By Saman Indrajith
The Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) would downsize while ensuring that national security would not compromised, Air Force Commander, Air Marshal Sudarshana Pathirana, said yesterday, taking part in a TV talk show.
The SLAF chief said that the number of its personnel had been reduced to 30,000 from 35,000.
“I don’t consider the money we spend on troops as an expense; it is more of an investment. If you look at the Air Force, most troops receive some technical skill. They will develop skills, and expertise, as pilots, engineers, mechanics, etc. These are much-sought-after technical skills. They can easily find jobs here and overseas,” he said.
Air Marshal Pathirana said that there was a public debate on the defence expenditure. Sri Lanka had to reduce the burden on taxpayers, but it was essential to maintain an adequate number of armed forces personnel to ensure national security.
“We have held a number of discussions with the President, and the Defence Secretary, on rationalising troop numbers. We will reduce troop numbers while ensuring that we can provide safety. One must remember that we need to have a military to combat drugs, crime, ensure that threats from terrorists are met, disaster relief, etc. We can reduce defence expenditure but every country spends significant amounts of funds on security and they do it for a reason,” he said.