Sri Lanka

Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka

The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (இலங்கை ஜனநாயக சமத்துவ குடியரசு) is a large island nation off the southern coast of India. Once referred to as Ceylon (from the historic Portuguese name for the region, Ceilão), the country was declared a British crown colony in 1802 and served as an important allied military base during the Second World War. The nation was granted independence as the Dominion of Ceylon in 1948, although the British Royal Navy maintained a presence at Trincomalee until 1956.

Under prime minister S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, the Sinhala Only Act was passed in 1956, making Sinhala the only recognized language in the country and alienating the native Tamil population who viewed it as a serious threat to their culture. From this point forward, political tensions would escalate between the Sinhalese and Tamil populations, escalating into violence and, ultimately, civil war.

Beginning in the 1960s, the government began strengthening ties with the Soviet Union and with China, but after a failed Marxist insurrection by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (People’s Liberation Front) in 1971 the country declared itself a republic and embraced the Sinhala name Sri Lanka. Yet ethnic tensions and resentment continued brewing in the north and east Tamil regions, eventually leading to the creation of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள்), or LTTE, a militant organization whose goal was the creation of an independent Tamil state (Tamil Eelam). By 1983, a full-fledged insurgency had gained momentum, wracking the country with ethnic warfare for nearly three decades.

The LTTE received some assistance from the government of India, which provided arms, training, and materiel. In 1987, the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) was deployed to the island nation ostensibly to curb LTTE aggression. In the same year, the Marxist-Leninist People’s Liberation Front launched a second uprising in the south. This resulted in another deployment of the IPKF in 1990.

A ceasefire agreement was signed between the government and the LTTE in 2002, which maintained a subtle peace for a few years. By 2006, however, fighting had resumed; the government ultimately achieved military victory over the LTTE in May 2009, re-establishing its control over the entire country.

Camouflage Patterns of the Sri Lankan Armed Forces

• The Sri Lanka Armed Forces did not employ camouflage uniforms for many years, the standard combat uniform being olive green. With the formulation of the Special Task Force in 1983 (a special unit of the Sri Lanka Police Service), trained by ex-British Special Forces personnel, the use of camouflage began to gain popularity. Originally supplied with British DPM camouflage uniforms, the unit now wears locally-produced uniforms based on the British original.

• The first unit to receive camouflage uniforms was the Army Commando Regiment, the special operations unit of the Sri Lankan Army. This unit of highly-specialized soldiers initially adopted US m81 woodland camouflage uniforms sourced from a variety of places, including the USA and Pakistan. In the Sri Lankan Army, the camouflage uniform is designated No. 7 Dress (following the British system).

• The Sri Lankan Air Force have worn a variation of the woodland camouflage design having a blue colorway and an eagle logo embedded into design. This pattern has since been replaced, but saw service in the 1990s and early 2000s.

• The Sri Lankan Navy briefly wore a variation of the woodland camouflage design having the SLN anchor logo embedded into pattern.

• In 2009, the Special Boat Squadron of the Sri Lankan Navy began wearing a digital pattern of black, brown & grass green on a khaki-tan background. In May of 2010, it was announced that the entire Sri Lankan Navy would adopt this pattern.

• Originally tested for use by the Commando Regiment, the five-color "blotch" camouflage design seen below was officially adopted by the entire Sri Lankan Army in May of 2010.

• Officially known as the Department of Civil Security, the Sri Lanka Civil Security Force is a paramilitary organization that functions as an auxiliary to the Sri Lanka Police. Circa 2013, members of this Force appeared in public wearing locally-produced camouflage uniforms printed with a copy of the US designed tricolor desert pattern. The uniforms may be strictly for public appearances, rather than intended for operational deployments.

• In September 2016 the first ever Sri Lankan Marines unit successfully completed training. The Marine Battalion is modeled after the US Marine Corps and is specialized in urban, forest and river operations. The unit has adopted a camouflage pattern very similar to the US Navy NWU I, incorporating black, dark blue and grey shapes on a light grey background.

• Members of the Sri Lankan Air Force Regiment are now wearing a pixelated camouflage pattern utilizing a blue/grey colorway. This was first observed in 2019 and has replaced the previous woodland-type pattern worn by that branch.

• The Sri Lanka Army Commando Regiment and the Special Forces Regiment adopted a new, pixelated camouflage pattern in 2020, a four-color scheme incorporating black, brown and tan shapes on a foliage green background. Following extensive testing and consultations, the approved design was deemed most appropriate for the operational environments of these elite units, and the fabrics feature both ultra-violet light protection and anti-bacterial treatments.

Camouflage Patterns of the LTTE

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள) was a seperatist movement based in northern Sri Lanka that waged a long civil war against the government from 1976 to 2009, in an attempt to establish state for the Tamil people. They were militarily defeated in May of 2009 following the death of key military leaders and several essential victories by government forces, including the capture of the LTTE capital Kilinochchi. Over the course of the civil war, the LTTE had amassed considerable military resources, fielding not only ground forces, but both sea and air elements as well (known as the Sea Tigers and Air Tigers, respectively).

• Most often depicted in photographs of LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran prior to 1983, a unique diagonal stripe camouflage uniform may have seen use by senior leaders of the organization during its formative years. Tamil sources suggest the nickname for this uniform was Sattar Tax.

• The "Leopard Brigade" was reputedly one of the most aggressive units within the LTTE, and local legend indicates members were recruited from LTTE-run orphanages, leading to its nickname as the "Baby Brigade." Photographs of this unit during the 1980s illustrate some members wearing a unique spotted or blotch pattern uniform, bearing a loose resemblance to the coat of some leopards.

• An early version of the "Sea Leopards," the naval component of the LTTE, were apparently issued with a variation of the blotch or leopard pattern camouflage uniform with a blue colorway.

• Most likely of Indian origins, this green-dominant "leaf" or compressed "ERDL" variant design, was observed on some LTTE officers during the 1980s.

• Formed in 1987, the "Black Tigers" (கரும்புலிகள்) were specialists trained to conduct unconventional warfare, commando raids, and suicide missions. Although it is unclear when the unit was initially issued its own distinctive camouflage uniform, photographs from a raid on a government camp in 1997 show the unit wearing a unique camouflage design having many irregular shapes (including "star bursts" and "pinwheels") and incorporating as many as five colors.

• Although it appears unlikely the design was issued to combat units or in any great numbers, certain officers and founders of the LTTE are known to have taken photographs while wearing a copy of French lizard or tenue du leopard - most likely the same South Korean export uniforms seen in a number of Francophone countries throughout Africa during the 1980s.

• Again, seen almost exclusively on high ranking members of the unit as well as bodyguards, a brushstroke-type camouflage pattern did see some distribution during the early to mid-1980s.

• First appearing in the late 1980s, and of undetermined origins, a unique "cactus" camouflage pattern of the LTTE consists of horizontal "spiny" stripes of brown & grass green on a khaki background. Both horizontal and vertically-oriented variants have been documented, and there appears to be no rationale behind the orientation of the stripes as regards whether they are worn by a particular unit.

• The LTTE Air Tigers pattern is seen below (left), having a powder-blue colorway but utilizing essentially the same "spiny" stripe pattern of the standard design. The pattern worn by the Sea Tigers is seen to the right, essentially the same colorway but with the addition of a darker blue stripe added to the mix.

• Another variation of the "spiny" stripe design is seen here, with a black & grey colorway. This design was issued to the Black Tigers (கரும்புலிகள்), a elite organization of the LTTE which often launched suicide attacks against both military and civilian targets.