The No. 4 Helicopter Flight was formed in 1965 under the command of Squadron Leader M. A. De Soysa, flying Westland Sikorsky S 51 Dragonflys. No. 4 Helicopter Squadron was established on January 15, 1971 with Bell 206 Jet Ranger helicopters. With role of VIP transport, reconnaissance, cargo transport, air/sea and jungle rescue. In 1983 the squadron permanently positioned several Bell 212 and Bell Jet Ranger helicopters at SLAF Palaly, in support of the Army in Jaffna. These were used both for troop transport and ground attack.[2] In 1987 the Squadron was upgraded to an Air Wing as the No. 4 Helicopter Wing.[3] They played a major role during the Vadamarachchi Operation in 1987, deploying Commandos behind enemy lines. In 1990 a helicopter of the squadron took part in the daring Operation Eagle, in which it flew into the besieged Jaffna Fort re-supply and casualty evacuation. The following year the squadron provided air cover for the besieged Silawaturai camp for 72 hours continuously and were able to save the camp from being overrun by the LTTE, who had surrounded the camp in large numbers. During the siege of Elephant Pass aircraft of the squadron provided extensive air cover and airlifted the casualties. In 1993 during the Battle of Pooneryn the squadron flew in reinforcement and later evacuated Army and Navy personnel under heavy enemy fire.[1]
In 1994, No. 4 Helicopter Wing was split into two Squadrons namely 401 and 402. No. 401 Squadron took charge of operational flying requirements and pilot training, and was located at SLAF Hingurakgoda with Bell 212 and Bell Jet Ranger helicopters in its fleet. It was later renamed as the No. 7 Squadron. No. 402 Squadron remained at SLAF Katunayake and flew Bell 412 and Bell Jet Rangers, largely catering to VIP movement.
The squadron has also careered out many relief operation during natural disasters such as the tank bund breach at Kantalai in 1986, floods and earth slips in Kegalle in 1989, flood relief in Welioya in 1993, search and rescue missions during the southern floods in 2003 and, the rescue and relief operations during the 2004 tsunami.[1]
squadron, slaf, vvip, helicopter, squadron, squadron, lanka, force, currently, operates, bell, 412ep, 206jr, from, slaf, ratmalana, vvip, transport, vvip, helicopter, squadronactivejanuary, 1971, present, daycountry, lankabranch, lanka, forcerolevip, transport. No 4 VVIP VIP Helicopter Squadron is a squadron of the Sri Lanka Air Force It currently operates Bell 412 412EP 212 206JR from SLAF Ratmalana for VVIP VIP Air transport 1 No 4 VVIP VIP Helicopter SquadronActiveJanuary 15 1971 to present dayCountry Sri LankaBranch Sri Lanka Air ForceRoleVIP Air transportStationSLAF RatmalanaEquipmentBell 412EPEngagements1971 Insurrection Sri Lankan Civil WarDecorations3 Weera Wickrama VibhushanayaCommandersNotablecommandersAir Chief Marshal Oliver Ranasinghe No 4 Helicopter Flight in 1969 A fleet of Bell 412 helicopters fly over Ratmalana airport in a drill to celebrate SLAF s 66th anniversary Contents 1 History 2 Aircraft operated 3 Notable members 4 References 5 External linksHistory editThe No 4 Helicopter Flight was formed in 1965 under the command of Squadron Leader M A De Soysa flying Westland Sikorsky S 51 Dragonflys No 4 Helicopter Squadron was established on January 15 1971 with Bell 206 Jet Ranger helicopters With role of VIP transport reconnaissance cargo transport air sea and jungle rescue In 1983 the squadron permanently positioned several Bell 212 and Bell Jet Ranger helicopters at SLAF Palaly in support of the Army in Jaffna These were used both for troop transport and ground attack 2 In 1987 the Squadron was upgraded to an Air Wing as the No 4 Helicopter Wing 3 They played a major role during the Vadamarachchi Operation in 1987 deploying Commandos behind enemy lines In 1990 a helicopter of the squadron took part in the daring Operation Eagle in which it flew into the besieged Jaffna Fort re supply and casualty evacuation The following year the squadron provided air cover for the besieged Silawaturai camp for 72 hours continuously and were able to save the camp from being overrun by the LTTE who had surrounded the camp in large numbers During the siege of Elephant Pass aircraft of the squadron provided extensive air cover and airlifted the casualties In 1993 during the Battle of Pooneryn the squadron flew in reinforcement and later evacuated Army and Navy personnel under heavy enemy fire 1 In 1994 No 4 Helicopter Wing was split into two Squadrons namely 401 and 402 No 401 Squadron took charge of operational flying requirements and pilot training and was located at SLAF Hingurakgoda with Bell 212 and Bell Jet Ranger helicopters in its fleet It was later renamed as the No 7 Squadron No 402 Squadron remained at SLAF Katunayake and flew Bell 412 and Bell Jet Rangers largely catering to VIP movement The squadron has also careered out many relief operation during natural disasters such as the tank bund breach at Kantalai in 1986 floods and earth slips in Kegalle in 1989 flood relief in Welioya in 1993 search and rescue missions during the southern floods in 2003 and the rescue and relief operations during the 2004 tsunami 1 In March 2009 the squadron was presented with the President s Colours 4 Aircraft operated editCurrent Air crafts and Year of introduction Bell 412 1985 Bell 212 1983 Bell 412EP 2000Former Air crafts and Year of introduction Aerospatiale SA 365 Dauphin 1979 Bell 206 Jet Ranger 1968 Westland WS 51 Dragonfly 1956Notable members editAir Chief Marshal Kapila Jayampathy WWV RWP RSP MSc international relations MSc Def amp Strat former Commander of Sri Lanka Air Force Air Chief Marshal Gagan Bulathsinghala RWP RSP USP M Phil Def amp Start Stu MSc Def Stu in Mgt ndc psc former Commander of Sri Lanka Air Force Air Chief Marshal Oliver Ranasinghe VSV USP ndc psc SLAF former Commander of the Sri Lankan Air Force 1994 1998 Air Chief Marshal Jayalath Weerakkody RWP VSV USP ndc psc SLAF former Commander of the Air Force Sri Lanka Air Chief Marshal Roshan Goonatilake RWP amp BAR VSV USP ndc psc SLAF former Commander of the Sri Lankan Air ForceReferences edit a b c NO 04 SQUADRON Sri Lanka Air Force www airforce lk Retrieved 2021 09 11 Coming of Age Archived from the original on 2008 12 23 Retrieved 2009 01 10 Strengthening Infrastructure Presentation of President s Colours to SLAF Formations permanent dead link External links editSri Lanka Air Force Base Katunayake www scramble nl Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title No 4 Squadron SLAF amp oldid 1186190120, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
