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The
Mechanized Infantry Regiment (MIR) is the newest regiment in the Sri Lanka Army. It is made up of three regular battalions. Establish in 2007 its battalions equipped with
Type 63The Type 63 is a Chinese armoured personnel carrier that entered service in the late 1960s. It was the first armoured vehicle designed in China without Soviet assistance. The design is simple and is comparable to other APCs of its time such as the M113.Approximately 3,000 were produced by Norinco,...
and
WZ551The WZ551 is a Chinese wheeled armored personnel carrier. It is actually consisted of two families of vehicles with official designations in the People's Liberation Army as Type 90 and Type 92. Roughly 600 WZ551s are in service with the PLA, where they are used by light mechanized infantry units...
armoured personnel carrierAn armoured personnel carrier is an armoured fighting vehicle designed to transport infantry to the battlefield.APCs are usually armed with only a machine gun although variants carry recoilless rifles, anti-tank guided missiles , or mortars...
s make up the
Mechanized Infantry BrigadeThe Mechanized Infantry Brigade is a mechanized infantry formation of the Sri Lanka Army. This grouping created a highly mobile brigade equipped with Type 63 and WZ551 armoured personnel carriers.- Current formation :...
.
History
The Mechanized Infantry Regiment was raised on the battlefield on 14 February at the divisional headquarters of the 53 Division SLA at Kodikamam,
JaffnaJaffna is the capital city of the Northern Province, Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna district located on a peninsula of the same name. Jaffna is approximately six miles away from Kandarodai which served as a famous emporium in the Jaffna peninsula from classical...
in order for the army to have an specialized
mechanized infantryMechanized infantry are infantry equipped with armored personnel carriers , or infantry fighting vehicles for transport and combat ....
units to deploy in battle, instead of using regular infantry along with
armoured personnel carrierAn armoured personnel carrier is an armoured fighting vehicle designed to transport infantry to the battlefield.APCs are usually armed with only a machine gun although variants carry recoilless rifles, anti-tank guided missiles , or mortars...
s as it had done before. Three battalions where formed with officers and men from
3rd Light Infantry BattalionThe Sri Lanka Light Infantry is the oldest regiment in the Sri Lanka Army and the oldest infantry regiment in the army. It is made up of ten regular battalions, five volunteer battalions. Headquartered at Panagoda Cantonment, Panagoda...
,
10th Sri Lanka Sinha RegimentThe Sri Lanka Sinha Regiment is the first rifle regiment in the Sri Lanka Army and the second oldest infantry regiment in the army. It is made up of seven regular battalions, five volunteer battalions and a headquarter battalion...
, the
4th Gajaba BattalionThe Gajaba Regiment was formed when 1st Battalion the Rajarata Rifles and 1st Battalion the Vijayabahu Infantry Regiment were amalgamated in 1983 to counter the threat from the LTTE. It is made up of six regular battalions and five volunteer battalions. Headquartered at Saliyapura Camp, Anuradhapura...
and 5th & 6th Reconnaissance Regiments of the
Sri Lanka Armoured CorpsThe Sri Lanka Armoured Corps is currently a collection of six regular regiments and a volunteer regiment. It has an independent Armoured Brigade and provides the armour capability of the Sri Lankan Army, with vehicles such as the T-55, T-55AM2, and Type 69 main battle tanks, the BMP infantry...
.
The 53-4 brigade which is made up of the newly formed battalions has since been designated as the Mechanized Infantry Brigade.
Units
Regular Battalions
- 1st Mechanized Infantry Battalion
- 2nd Mechanized Infantry Battalion
- 3rd Mechanized Infantry Battalion
Order of precedence
External links and sources