The buckling analysis of a simply supported FRP faced cylindrical anisotropic sandwich panel subjected to combined action of axial compression and bending and shear is presented using the Rayleigh-Ritz method. The analysis indicates that: (i) the longitudinal buckling load in the presence of a small shear decreases with aspect ratio up to a certain value and later increases, in contrast to the continuous increase in the case of a flat plate; (ii) the buckling coefficient, k x, in the absence of bending load (i.e. δ = 0·0), compared to its values in the presence of positive and negative δ of the same magnitude, is more in the case of plates of low aspect ratio and large curvature, and it lies between those values for plates of either large aspect ratio or moderate and low curvature; (iii) the orientation of fibres at which the buckling load is maximum depends on the combinations of radius (R), aspect ratio (λ), shear buckling coefficient (k s) and δ, and is found, for the combinations considered, to be in the range 35° < θ < 75°; (iv) up to a certain value of R, the buckling coefficient, k x, at negative shear is more than that at positive shear, and the reverse is true for plates of larger R values; and (v) for panels of large curvature, the presence of numerically small negative shear load improves buckling strength, whereas for panels of low curvature and flat panels, the presence of small positive shear improves the buckling strength.