distinguished guests.