Lieutenant General Nilantha Premaratne has been appointed Commander of the Sri Lanka Army.
Defence Secretary Sampath Thuyacontha (Retd) said the appointment was made by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who holds the defence portfolio, NewsFirst reported on Friday.
The appointment takes effect as Lieutenant General Lasantha Rodrigo completes his tenure as the 25th Commander of the Sri Lanka Army.
A short step up from Chief of Staff
Premaratne moves into the post from the army’s second-highest position. He was appointed Chief of Staff of the Sri Lanka Army in late May 2026, then holding the rank of Major General, and takes command roughly two months later.
The handover had been signalled for several days. Rodrigo addressed troops at Army Headquarters ahead of his retirement in late July and spent the final week of the month on farewell calls, meeting the Deputy Minister of Defence and the Defence Secretary and receiving a tribute from the Navy Commander before stepping down.
A defence establishment in transition
The change at the top of the country’s largest armed service comes amid a wider reshaping of the defence command structure. A bill to repeal the Chief of Defence Staff Act was gazetted in May, and senior appointments across the services have turned over through the year, including a new Eastern Naval Area Commander in July.
NewsFirst did not report a date for a formal assumption-of-duties ceremony, which is customarily held at Army Headquarters shortly after an appointment. This article will be updated as further details are confirmed.
