The sea going arm of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) were locked in a fierce battle off the seas south of Delft for nearly two hours from 12.45PM to 2.30PM today (26th). Both parties have suffered heavy casualties in the firefight with SLN losing 1 Dvora vessel and the sea tigers losing 4 of their attack crafts plus two suicide boats.
The battle erupted when the SLN intercepted a suspicious boat movement south of Delft coastline today noon. SLN craft were soon engaging with 14-16 of LTTE's medium sized attack crafts when two explosive laden suicide boats rammed into one of the Dvoras causing a loud explosion. The Israeli built craft was completely destroyed and all personnel on board are feared killed. Another SLN Dvora sustained damages in the incident but it is said to be in repairable condition. LTTE too has lost four of its attack crafts along with cadres on board. This is in addition to the two suicide boats which rammed against the Dvora. Exact damages to LTTE hardware/personnel is not known as of yet as they have so far maintained radio silence since the battle.
Sea tiger boats retreated towards LTTE controlled waters in Nachchikuda region south of Delft after the two hour long firefight. SLAF MI-24 helicopter gunships too were called to the scene to provide fire support and to aid in rescue missions.
A Dvora is usually manned by 12-16 personnel while a LTTE's medium sized attack craft is manned by 8-12 cadres. A suicide boat usually has two black tigers on board.
i just spoke to a friend of mine in SLN ...i said the same story ... hat off to the herose....
ReplyDeleteany news about the vessel?
Guys,
ReplyDeleteNavy had an excellent track record under Karannagoda. It looks like the guard may have been dropped a bit in the festive season.
May the noble triple gem bless those brave sailors who laid down their precious lives to make our lives safer.
The Navy will recover from this and so will the SLDF.
Let's hope political opportunists will not exploit this to downgrade the morale of the forces.
News is also trickling in that an unidentified vessel in the seas outside Sri Lanka has been captured by the Navy and the crew detained in Colombo while the ship has been sent to Galle Harbor.
ReplyDeleteDefencenet, all,
ReplyDelete1. Could this have been a diversionary attack?
2. Does the post by RC59Group hold any water?
3. If you could, is it possible to enlighten me as to how radio communication of the enemy facilitates the estimation enemye casualties? It baffles me as to why either party would, knowing well that the other party is listening would disclose casualty figures.
May the noble triple gem bless those brave souls who lost their lives today.May they attend nibbana.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like our strategy is working.It is drawing this murderous filth out of their rat holes.Now according to defencewire these boats were escorting a weapons ship from tamilnadu.What happened to this weapons ship.
Also any news of this battle in adampan with 39 injured so far??
I think the navy's problem is not having the proper guns
srilankan,
ReplyDeletewhat are you talking about with 39 injured? Could you point me to a news source of this particular incident?
defense.lk does not mention the destroyed boat.I am praying that at least some navy persons jumped off the ship before it blew.I dont know the blast radius of the suicide boat
ReplyDeletekir..should be in defencewire
ReplyDeletequrious..I dont think it is the festive mood.The tigers are employing this strategy of cornering a small number of the enemy with a large number of boats..like nelson did?.the weather condition has to be factored in also which will affect a larger ship more than a smaller one.
ReplyDeleteWe will need to face few more or many attacks while getting closer to hit the big pig.
ReplyDeleteLet´s be ready... civilians has to keep eye on while brave forces trying to wipe the pig gang off.
Bless our brave forces.
Budusaranai.
Dear DefenceNet..when you have the time..
ReplyDeletewhen a MI-24 gunship confronts an LTTE boat.. what kinds of weapons do they fire...Seems like a lot of these boats(fiber glass..i assume) escape which shouldn't happen if the airforce is involved.
kiri,
ReplyDeleteWe cannot still confirm if there was any connection between the ship that was captured and the movement of sea tigers near Delft had any connection.
Anyway the ship is being towed towards the Galle harbor for further investigations and 12 Indonesian crew members who jumped overboard when the navy boarded the ship have been arrested.
"enlighten me as to how radio communication of the enemy facilitates the estimation enemye casualties? It baffles me as to why either party would, knowing well that the other party is listening would disclose casualty figures."
For any party that is engaged in war, communication is essential. It is how they notify central command about the latest battles, troop movements, reinforcement requests etc. In short, communication channels are the links that connects various low level elements within an army which is a complex hierarchy. Without commm links, the entire army will collapse in a short time.
Anyway intercepting is not simply a matter of listening to a radio channel. Both parties take every step possible to make sure that the other party does not intercept (or in the case of interception, decrypt) the message. They are usually encrypted and are broadcast over secure channels. Cracking such cryptosystems are easier said than done.
On the other hand, cracking enemy code does not mean you have access to every bit of inside information. For critical processes such as leader movements, more expensive methods are used.
srilankan,
ReplyDelete"when a MI-24 gunship confronts an LTTE boat.. what kinds of weapons do they fire...Seems like a lot of these boats(fiber glass..i assume) escape which shouldn't happen if the airforce is involved."
Usage of weapons vary according to the situation. Mostly its the cannons that are used to strafe.
Some LTTE boats having AA cannons do not help. AA cannons (even low armament ones) can be lethal to the hinds at close ranges.
defencenet, Any possibility of us having the radar controlled guns against these suicide boats becoz as I have heard it's very hard to pick these small boats in the rough seas and target them manually
ReplyDeletequrious..i forgot to add that these suicide boats are also may have stealth profiles which make them minute in rough seas.I would be happy if the FAC's had the new guns installed on them instead of all this babble to the affirmative from defense.lk.This will give the FAC's a fighting chance when they locate these boats with the greatest of difficulty.
ReplyDeleteMany thanks DefenceNet for your input.
and more.. do we STILL have the 30 mm babies on our FACs with fire control systems to counter this threat..
ReplyDeleteDefencenet,
ReplyDeleteOk I can take that communications are encrypted and all that.
In that case why does defence.lk for instance mention "consistently" that casualty figures of the enemy were determined by listening to their communication channels? What am I missing here? Or is it just a load of garbage by defence.lk et al?
Defencenet,
ReplyDeleteLTTE tried to gain something out of this attacks. Any thoughts on their objective in this attack?
I can list some possibilities.
1) Morale boost for LTTE
2) Tried to take over Delft
3) Provided cover to another operation, perhaps, a diversion for smuggling arms in or smuggling an injured VIP out.
4) ?
Please comment.
We should have a sort of weapon that fires like a short range cannon, but acts like a Claymore, when fired. It should indiscriminately affect (spray) anything within a 30 - 40m distance and should cover a 30-50m cone area. Those cannons should able to fire multiple rounds, and should have been fitted strategically covering 360 degrees of the craft.
ReplyDeleteThey are for the protection of immediate surrounding of the craft, and should be activated when a suicide boat is within the range.
I am thinking of a weapon that fires 10Kg claymore at a time, that resides inside a short wide turret.
Any such weapons in the market?
I am regular reader of this blog but never comment before. But I have to know one thing. In passed six days very few fighter air crafts air borne from Katunayak untill today. But yesterday I saw an air craft very similar to beach craft is landing(I'm working in BIA). Is that air force repair a beach craft? Can anyone know about this.
ReplyDeleteLets hope for the best.
no ltte, maybe something like this is what you want :)
ReplyDeleteMetal Storm
Metal storm in action, video:
ReplyDeleteMetal storm vid
First of all, today’s loss of a dvora FAC is sad, but they died for a valiant cause. I am pleased to hear that our boats were able to inflict some losses on the enemy as well. All our Dvora, Shaldag and UFAC craft must have 30mm cannons fitted, THIS IS A MUST. It must be made the standard caliber for the FACs.
ReplyDeleteI have seen footage and pictures of the LTTE stealth boats and I can see why they are hard to detect. I think they don’t carry radars on them since they are so small. So that means the operators of these suicide crafts must rely on the eye sight to maneuver and ram the suicide craft onto our vessels. If we can reduce the visual visibility of our FACs then the LTTE suicide boats will find it harder to spot and ram them with their suicide boats. How can we make our FACs less visible to the enemy during the heat of combat?
I was thinking, what if we installed powerful smoke grenade launchers on our FACs? Like the ones you see mounted on the sides of battle tanks. I think it would be best to have several sets of smoke grenade launchers installed in each FAC since they are larger than tanks. They are inexpensive and our boys can effectively create a smokescreen if they spot a LTTE suicide craft approaching, the cloud of smoke emitted by grenades will make it harder for the LTTE suicide boats to accurately locate our FACs in the heat of battle. The smoke screen will also give our FACs a chance to use deceptive maneuvers to get out of the cross hairs of the LTTE suicide boats.
What do you guys think of my idea?
What DW mentions and not mentioned by DNet is that its high ranking navy officers in colombo that think 04 Tigers boats were destroyed on top of the suicide boats. Thats says a lot.
ReplyDeleteThis is translation for government propaganda. Unable to withstand sea tiger onslaught, have to save face by claiming mountain out of mole heap.
and keep the gullible masses full of hope that yes, next year, the war will be won (with same swan song playing for 25 years).
ReplyDeleteWhy didn't the planes bomb the location of the seatiger boats as soon as they were on land before dispersal.?Lets put it this way the approach of retreating sea tigers boats is like an arrow pointing to their location on land.
ReplyDelete"Why didn't the planes bomb the location of the seatiger boats as soon as they were on land before dispersal"
ReplyDeleteYes this is a question that always puzzled me too, it must take some time to pull the boats ashore and get them onto trailers etc, even if not jets the Mils could pick them off if they are dispersed?
I have two solutions for counter suiside attacks
ReplyDelete1. SLN should carry atleast two modified small gun mounted suiside type jetskey on board to relese them when ever there is a threat from LTTE suiside boats.
Trained Navy personal esily an jump out, if it really want hit on a suiside boat.
1. Like laying fishing nets, small see bombs, whih are attahed to a string with identifiation michanism, in equal distanes, should release to the see in close combat situation with a suiside boat. this string can be made to follow up with the FAC without damaging the FAC and it will create a good DMZ around it.
GE,
ReplyDeleteHow about these smoke grenade launchers are loaded with some ammo that fire off multiple sharpenell too, in addition to smoke screen?
The issue is, you can create a smoke screen, but you can not escape from a determined suicide boat, who will follow you and ram into you.
In a situation, they will ram into the smoke, and they might hit or miss, but they can repeat it again. So, smoke screen is not very effective.
Think that a suicide craft is about to ram you and you somehow detonate a 10Kg Claymore without harming you/or your craft. This is something we should think of.
Incidentally, I thought about this few days back and did some research, then I came across the same video that Jack mentioned. There is another great video in YouTube http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=iX6YvWxtrxw&feature=related
They are great, but not in the market yet for us to purchase. How about the Russian camp?
On another note, our Navy needs Personal Communications devices for everyone on board a Dvora. Now, even when a gunner on board a Dvora detects a Suicide Craft, there is no way to inform the others than shouting loud. In a fire fight situation, it is difficult to hear.
DN.....
ReplyDeletewhom do you reprent?????
you made all to believe that, this is debale for the NAVY.
BBC and all other news channel says, 6 LTTE boats were damadged by NAVY and another 4 were destroied by SLAF.
Jack,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the video link..
Please check out this video on 6.53.. looks like something similar to what I want..
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=HPdPKkZS6Pk&feature=related
Check this Video on 3.22, you will find some tubes. They are Missile launch tubes. What I envisage is similar launch tubes, but instead of firing missiles, they should have the capability to detonate a Claymore inside the barrel pointing towards suicide craft.
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=zVgYi3PMtrQ&feature=related
At the minimum, Dvora gunners can carry disposable air-burst RPGs on board, and fire them at suicide craft.
ReplyDeleteandare,
ReplyDelete"whom do you reprent?????"
We do not represent anybody.
"you made all to believe that, this is debale for the NAVY."
Where does it say in the article it was a debacle for the navy? Read "Both parties have suffered heavy casualties in the firefight...."
which is the truth. According to our info 6 LTTE boats (including suicide boats) are CONFIRMED to be destroyed. We cannot comment on other news sources which we cannot independently verify.
By the way, we have never "made" anyone believe what we say. Readers are at completely liberty to believe or discard information posted in this blog.
ReplyDeleteAnyway if you expect us to break good news all the time just to trick you into victory, this may not be the place for you.
Jack the airforce has bombed the LTTE boats on land.A total of 11 boats destroyed.Most damage by airforce.No info of LTTE casualty updates.
ReplyDeleteGuys was it an Israeli Dvora or a local UFAC that was destroyed? Defensewire says a UFAC II and defence.lk says "a dockyard built naval craft was damaged when two suicide LTTE boats exploded in the Naval retaliatory attacks".
ReplyDeletenoltte=peace
ReplyDeleteThe main purpose of the smoke grenades would be to make the targetting of the FAC more difficult for the LTTE. I know it won't guarantee to completely put the LTTE suicide crafts off target, but I think the enemy is are more likely to miss the FAC.
Your idea of a 10kg launched claymore type weapon sounds interesting. But don't you think that the shrapnel will also hit the FAC. I mean when a round explodes it can scatter the shrapnel 360 degrees in all direction, surely some of them will hit the Dvora as well. Unless ofcourse we are talking about a shaped-charge type weapon that shoots the concentrated shrapnel into a certain direction.
GE,
ReplyDeleteIn order to prevent shrapnel hitting the FAC itself, we need to put the Claymore inside a barrel/turret. So that the shrapnel would only direct towards where the barrel is pointing.
dockyard - Is it Colombo Dockyard?
ReplyDeleteElse, all the FACs are built one way or the other in a Dockyard.. it may be an Israel dockyard.
Like the tactic used by the army, SLN also should use smaller FACs with high manuarability to minimize the loses.
ReplyDeleteAny solution, which is for killing suiside cadres, not going to work.
Solution should be a diversion tactic or damadge to the suiside boats.
noltte=peace
ReplyDeleteA gun/barrel turrent that can fit a 10kg claymore sized weapon inside will be VERY HEAVY. It will slow down the FAC a lot. Its not pratical.
Our FAC can hit 45 knots and the newer versions made by CDL can hit over 50 knots. So its not always easy for the LTTE to target such an agile vessel. Thats why I think that fitting smoke grenades will make them that more elusive for the enemy to target.
dockyard in SL news papers usually refers to CDL.
Again this time as well, SLAF is called, when the NAVY is in trouble.
ReplyDeleteIf the SLAF is called, asa the suspisus actvity was detected, results would have been very much different.
"dockyard - Is it Colombo Dockyard?"
ReplyDeleteYes it's the CDL. 1 locally built UFAC was destroyed and 1 Israeli Built FAC was damaged(repairable).
More info on the UFAC can be found here:
http://www.naval-technology.com/contractors/patrol/colombo/
A nice article.. my thoughts are inline with Navy gunners carrying Airburst RPGs.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.angelfire.com/art/enchanter/MBIL.html
In addition to these short-range weaponry, Navy gunners should be equipped with Wearable Personal Communicators, and Head Mounted Night Vision Goggles.
noltte=peace
ReplyDeleteThe flame that comes out the back of the RPG when the trigger is pulled could damage the FAC and its crew members. Maybe we can fit modified pipes to the back of the RPG to divert the flame upwards. This is what the Afhans did during the Soviet Afghan war to target the Soviet helicopters(before they got the stingers).
Blast radius of an obese dvora exploding would have shaken the pants off any SLN.
ReplyDeleteAccording to LTTE reports, SLN navy ran full speed in panick back to Kankesenthurai afterwards. LTTE didn't want to chase after these cowards, wanted them to enjoy one more new years, fatten up the turkey before the final culling....
Apparently the Dvora being blasted to hell was caught on tape, will be on Pathivu.com shortly.
Guys, please ignore Upul he is a kotiya...
ReplyDeleteGuys, where was the news that 11 LTTE boats were destroyed?
ReplyDeleteIs it confirmed?
Tigers claim that the destroyed SLN craft was a Dvora (corret name Deborah) whereas GOSL claims it was a CDL manufactured one.
LATEST NEWS FOLKS...
ReplyDeleteSLAF raids major LTTE facility - Mulaithiuvu
SLAF super sonic MiG-27 and K'Fir combat fighters made dashing sorties this morning (December 27) at a major LTTE facility at Vellamullavaikkal, North of Mulaithivu, at around 6.10a.m.
Air force fighter pilots have acquired the target successfully destroying the LTTE facility during precision aerial sorties, Air force sources said. According to sources, the aerial raid was launched following ground surveillance and real time air reconnaissance information. Defence sources citing reliable 'intel' said, LTTE were conducting a special training session at the facility which was continuously functioning since 2001.
More information will follow...
courtesy of Defense.lk
My idea is that we should have a air wing for our Navy.
ReplyDeleteDoesn't the US operate in this way?
Kiri
ReplyDeleteYa we should have a air wing 4 the SLN, but the problem is money.Its hard 4 us to even buy necessary gunships for the AF.So how can we afford a Air wing for SLN.
Moshe dyan..11 tiger boats destroyed was on ITN Srilanka
ReplyDeleteKiri ..what we need is a mobile rapid deployment force with thier own air transport so that they can be deployed anywhere in the country within the hour.however for this you need money which we dont have.Actually the current govt arsenal is the accumulation of outdated equipment over many years.So the fact that they have managed to get the upperhand with this murderous filth is a big plus for them.if this was not the case during christmas time you will see female LTTE masala dosais massacreing a village of innocent farmers.
ReplyDeleteAs long as the SLN boats are evenly matched/out gunned by the Sea Tiger boats, casualties like this will be inevitable. See link below.
ReplyDeletewww.lankanewspapers.com/news/2007/12/22650_space.html
The UFACII's mostly carry 20mm weapons (unless they have been upgraded), so could have been easily defeated by more heavily armed Sea Tiger craft in larger numbers. Smoke, RPG's etc. are not going to be very effective.
Something like metal storm would be good, but this is experimental technology. What is currently available and would be most suitable would be the type of 30mm multi barrel gun that is used in all modern naval CIWS systems. These are designed to shoot incoming sea-skimming missiles which is somewhat similar to a fast moving LTTE suicide vessel.
Something like the GSh-6-30k.
www.kbptula.ru/eng/str/cannons/gsh6_30k.htm
The gun weighs about 150kg, the same as a Bushmaster MkII, so shouldn't be too heavy for the FAC's. Being a multi-barrel gun, it has a much higher rate of fire than the single barrel weapons we are buying. The only question is whether it can be mounted on the existing Typhoon mounts, which seemed to be designed for a single barrel weapon (and whether the boat can withstand the recoil). It might need some deck penetration to store/feed the additional ammo etc. See below a link of these guns being used with the Kashtan CIWS.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=guVLqfiCfO4
Another option is ATGM's. The Spike ER missile can be mounted on the Typhoon system and integrated with the Rafael electro-optical fire control system. It is being used by some navies as a small/cheap anti-ship missile to be used against smaller vessels. This would be ideal for taking out LTTE attack craft. Although an ATGM is still expensive, its much cheaper than a normal anti-ship missile and definitely cheaper than losing a USD 1-2mn FAC.
That shitter-Mervin(merv the perv) seems to be back in action-he's one person i wouldnt mind the Tigers scoring a direct hit on!kill that SOB & his sons ASAP,before any further damage is caused..
ReplyDeleteupul,go F*#k urself..i suppose u can do that better,rather than engaging in military-stuff in this blog?..pls do all of us a favor & stop dissing SL..
ReplyDeletegoldeneagle,guys
ReplyDeletewhy havent we fitted our FAC's with the improved 30mm cannon?..is it possible to fit a 40mm/57mm gun onto one of our FAC's?
And we dont have to depend on that so-called nation "israel",for our weaponry-pakistan,china,iran,ukraine,etc.. are there for us(more cheaper too)..what do you think guys..sanctions should be placed against any dealings to the terror-state of "israel"..
http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20071227_08
ReplyDeleteMy heart goes to those brave men..
They did not die in vein..
The defence.lk update is shedding some light on what happened yesterday.
ReplyDeleteDefenceNet & Guys,
ReplyDeleteSomething that puzzeled me for a long time; please shed some light on this.
If a artillery, say a normal 120mm one is dropped from a helicopter from a height of 3,000 m what would happen?
Will it blast, just destroy without a blast or fall dead flat?
I did many searches in internet and in books couldn't get any satisfactory answer.
I'm not refering to Fletchers or kenetic arrows; I'm also aware of the fourth article of the Geneve Convention that bans dropping mortars in civilian areas (among other events).
Thank you
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071227/wl_sthasia_afp/srilankaunrest
ReplyDeleteDefencenet,
ReplyDeleteWhat´s the latest on today´s air raid please....
Any idea about the damage towards Pig farm.
According to defencewire 2 sailors have been captured by the tigers/elephants(no disrespect)/monkeys.Now after the UFAC exploded how did the tigers have time to capture 2 sailors and what were the other sailors and airforce doing in the meantime?.did they not wait till rescue arrived?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20071227_09
ReplyDeleteWe must avoid capture at any cost.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletehey rajarata or whatever ponaya you are,
ReplyDeletewe will see to it your criminal banana republic is burnt to the ground.
The criminality of your government and people is evident with this tv station incident. See your so called criminal democractic systems, a thug and his goon squad can become ministers. LTTE is doing a great service to humanity by attempting to take out this criminal state.
"The flame that comes out the back of the RPG when the trigger is pulled could damage the FAC and its crew members."
ReplyDeleteThe Sea Tigers use RPGs so it's doable.