Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam launched air and ground attacks on Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) base at Anuradhapura at around 3.20am in the morning today. A group of LTTE cadres infiltrated base premises and initiated a surprise attack on SLAF personnel on guard. Meanwhile an aircraft belonging to the LTTE dropped at least 1 bomb on base premises which exploded inside the perimeter.
Exact damage caused by the attack has not been assessed yet. However unconfirmed reports suggest that at least two helicopters in the base have been damaged by enemy fire. Another helicopter which was launched to hunt down the enemy aircraft, crashed near Mihinthale while trying to make an emergency landing due to a technical fault.
Two mi-24s, one 212, a y-8 and the beechcraft has been damaged.
ReplyDeleteStatus of y8 and beech king is unconfirmed.
ReplyDeletedefencewire is reporting that those aircraft which you have mentioned defencenet have all been destroyed.
ReplyDeleteUthum details are sketchy as of now. Meanwhile bell 212 crash has resulted in the death of 2 pilots and 2 gunners.
ReplyDeleteWhat exactly is the use of the beechcraft? How did the helicopter crash happen. Could it be enemy fire? What happened to the 3D radar? We should do our best to stay on the plan while strengthening the defences.
ReplyDeleteBeech aircraft is a SIGNIT aircraft. I am just hoping that atleast it was not destroyed.
ReplyDeleteThere is word that one LTTE aircraft has not returned to base. Could it be that we have shot one down?
ReplyDeleteCan somebody tell me how many mi-24 gunships we currently have? It would be a tragedy if it turns 2 of them were indeed destroyed; they are great invaluable aircraft.
Uthum, Puthinam from where I lifted the news, has removed the portion of the crashed plane. I guess they must have thought the bell helicopter was their own plane.
ReplyDeleteLTTE attack on Yala was planned to divert attention from such possible attacks in the North.
LTTE has gone for a 2 prong attack because when under fire in the ground, troops will not be concentrating on the sky. The same they did in pallali attack. Thats also why the air attack came an hour later.
I am suprised the air wing was used. This is because so much air survilance is done in the north. There are reports in tamilnet that a UAV is now circulating killinochi.
This is because the air wing is nothing more than an airbone mortar launcher with 4 rounds. However it helps the LTTE in these attacks as they do not need to smuggle the mortars or heavy weapons to anyplace they want. This is crucial as it does not arise suspicion.
Tamilnet claims that the LTTE used only small weapons in their attack. This can be gradually smuggled in over time. However I believe these attacks though a major propaganda victory for the LTTE will be limited.
I do not forsee the use of the LTTE air wing in a major attack. The planes can be easily shot down. All a battalion needs is to have a section of 7 men posted strategically with manipads etc to guard against such attacks.
As the LTTE's game plan now is to only hit the military target, its good for the forces to be put on high alert.
Ok thanx for the update Navindran.
ReplyDeleteBut is it safe to say that we should rule out that no LTTE aircraft was shot down?
ReplyDeleteUpdate- 1 slaf killed and 20 injured.
ReplyDeleteUthum, we had 11 mi-24s. Some of them mi 35 variant.
ReplyDeleteThanx defencenet.
ReplyDeleteBeach king is a surviallance aircraft which has proved 2 be more useful than iai scout.
ReplyDeletedefence net is this true
ReplyDeletehttp://www.asiantribune.com/index.php?q=node/7942
One LTTE flight missing....
Hey defencenet
ReplyDeleteHave they taken over two anti aircraft guns in the base ?
I am hearing that the LTTE attackers are still in the premises of the base, they have been surrounded. Any news on this?
ReplyDeleteAny news on the full damage.
ReplyDeleteDefence Wire says Beachcraft is destroyed. Can anybody confirm this. And the infilitrators are surrounded and Military is trying to capture them.
ReplyDeletemilmi,
ReplyDeleteI doubt that RSF would ever capture LTTE alive, they will simply bite the cyanide capsule before that.
I don't know what to say.This means our air defence systems are not working properly.right?
ReplyDeleteIt is too early to say any thing. But for sure this is the time we need to be with our forces more than any other time. We should be with them not only when they sunk LTTE vessels, not only when LRRP take big targerts, not only when MIGs hit em hard but also when things went wrong for same guys. We can't fight a war with 0% damages. If you have any known guy in forces this is the time to give a call and tell em we are still with em.
ReplyDeleteTotally agree with u Ninja Bandara.Remember the sunflowers song about cricket.
ReplyDeleteWell said Ninja Bandara.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the updates from Navindran & defencenet. I heard they have captured one of our gun point and still their were three of them remaining. And I heard their are nearly 25 LTTE bodies inside the camp by now. For the Bell 212, it seems it is a miss fire.
ReplyDeleteThey havent taken over aa guns. Rsf has been deployed to seek and destroy any cadres in the base. Mi24s are seriously damaged.
ReplyDeleteI think we will be able to repair the Mi-24's, those birds were designed to adsorb a large magnitude of volatile fire ;)
ReplyDeletelet me start of by saying that i have the highest regards for our military and that in my family we faced a double tragedy in the way of one family member being KIA and another MIA.
ReplyDeleteBoys this is the military your talking about. you dont pat them on the back and say better luck next time!!! you find out who was in charge and kick his balls off. it is a total dis service to them to mollycoddle them. where was the radar? the AAFB has many layers of defences in place by way of sentry point, guard points, foot patrols and the likes. obviously these guys have got into a set routine and got complacent.
even on this site many bloggers mentioned that the military should be on guard for precisely this king of situation.we have to wait and see what the final damage is but if i were the ltte i would glady sacrifice two planes and 50 men for the damage that we fear that has been done to us.
a few days i quoted Sun Tzu "Rapidity is the essence of war: take advantage of the enemy's unreadiness, make your way by unexpected routes, and attack unguarded spots."
Could the tigers have gotten inside information about AAFB to plan this attack?
ReplyDeletedefencenet,bell 212 crashed due to a technical fault or enemy fire?
ReplyDeleteJonathan
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts exactly mate.
Even on defencewire i posted the same. It's sad that we lost men and machinery worth millions in this kind of lame way.
How did this happen to such a fortified base????
what went wrong??? why were these plane not spotted???
why were they not attacked???
Does anyone know if it was the Beech HISAR or the Beech SIGNIT that was supposedly destroyed?
ReplyDeleteThe HISAR I believe is the only asset that the SLAF had which could perform an AEW role with it multi mode radar, to detect and guide interceptors to the LTTE aircraft.
Even if only two Mi-24's were damaged, it is completely unacceptable that the SLAF have still not been able to defeat the LTTE air threat. Protecting an airbase against these primitive aircraft with effective point defences is not that difficult.
If we want to intercept, as it is becoming increasingly evident we must, then its time we bought proper interceptors.
This is the exact reason why i always post for everybody to have an open mind and not belive the baloney dished out by the goverment. The LTTE is a formidable enemy trying to claim they are on their last legs and they will be wiped out soon is doing a disservice to troops in the frontline as it diminishes the sacrifices made by them in taking on such a ruthless/formidable organisation.
ReplyDeleteOn another note i saw some comments on the blog about Dr. Gerard Chaliand with a lot of people agreeing with him. do you guys read the Nation news paper? in it he has said that LTTE cant be defeated militaraly unless a political solution is found. He has also said that SLA is not the best and compared the LTTE to the Vietnamese and Eriteria rebels (who both achived a victory of sorts in their conflicts) and said that LTTE will be the 3rd such winners. Any comments guys ?
I cant find the article in the Web edition of the nation but if you buy the paper its on the frontpage with a rebuttal by Gota
Cable,
ReplyDeleteI dont think that it's impossible for SLDF to beat LTTE...
OUr problem is that our leadership doesn't seems to be having their act together... this is both political and military...
I can't beleive that TAF managed to get away yet again with such a stunt...
You guys are talking bullshit. They have done the damage by destroying five air crafts. One was an Air to Air attack. Thats what the villagers from Mihintale area reported.
ReplyDeleteGuys its true that you guys are good with computer games. But those tactics won't help us to defeat the enemy in real world.
What we need is improving the skills of our armed personnel. Especially the skills of sharp shooting, ground to air shooting and guerrilla tactics.
Aslam,
ReplyDeleteIs ur story based on facts. Please be more descriptive about 5 planes.
If we win most of the times and they win once or twice in a while I can live with that. But now all the traitors are going to have a field day. Nope! Field weeks. That's the thing I can't bear with.
ReplyDeleteI really cant agree with buying interceptors to negate the air threat posed by LTTE. Dont we have more pressing areas that we need to fund from our limited budget than interceptors? surely anti-aircraft guns should have been enough to shoot down the "aircrafts" used by LTTE. We should correct the security lapses that must have occured during this attack. I think air force personnel alone are not good enough provide security on the ground to air assets this has been proven in the katunayake airport attack too. Air force should get some help from the army.
ReplyDeleteHemantha
ReplyDeleteIt's not the traitors who are gonna have a great time but the enemy.
those TAF buggers must be having champagne with rasiah and piraba..
Cable
ReplyDeletemy thoughts exactly mate.
Why couldn't eh SLAF AA batteries take on these two air crafts while they were making the bombing run...
those don't need a bid lead time to load up and fire providing they have a eyes on the target...
what happened to all that talk about having MANPAD's at all key military and commercial installations?
were we completely outgunned by the ground ltte raiding party who took on the ground forces?
It's just unbeleivable after so much of planning and talk about the TAF threat almost nothing seems to have been done to take them on
Ranil,
ReplyDelete"It's not the traitors who are gonna have a great time but the enemy."
Enemy had planned an attack executed it very well and they will be celebrating. I can live with that as long as I believe that our forces are going to return the favor in a more devastating manner (I really believe so). But in case of the traitors who is going return the favor? Nobody. They will continue damaging the moral of the nation.
It's two in the morning Ranil. Got to get some sleep. No hard feelings towards you.
Guys, can you stop calling them - TAF !!! They dont deserve the title.
ReplyDeleteThe media (esp. the west) refer to them as TAF, this is because tamilnet does the same reference. But we should stop using this term !
Guys,
ReplyDeleteThis is part of war as far as I am concerned. Your forces are capable enough of handling these situations. Defence circle people have high regard for SL forces. Nothing to panic, do damage control and have a plan.
LTTE claims that 08 aircrafts/helicopters were destroyed.
ReplyDeleteHelicopters including two MI-24 gunships, one MI-17, one PT6, one Bell 212, a CTH 748, and a reconnaissance aircraft
[TAF !!! They dont deserve the title. ]
ReplyDeletePeople use it to make fun at them like Takaran Air Force
Toy Air Force...
But end of the day those guys have attacked us and got away without a loss...
even though their the enemy and a low life one at that...that deserves some credit
Cable, ranil,
ReplyDeleteIts unlikely that SLAF will buy dedicated interceptors, it will be multi-role fighters which have an interceptor capability.
The possibility of shooting down an LTTE aircraft with point defences such as AA guns and MANPADS is almost nil, and we can't place them all over the country (whereas the LTTE can choose to attack any target).
AA (even with radar guidance) and MANPADS need a direct line of sight. Since the LTTE aircraft only carry one or two bombs they don't need to spend much time over the target (especially since the attack is mostly for propaganda value). So the window of opportunity when the defenders have "eyes on target" will be very small. A MANPAD takes more than 15 seconds to prepare even if they are kept ready (however given how sensitive the sensors are, its unlikely they will even be taken out of storage boxes until needed). So its quite possible that LTTE airctaft flying at very low altitude to avoid detection/AA fire will appear, drop their load and dissapear even before the base defences have time to react.
So what you need are better mobile radars closer to the front line (in addition to the 3D radars) to detect them as soon as they are airborne and interceptors to take them out.
Given the constant failings of our existing radar to detect these very small low flying aircraft, its quite apparent that the only realistic way of detecting them is airborne radar, like the multi mode radars which are carried on modern interceptors/multi-role fighters.
Hiru,
ReplyDeletePlease wait for official confirmation on damages, or a trusted source like "Defencenet"
Your forces and administration did massive effort to boos the morale. Key factor is that.
Shay
ReplyDeleteSo are we helpless against a few Zlings????
Shay is correct,
ReplyDeleteShooting objects with line of sight and specially low flying objects are extremely difficult. Within few seconds the object can hide in the tree line. TAF bombing raids are valuable in mostly as propaganda.
My advice is have intel/surveillance and wipe these toys while they are on ground. SL seriously lack enough surveillance equipments.
Correct Intel and Surveillance is worth than a Battleship fleet.
Old and correct principals apply for ever.
Intel
Scout
Morale
Commitment
Milmi,
ReplyDeleteI don't trust their figures.Just made a reference to their claim.
Shay, if we do get interceptors they will be posted at Katunayake, and by the time they are airborne and get to Anuradhapura or Trincolmalee or wherever the LTTE decide to attack next, the LTTE aircraft will be long gone.
ReplyDeleteI think our best bet is to concentrate on ground based defences. True we can't defend the whole country, but the LTTE isn't looking to go bomb some forest somewhere. We all know what their main targets are (airbases, naval bases - especially trinco, economic and ploitical targets around Colombo etc), so if we have enough well prepared air defenses at those locations we should be able to take them out.
Even if radar does not detect them, one, they have to fly over area under our control to get to their targets and two, if they do hit the targets they need to get back home. That should give us enough opportunities to shoot them down.
ranil,
ReplyDeleteThe sad truth is that if the LTTE continues to use their Zlin's in the way that they have been (i.e. appear over the tree line, drop a bomb and escape), then we are almost completely helpless in my opinion based on the assets that the SLAF are currently publicly known to have.
The fact that they are primitive does not mean they are easy to detect/shoot down. It is worth remembering that some mad guy flew a similar aircraft into the White House garden sometime after 911 (if I remember correctly). During the the cold war in the early 1980's another mad guy flew a light aircraft all the way from Finland and landed it in Red Square in Moscow without being detected (many other examples as well). You can be assured that the air defence assets that the US and USSR had in place would have been much more extensive and capable than what we can afford to buy.
SL need surveillance equipment to find where they come from. Intel should be able find too.
ReplyDeleteDefend before they arrive.
Shay
ReplyDeletepoint taken. But we have to find a home-grown solution if that's what's gonna take to take these guys out.
SLDF have done a brilliant job all these months and all it takes is one of these attacks to move so much around...
LTTE have been very tactful with the way they use most of their assets not only their planes... we also have to find some way to handle this threat...taking everything lying down aint gonna sort this out for us...
Defencewire is reporting that the Helo shotdown was due to friendly fire... can you beleive that...
How pathetic is that?
The enemy came...bombed and buggered off and here we are shooting down SLAF helicopters...
they seem to have had very good accuracy taking out their own assets...
If the SLAF cannot protect its own bases from LTTE attacks how can we expect them to protect the rest of the nation?
ReplyDeleteillegal.existence,
ReplyDeleteThat is not quite correct. A Zlin type aircraft will need almost 2 hours flying time I think to make a return trip to Colombo (top speed about 290kmph) and maybe half that time to Anuradhapura if operating out of the Vanni (I'm asuming thats about 200km from Colombo).
So even if they are on their return leg, that is more than enough time for a modern multi-role fighter to get airborne and catch up (flying supersonic). Given that the range of the radars on such aircraft is anything from 70km to 200+km, we will be able to see where they land (even if we only get airborne shortly before they land) and be able to direct air attacks on them while on the ground.
No amount of ground defences will be sufficient if they are coming at tree top level, giving the defenders only a few seconds to react before thay are over the target and on their way back. Also if they are coming to Colombo, most probably they will fly alongside the coast/over the sea to avoid any ground defences along the way.
If there are any LTTE Aircraft Destroyed?
ReplyDeleteEnemy is enemy, please do not give them great time or bad time. Sri Lankans should get together at least now onwards. LTTE Terrorist is still one vision on the other hand your opposition is helping LTTE Terrorist by making terrorist minded people within Sinhala and Muslim.
ReplyDeleteAll sri lankans should support their democracy forces to finish LTTE Terrorist from you country. Please make good country to your kids in feature. Please trust Leadership and give him your big hand to finish LTTE Terror.
Please identify the foreign threats combine with LTTE, Terror support NGOS so on.
Terrorism is a terrorism. It may be your country or my country but still it is very harm to democracy people and innercent kids for their feature as well.
Your heads should be recheck weather you all sri lankans or foreign thinkers, reason why when some thing incident you all talk against LTTE but you all forget very soon as well.
Please keep it up against terror. Keep and stay with chief in commander with great forces give them high moral when ever possible.
First of all Defencenet this is a great blog..
ReplyDeleteIt is imperative to scramble your aircraft into the sky where they belong, if there is any hint of an attack.Otherwise you are sitting ducks.
All aircraft should be in fortified ,camoflaged underground hangars ready for action with a 24/7 rotation of aircrew on rapid deployment standby (at the base).
There must be defence in depth for all airbases.Routines varied.Multiple rings of defensive and offensive measures.Hard obstacle barriers to thwart vehicular suicide attack , razor concertina fences with trenches and blast berms all mined(antipersonnel and antivehicle) , trip wires , fixed and mobile sentry units.
The external areas of all bases should have random ,suprise search and cordon operations to prevent infiltration .
Early warning systems with a clear well prpepared countermeasure drill/system that can be rapidly deployed and effectively executed must always be in place. The question is not if but when you are attacked, what will your response be?
There is no point trying to put together a plan during attack.
All contingencies must be covered.The LTTE are extremely clever and innovative.They will think many steps ahead of you.So cover all your options.They will attack your reinforcements , destroy communication / lighting / electrical generators etc to impede effective counterattack.
Remember this is assymetric warfare.The force that uses innovation , suprise ,effective intelligence and courage will have the upper hand.
Why has there been no concerted continuous effort to assasinate V Prabhakaran?There has been nearly 30 years opportunity? Yes he is secretive(use and deploy effective intelligence assets) , yes he is well guarded( well kill them as well).But if you don't try and try again you will never succeed. The LTTE is a cult of personality with Prabha at the pinnacle.Kill him then launch your final offensive, you will win.
Tamilnet is reporting that it was our own anti-aircraft fire which took out the Bell 212. That will be so messed up if it were true.
ReplyDeleteAlso, Hindustan Times says the attackers came from Wilpattu, not from up north.
http://hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=811f79b4-3ce6-4532-95c0-7d41e131bc11&&Headline=LTTE+planes+bomb+Sri+Lankan+airbase
Hey guys without inside help cannot happen these things. Who gave map to LTTE ? How do they know MI 24 Landing locations. Please understand within very small country terrors not only LTTE Terrors.
ReplyDeleteThere are so many terrorist minded people who love to our USD. These terrorist lovers produce by your mad opposition leaders who depend on terrorist strength to come power at all.
Sinhala people who have terrorist minded can bring bombs and guns depend on LTTE Requirement this is the worst case can happen in your country.
Terrorism is terrorism there is no good or bad terrorism in the world.
Even temporary lost your forces are very strong and dynamic against world leading terrorist who having air strict power.
Get together and give you big hand to power full forces who love your country. Do not talk about enemy strength or possibilities to happen.
I too heard about the freindly fire incident involving the Bel helicopter. From what i have heard it seems our ppl have shot at the crew of the damaged helicopter killing them. I have to stress that this is unconfirmed and word of mouth only.
ReplyDeletei dont think we will ever know what really happened
I am really interested to know what actually happened. Waiting for Defencenet to post the actual results.
ReplyDeleteDefense,
ReplyDeleteIn my earlier explanation
I just guessed something behind the Yala Attack
Link
i think
1.we don’t have enough military experts
or
2.we have no decision support system which is capable of gather data and concentrate on the relevant entities/threats
if there is a one we could have come a cross of very small lead, supplied by military intelligence, work on accessing that threat,
DefenseNet can u please tell me was there a early information regarding the incident, even a very slight lead?
What the f@#k is goin on?..our guys were caught nappin again?.c'm on now.whatever happened to the HY-2 3D radar?.or is it still not operational,like those Indian-built Indra's.Blame it on the Chinese now.
ReplyDeleteI want to know why were the mi-24's parked @ anuradapura.were they forward-deployed or what,coz their base is at Hingurakgoda..also,losing the Beachcraft with its Raytheon radar is a very SERIOUS loss,even more so than the gunships.
Looks like our guys have indeed underestimated the tigers capability to carry out such devastating attacks.Complacency is the first signal of weakness on the armed forces part.now the Tigers are gonna capitalise on this to the max.We should never have allowed this to happen in the 1st place..
defencewire reported the bell was a friendly fire incident
ReplyDeleteshay
ReplyDeleteI read your post about the time taken for the tiger aircraft get back to base and the speed of the supersonic jets. Quite intresting
wonder what our own recently acquired Migs were doing all that time in this particular incident? They didnt even take off did they?
Do anybody have a idea why?
Cable,
ReplyDeleteThe Mig's we have are dedicated ground attack aircraft. They cannot be used to find or attack another air craft (they don't have air search radar for one thing).
Some articles did say some Kfir's were put into the air/along with a UAV. However, a Kfir needs a long time to get airborne and are not really suited for this role. Also, I don't know what type of radar the Kfir carries, but its unlikely that it could be used to locate the LTTE planes without a ground based radar and/or Beech HISAR to guide it. As far as I know only the Kfir C10 (we only have C2/C7) carries an Elta made multi mode radar capable of tracking such small targets from a long distance.
Shay and cable, from defence.lk
ReplyDelete"Sri Lanka Air Force supersonic fighter jets pounded on LTTE air strip located at Iranamadu area in early hours this morning, October 22. The air sorties were carried out around 5.30 a.m by both MIG and Kfir jets, Air Force sources said."
http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20071022_04
Almost all the contributors in these blogs tried hard to avoid the kind of scenario now we are forced to witness..
ReplyDeleteSadly all our efforts were all in vein...
My heart goes to those men who fought these LTTE terrorists...
We should start from where it ends for them...
I just don't want to speculate any further gloom for our boys on the ground.
The last thing we wanted to happen had happened..
Lot of factors contributed to this ...It is not just one reason that we got this wrong..
ReplyDeleteThings like not securing the perimeter of the air base was one important thing...The GOSL asked people who occupied land close to these vital installations to vacate the place for security reasons..These scotters never buddged.Even if you go and ask them today to vacate these places, they will not move an inch. Instead they will come up with some NGO's with issues like Fundamental Rights etc.etc...
That is why we will never be able to secure any of our installations 100%, no matter what...
In these blog pages I have mentioned that the next time LTTE attack , they will use their aircraft too..That is exactly what happened...
Yeasterday I read a news item saying that their is a search operation in and around Thanthirimalee..For some reason it clicks me to write in tbe blog pages, that we need to carry out a cordon and search operation in and around A'Pura...But I was distracted last evening and forgot to mention that in my contributions...
I remember recently that Police Commander for the North Western Province saying that no search operations were conducted for the last 6 months in and around A'Pura, Kurunegala area..
I am sure these LTTE caders have infiltrated the area for the past several months..They did not appear yeasterday...
A Simple search operation in A'pura would have undo them..
Then if I forcus on the Base itself, then there were huge security lapses..
Is this how we protect multi our million dollar assests.?
Atleast 100 commandos need to gurard these premises..True we need to protect our leaders with hundreds of commandos...But these are the assests that we cannot replace for years if not for generations...
I can predict very gloomy things..
Feel like quiting these blogs forever so I don't have to read these news items...
May all our armed forces be blessed...
May you have force to withstand LTTE...
Good luck guys...
I might come back again but not as Tangara....
It is over...
This is ridiculous. Air force still can’t find these LTTE shits. What are they doing? what happened to the radar system. I don’t think that Air force got a strategy to eliminate this LTTE air attacks. Why they can’t put special force to analyze LTTE capability and to destroy this as quickly as possible. What happened to the surveillance team?
ReplyDeleteHave anyone done any research on LTTE attacks and how they carried out so far? When something happened like this our air force do is to attack Irranamadu how many times they have bombed this area any success? Please guys just try to do something better than this we need proper strategy to get rid of this air flies.
All the world laughing about this. One think you have to remember you have an enemy he will strike you anytime when you sleep. Just awake and be vigilant.
Try small SWOT theory. We all must be upset with these kinds of attacks. When you spend so much of money for defense and people starving in the country because of war our forces must fully utilize their resources.
Tangara,
ReplyDeleteWe should not quit. keep this blog going. Even if one thing written here helps our country that would be great. Is there any other place we could use that would be more productive?
Why don't we get a few Zlins and do some simulations and war games rather than speculating? Why aren't these things being done? Don't we have a think tank to try or even imagine about these things. When LTTE does this it is innovative. When a some small fry suggests something like this (like me ) it is a stupid idea.
Let's get innovative with crazy ideas.
Tangara,
ReplyDeleteThink tank, that is a great idea. Come up with something innovative.
The 2nd Worldwar required lot of innovation.
Complacency is your greatest enemy SL. SL has a great force and great commanders. You work with lot of limitations and many Developed world Armies will do worse under the same situation.
ReplyDeleteBut remember complacency is your greatest enemy.
Kiri,
ReplyDeleteThats a good idea. No need to buy Zlin's, the basic trainers that the SLAF have such as PT-6 are good enough. They should use those to fly low level simulations to test for deficiencies in our radar system and to train air crews to scramble and vector in on the aircraft.
Guys,
ReplyDeleteFew simple ideas,
Use listner and spotter towers(with flash lights, night vision binos)near critical places in the areas of FDL.
Use some amplification methodology and electronics to identify the noise of the engines of Terror Planes. I suppose SL have enough electronics engineers whom can do this. This is inexpensive than few interceptors and can be built within weeks. I am not saying final solution, but an interim one.
I strongly belive the final solution is finding their hideout through intel and destroying it.
Actually VCs in Vietnam war used some basic listning posts to identify an approching Bell few km ahead.
ReplyDeleteVietnam is jungle terrain and Bells make quite a noise. But in the mean time SL can employ electronics to enhance this. Never depend on a single plan, crete some more. You will correct the situation and will have the satisfaction of homegrown solution.
Please be noted,
take your mind back to a WW2 commander, you are trying to defend your bases against low flying propeller bombers, think something smartly.
Even Big Baloons.
Big baloons! exactly coming back to my favourite subject. Can't we place some zeppelins near critical points like these?
ReplyDeleteAir force bases, critical army camps, dam areas, oil installations, colombo city, kandy city etc.,.
While on the subject are zlins affected by flying objects? For example I have read that for a fighter jet to crash with a bird would cause fatal damage even at low speeds. How about zlins? can we use this to our advantage.
I am also inclined to think that we may only be able to destroy these planes through ground operations.
As soon as the base and the perimeter is cleared, it is the time to move on!
ReplyDeleteIf we have lost the beechcraft, it would be a great loss.
My heart goes to the families of the brave men and women got killed trying to defend the motherland.
I have mention this in the past too, LTTE's biggest five enemies are the President, Defence Secretary, Army Commander and Military assets of the Airforce and the Navy. We must protect them with several times the security.
Every force should have a Security Audit Group, who constantly visit each camp and carry out risk audits and rate each of the camps on a rating scale assessing various types of risks. Then recommendations should be made. These recommendations should goto JOC level.
The camp in-charge should be responsible for doing better than what has been recommended.
I have written to SLAF many times in the past highlighting the need of underground fortified bunkers for Aircraft Assets.
In the 90's about 6 or 9 Bell helicopter were damaged through an explosion happened in the Trinco SLAF base. They were parked 20 ft away from each other above ground. The need for individual underground bunkers were highlighted then too.
All these gone into deaf ears.
The aircraft, men and women are our money. Public assets. Even the President, Defence Secretary, and the head of the forces are public assets too. We have invested on them too much. We should be taking adequate measures to protect them.
Bombing Iranmadu will not mean a thing. We need 24 hour readiness, because we are at war.
We still pathetically ramping up on night-operation capabilities when the need was there for 30 years.
We thought when the Katunayake Airforce base was first attacked, adequate measures would be taken to protect the military assets. But it has not been the case.
Someone mentioned that it is difficult to protect assets from Commando Style attacks. Hey, what else type of attack should we expect?
Now it is time to move on and correct the mistakes. But this is not the first, second or third-time. That is the issue.
We have to learn, we have to innovate, we have to be prepared.
Else, keep bombing Iranamadu (waste of more money)
I spoke to one of my relatives...
ReplyDeleteIt is all history repeating itself..
There was an SLA Entertainment show close to the Air base last night...Most probably our guys were drunk and everyone ignored the security...
This is exactly what happened when the LTTE attacked KAB in 2001...There was a musical show close to the KAB.
It is high time millitary banned all musical shows/motor crosses..etc.etc...This is the cover LTTE will use to attack SLA defences everywhere...
This must be done now or never..
It was all the history repeating itself.. When is the SLA going to learn the lesson?
It is always too late..
The SLAF is lagging in many ways and specially the defence of all the vital assests under their command...
Better late than never..Do something now...
The govt should hold the camp commander and those in charge of security strictly responsible.
ReplyDeleteThese guys deserve to be discharged, or else a proper lesson will never be established.
Security audit is a great idea.
ReplyDeleteAlso how about mock attacks to keep everybody on their toes. I don't know how these can be done. But to do so is to be innovative.
This can also be used to keep civilians on their toes by arranging mock bombs say once a month.
Think the impossible, have crazy ideas that is to be innovative.
..According to SLA website, around 11:00AM this fighting is still on...LTTE caders are holding up within the base and firing randomely...
ReplyDeleteWe must protect Jaffna at any cost...It is likely LTTE will make a move on Jaffna...
We need to keep the millitary focussed on Jaffna all the time.
these planes must have been flying at tree top level once they took off. at some point in time they must have flown over our FDL. how come none of 1000's of men positioned along the FDL report back about low flying air craft. we dont need mig 29 if the dam mi24 were airbone the Zlins would have come to them.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if any action was taken on who ever was in charge of Katunayake when it was bombed but because of this lack of holding people accountable our people are getting slack.
Those held responsible for this serious security lapse must be held accountable & court-martialled..Otherwise,if no one takes responsibility(as now the case),the country will be goin not down the shit-hole,but will be stuck in it & unable to come out-let's pray not!!
ReplyDelete"Numerical weakness comes from having to prepare against possible attacks; numerical strength, from compelling our adversary to make these preparations against us."
ReplyDeleteThe Art of War by Sun Tzu
Chapter VI: Weak Points and Strong
The LTTE seems to have Numerical strength it about time we do something to turn the tables on them.
Spot on Rifard
ReplyDeleteA classic bugger up!
ReplyDeleteNo denying - SLAF had become complacent (as there never was an attack there) at AAFB and it makes one think if ever there was a good security barrier in the first place. SLAF brass must be answerable and as one said, if SLAF cannot guard its own assets (acquired at a great cost to the tax payers), then the job must be given to another area of the SLDF.
I saw earlier posts from some members having a debate about ground vs. airborne defenses to get at the maggots' Zlins. What struck me was both sides presented some very good points and that convinced me in this context, what I believe in is the way to go - that is: "Risk Management should be multi layered." This is a philosophy we adopt even in our vibrant, but very high risk business world in the West and the same philosophy can and should applied in the military context in SL - and thereby I agree with both views that we must not only have effective ground based air defenses, but also must have an airborne component and on the ground, as many here said, very importantly the multi-layers of perimeter security, security of the aircraft themselves (e.g. parking them in underground/fortified structures instead of out in the open, etc. etc.) are all risk management measures that complement one another, to form a solid "Layered Risk Management Configuration." The point is, you don't put all your faith in one layer. My hats off to you guys for some great advice/suggestions - too bad you are not in the MOD as you would do wonders whereas some of the blockheads there (who are paid to do this job) are clearly showing some costly lapses! In my view, these bureaucratic buggers should be sent packing home.
This is "a loss" (a costly loss I agree), but that is what it is and this is not a time to wallow in misery and provide much needed advantage to the enemy, but to get up and move on with vigor and aggression. That said, we should learn from this mistake (I know that sounds familiar?) and I like the idea of a full and detailed enquiry into this and on-going and surprise audits in the future. Naturally, anybody caught "napping" or "suspected of aiding and abetting the enemy" re. this loss must be dealt with the most severe punishment.
OaO Asithri
Twenty-one elite Black Tiger commandos penetrated into the heart of the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) air base in Anuradhapura at 3:20 a.m. Monday, destroyed and set ablaze eight SLAF aircrafts, including helicopter gunships, reconnaissance aircraft and a training aircraft, Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) military spokesman Irasiah Ilanthirayan told TamilNet. Air Tiger aircrafts joined the attack at 4:30 a.m., providing support in the destruction of the SLAF base in the North Central Province and safely returned to their bases in Vanni, the Tigers said. Meanwhile, Sri Lankan defence spokesman Keheliya Rambukwela said 3 helicopters were damaged, 13 SLAF airmen were killed and 18 wounded.from Tamilnet...
ReplyDeleteTangara
ReplyDeletePlease don't leave this blog. You are one of the few posters who actually has foresight when it comes to this conflict.
Please stay. I am asking you as a friend.
"Do not repeat the tactics which have gained you one victory, but let your methods be regulated by the infinite variety of circumstances."
ReplyDeleteThe Art of War by Sun Tzu
Chapter VI: Weak Points and Strong
Our military leader should read this book...
"For should the enemy strengthen his van, he will weaken his rear; should he strengthen his rear, he will weaken his van; should he strengthen his left, he will weaken his right; should he strengthen his right, he will weaken his left. If he sends reinforcements everywhere, he will everywhere be weak."
ReplyDeleteThe Art of War by Sun Tzu
Chapter VI: Weak Points and Strong
I have a feeling the LTTE may have read and learnt from this book
Tangara,
ReplyDeleteMan.. do not leave!
You are the one who constantly asked everyone to be prepared...
They did not listen to you!
Tangara yy r u trying to leave this blog? It's not 'All Finished' right? These things happen in war and we should makeup our minds to overcome situations like these and be strong to counter attack with full firepower.
ReplyDeleteSo we have to stick together at this tough times and give strength to our brave soldiers. So i request u not to leave Tangara. We need ppl like u.
The time has really come for MR and the Commanders of Forces to take the decision to hit hard on LTTE to put them on their knees and to bury them alive once and for all. If it doesn't happen within the next 2,3 months, we'll be made to think that this government has no genuine intention to finish LTTE.
BTW, I was told that there are security audits being carried out...
ReplyDeleteBUT... they have become kind of ceremonial..
The guy comes with his adjugent, and one or two drinking partners he can find.. have a friendly chat with the base Commander.. do a customary round..laugh a lot.. and settle for a long night of round of Whiskey in the Officrs' Mess. Basically, the actual audit focuses on the quality of the Whiskey itself..
On another note, bureaucracy is so deep in the forces, the moral of base Commanders are low when it comes to obtaining necessary funds for base security and facilities. Sometimes, the ambitious young officers DO commission well analysed reports, but when they asked the higher up whether they have read them perhaps when they meet them in three months time, the usual answer is "No Son/Ban, I will get back to you on that".. and typically never getting back.
On another note, the Strategy Team has planned a Special Op to counter some immediate threat, but it has required 20 tanks of aviation fuel than the normal consumption. By the time the Approval Process completed and the Fuel is received, it was said that it takes more than 20 days. If it was 20 days, he would be lucky he says.
The engine is very bureaucratic and slow it seems to understand the ground realities.
Elephant Pass, Mullative nor Killinochchi camps would have fallen if the bureaucrats understood the ground situations. The guys are always operating on 'shoe-strings' while the A/C rooms laugh at their requests.
We need about minimum 5 beechcraft to counter the LTTE threat. But it seems that even the only one we have is lost.
At least now itself take measures to protect military assets. Do not be act like wild fools.
BTW, it seems that there is no coordinated attack mechanism still to counter SLIN threat. And seems to be no coordination to avoid friendly fire too.
Tangara,
ReplyDeleteDefence.lk has published some pictures especially for you.
http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20071022_03
Guys...
ReplyDeleteOkay you guys asked about the details of the damages and asked me to more specific...
You guys are talking about AA batteries... Seems you all read loads of news articles prepared by the Sunday Observer...
Term AA Battery refers to either automatic missile firing systems or AA guns linked with sophisticated radars.
Actually we do not have those and we cannot afford them. What we are using is five zero guns. You guys can see some of the five zero guns top of the buildings in Colombo.
So no point of talking our AA batteries.
Item Two: Indian built Indra Radar is not a best ones in the market. Actually Indian donated some of their old items to SL. They had some fears in Chinese made Radars. Chinese and Israel made ones are so powerful and can identify a bird flying in low attitudes even.
According to ministry of defense we do have a good radar system. But the truth is it is not.
Item three. Anuradhapura air base is surrounded by couple of mountains, by three tanks with some marshy lands and a village. Anyone can access this base through Nuwara wewa tank side. That side giving LTTE a good passage to enter the base easily.
Item four. Compared to Katunayake, SLAF base at Anuradhapura is a small one. If I am correct its having only two hangers and most of the Helicopters and planes are parked out side these. Hangers are going to use for maintenance work.
As per the villagers they have seen 8 air crafts with severe damages. Nothing left but the frames. Rest of the air crafts needs to be repaired prior to air borne.
I confirm that no bird left the SLAF base after the attack. Guys I am not a stupid reporter to tell everything to you.
I do not support the idea of purchasing Mig 29 s tackle these Zlins. Neither Mig 27s.
Prior to purchase anything, we have to prepare a plan to overcome the existing issues.
1. We need a quality service men
(we can defend with just SF, STF, Commandos, we have to give other soldiers a some sort of training)
2. Let the forces prepare their plans but not the bloody politicians
3. Try to separate LTTE from civilians (for that we have to win the hearts of normal tamil people)
With this attack we lost the air borne jamming system. If my analysis is correct they will launch a similar attack to minneria where we are having most of our gun ships stationed. So better to get prepared. Else we will loose our air superiority and it'll ends up with adding extra pressure on normal civilians. Its our taxes what they destroyed last night. So its our responsibility to show them the way to tackle these situations.
ReplyDeleteAslam,
ReplyDeleteA great post.. keep contributing!
Singha,
ReplyDeleteGreat post.. would love to see you contribute regularly here..
Tangara,don't quit he blog,man! let's continue to share knowledge/info & lets pray that this attack atlast gives not a pinch,but an extremely hard SLAP! to our armed forces for showing such complacency..
ReplyDeleteHey,jonathan Sun tzu's art of war is THE book of warfare,man.glad u could quote from it..
I dont believe it!,..anyway some news on defencewire.May the tiple gem bless those soldiers and families.This is also an economic loss to the country.
ReplyDeleteIf I remember correctly, the airfore was planning to buy two Beech maritime surveillance aircraft. I am asuming that these will most likely be Beech HISAR aircrafts. So if we did lose our Beech HISAR in this attack instead of the Beech SIGNIT, then a replacement for it might not be far off. Nevertheless it is a significant loss to our airforce.
ReplyDeleteI say its high time that we have ATLEAST two of each Beech SIGNIT and Beech HISAR aircraft. What do you guys think?
Rifard,
ReplyDeleteWhen you say "share knowledge/info", do you mean confidential info about our forces that would otherwise be unknown to LTTE?
Are the Chinese 3D JY-11 radars installed or not?
ReplyDeleteHow the fuck do these fucking Zlins keep popping up on their targets without detection?
A lot of you are upset that the air force was not able to take down the LTTE aircraft. But what you guys need to understand here is that, the LTTE aircraft caused 0 damage in this attack. All of the aircrafts mentioned were destroyed or damaged by the black tiger squad that infiltrated the base. My sources tell me that they infiltrated the base and took out our radar. Apparently the soldier who was watching the radar had his neck slight open and the radar switched off by the attackers. Then they proceeded to attack the aircrafts in the hanger. How did they get into the base undetected??? ALL OF THIS LOOKS LIKE AN INSIDE JOB!! Someone in the air force gave these bastards maps and information about the base to carryout this attack. We shouldn't be that concerned about the TAF, they're just propaganda boosters. What we should be concerned about is how such a heavily fortified base was infiltrated, and if some crooked officers tipped these fuckers off we should find him and execute him. Then we should look through all of the defense services for crooked officers and do the same to them. Traitors are more dangerous than the enemy itself.
ReplyDeleteGeagle..how many aircraft have been damaged and destroyed.According to defencewire 8 destroyed and it seems that all the remaining aircraft are damaged.President Rajapaksa must be mad as hell for good reason.
ReplyDeleteGE,
ReplyDeleteAll the patriots share the same pain as you man.. and ask the same question..!
"How the f**k do these f**king Zlins keep popping up on their targets without detection?"
Uthum lets wait and see bro..lets not jump to conclusions till we have all the facts.
ReplyDeleteDefencewire seems to be reporting what Tamilnet has reported about 8 aircraft being destroyed.
ReplyDeleteWe don't really know the truth of how extensive the damage is.
I just hope that we can atleast salvage the Beech aircraft.
---------------------------------
This attack must not distract us from the bigger picture. We must keep our eye on the ball and continue using the current military tactics(in land, sea and air) that have truly bloodied the nose of the LTTE in the past 2 years. What I am trying to say is : stick with what works.
GEagle what they have not destroyed they have put out of action.they have either destroyed or put out of action ALL the aircrft at the base.
ReplyDeleteUthum,
ReplyDeleteInside jobs are likely and could not be ruled out at all. However, it is too early to conclude on anything.
By looking at an SLAF base, anyone can tell where each of the key items are located. You really do not need to have internal maps etc.. if you have clearly observed things from a distance.. i.e using a binocular from a mountain or a tree.
i.e Officer's mess is beautifully gardened with a summer hut adjoining the same while, lower ranks have asbestoses or takaran billets and are constantly busy people going in an out.. The radar unit is showing radar tower.. The comm unit have Tel Poles and Antennas next to it, the Commanding Officer's Office showing the backs two A/Cs and dark windows etc. etc.
You do not need to be military expert to identify where each item is.
But anyone can agree, whether it is inside job of giving maps etc or not, as advocated by many here, there should have been several layers of defences. Several measures to protect vital military assets.
When I saw a picture of the beechcraft inside a takaran hut sometime back, I thought whether these guys are damn nuts.
The guys who parked that under a Takaran hut surely showed that they do not know that this piece is worth several million $, and it could decide who wins.
Guys I just got a hunch, maybe the LTTE used the advanced version of "google earth" (cost:$400) to study how the airbase was layed out. I am just guessing here, but you never know.
ReplyDeleteBTW a single Beech aircraft costs about $8.6 million with the system installed.
GE,
ReplyDeleteYou are exactly rightfully guessed. Google Earth is a great tool and it is no brainer to use it. When LTTE spend millions $, they can certainly afford $400.00.
I privately wrote about this risk to the MOD few months back. Do not know whether anything happened at all.
Noltte=peace
ReplyDeleteDamn!! I also feared that the LTTE could one day used google earth to their advantage.
We don't know for sure if the LTTE used google earth or not nut they do have highly educated computer geeks working for them, just to be sure all our MOD can do now is contact google and tell them to blur out the sensitive SL military installations. Then after that is done, our military can change the way the the bases are outlayed.
I heard the US military was able to get google to blur our their sensitive military sites, so hopefully our military will be granted the same request.
Could you write to the MOD about this?
So we lost a few aircrafts! Well 8 aircrafts is a lot for us! I'm concerned about the beach craft and the 2 attack helicopters. We have to think about tomorrow now. I have written on this forum many times before and again I stress; we have to come up with a political package. A political package will force the international community to help us. The best weapon we have against the LTTE is the Tamil people. We have to utilize them. A political package that will grantee them that whatever rights and privileges that I enjoy as a Sinhalese they would too. The day we realize that we will win the war.
ReplyDeleteWe have certainly won many battles in the past 2 years and we have lost a couple too. If we want to really finish off the LTTE and win the war, this is certainly not the way to go.
Brace yourselves for more attacks. Our valiant troops will certainly win most of the battles but the LTTE will hurt us like yesterday. Its important that we as a nation stick together with our troops. And I just hope that the government would come up with a political package asap!
GE,
ReplyDeleteWhat you proposed is exactly that I wrote about.. 'Exactly'!
MOD reads this forum, and they should remember!
Ares
ReplyDeleteI too agree that we need a political package to drive the final nail into the coffin.
When we come up with a politcal package then we can try it out on the east since its now under our control.
If successful, then we can smash into Wanni and wipe out the LTTE strongholds there.
I agree, the Tamil people are the best weapon to defeat the LTTE ideology.
Maps are one thing guys, but they must have received advanced information on patrols and sentry points, how else did they get in undetected????
ReplyDeleteNoltte=peace
ReplyDeleteHallelujah!!!! am I glad the MOD reads this forum.
BTW, How do you know they read this forum?
Ares, machan...this whole political package business is just hogwash. What rights do Tamils not have that we as Sinhalese enjoy?
ReplyDeleteUthum,
ReplyDeleteI asked the same question! What else are they talking about?
GE,
You know, I know ;-)
But they have a horrible bandwidth.
I suggest them to take off all the videos and host them in the US or sign an agreement with YouTube and load them there. The MOD videos eat lot of SLT international bandwidth.
Look at the images on Tamilnet, theres pictures of the Black Tiger squad posing with Prabha right before they departed on the mission.
ReplyDeleteIt is a good thing to compare those faces with the ones got killed.
ReplyDeleteI bet the LTTE supporters in LNP are having a field day bashing GOSL supporters after months of being demoralized.
ReplyDeleteThe LNP looks like it is the Pay day of "you know whose" ;-)
ReplyDelete(there is a Sinhala saying)
one identified.
ReplyDeleteIs it true that 3 tigers were caught alive at the attack site?
ReplyDeleteSorry about the delay in updates.
ReplyDeleteThe situation is actually pretty grim. 8 Aircrafts severely damaged and most of these are in unusable condition.
Biggest loss is the Beechcraft. This was the only working aircraft of this type in SLAF inventory. A replacement will have to be purchased or the other one which is grounded will have to be repaired immediately.
Two Mi24 gunships and one Mi 17 transport heli are completely destroyed.
Bell 212 seems to have been shot down by friendly fire.
Several K-8s and Cessna light aircraft were also damaged.
There will be no need to deny that there were many loopholes in the base defense strategy. Over emphasizing the fact that 20 LTTE cadres got killed in the incident to try and overshadow the weaknesses will lead to nowhere but repeated failures. 21 LTTE cadres died after accomplishing their mission.
This would have been more catastrophic if the raided base was Minneriya or Vavuniya AFB. Minneriya AFB is home to SLAF attack helicopter fleet and Vauniya is the home of "Kelama" (UAV).
MI has warned that these are all potential targets of the LTTE.
The following questions need to be answered to prevent any future attacks.
1. How did the LTTE light aircraft cross FDLs without detection?
2. Where was the RSF when LTTE units entered the base in two locations?
3. Why wasnt there a clear pre determined method to distinguish friendly and hostile aircraft?
Noltte=peace and folks,
ReplyDelete2 years ago, MOD web site used to report with nonchalance X or Y number of soldiers were “bumped off” by the LTTE. Since Gotabhaya things have changed. If the top brass has such a low mastery over English there is no wonder that the application notes of even the least sophisticated equipments are misunderstood.
Our army reflects our society. The IN things for the young are boozing and womanising: just look at Daily Mirror, Sunday Times, Observer…. The thrill of the intellectual conquest has not been given due place since ages. The monkeys who try to imitate an imaginary westerner calls the shots. They must be made to understand that the westerner boozes and womanises but also use their brains and work hard to remain alive in freezing temperatures.
Our fellows just have to slumber under a coconut tree, or a del/kos gaha, and he remains in good form till 90. And the Brits encouraged it during 150 years by free rations etc .. a slow genocide.
Need another S. Mahinda .
It is sad that not a single LTTE commando operations had been neutralised before target. More than 100 young sailors were let to die by the dumb planners, a single suicide bomber was sufficient.
When you loose the confidence in your intellect, you can achieve nothing. The psys backing the LTTE are trying to rub it into our boys day and night thru Chikeras, Ranils, Mangalas atc.
Isn’t it written everywhere that PAMADO MACHCHUNO PADAM:
THE LAZY SLOTH OF A MAN IS AS GOOD AS DEAD.
This must be displayed in every billboard in SL.
WE GOT TO GET OFF THIS SLUMBER.
***************
Matha = Concepts
Mathica = Conceptor
The current constitution grantee the rights of all Sri Lankans. However if we look at the governing process, how many Tamils are important policy makers in the government. I can only think of Luxman Kadiragama being a integral part of policy making. Devananda is with the government because he is one of LTTE's most wanted.
ReplyDeleteAll the top decision makers in any government, be it UNP or a SLFP led coalition are Sinhalese. Yes there are Muslims and Tamils ministers but most of them, specially the Muslim ministers are there for their personal benefits. I mean do you actually think that Thondaman is joined the government to serve the up country Tamils?
Also, I don't know whose to blame, but the notion that only a different (power sharing) constitution can be the solution is well established both locally and internationally.
So guys, what is the estimated loss (financially)?
ReplyDeleteAres,
ReplyDeleteMany of the "policy makers" are not politicians.. There are bureaucrats who do that. It is their job. Politicians are the intermediation's between the people/parliament and the judiciary.
There are thousands of non-Sinhalese bureaucrats working in the Civil Service in Sri Lanka. They take part in policy initiatives. The vetting process come through the parliament.
The parliament fairly represented by the ethnic diversity of the country. That is what call democracy. Just because a minority wages a war, you can not circumvent a democratic process and ignore majority of a country. You have to learn to live with it. However, it is the job of the government to make sure that every citizen of the country to have same civic rights.
Fellas, Fellas.... come on now stay together ! Tangara keep your butt here man ! You aint going no where...ya hear me ! We need you ! geez , keep your focus will ya ?
ReplyDeleteDefnet... are ya sure we have Y-8 mate ? I thought we lost them both yrs ago ! Just checking !
Ministry of Def. I hope they read this site, maybe they could learn something.
Hey Rifard, did you see the dead morons uniforms on MOD ? Dont they looks identical to our SLA mate ? Crap man, so we must have let these horses asses tight thru the door !
But, on my google maps, you were right.. they could easy access from the tank on the left end of the runway ! Crap !
Nolte...are did they take over AAA site mate ? Tell me that aint true Bro ?
uthun .. ya right bro ! But, this is the "Fog of War" these things happens EVEN if we like it or not ! But, I just feel bad for our SLA brothers who sacrificed their lives!
Why didnt we learn our lesson from Katu raid in 01'? well , that's kind of the Modus Operandi those Wanni asses. But, we'll get 'em back and ya now we will ! Our top brass are they Battle FATIGUED ?
Maybe...but, we need to support our grunts on the ground !
I say, we start our own intel on the damn scoundrels from Wanni and take maters to our own hands !
Beechcraft loss not funny at all and shooting the Bell 212 NOT Very funny either ! Training Training & More Training ! Crap !
Now dump those Mig 29's cuz, ya really think they will have an impact BS !!! Intel..intel..Intel and harrass those idiotic baboons everyday of their terrorist lives & train our poor brothers everyday also...My sympathies to all the families of our SLAF ! Go Lanka keep your head up !!
Now fellas lets do in kind to those ltte Jaskasses by mounting that Israeli commando raid on Tunis type in the 90's! Stay Focused !
Guys,
ReplyDeleteFollowing is the editorial of today's "The Island"
A precursor to the Wanni battle?
Attack, the wounded Tigers seem to think, is the best form of defence. Within one year, ten of its arms smuggling ships or 'floating warehouses' as the Navy calls them, have been destroyed together with the Wanni-bound lethal cargo. They are faced with a severe shortage of ammunition, especially artillery shells because they have no way of replenishing their stocks due to intensified naval patrol in the Northern and Eastern seas. The Air Force keeps pounding the targets in the Wanni day in day out. The Army is poised to march on the Wanni but is acting with restraint due to international pressure. Above all, the loss of the Eastern Province has dealt a devastating blow to the Tigers.
With the fear of a massive military onslaught in the Wanni looming large, the cornered Tigers seem to have opted for, so to speak, preemptive strikes. Earlier they targeted the Katunayake airbase but in vain. Their aim was to destroy the fighter jets that wreak havoc on their bases in the North. Their desperation knows no bounds.
Thus, the LTTE raid on the Anuradhapura Airbase yesterday came as no surprise. For the first time in six months, they took out their light aircraft and managed to destroy some aircraft on the ground. But, given the fact that Prabhakaran deployed the best of his combatants for the offensive, his objective may have been to overrun the camp and hold it at least for a few hours so as to gain the maximum possible publicity. If the number of the Tiger combatants who posed for a picture, which the LTTE released to the media within a few hours of the offensive is any indication, then almost all of them perished in the attack on the ground. The military said it had recovered twenty bodies of LTTE combatants by yesterday morning. However, whether those pictures were a red herring to cover up the true identities of the combatants who took part in the attack remains to be seen. If those pictures are genuine, then a logical conclusion will be that the LTTE released them after it was confirmed that all its fighters had been killed.
Although the LTTE may flaunt the destruction of the SLAF aircraft as a success, it has all the trappings of a pyrrhic victory. Flying machines are something that can be replaced without much difficulty albeit at a cost. True, the lives of security forces personnel including those of pilots are precious and their loss is a big blow to the military. But, the military is not faced with a manpower shortage unlike the LTTE, which is heavily dependent on forcibly recruited men, women and children to sustain its war effort. The military can recruit troops and train pilots with relative ease. The loss of suicide cadres whom Prabhakaran doesn't expend so easily is irreparable to the LTTE, which is believed to have not more than 4,000 battle-hardened cadres to defend the Wanni. It cannot absorb casualties unlike in the past when it had little or no difficulty in recruiting.
But, nothing is going to stop Prabhakaran at this stage. Being encircled in the Wanni with an effective naval blockade preventing arms from coming in, the army ready to move in and the Air Force unleashing hell from heavens, is a frightening proposition for him. If his defences crumble, unable to face the military juggernaut, he knows he is done for.
The LTTE is very likely to target the military bases around the Wanni, from which attacks are launched against it. If the military gets lulled into a sense of complacency, the LTTE will find its task easier. Yesterday's attack is being blamed on unpreparedness on the part of the Anuradhapura air base. A mega motoring event on the eve of the attack in Anuradhapura, where tens of thousands of people thronged has also come in for criticism as mass gatherings facilitate the movement of LTTE cadres and smuggling of arms and explosives.
What Prabhakaran needs desperately at this juncture is a spectacular victory which is devastating enough to offset the government's military gains including the capture of Thoppigala so that the anti-government political forces will get a boost besides the morale of his cadres. He has made several attempts in the North to achieve that objective. He unsuccessfully tried to make a foray into Jaffna a few months ago. The only way he can think of turning the tables on President Mahinda Rajapaksa is to land him in the political soup by providing his enemies with propaganda fodder. The Anuradhapura attack has given an impetus to the Opposition campaign against the government but it needs much more steam to sustain its momentum.
Interestingly, the LTTE seems to be wary of 'long-haul' flights these days. Is it because of the military's newly acquired air defence capabilities in Colombo? Or, is it because the LTTE is finding it difficult to engage in 'long distance' flying due to a shortage of fuel and spares?
Now that the LTTE is in the attack mode to ward off the threats it faces in the Wanni, Prabhakaran will go the whole hog, as is his wont, to break free from pressure and put the military on the defensive. Although the government claims the LTTE is contemplating UDI early next year, Prabhakaran might even opt for talks, if he manages to score a spectacular victory in a bid to win back the much needed international sympathy. But, as it is the LTTE which stands to gain from a low intensity war, it is doubtful whether the military will allow it to relax and plan its offensives.
The fallout of the Anuradhapura attacks might even trigger the much dreaded war for the Wanni.
Defencenet
ReplyDeleteWas it a Beech SIGNIT or a Beech HISAR aircraft?
"Sri Lanka Guardian" Says it's the first time in the LTTE history that they have been lost large numbers of the Black Tigers within a confrontation.
ReplyDeleteAlso it states that there is a plan in place to kill the president in the near future.
http://lankaguardian.blogspot.com/
SL Army website claims some of the attackers were between 13-16yrs ! I beg to defer when one looks at the Group photo ! Also is that 2 Female tigers on the left ? I 'd really like to hear what Iqbal Athas cranks out sunday.Maybe he knew something ! This really sucks !
ReplyDeletehemantha
ReplyDeleteOur security must protect MR at all cost. MR, Fonseka and Gota are the three the LTTE hate the most, 2 of them have been targets of failed assasination attempts and I am sure MR is high on the LTTE list too.
I don't like seeing MR standing in pubic or on podioums while addressing a crowd. I know he is the president, but his security is more important.
A sniper's bullet can sneak through the smallest of openings, we can't take that risk. His personal security must be similar to that of Pakistani president Musharaff. His personal security is arguably the best in Asia.
On the flip side, we must do everything to track down and kill VP at all costs. cut the head of the snake I say.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/10/23/wlanka123.xml
ReplyDeleteTamil Tiger suicide squad in audacious strike
For those who were asking the potential losses from this attack.
Tamil Tiger rebels staged a spectacular pre-dawn raid on a Sri Lankan air force base on Monday, using light aircraft and suicide-bombers to destroy military planes and equipment worth more than £20 million.
Among the planes allegedly damaged or destroyed was a Beechcraft surveillance plane worth £14 million, two Mi17 helicopters, two Mi24 helicopters, three unmanned aerial vehicles, a K-8 jet and eight PD6 propeller trainer aircraft.
Hence a rough estimate of aircraft losses are about 5 billion rupees. With the bases and others etc I believe it can go higher.
indiadaily.com reports:
ReplyDelete"Sri Lanka was in the receiving end. They are planning their massive air, ground and naval retaliation to wipe out the Tamil Tigers.
More than 18 Sri Lankan airmen and 16 Tiger rebels were killed in a coordinated air and ground pre-dawn attack on Monday by the Tamil tigers on an air force base in Anuradhapura situated in North-central Sri Lanka. Tigers used two light aircrafts to drop two bombs. The attack had a surprise and precision element. At the same time close to 20 Tiger commandoes attacked the air base with a suicide mission.
The battle was fierce between the Tiger commandoes and the security forces at the air base.
Sri Lanka Government is consulting with the Indian counterpart at the highest level before crushing the tiger rebels.
Sri Lanka may use precision radar guided missile to target the Tiger rebels. They are in consultation with many countries before introducing high-tech weaponry in the region."
-----------------------------
I wonder what high-tech weaponry they are actaully talking about?
http://www.spur.asn.au/LTTE_Suicide_Attack_20071022_Anuradhapura_air_Base.htm
ReplyDeleteSoldier bodies, not for the faint hearted.
"Soldier bodies, not for the faint hearted."
ReplyDeleteNavindran those were the LTTE, they were wearing SLAF fatigues.
Aha, that feels better...no I don't mean the AAFB attack.
ReplyDeleteWhat I mean is what's in store for the LTTE scum! They will soon realize what a did-not-make-a-difference "win" this AAFB attack was!
Enough said as walls have ears! LMSSAO!
OaO Asithri
Asithri
ReplyDeleteDid you use to post in LNP under the name "FukLTTE" ?
Hemantha,
ReplyDeleteAs someone also mentioned earlier, LTTE came and accomplished their mission. They did not come to go alive. So, they died as the mission intended.
Now it is time for us to learn. It could be Hingurakgoda, or Katunayake tomorrow. May be Vaunia.
But, at least now you have to take appropriate measures to curb any similar thing happening.
I am dreading about few week areas, and pray it not to happen at any cost.
Hopefully they know what they are and hope our guys take appropriate measures to secure them too..
I am no defence expert but let me say what a common man can see. Before that let us remind that whatever we write here both MOD guys and LTTE can read.
ReplyDelete1.0 Excellent inteligence / ground attack
LTTE (ground black tigers)should get full creidt for their excellent job. (when they fight well we should accept that.)They came to our area (so this is thier DPU attack) and destroyed fully an air base. I guess their arial attack did little or no damage. Only thing because of that we lost our B-212 and two pilots by friendly fire. There is no meaning to emphasisng 21 black tigers dead. As they came to die and they died only after destroying the base. It seems the biggest lost to us is the beach air craft. Some says tigers too lost one plane but this is not yet confirmed.
2.0 Tigers are weak not their terrorism
Just because we kill few hundreds of cadres, capture some land and recover some heavy whepons tigers will not become weak. The reason is they are a terrorist outfit. They just need one well trained sucide cader and bomb lorry, a whole city might disapear. To get MR, Gotabhaya or Sarath Phonseka they just need one second and one sucide bomber. As far as LTTE top hard core gang exists we have to live with this threat. It is true that due to recent military acomplishments they are in the receving end. But this doesn't mean LTTE is disabled. They are losing their defacto state but not the terrorist capabilities. We should not mix LTTE's military defeats with their ability of terror attacks.
3.0 What next?
This attack is for sure a moral booster for dying tigers and tamil diaspora (and also for the UNP.) After Katunayaka attack LTTE capitalised on that very well by getting all the wanni back, E'pass and finally a invaluable ceasefire. Think about a criket match. A pair will not bat forever, at some time a wicket go down. But then we need to another good partnership rather than start loosing wickets on a raw. It is same here. OK we got hammered. But we had the winning trend / upper hand. That's what we need to keep with us. In other words we should not let this to be turning point.
4.0 Why and how this happened?
Now we need to fix all our loop holes.
4.1)We didn't have method to deal with enimy air planes and our own ones. It is ridiculos if have not think about this earlier.
4.2)These black tigers didn't just came as coming on a trip. They came having all the information, maps of the base, knowing where AA guns located, where land mines and loacted and every thing. So this is a great victory of LTTE inteligence. And we again failed in our counter inteligence startegies. We know our MI guys are doing a great job. But I think we don't have a good meachanism to aviod leaking our info to the enimy.
4.3)We need to understand what the LTTE expectation are now and don't give what they want. Unless we have precise info these Kfir and MIG displays give us nothing and LTTE will gain showing civilian casulaties even it didn't happen. If GOSL think they can keep the support of south by sending Kfirs and MIGS it will not work they should stop that. And also just to get revenge or thinking we should clear all wanni to stop this kind of terror attacks if we start a major operation to wanni it is also not good. As gatting land will not stop terror attacks and we will get lot of injuries and many other problems. The only thing I can think about is our DPU guys. We know now LTTE might get adpeted to their startegies. But let'e be innovative. I hope current operations in wanni FDL should go on with same phase while we need some thing from DPU guys.
5.0 Summury
Finally, we know LTTE attacked KAB and destroyed it all. But finally they got nothing. We all sri lankans had to bare high COL was the only final out come. So I don't think this in long term going to be a big damage to us. LTTE supportes are happy and they have to be. I can feel now how LTTE supprters were feeling for so many months. I saw some guys gave up the key board. OK give up the key borad and join forces.
GE, no bro, I was once "PrettyKfir" and when that "Mr.Brown" got annoyed with me for "laying it thick with spices" to the filthy LTTE carcass-maggots (while he was not banning hardcore LTTE maggots who were having a field day mutilating the Sinhelas and in particular, the Sinhela Buddhists with profanity!), I came back as "Asithri" which incidentally is one of my names. Then, when I “re-annoyed” “Mr. Brown” (lol!) by laying it thick again to the LTTE maggots, I gave up as it was evident to me that the site was hopeless in offering a balanced perspective in as far as readers’ comments were concerned. There was one RW/LTTE maggots there named "shakti" I believe who went out of his way to get me out as he simply could not go against yours truly "OaO Asithri, aka PrettyKfir" and he took the easy route by crying on "Mr. Brown's" shoulder...a fcuking bloody pansy (or pussy I should say) he was...I didn't expect anything more from the fcuking rat as from the beginning it was evident he lacked a backbone. Anyway, no sweat about LNP as it enabled me to go and direct counter-propaganda at more respected and worthwhile sites (naturally, keeping in with “good language” that I saw in those sites).
ReplyDeleteAs for “FukLTTE,” yes, I did have the pleasure of meeting him on occasion as he would come in and blast the LTTE maggots at the LNP and we did strike a kind of camaraderie given the unfairness we saw there (birds of feather, flock together! LMSSAO!)…however, as usual, “Mr. Brown” “got annoyed” with him too and he was history in no time. Well, as the saying goes…”who the fuck cares?” Not me bro, and I bet not “FukLTTE” either! LMSSAO!
DefNet, I apologize for this mild digression…I just had to answer our compatriot, GE.
OaO Asithri
Navindran...
ReplyDeletethose pictures are of black tigers and no soldiers as you have described
MOD says that it found bodies of 20 terrorists in the AAB. LTTE claims that they sent 21 terrorists. What happened to the 21st terrorist? If this count is not a ploy, is there any chance the 21st terrorist escaped or drowned on the way? From where did they come in to Anuradhapura as a large group or did they arrive one by one in disguise? If so, they may have had weapons hidden somewhere in the vicinity. Who provided shelter to them in the meantime. If that group photo is for real, the team may have planned and rehearsed the attack a few times. Also, they may have had reserves for the attack. It is less likely than not to send individual members of a trained team months in advance to stay below radars of security checks. Therefore, the entire team may have arrive a few days ago from Vanni. If so, it is vital to know the route they took in to A'pura. Lots of questions for CID to figure out.
ReplyDeleteAsithri.. Asithri.. Asithri..
ReplyDeleteIt is a hard day I agree...!
Sam, the Specialforces user at LNP is saying the military have captured 3 of them injured but alive.
ReplyDeleteDefencenet can you confirm this?
Apoligises as there was not a clear caption on the spur website.
ReplyDeleteGE,
ReplyDeleteTamilnet says it is HISAR
http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=23574
My opinion is that we shouldn't go for new weapons or fighter jets. What we have in our stores are enough to fight terrorists.
ReplyDeleteWHAT WE REQUIRE IS UNIQUE THINKING AND INNOVATIVE NEW WAR TACTICS.
-----------------------------------
ReplyDeletemy question was not answered...
-----------------------------------
was there a early intel information regarding such an attack, i mean even a slight one.
It is a bad idea to attack wanni now.1)Because of "human rights" front
ReplyDelete2)Whoever planned this attack is under the illusion that "the sinhalese" are going to get worked up and act irrationally.So the LTTE are waiting for us.
3)Patriot raised a valid point.Did the base receive advanced intel of such an attack and what was done about it.
one point that comes to mind regarding this attack is what kind of idiot will base something worth a few million $ under a takarung hanger let alone the heat effect within the hanger.
ReplyDelete"If the SLAF cannot protect its own bases from LTTE attacks how can we expect them to protect the rest of the nation?"
ReplyDeleteDon't be silly. What do you think this is, a movie? That the heroes can kill a thousand baddies with one belt of ammo? In war you win some, you lose some.
"Hey guys without inside help cannot happen these things. Who gave map to LTTE ?"
Not necessarily. All you need is Google Earth or Wikimapia to get detailed aerial photos of aany SL defence installation :) .
"You are exactly rightfully guessed. Google Earth is a great tool and it is no brainer to use it. When LTTE spend millions $, they can certainly afford $400.00."
You don't even need to spend that. If you use Wikimapia (totally free) you can see detailed pix of Katu, China Bay, etc. The pix of Katu are detailed enough to ID aircraft types on the tarmac.
"Maps are one thing guys, but they must have received advanced information on patrols and sentry points, how else did they get in undetected????"
A special ops deep recce team in place could have been monitoring the base for days or even weeks, getting int on the patrol and sentry schedules.
"Every force should have a Security Audit Group, who constantly visit each camp and carry out risk audits and rate each of the camps on a rating scale assessing various types of risks"
At least one local PMC has made this offer to the MoD, but been turned down.
"It is high time millitary banned all musical shows/motor crosses..etc.etc...This is the cover LTTE will use to attack SLA defences everywhere..."
Let's not overreact here. We're always talking about the morale of the troops. How do you think morale will fare if all entertainment is cancelled? What needs to be done is ensure that camp security isn't compromised by musical shows, etc. Don't throw the baby out with the bath water.
"too bad you are not in the MOD as you would do wonders whereas some of the blockheads there (who are paid to do this job) are clearly showing some costly lapses! In my view, these bureaucratic buggers should be sent packing home. "
Maybe we should get the defence correspondents to expose these "bureaucratic buggers", eh? But wait, isn't that what they've been doing? ;)
"Navindran those were the LTTE, they were wearing SLAF fatigues."
Those are regular US woodland-pattern BDUs, like what the SL Army wears. The SLAF wears the "dawn stalker" blue/grey version.
"They will soon realize what a did-not-make-a-difference "win" this AAFB attack was"
I'm all for keeping up spirits, but try not to be absurd. At the very least, this attack will postpone any planned Vanni ops for awhile. We come here to exchange frank ideas, not blow smoke up each other's arses.
surveillance beechcraft is finished.
ReplyDeleteDefenceNet - you were spot when you said ".......Over emphasizing the fact that 20 LTTE cadres got
ReplyDeletekilled in the incident to try and overshadow the weaknesses will lead to nowhere but repeated failures.
21 LTTE cadres died after accomplishing their mission."
I just hopes the GOSL realise that its not the LTTE death count that matters here, their mission was
accomplised to a certain extent, so no need to gloat about the death count.
One thing that is commendable for RSF and the guys who fought back is - they didnt allow the Black
tigers to hold on to the base for a long time and something that occurred to me was - might sound far
fetching - they didn’t take away any planes/helis !!!! I remember the grapevine during the 2001 KAB/BIA
attack they wanted to take back one of our birds.
I disagree with the Island editorial on this ".... True, the lives of security forces personnel
including those of pilots are precious and their loss is a big blow to the military. But, the military
is not faced with a manpower shortage unlike the LTTE, which is heavily dependent on forcibly recruited
men, women and children to sustain its war effort. The military can recruit troops and train pilots with
relative ease...""
Yeah rite, go train a pilot overnight and ask him to fly a bird !!! It takes years to train and horne a
good pilot. We are said to have one of the best Helicopters in the world. They clock large flying hours
in relatively small time(age). And have great skills in flying techniques to avoid ground fire and SAMs.
So how can we get them back so soon ? What about the pilots and trainees and Instructors who might have
died during the attack on AAFB ????
Why on earth cant we distinguish an BEll 212, was it the darkness ? If the blue on blue incident is
confirmed. Then we should think hard about shooting everything that flies ! Now SLDF should know it
could be our aircraft which is on the attack or passenger aircraft as well (Didn't our fellows aim the
guns at Cathay or Sri Lankan airlines ?
And I hope SLAF stops venting their anger at the so called "Irandamadu Airstrip".. Do they want us to
think these tin planes, always take off from there? C'mon !!!
hey DW is there any truth in the news that forces were able to capture 3 injured black tigers alive.(This is very unlikely to happen)
ReplyDeleteand the claim about the destroyed zlin in iranamadu.
What was the RSF of the airforce doing here. Were they on somewhere else?
PLS put some information regarding these news items becos we have been blinded by the government censorship and the over confident LTTE propaganda machine.
(I have on of my closest friends lost in this unfortunate incident)
Defencenet, any news about the outcome of the two investigation teams? Someone must be held accountable for the debacle - the loss of the aircrafts.
ReplyDeleteTigers are losers as well, apart from inflicting psychological blow to our psyche and providing the so-called peace makers with a platform to say 'we told you so'. Judging by the stuff they carried, they had come for something bigger than destroying just the planes and failed miserably, in that context.
So, the airforce had some success, but it was eclipsed by the losses of the planes. Tiger air attack is again a laughable thing - pretty ameturistic. Yes, the way they got there is serious stuff for an inquiery and not a whitewash. Air force will recover the latest setback and the fight against the Tigers will continue.
The Navy set an example by holding the officer-in-charge of the Galle base accountable for an attack on the base in the recent past - despite being a relatively minor attack.
Hope the Air force will follow suit; if not, are forced to do so.
Letting those resposible off the hook is a thing of the past and not something to be repeated. The citizens of the country is paying a heavy price for this war on all fronts.
As General Fonseka said recently, this is one the catalogue of mistakes made by the forces, not the politicians. So, scoring political points on this occassion is counter-productive and un-patriotic.
Let's encourage the morale of the forces at this difficult time. They will conquer this menace! Tigers show the signs of desperation!!
It is worth noting that the recent attacks on the Air force bases took place on Sundays!
Does anyone know how many air assets were destroyed and how many will have to be decommissioned?.
ReplyDeleteWhat is worrying me is the destruction of the UAV's.This is one of our major intel sources in the north.without these we dont know the exact LTTE troop movements/training etc of the LTTE and are unable to bomb concentrations of tiger cadres.You cant really blame the air force for the bell crash through friendly fire.
ReplyDeleteThis is because the entire anuradapura base seems to be geared to intel gathering/general transport.So the LTTE really hit some kind of logistics facility.
ReplyDeleteI know i should not say what i am going to say:I am happy that the airforce faught bravely and killed as many of these white/black/pink/orange LTTE tiger cadres.They could have all hidden under beds..and worst of all the LTTE could have flown a large number of air assets to their bases indiscriminately attacking defenseless villages on the way.So full credit to the airforce.
ReplyDeleteGuys,
ReplyDeleteLook closely at this photograph on the Tamilnet:
http://www.tamilnet.com/pic.html?path=/img/publish/2007/10/ltte_22_08_07_01a.jpg&width=1200&height=652
There are more than 21 in it; but has clearly been cropped up to show just 21, may be with the news that 21 perished. Others may still be in the jungles. It must get the attention of the defence authorities.
Defencenet, do these planes have insurance cover to make some financial recovery? I feel it is very unlikely
ReplyDeleteIt’s not about the equipment...
ReplyDeleteIt’s always about the methodology, procedures we follow or the system we got,
We need to develop a system that is capable of using things, what ever resources to get us into the success it could be mig27, mi, zlin, ak47 anything...
System has to be dynamic / flexible enough to handle multiple situations
Could be counter terrorism, foreign invention, disaster management or newly formed catastrophic situation
We get the information from sources and prioritize them time to time and archived
System helps us to identify what we are lacking or what are the vulnerable areas,
What could be affected and the forecasting (or information for forecasting) that can be occurred
In this case we could have done:
Threats are fore the air bases
Ground attack, air attack, Infiltration using internal or external personals
What are the plans we can have:
If air – what are the possibilities, what we have and how we improve
These sort of things have to be revised time to time and redefined
When we know there’s a possibility of cutting the fence, we could set a system to identify ground points of the system as soon as someone touch or cut the fence (it gives location) this is just a simple one for kids, there are many
I wonder who are doing the Vulnerability studies over defense entities
Below person (link) has done lot about it, we might be able to get something from sort of people(but David disagrees with me earlier, said corrupted, if he’s corrupted navy seal site would never mention him)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Marcinko
With regard to the attack..we have to think of how long it takes 4 people to spray say a 1000 bullets/rockets/grenades on parked aircraft...i dont know..say 5 mins?.So the airforce responded to a surprise attack within this time frame....great job!.
ReplyDeleteHowever MI should have warned them that the tigers who are short of cadres are going to take out the one instrument that enable planes to bomb large concentrations of cadres..surveillence craft..We should have been more prepared with the dispersal of the air assets.
As far the photo from the LTTE goes, there is a need to identify whether the people shown are actually involved in the misson. The truncation could be that a larger group was expected or the corner guys are reserve.
ReplyDeleteThey will most probabily be out or left with video footage of the attack just like in KAB in 2001.
Patriot, that's not a SEAL site, that's Wikipedia. However, Rick Marcinko's definitely a great soldier, and the founder commander of SEAL Team 6. None of that is in dispute. But he waas court-martialled and fired for embezzelment. He even admits it in his autobiography "Rogue Warrior".
ReplyDeleteNavindran, you are right; I also have a doubt over the photo: they do not match any of the macabre photographs of the dead; may be the photo is another ploy by the Tigers to fools the defence establishment.
ReplyDeleteAlso the posed pix will include the air crews too, remember.
ReplyDeleteYes, Daivd, there were two separate photographs for the air crew; they may be genuine; but the group photo can be red-herring!
ReplyDeleteThey hit the night the Gajaba Supercross ended, took the camp by surprise.
ReplyDeleteYes, JackPoint this is the case; the list makes uncomfortable reading: cricket world cup night; Sirasa super star .....
ReplyDeletei mean the sites related to navy seals
ReplyDeletewww.navyseals.com (though that’s a commercial site..
)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Navy_SEALs
People cant have a thief in their sites...
This guy have received number of medals (just check everyone link I have given)
Just a soldier cannot be a
"Commander Richard Marcinko, founder of SEAL Team Six"
[Google: Richard Marcinko. u'll find a lot]
He has written number of books both military and business
As u ppl say. if he's criminal.
He would not go that far
(look at this link , if someone feels that im talking bullshit book link)
Although its obvious that it was the ground attack which caused all the damage, the SLAF's inability to shoot down LTTE aircraft during their propaganda stunts is equally demoralising/damaging.
ReplyDeleteIt is accepted that the best action would be to have better intelligence and destroy them on the ground, but intelligence is probably the hardest asset to acquire. Take a look at the specifications of the Zlin 143Lsi which the LTTE uses.
www.zlinaircraft.cz/aircraft.html
The normal version has a range of 1100km (4.5 hours flying time) and long range version over 2000km. That is a lot of range for a small place like SL. They dont need to fly over our FDL's and places where they know that spotters/AA defences would be located. They can easily fly around them and have fuel to spare. If they attack Trinco, Palaly or Colombo they can come all the way over the sea and no one will see them (they dont make much noise, so even if they are only slightly off the coast, no one will hear them). Flying low over water in the dark is very difficult, but the LTTE pilots have shown themselves to be instrument trained and very competent, so it wont be impossible.
They wont hang around to get shot down after dropping their one/two bombs, and the base defenders cant be expected to react in the few seconds they have before the planes dissapear again, especially with manually operated AA guns/MANPAD's.
So what is needed is radar that works, which detect them in advance giving time for ground defences/interceptors to react.
The Chinese 3D radars were reported to be in operation earlier. However, this might not really help as we are seeing. 3D radar is designed to spot fast low flying fighter jets. They are not really designed for very small, slow, low flying targets like Zlins.
What is needed is a comprehensive air defence network comprising of lots of mobile radars (in addition to 3D), modern point defences at key targets (radar guided AA, SAMs), and finally some form of interceptor capability along with another AEW asset like the HISAR. If modern multi role fighters are too expensive, they should atleast upgrade the Kfir C7's and K8's to give chase. Going after a Zlin in the dark with a Bell 212 as reported is ridiculous.
Patriot. Sigh. I have the book. Have you read it? I'm not saying he's guilty (he claims he isn't). It is doccumented fact that he was cashiered out of the US Navy for embezzling funds. If you have read his autobiography you'd know. Please don't waste time arguing the earth is flat.
ReplyDeleteLots of great men have committed crimes. Lots of great men wrote books. Don't be dazzled. Rick Marcinko IS a great man. But not without his failings.
Can we move on now?
As I metioned earlier, the LTTE air craft used in the assualt is not merely for propganda value. If they got shot down, all the damage the LTTE has caused will be wasted as the goverment now would have something to say that they can meet the challenge etc etc.
ReplyDeleteThe air craft are basically mobile mortar units. They to a certain extent are accurate with the GPS. Even if they do not hit the target they can "attack from the rear".
I believe the beech craft would have been more secure than the other air craft. Hence to reach it, the LTTE could have used the air wing. Hence they also can force out forces etc etc.
Next the LTTE need not bring the mortars (heavy weapons) which will be mobile on demand. Hence small weapons and people can move into to the target area in stages without arousing suspicion.
I do not see the LTTE air wing being useful in any major offensive. They are best used in such missons. The part in SAAG that the LTTE does not have spares etc is also bullocks.
This is their most important propagnda tool to date. They will use it wisely. The LTTE would have stockpiled weapons and parts to support the aircraft for many missons ahead.
Guys, LankaeNews shows two photographs with the perimeter fence being cut for the intrusion. It is not easy to monitor a perimeter of this size 24/7; a challenge cashed in on by the Tigers.
ReplyDeleteHow about infesting the perimeter region with stray dogs - we are not short of them - as an improvised way of getting alerted -in the event of a future intrusion.
Sophisticated methods are not foolproof all the time.
The ratio of death 21:9 is pretty disturbing too.
SL Army website: ...Some of the dead LTTE cadres .. are perhaps in the age range of 13-16
ReplyDeleteyears.
http://www.army.lk/editor/images/diwan/New_5_30.jpg
http://www.army.lk/editor/images/diwan/New_4_61.jpg
This is very strange. The thugs in these photos are at least above 25!
Most probably this misinformation was inserted intentionally by a paid hand to demoralise
the SLDFs and the people. Not long ago Army website was "bumping off" our own soldiers!
Heard that Anglican Boss Chikera is doing his celebrations with Kilinochchi Vine (Daily
Mirror 22/10/07) !
Who can get these kande panuvas out of the system ?
There is a big psy war against us since the Binthanne Karella, LTTE zombies are the present
sub-contractors.
Waste of time to cry from roof tops it seems. In a tropical country where the judges still
wear the ceremonial wig warn by the Brits in their freezing court-halls 100 years ago!
The psy agents of the LTTE (Ex. Wijaya News Papers, lankanewspapers.com, Ranil, Chikera..)
want to imbibe the "NAEEEE, BAEE" mentality back into our psyche to loose our
aathmegauravaya & aathmevisvasaya.
VISSASA PARAMA CHANTHI : Athme Visvasaya is the best kin (of the Nation)
It is the aathmevisvasaya which helps maintain the adhistanaya (will).
It is the will that matters.
IF THERE IS A WILL, THERE IS A WAY.
SRI LANKANS, WAKE UP FROM THE SLUMBER.
=============PAMADO MACHCHUNO PADAM============
THE LAZY DUMP SLOTH OF A MAN IS AS GOOD AS DEAD
====================================================
PAMADO MACHCHUNO PADAM
ReplyDeleteTHE LAZY DUMP SLOTH OF A MAN IS AS GOOD AS DEAD
noltte=peace,Rifard,
ReplyDelete"When you say "share knowledge/info", do you mean confidential info about our forces that would otherwise be unknown to LTTE?"
That's not what i meant.i'm a defence enthusiast & i happen to have a serious interest in weapons/technology-that's why i like to blog on this site.
Do they really look like kids. Will the LTTE use kids knowing that nobody will survive. In the KAB attack in 2001 many bodies were recovered. Hence in this round also they would expect the cadres bodies to be found.
ReplyDeleteLook at the photos at defence.lk. They do their reporting more proffessionally.
Its like some people are trying to salvage their pride and also hit back the HR community. I thought some people in the blog said the SLA does not display the dead while the LTTE does.
If a mistake is made, admit and move on like the Australian Rubgy Coach said recently. By doing all the bullshit propaganda, it makes the defence establishments look bad.
SLAF bombed Iranamadu air strip after this incident.
ReplyDeleteThis is like "Kele inna muva goyam kevama gedara thiyena muva hamata thalana wage"
This shows that there is immense room for improvement every where in the defence establishment. Done that we should be able to fight this war even more effectively.
Goldeneagle,
ReplyDeleteI am very frequent visitor to the india daily portal..
That portal has a tendancy to sensationalies everything they right...
However I hope what they says this time is true...
Mathamathica,
ReplyDeleteIt is likely the SLAF and SLA at logger heads over the incident regarding the downing of the SLAF craft by friendly fire..
I hope they refocus their attention on the public enemy no 1...
This is not the time to find who's fault but take measures not to repeat the same mistakes over and over again...
It seems we didn't learn the lesson first time...
The method of using dogs around the perimeter is a good idea and it is good ditterent too..At the same time we need to construct two perhaps three fences along the perimter..An electric fence with a simple cameras would do a great deal..This is what we lack in every vital installation...
ReplyDeleteMy guess is employing stray dogs will create other problems too...
SLDF should station armed men outside of the perimeter at night in the bush land around the base..This is the method I think will most likely undo LTTE terrorists...Night patrols in and around the base using dogs will make LTTE infiltrations almost impossible...
DOGS will pick up any scent easily...
ReplyDeleteNow to the most important thing i wanted to tell you all...
I think the next LTTE move will be another commando style raid on the Trinco SLAF/SLN bases...
I repeat TRINCO is the next target..
After that(depending on the outcome) they will make a move on Jaffna...There is high possibility that they will carry the two operations to simultaniously...
Guys we need to be really prepared for this...
Us usual UNP came up calling the heads of DEFENCE secy and the SLAF commander..
ReplyDeleteJust pathetic for an oppostion to behave like this...
Stay the cause...These men initiated it and let them finish it...
LTTE will take out our ships in Trinco...We need to check the defences of all the bases regardless and the importance...
ReplyDeleteBe prepared....
Defencewire now says more than 17 aircrafts lost...
ReplyDeleteBBC World TV interviewed an LTTE spokesman from the north last evening which I found rather amusing since the UK Government is supposed to be joining hands with the Americans and other western nations in fighting terrorism across the globe?
ReplyDeleteI smell a double standard lurking here.
One of the reasons why we always seem to be getting screwed up with all these stories of the LTTE having "inside information" is because people don't seem to know how to keep their damn mouths shut.
ReplyDeleteHow many times now has someone on this blog asked whether the army actually captured LTTE cadres alive? What is it to you? Are you going to file a request with the MoD to go interrogate them?
If we did capture someone alive, it's a whole lot better off if the LTTE didn't know anything about it. They find out we have their people, they'll just change their entire operating structure to make sure any intelligence we get from them is of no use to us.
Its always the same story. Someone picks up something important and all of a sudden the whole village knows about it. That seeps through to the LTTE, they use it and something like this happens and there are these calls for witch hunts against the officers in charge.
From the janitors up, everyone needs to learn to keep their frigging mouths shut with regard to sensitive information.
Vigilante...I think the LTTE r destroying the air assets as a precursor to an attack on jaffna.Anyway vigilante..think of it this way if VP gets EELAM we will rally behind a SLankan pirabaharan..and keep the war going for the next 2514 years.
ReplyDeleteVigilante look at it this way..Our fundamental rights are being violated..we cannot live in certain areas of SLanka
ReplyDelete