Separate Sri Lanka Navy and Air Force contingents with more than 25 fast attack craft and 25 pilots, in addition to their ground forces, join Commandos and Special Forces of the Army in the mock ‘Exercise - Cormorant Strike IV – 2013,’ just began in the East, said Brigadier Piyal Wickramaratne, Director, ‘Exercise - Cormorant Strike IV – 2013,’ during a media briefing at Colombo, Sri Lanka Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (SLEME) officers’ mess on Tuesday (10).
The Exercise with more than 2698 tri-service personnel, together with 40 foreign military participants and observers from Bangladesh, Brazil, China, India, Pakistan and Nepal, is organized by Directorate of Army Training under the close supervision of Major General A.W.J Crishantha De Silva, Chief of Staff of the Army.
Navy with its fleet of fast attack craft (FAC) and a merchant vessel and Air Force with many types of aircraft are contributing to the mock event, Navy and Air Force officers told the media gathering.
The joint-media briefing, attended by Brigadier Ralf Nugera, Director, Directorate of Training, Brigadier Piyal Wickramaratne, Director, ‘Exercise - Cormorant Strike IV – 2013,’ Commodore N.P.S. Atygalle, Director Naval Operations, Sri Lanka Navy, Wing Commander Prasanna Kuruvita, Staff Officer-I Operations, Air Force, Brigadier Jayantha Ratnayake, Commanding Officer, Special Operations of the Exercise, Colonel M.J. Balasuriya, Commander, Commandos Contingent in the Exercise and Lieutenant Colonel H.D.W.K.N. Iiriyagama, Commander, Special Forces Contingent in the Exercise elaborated on the joint operations, based on a hypothetical scenario with ‘Blue Forces’ against ‘Red Forces’ on a possible aggression by an external power.
This mock Field Training Exercise (FTX), organized by the Army for the fourth consecutive year in collaborations with Sri Lanka Navy and Air Force was designed for deployment of their troops in a war milieu of Special Operations and planned for conduct of joint operations as one team, using manoeuvrist approach, encompassing planning, execution and command, Brigadier Wickramaratne said.
The 15-day long Exercise with Army Commando (CR) Regiment and Special Forces (SF) Regiment troops, integrated with Navy and Air Force Special Forces, aims to enhance special operation capabilities and maintain combat readiness at all levels. It also focuses on planning, preparations, formulations, coordination, command, control, tactics, techniques and procedures (TTP), execution of Special Operations within given frameworks and is organized by Army Directorate of Training under the close supervision of Major General A.W.J Crishantha De Silva, Chief of Staff of the Army.
Lieutenant General Daya Ratnayake, Commander of the Army, contributing to the initial preparatory phases of the Exercise, maintained that the Sri Lanka Army, having defeated the world’s most ruthless terrorist outfit, should sustain the status quo in relation to national security concerns and be always well-geared to take on any future challenge against the country or her people as the most prominent defender of the nation.
The whole concept of having such joint military Exercises was mooted by Secretary Defence and Urban Development Mr Gotabaya Rajapaksa a few years ago with a view to transmitting and sharing the sea of experiences the Sri Lanka Army gathered in successfully conducting the world’s biggest humanitarian operation.
The multi-national land force leading this Exercise incorporates a wide range of new security dimensions and highlights the significance of sustaining regional security perspective and other possible peripheral threat issues. Under directions of Brigadier Piyal Wickramaratne, Director, ‘Exercise - Cormorant Strike IV - 2013’, the mock Exercise with land, sea and air operations is to be inducted mainly from places, like Thrikonamadu, Trincomalee, Verugal, etc during the conduct.
Initiatives of the Army saw the first joint ‘Exercise Cormorant - I’ in 2010 (Silavathura), ‘Exercise Cormorant - II’ (Trincomalee) in 2011, themed on ‘Hostage Rescue Mission’, and the last year’s ‘Exercise Cormorant - III’ (Thoppigala) in 2012, using the most sophisticated Geo Information System (GIS) and Global Positioning Tracking System. Military representatives from Bangladesh, Brazil, China, India, Nepal and Pakistan are participating in this year’s Exercise.
This year’s Exercise includes mock ‘Raids on boat yards’, ‘Taking of high value targets’, ‘Reconnaissance’, ‘Surveillance on targets’, ‘Airborne operations’, ‘Seaborne operations’, ‘Amphibious landing’, ‘Path-finding missions’, ‘Para jump into enemy strongholds’, ‘Ambushes’, ‘Search operations’, ‘Counter terrorist actions and Hostage Rescue Mission,’ and suchlike.
Brigadier Ralf Nugera, Director, Directorate of Training, Commodore N.P.S. Atygalle, Director Naval Operations, Sri Lanka Navy, Wing Commander Prasanna Kuruvita, Staff Officer-I Operations, Air Force and Brigadier Jayantha Ratnayake, Commanding Officer, Special Operations of the Exercise also contributed to the Media briefing.
The Exercise with more than 2698 tri-service personnel, together with 40 foreign military participants and observers from Bangladesh, Brazil, China, India, Pakistan and Nepal, is organized by Directorate of Army Training under the close supervision of Major General A.W.J Crishantha De Silva, Chief of Staff of the Army.
Navy with its fleet of fast attack craft (FAC) and a merchant vessel and Air Force with many types of aircraft are contributing to the mock event, Navy and Air Force officers told the media gathering.
The joint-media briefing, attended by Brigadier Ralf Nugera, Director, Directorate of Training, Brigadier Piyal Wickramaratne, Director, ‘Exercise - Cormorant Strike IV – 2013,’ Commodore N.P.S. Atygalle, Director Naval Operations, Sri Lanka Navy, Wing Commander Prasanna Kuruvita, Staff Officer-I Operations, Air Force, Brigadier Jayantha Ratnayake, Commanding Officer, Special Operations of the Exercise, Colonel M.J. Balasuriya, Commander, Commandos Contingent in the Exercise and Lieutenant Colonel H.D.W.K.N. Iiriyagama, Commander, Special Forces Contingent in the Exercise elaborated on the joint operations, based on a hypothetical scenario with ‘Blue Forces’ against ‘Red Forces’ on a possible aggression by an external power.
This mock Field Training Exercise (FTX), organized by the Army for the fourth consecutive year in collaborations with Sri Lanka Navy and Air Force was designed for deployment of their troops in a war milieu of Special Operations and planned for conduct of joint operations as one team, using manoeuvrist approach, encompassing planning, execution and command, Brigadier Wickramaratne said.
The 15-day long Exercise with Army Commando (CR) Regiment and Special Forces (SF) Regiment troops, integrated with Navy and Air Force Special Forces, aims to enhance special operation capabilities and maintain combat readiness at all levels. It also focuses on planning, preparations, formulations, coordination, command, control, tactics, techniques and procedures (TTP), execution of Special Operations within given frameworks and is organized by Army Directorate of Training under the close supervision of Major General A.W.J Crishantha De Silva, Chief of Staff of the Army.
Lieutenant General Daya Ratnayake, Commander of the Army, contributing to the initial preparatory phases of the Exercise, maintained that the Sri Lanka Army, having defeated the world’s most ruthless terrorist outfit, should sustain the status quo in relation to national security concerns and be always well-geared to take on any future challenge against the country or her people as the most prominent defender of the nation.
The whole concept of having such joint military Exercises was mooted by Secretary Defence and Urban Development Mr Gotabaya Rajapaksa a few years ago with a view to transmitting and sharing the sea of experiences the Sri Lanka Army gathered in successfully conducting the world’s biggest humanitarian operation.
The multi-national land force leading this Exercise incorporates a wide range of new security dimensions and highlights the significance of sustaining regional security perspective and other possible peripheral threat issues. Under directions of Brigadier Piyal Wickramaratne, Director, ‘Exercise - Cormorant Strike IV - 2013’, the mock Exercise with land, sea and air operations is to be inducted mainly from places, like Thrikonamadu, Trincomalee, Verugal, etc during the conduct.
Initiatives of the Army saw the first joint ‘Exercise Cormorant - I’ in 2010 (Silavathura), ‘Exercise Cormorant - II’ (Trincomalee) in 2011, themed on ‘Hostage Rescue Mission’, and the last year’s ‘Exercise Cormorant - III’ (Thoppigala) in 2012, using the most sophisticated Geo Information System (GIS) and Global Positioning Tracking System. Military representatives from Bangladesh, Brazil, China, India, Nepal and Pakistan are participating in this year’s Exercise.
This year’s Exercise includes mock ‘Raids on boat yards’, ‘Taking of high value targets’, ‘Reconnaissance’, ‘Surveillance on targets’, ‘Airborne operations’, ‘Seaborne operations’, ‘Amphibious landing’, ‘Path-finding missions’, ‘Para jump into enemy strongholds’, ‘Ambushes’, ‘Search operations’, ‘Counter terrorist actions and Hostage Rescue Mission,’ and suchlike.
Brigadier Ralf Nugera, Director, Directorate of Training, Commodore N.P.S. Atygalle, Director Naval Operations, Sri Lanka Navy, Wing Commander Prasanna Kuruvita, Staff Officer-I Operations, Air Force and Brigadier Jayantha Ratnayake, Commanding Officer, Special Operations of the Exercise also contributed to the Media briefing.
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