President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has instructed officials to merge the research and development units currently operated separately by the Sri Lanka Army, Navy and Air Force into a single national centre.
The President gave the directive on Monday morning at a 2027 pre-budget discussion on the Ministry of Defence, held at the Presidential Secretariat. He said the sector’s objectives could be reached more efficiently and effectively through one national institution that brings together the R&D capabilities of all three services.
Technology and overseas training
The meeting held extended discussions on the need for the defence sector to integrate rapidly with modern technology and to make use of advanced technical equipment, in order to strengthen national security and meet current global challenges.
Officials also discussed raising the allocations set aside for overseas training, aimed at improving the professional skills of defence personnel and giving them access to new knowledge in evolving fields.
Hospitals and construction work
The operations of the General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University Hospital were reviewed, along with plans to begin operations at Neville Fernando Hospital, the funding required for that and future development plans.
Attention was also given to a programme encouraging the labour contribution of defence personnel already working in the construction sector.
Second defence session this month
Monday’s meeting was the second 2027 pre-budget discussion on defence chaired by the President this month. An earlier session on 5 August reviewed progress against the Ministry’s Rs. 530 billion allocation for 2026 — Rs. 379 billion recurrent and Rs. 151 billion capital — and covered Army, Navy and Air Force projects, the Akuregoda defence headquarters complex and disaster management spending.
The push to consolidate defence research echoes the President’s remarks at the Ministry of Science and Technology’s pre-budget discussion, where he called for a dedicated mechanism to coordinate research funding currently scattered across institutions under different ministries.
Deputy Minister of Defence Major General Aruna Jayasekara, Secretary to the President Dr Nandika Sanath Kumanayake, Defence Secretary Air Vice Marshal Sampath Thuyacontha, Finance Ministry Secretary Dr Harshana Sooriyapperuma and the commanders of the three armed forces attended.
