Katana VentraIP

Commander of the Army (Sri Lanka)

The Commander of the Army (Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ යුද්ධ හමුදාපති, romanized: śrī laṁkāvē yuddha hamudāpati) is the title of the professional head of the Sri Lanka Army. The current Commander of the Army is Lt. General Vikum Liyanage.[1]

Commander of the Sri Lanka Army

The President

Not fixed

20 October 1949 (1949-10-20)
as Commander of the Ceylon Army

Brigadier Roderick Sinclair (as Commander, Ceylon Army)

The post's precursor was known as Commander of the Ceylon Defence Force.


Serving army commanders have by convention been of the rank of Lieutenant General, promoted to the honorary rank of General on retirement or after getting the appointment of Chief of Defence Staff, with the exception of Sarath Fonseka and Shavendra Silva who were elevated to the rank of General while serving as Commander. Another notable figure was Denis Perera, who was promoted to full general in 2007 after 26 years of retirement.[2]


The official residence of the commander is General's House, Colombo.

Former Army commanders

Three Service Commanders promoted