Advancing offensive fighting formations of Sri lankan army today captured the previously rebel held Ulachchi area in the eastern province. Soldeirs of the 6th Gemunu watch overran tiger positions in the east and took control of the small town yesterday.
LTTE cadres fled in the face of army assault and the fleeing terrorists had damaged several buildings which were property of Mahaweli ministry in the past. The army now has complete control over of the hospital, school, post office and the town center.
I read some reports which say the LTTE fired at the advancing Army troops, using Multi Barrel Rocket Launchers. I didn't know the LTTE had any. Did they manage to capture some from the Army? If so when and from where? I can't remember them over-running any of our major base complexes in the last 2-3 years.
ReplyDeleteIf the MBRLs were not captured, how on earth did the LTTE manage to get them into the country. This is a major development in my mind. The MBRLs can do much more damage over a wider area than conventional artillery.
They have some Katyushas smuggled into the country I think, nothing too drastic to worry about, those launchers are about 60 years old and has lower firing capacities.
ReplyDeleteSachi might be right, The MBRL's used are most likely 107mm Katyusha clones made in China or NK. They only have a 8~9Km range. Our RM-70 122mm MBRL's are far better. No matter what the tigers use our boys will get the job done.
ReplyDeleteI may be wrong but I do believe the LTTE first used the multi barrel rockets in their attack some years back, even before the SLA got their MBRL's, on the dock yard in Trinco from the marble beach area. Again I maybe wrong on this.
ReplyDeleteLTTE has at least 2 107MM Katyusha clones stationed in Thoppigala (most probably in B-Route camp).
ReplyDeleteThese are shit compared to 120/127MM RM-70 MBRL which the army has.
LTTE MBRL can only fire around 6/12 107MM rockets per round and the range is very limited. Army's RM-70 can fire 40 rockets per round over a long range with high accuracy.
By the way, MBRLs wont save the LTTE in Thoppigala. What use would an MBRL be if the enemy infiltrated your FDLs and are already inside your own territory *wink*
Jiffy, you'd need the MBRL pointed in exactly the right place at exactly the right moment to bring down an aircraft, since the MBRL can't be swivelled to follow an aircraft the way a machine gun or AA missile sytem can be. What the Arabs did was to fire MBRLs above targets Israeli planes were attacking to create a curtain of fire. The Tigers would need a hell of a lot of ammo for this, and I don't think they have enough to spare.
ReplyDeleteYeah, RPGs are threat against choppers, usually when they're in an LZ, or at the moment of trasitional flight. Also, if the chopper is in a hover or moving slowly. Hinds usually make high speed passes, so it's not really a threat.