• Projects envisage fleet and force structure beyond 2030
• SLCG to be expanded and entrusted with more duties: Nav. Commander

The Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) last week (1) had presented President and Commander-in-Chief Ranil Wickremesinghe with a Proposal for “Sri Lanka Navy’s Strategy 2030 & Beyond,” the SLN said.

According to the SLN, the Sri Lanka Navy’s Strategy-2030 is in line with the Government’s objective to see Sri Lanka a thriving nation by 2048. The strategy formulating team, composed of senior naval officers, were also present when the proposal was presented to the President at a forum which included the State Minister for Defence, the National Security Advisor, the Secretary to the Ministry of Defence, and the Chief of Defence Staff, at the Navy House in Naval Dockyard Trincomalee last Friday.

Responding to a question, Navy Commander Vice Admiral Priyantha Perera told The Daily Morning, that the SLN has made the proposal following a national and regional threat analysis, also taking into consideration Sri Lanka’s maritime sphere and climate change-related challenges, future Humanitarian Assistance, and Disaster Response (HADR) needs, the use and protection of sovereign seabed resources, and national objectives such as future inroads into blue economy.  

“We have projected a force structure for 2030 and beyond, where the Government has envisaged the island to be in a better economic standing, a developed country” V. Adm. Perera said, adding that the proposed strategy will include the types of vessels which will be required to respond to emerging threats and challenges. Perera confirmed that the proposal includes a revised fleet structure for the period. “In the proposal we have also looked at a revised force structure, which will reflect our personnel needs for that period” V. Adm. Perera said.

The Navy Commander also told The Daily Morning that the proposal will likely see an expansion of the Sri Lanka Coast Guard (SLCG) as the primary maritime law enforcement agency, with the SLCG tipped to be entrusted with more law enforcement duties.

The SLN has been proactive in preparing policy documents and strategies, to streamline its transition to a post conflict role after 2009. In July 2020, the SLN launched Sri Lanka’s first Maritime Doctrine (MDSL). Prior to that the SLN has published a Fleet 2025 plan.

The strategy proposal had been drafted by a team appointed by the Navy Commander Vice Admiral Priyantha Perera appointed a strategy formulating team, chaired by Director General Operations Rear Admiral Nishantha Peiris, for the compilation of “Proposal for Sri Lanka Navy’s Strategy 2030 & Beyond”

 “The ‘Proposal for Sri Lanka Navy’s Strategy 2030 & Beyond’ stands as the Navy’s narrative, conceptualisation, emanating from a conscious effort made from an understanding of the strategic environment, emerging domestic and global realities and risks involved at synthesising viable course of actions in the pursuit of the national interests successfully. The document presents the rationale informing grand policy of how the Sri Lanka Navy and the Sri Lanka Coast Guard intend to create desired strategic effects in support of the state’s enduring interests”, the SLN said.