US deepens military ties with Sri Lanka through helicopters, naval tech and drills

The United States has deepened its military relationship with Sri Lanka through a series of new defence initiatives, transferring ten TH-57 Sea Ranger helicopters to the Sri Lanka Air Force, delivering an advanced satellite communications system to the navy and conducting a disaster preparedness exercise with Sri Lankan security agencies.

The announcements, made during high-level visits by US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs S. Paul Kapur and US Pacific Air Forces Commander General Kevin Schneider, mark the latest expansion of Washington’s military engagement with Colombo under the language of maritime security, disaster response and Indo-Pacific cooperation.

At SLAF Base Ratmalana on 23 June, Sri Lankan president Anura Kumara Dissanayake attended the formal induction of ten Bell 206 TH-57 Sea Ranger helicopters into the Sri Lanka Air Force fleet.

The aircraft were transferred from the United States under the Excess Defense Articles programme. According to the Sri Lanka Air Force, the helicopters were received from the US government to strengthen defence cooperation, professional military development and regional security.

The TH-57 Sea Ranger, a military derivative of the Bell 206 Jet Ranger family, will be used to strengthen rotary-wing pilot training, operational readiness, search and rescue missions and emergency response.

The aircraft were previously used by the US Navy for pilot training and utility missions and are now expected to form part of a modernised Sri Lankan Air Force training fleet.

Schneider said the helicopters would help modernise Sri Lanka’s air capabilities and train future aviators, while Kapur said the transfer would give the Sri Lankan Air Force greater reach to secure its airspace and waters.

Kapur also pointed to Sri Lanka’s location along major shipping lanes, describing the Indian Ocean as a “highway for prosperity” and “not a theater for coercion”. The remarks underline the extent to which Washington’s support for Sri Lanka’s military is tied not simply to disaster response, but to US strategic interests in the Indian Ocean.

On 22 June, the United States also announced the delivery of a Fleet Broadband satellite communications system to the Sri Lanka Navy during an event aboard SLNS Gajabahu at the Port of Colombo.

The system, valued at approximately US$4 million, will be installed across the Sri Lanka Navy’s offshore patrol vessels.

According to the Sri Lanka Navy, the system will enable secure ship-to-ship and ship-to-shore communications, providing voice, data and information exchange while vessels operate beyond coastal coverage areas. It is expected to allow real-time connectivity between naval headquarters, aircraft and vessels deployed across the Indian Ocean region.

Sri Lankan defence officials said the technology would strengthen maritime domain awareness, support information sharing with regional partners and improve coordinated responses to illicit maritime activity.

The new naval communications system comes just weeks after Dissanayake commissioned SLNS Samudravijaya, a deep-sea patrol vessel gifted by the United States Coast Guard to the Sri Lanka Navy.

The vessel was handed over by the United States Coast Guard in December 2025 before sailing from Baltimore to Colombo earlier this year. Sri Lankan officials said it would be used for maritime surveillance, search and rescue operations, protection of fisheries resources, environmental monitoring and enforcement of maritime law.

The United States has also continued to use disaster preparedness as a route for expanded defence engagement.

From 16 to 18 June, disaster management officials from the United States and Sri Lanka held a three-day workshop in Galle focused on natural disasters and humanitarian emergencies.

The exercise was organised by the US Embassy in Colombo in partnership with the US military’s Center for Excellence in Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance, the Montana National Guard, Montana Disaster and Emergency Services and Sri Lanka’s Disaster Management Centre.

Participants included representatives from the Sri Lanka Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard and Police, as well as the Department of Civil Security, the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Public Security and other state bodies. The workshop culminated in a simulated emergency exercise designed to strengthen coordination during major disasters and humanitarian crises.

Though presented as emergency preparedness, the exercise sits within a broader defence framework that has rapidly expanded in recent years.

A defence pact released last year formalised cooperation between Sri Lanka’s armed forces, the Montana National Guard and US Coast Guard District 13 under the State Partnership Program. The agreement covers joint training, maritime security, disaster response, cyber defence, humanitarian assistance, professional military education and maritime domain awareness. It also places Sri Lanka within a wider US network of more than 115 countries partnered with US state National Guards under the programme.

The Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement, first signed in 2007 and significantly expanded in 2017, provides another framework through which US military aircraft and vessels can access Sri Lankan facilities for fuel, supplies and logistical support.

Washington has repeatedly described these arrangements as routine cooperation. For Tamils, however, they raise serious concerns over the strengthening of a military that remains accused of mass atrocities, enforced disappearances, torture and ongoing occupation of the Tamil homeland.

The Sri Lanka Air Force, now receiving another set of US aircraft, played a central role in the aerial bombardment of the Tamil homeland during the armed conflict.

The Sencholai massacre, where Sri Lankan jets bombed a children’s home in Vallipunam in 2006, killing 53 schoolgirls and three teachers, remains one of the most notorious examples of the Air Force’s role in attacks on Tamil civilians. The US previously gifted a Beechcraft King Air 360ER aircraft to the Sri Lanka Air Force, despite its record of indiscriminate bombardment and its continued presence in the North-East, including at occupying bases in the Tamil homeland.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka’s navy continues to maintain a heavy presence across the northern and eastern seas, where Eelam Tamil fisherfolk have long complained of militarised control, surveillance and failure to protect their livelihoods. The latest US-backed satellite communications system will enhance the same navy’s operational reach across the Indian Ocean.

Washington’s latest moves also follow a series of high-level military visits. US Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Steve Koehler visited Sri Lanka in February, where talks focused on maritime security, regional stability and interoperability. That visit came as the US increasingly framed Sri Lanka as a strategic partner at the centre of global maritime routes.

USS Canberra also made a port call in Colombo earlier this month, while US and Sri Lankan officials have continued to emphasise the island’s importance to Indo-Pacific security and shipping.

As the United States seeks a stronger foothold in the Indian Ocean, Sri Lanka’s armed forces are once again being treated as strategic partners.