Air Vice Marshal (Retired) Sampath Thuyacontha has been appointed as the new Secretary of Defence.

Thuyacontha joined the Air Force in May 1988, to the 19th Intake as an Officer Cadet and was commissioned as a Pilot Officer in the General Duties Pilot Branch in 1990. In 2005, he was appointed as the Commanding Officer of the Number Nine Attack Helicopter Squadron, Air Force Base, Hingurakgoda. 

During his tenure, he actively participated in all major operations which include the war to liberate the North and the East and he managed to log more than 7,000 flying hours as an operations/very important person and attack helicopter pilot of the Air Force. Thuyacontha also served as the Defense Adviser to the High Commission of Sri Lanka in Islamabad, Pakistan for a period of two years and as the Chief Instructor of the Defence Services Command and Staff College in 2014.

For his individual acts of gallantry and bravery in the face of the enemy during these operations, he was decorated with the ‘Weera Wickrama Vibhushanaya’, the ‘Rana Wickrama Padakkama’ and the ‘Rana Sura Padakkama’ on several occasions.