Major General Deshamanya Alexander Richard Udugama, MBE (11 November 1911 – 14 May 1995) was a Sri Lankan soldier, politician and diplomat.

Former Army Commander (1964–1966), he was elected as Member of Parliament for Matale from 1970 to 1977 and served as Sri Lankan Ambassador to Iraq from 1979 to 1982.

There he served with the 7th Battalion, 2nd Punjab Regiment which was under the 7th Indian Infantry Division in Arakan, on the eastern side of Mayu Range.

The government having declared a state of emergency under the Public Security Act had Udugama break up the protest and arrest its leaders.

Given that the officers connected to the attempted coup were all Christian, Bandaranaike had preferred appointing Udugama over the more senior Colonel Bertram Heyn, given that he was a Buddhist and kinsmen from a Kandyan Radala family.

[1] In June 1966, Major General Udugama was on an official tour in Europe, visiting military training schools in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Switzerland.

On 7 July 1966, the BOAC aircraft carrying him landed at the Bandaranaike International Airport and he was met by Air Commodore Rohan Amerasekera, who escorted him to the officers mess of RCyAF Katunayake under guard where the Inspector General of Police John Attygalle presented a detention order issued under emergency regulations that was in-effect at the time and was informed that he was suspended as Army Commander with effect from 7 July 1966.

The government of Sri Lanka bestowed the title of Deshamanya and on his death in 1995 a state funeral was granted with full military honours.

He was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 1956 New Year Honours[10] and was awarded the title Deshamanya by the Government of Sri Lanka in 1993.