28.04.2007
COUNTERING LTTE'S AIR CAPABILITY---AN INTERESTING FEED-BACK- INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM MONITOR---PAPER NO. 223 By B. Raman
(In response to my article titled "Countering LTTE's Air Capability" at http://www.saag.org/papers23/paper2217.html , many interesting comments have been received. I am giving below the most interesting of them, which gives a lot of elaboration and also questions/corrects some of my observations. This has been received from Mr. Prasun K Sengupta, a Southeast Asia-based regional security analyst who is a regular contributor to FORCE magazine published out of India ,and is also Contributing Editor of TEMPUR, a monthly regional security affairs magazine published from Malaysia. We thank him for his detailed comments, which would enable a better assessment of this issue----B. Raman)
With reference to your analysis titled 'Countering Tigers In Air ' and the following questions raised by you, kindly allow me to offer the following answers:
1) There are so many questions for which there are no satisfactory answers. Where did the LTTE procure the planes?
The aircraft—Zlin Z242L model to be precise—based on published photos thus far by the TAF, were bought from a private South African flying club. The aircraft were and are built by Moravan Aviation s.r.o., Letištì 1578, 765 81 Otrokovice, Czech Republic. You yourself can go to the company's website at http://www.zlinaircraft.cz/ and check out the aircraft's details yourself.
2) How did it pay for them?
That is the least of the LTTE's problems as any one of the LTTE's front companies based in Europe and South Africa could have made the payment. The LTTE usually maintains its proxy bank accounts with Standard Chartered Bank. One such account was in existence way back in 1999 with US$190 million.
3) How did it manage to smuggle them into the areas controlled by it?
The Zlin Z242L ultra-light model is delivered from its manufacturer in completely knocked-down condition and therefore it can be transported unsuspecting in kit form and can easily be disguised as automobile parts or components for heavy commercial vehicles. By all accounts, the aircraft were ferried by sea-freight using forged bills of laden and false declarations were made to the Colombo Port-based Customs authorities to deliberately disguise the nature of the consignment. Once on land, due to its completely knocked-down nature, it was probably transported by land on board commercial freight carriers bound for the north-east.
4) How and where did it get its pilots trained not only in normal flying, but also in bombing missions? Did former pilots of the air force of any country play a role in this? Who are they?
All aspects of flying training and attainment of pilot proficiency levels were obtained from the same South Africa-based flying club that ordered the aircraft from the Czech Republic. As far as dropping ordnance is concerned, this training too was provided in South Africa as there is no dearth of mercenaries there who are highly experienced in such flying sorties (they did it day in and day out during the numerous civil wars prevailing throughout the African continent). That is why it is significant that the first air raid on Colombo was conducted at night, an act that requires a high degree of flying proficiency using instrument flying ratings (IFR) for the TAF aircrew. It is a well-known fact that South African pilots excel in this area. This technique is popularly known as 'bush-flying'.
5) Where from has it been smuggling the aviation fuel?
Aircraft like the Zlin Z242L are powered by engines that are multi-fuel, i.e. they do not require avgas or aviation fuel. They can be run using ordinary diesel. In fact, most flying clubs are nowadays resorting to re-equipping their aircraft with such multi-fuel engines as it results in a dramatic reduction in the direct operating costs per hour of such aircraft.
6) Successful proactive strikes require precise intelligence of their hide-outs, which the SLAF apparently does not have.
Again, this is an area in which the SLAF does have a capability, but it is not yet proficient in exploiting its capability. Precise intelligence can only come from either ground-based HUMINT, or by airborne assets like long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicles like the Searcher Mk2 UAVs already in service and delivered by Israel Aircraft Industries. However, UAVs can only locate the dispositions of such light aircraft and the ultimate destruction on the ground of such Zlin aircraft will have to be performed by either field artillery or by a heliborne special operations force.
A good radar cover would help prevent future air strikes in the Colombo area, but may not in the Palaly area due to the very short distance involved.
This issue also begs one to raise one more question: did the TAF carry out its first air strike on March 26, 2007 knowing fully well that both the BEL-built Indra-2 tactical air defence radars were inoperable due to periodic maintenance requirements? Or was the radars' shut-down a sheer coincidence? But it must be said here that deployment of radars like the Indra-2 is like using a sledgehammer to kill an ant. Such radars are used only for detecting low-flying aircraft (at an altitude of 500 feet) inbound at high speeds, NOT an experimental-category aircraft like the Zlin, which is normally used for recreational flying and therefore has a minimal radar cross-section. The Zlin has been employed before in South Africa to drop light ordnance when flying at an altitude of only 200 feet. Therefore the India-origin radars of the SLAF are next to useless as of now. What the SLAF now needs to do is to procure tactical low-level manportable radars like the EL/M-2106NG made by Israel Aircraft Industries' ELTA Systems Division. This type of radar has its operating parameters optimised for detecting airborne targets with radar cross-sections similar to those of the Zlin ultralight. It is reliably learnt that the SLAF, due to cost grounds, is now negotiating with China for procuring a similar radar with matching performance. Contract negotiations are now underway for procuring up to four such radars for the air defence of Colombo.
7) The SLAF needs a good mid-air interception capability to seek and destroy the TAF planes after they are airborne even if they manage to evade ground fire. The kind of Russian, Ukrainian and Israeli planes the SLAF has presently are good for bombing missions, but not for mid-air interception roles. Moreover, they require regular airfields for takeoff and landing. They can't scramble fast. The SLAF requires some small, easily manoeuverable aircraft, which can take off and land almost anywhere, with specially-trained pilots.
With due respect, you have gone off on a tangent here. Both the Kfir C-2/7 (from Israel) and MiG-27M (acquired from Ukraine, with six more ordered late last year) of the SLAF are equipped with both airborne cannons as well as short-range air-to-air missiles like the Vympel R-60T. Manoeuvrability is not a factor here as even the Zlin cannot pull off high-G manoeuvres! The main limiting factor of the MiG-27M is its ability to search for an airborne target as it does not have an internally-mounted airborne fire-control radar, which is required if an aerial interception is required to take place at night. The Kfir C-2/7 on the other hand does have such a radar and can be used for aerial interception at night. The MiG-27M, though, can be effectively used to launch the R-60T during daytime when there are no visibility problems. As far as scramble times go, both these aircraft types can scramble within 1 minute 57 seconds but only if they are maintained on an alert status known as quick reaction alert (QRA). But then again, it will be highly expensive and unwise to use combat aircraft to shoot down the Zlins. What the SLAF needs are a small batch (only a Battery) of shoulder-launched surface-to-air missiles like the FIOM-92A Stinger or the Chinese FN-6 or the Russian IGLA-S, all of which can be integrated with the early warning alerting mode of low-level air defence radars like the EL/M-2108NG. This is a more cost-effective approach.
In terms of pro-actively seeking out the TAF's aircraft assets, a two-pronged approach could be adopted on a one-off basis: using satellites equipped with synthetic aperture radars (like the private Canadian RADARSAT); or using aircraft such as Su-30MKI Mk3s to make a couple of sweeps over suspected TAF hideouts, provided the Zlins are stored at ground level, and not in underground bunkers.
8) Periodically use an ELINT aircraft of the Aviation Research Centre (ARC) to look for possible ELINT signals emanating from the TAF.
Again, such action is deemed highly cost-prohibitive. SIGINT and ELINT aircraft are normally employed for at least 10-hour continuous flight durations and the sortie profile is pre-arranged because the end-user/operator knows precisely what to look for and where to look. In the LTTE's case, such airborne ELINT/SIGINT sorties are totally worthless. A far more pragmatic approach will be to install such SIGINT/ELINT mission sensors on board both the Indian Navy and Coast Guard Do-229-201s that are tasked with flying routine surveillance sorties adjacent to the airspace of northern Sri Lanka, and installing similar hardware on board the Coast Guard vessels patrolling the seas off Rameshwaram and Jaffna.
(The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai. E-mail: itschen36@gmail.com)
I read somewhere that India is to spent 210 Billion on its airfleet by 2010.
She clearly is aware of the world around her and is making preperations. The Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka are a tiny blip on the radar
China and Pakistan are much bigger issues
I read somewhere that India is to spent 210 Billion on its airfleet by 2010.
She clearly is aware of the world around her and is making preperations. The Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka are a tiny blip on the radar
China and Pakistan are much bigger issues
Do you know who created the LTTE? According to India Today magazine, it was the Indiian government. They even put up the leadership in the finest hotel in Delhi.
It's even been reported that a former Indian Defense Minister raised money and arms for the LTTE.