Created to supplement the British garrison in Ceylon in the event of an external threat, it gradually increased in size.

This marked the creation of the Ceylon Army, and the CDF and the CRNVR were disbanded to make way for a regular navy.

From the outset Britain played a significant role in helping the Ceylon government in developing its armed forces.

[6] By the early 1980s, the Sri Lanka Armed Forces mobilized against the insurgency of Tamil militant groups in the north of the island.

This led to India intervening by entering Sri Lankan air space to carry out food drops.

In the north, tension increased with the LTTE and the IPKF leading to open war with the two suffering heavy casualties.

[7] Some defense reforms also commenced in 2002 when the Prime Minister established the Defence Review Committee (DRC) which formulated extensive recommendations that encapsulate force modernization as well as the restructuring of command and control in ways that would make the army more responsive to civil control.

[8] The first task of the Committee was to assess the Higher Defence Organisation, given the decision by the President to relinquish the defense portfolio.

Although the work of the Committee thereafter proceeded apace, the DRC itself became a political football amidst the growing tension between the President and the Prime Minister.

In 2003 the President took the decision to bring an end to the work of the DRC and, instead, assigned the task of SSR to the Joint Operations Headquarters, since when little progress has been evident.

In April 2006 following a suicide bomb attack on the Commander of the Army, airstrikes began followed by skirmishes, however, both the government and the LTTE claimed that the ceasefire was still in place.

The offensive by the Armed Forces was launched when the LTTE closed the sluice gates of the Mavil Aru reservoir on 21 July and cut the water supply to 15,000 villages in government controlled areas.

During December 2008, the Sri Lankan Armed Forces were engaged in offensives on all fronts, with heavy fighting around Kilinochchi (where the LTTE had its headquarters) and close to Mullaitivu.

In early 2009 the Armed Forces recaptured in quick succession Kilinochchi and the strategically important Elephant Pass.

Thus establishing a land route to the government controlled Jaffna Peninsula which had been supplied by sea and air for over 10 years after its recapture in 1995.

A panel of experts appointed by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to advise him on the issue of accountability with regard to any alleged violations of international human rights and humanitarian law during the final stages of the civil war found "credible allegations" which, if proven, indicated that war crimes and crimes against humanity were committed by the Sri Lankan Armed Forces and the LTTE, with most civilian casualties in the final phases of the war being blamed on indiscriminate Sri Lankan Army shelling and the LTTE being blamed for using civilians as a human buffer.

[14][15][16] The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights accused the Sri Lankan Armed Forces of committing widespread and often extremely brutal sexual violence against both Tamil females and males alike in a report in 2015.

In the long-term, the threat is seen as primarily external from current and future superpowers in their rival quests for dominance of the Indian Ocean; at one point these were the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics or more commonly known as the Soviet Union As head of state, the President of Sri Lanka, is nominally the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.

[24] First peacekeeping deployment of the island's armed forces took place in 1960, when Ceylon held the Commonwealth Seat as a Non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.

[28] Sri Lankan peacekeepers have been embroiled in a child sex ring scandal in Haiti, with at least 134 soldiers being accused of sexually abusing nine children from 2004 to 2007.

The Army of approximately 255,000 regular and reserve personnel including 90,000 National Guardsmen and is responsible for overseeing land-based military and humanitarian operations.

In recent years it had played a key role it the Sri Lankan civil war, conducting deep sea, coastal & inshore patrols, amphibious and supply operations.

Although Sri Lanka is only a small island state, its Air Force has proven highly capable and efficient.

There are two official paramilitary forces under the command of the Ministry of Defence, as well as another under the Minister of Justice: The following Units are known to conduct special operations: Today the training of all armed services are carried out in Sri Lanka.

[37] Although much of the current military hardware used by the Sri Lanka Armed Forces is acquired from China, Pakistan, Israel, India, Russia, and the United States.

In 1992 the Ordnance Factory was established beginning the manufacture of artillery and ammunition including trip flares in Sri Lanka.

Naval Boat Building Yard (NBBY) of the Navy is responsible for the production of small boats such as the Cedric and Wave Rider classes alongside other private companies such as Solas Marine Lanka while the Colombo Dockyard supplies larger vessels.

[51] The Army runs a luxurious holiday resort called Thalsevana near Kankesanthurai inside the Valikamam North High Security Zone where the residents were forcibly expelled in the early 1990s and have not been allowed to resettle despite the end of the civil war.

[67] It was inactive during the civil war but after its end the business has started functioning again, taking advantage of the country's booming tourism.

[52][72] Many senior military commanders have been appointed to senior positions in the diplomatic and civil services: Air Chief Marshal Jayalath Weerakkody is the High Commissioner to Pakistan; Air Chief Marshal Donald Perera is the Ambassador to Israel; Major General Nanda Mallawaarachchi is the Ambassador to Indonesia; Major General Udaya Perera is the Deputy High Commissioner to Malaysia; Major General Jagath Dias is the Deputy Ambassador to Germany, Switzerland and the Vatican; Major General Shavendra Silva is the Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN; Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda is the Ambassador to Japan; Admiral Thisara Samarasinghe is the High Commissioner to Australia; Major General Amal Karunasekara is the chargé d'affaires in Eritrea; Major General G. A. Chandrasiri is the Governor of Northern Province; Mohan Wijewickrema s the Governor of Eastern Province; Rohan Daluwatte is the Chairman of the National Gem and Jewellery Authority; and Lieutenant General Jagath Jayasuriya and Air Chief Marshal Roshan Goonetilleke are board members of the Water's Edge Complex.