Posted on 04/30/2007 8:19:44 PM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
Tigers exploit flaws in Lankan air defence
PK Balachandran, Hindustan Times Colombo, April 30, 2007
They are like David and Goliath. The Sri Lankan Air Force (SLAF) has a fair sized fleet of Kfir, MIG 27 and Y-8 bombers, MI-17 and MI-24 choppers, and AN-32 transport aircraft. In contrast, the LTTE's air arm, christened Tamileelam Air Force (TUF), is a puny, single digit fleet of propeller-driven and locally assembled Zlin Z-142s of Czech design.
And yet, the fledgling Flying Tigers have been able to infiltrate hundreds of kilometres of government-held territory, attack key military and strategic targets, and get back to base unscathed. This has happened three times in a row so far, clearly suggesting that Sri Lanka's air defence system is totally unsuited to the task before it.
This should cause concern in New Delhi and Washington also, since India and the US had taken the initiative in alerting the Sri Lankans about the potential threat from the skies. India had even provided, free of cost, a radar system for the defence of Colombo, the nerve centre of the Sri Lankan military, and the site of the island's only international harbour.
Defence experts say that the SLAF lacks night operational capability and air to air fighting capability. The SLAF had never planned for a day when its planes would face opposition from enemy aircraft, although there had been a warning about such a threat by an US Pacific Command team in 2002, and by Iqbal Athas, the defence correspondent of Sunday Times since 2005.
The SLAF has fast jet aircraft like Kfirs and MIG-27s which are basically used as bombers to take on static targets on the ground. Air-to-air combat was never envisaged, and suitable equipment was not acquired.
"MIGs and Kfirs are too fast and fly too high to take on the slow moving LTTE aircraft. What the SLAF needs is to envisage a World War II type of situation in which aircraft would go behind the enemy and shoot him down," said a foreign diplomat.
Prasun Sengupta, contributing editor of the Malaysian security affairs magazine Tempur says that Kfirs and MIG-27 can take to the air in less than 2 minutes, but only if they are on Quick Reaction Alert (QRA). But for the kind of threat faced by Sri Lanka QRA may be too expensive. At any rate, using aircraft of the kind SLAF has, in the context of the current threat, does not make sense.
The SLAF's Chinese-built K-8 bombers are ideal for the kind of air operations required, but there are so few of them. "It might be sensible to buy aircraft like Zlin-Z-142 The fly is best swatted by a simple fly swatter and not a sledge hammer!" an expert said.
The lack of night operational capability is glaring. Only the K-8s have it. But SLAF pilots don't have Night Vision Goggles (NVG). "On Sunday, K-8s took to the air to intercept the LTTE's aircraft, but the intruders could not be found because it was too dark!" the expert pointed out.
The LTTE is aware of this and has staged all its air attacks at night. Apparently, its aircraft and pilots have night operational capability.
Sengupta suggests the use of low-level air defence radars and shoulder-held missiles like the Russian IGLA-8. But the Indians say that the 2D radars given by them are adequate. "No ground radar can be totally accurate. In addition, aircraft must have their own radars to pin point the enemy," said an Indian defence expert. SLAF aircraft don't have this capability.
US Pacific Command had said in 2002, that the SLAF should stop purchasing expensive new aircraft. On the other hand, it should upgrade the existing fleet suitably and spend a lot on spare parts to keep it fighting fit. A large fleet is useless if much of it is grounded for want of spares.
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
Oops! Double tap!
Tiny blips on radar often end up causing the most damage.Though,there is virtually nothing the Tigers can gain by attacking India(unless Delhi decides to intervene again),the Southern tip/coastline of India is virtually unprotected by active airforce & naval assets-it’s mostly the Indian coastguard which is active & is more or less very vulnerable.
All that being said,the Tigers at the end of the day are a political problem which can only be solved politically.They will lose their support among the Tamil populace if the Sinhalese elite start treating the ethnic Tamils as equals as it was nearly 30 years ago.
They sure look like a pain in the wazoo
SL is a problem, no doubt
India is strung by domestic political compulsions in dealing with Sri Lanka in an meaningful manner unless things heat up badly.China & Pakistan have no such compulsions & both have stepped on the plate to support the SL.Government,which frankly uses excessive force.The Chinese are bidding to upgrade naval facilities in S.L.So the situation in S.L is a problem in more ways than one.
I didnt realize it was such a problem
Tamil Tigers are Muslims arent they?
interesting
Nope-they are predominantly Hindu,with a smattering of Christians as well.But they are mainly a Stalinist organisation with virtually no emphasis on religion-with focus on the idea of Tamil nationalism & the personality cult based on their leader,V.Prabhakaran.
The LTTE have attacked the Lankan muslims who live along the northern coast as they are considered allies of the Sinhalese.
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.
Thank you very much for these startling revelations.
Do you know what TBP is?It’s True Born paki.
& Do you know what TBP’s purpose is??To malign India & everything about it.
And guess who declared them that even earlier? You're a brilliant genius. NOT!
Further, as the Washington Times reported on January 2, 2002, the Indian government is supporting and sponsoring cross-border etrrorism in Sindh (a province of Pakistan.)
Yak yak yak. You tell me about the mujaheddeen, the Contras and the others, and who supported whom in those cases. HINT: National Interest.
If you’re actually going to try to claim that the Contras were terrorists, that exposes your real agenda and utterly destroys your credibility. But neither of those things surprises me in the least.
All we did was take the opportunity of an indigenous rebellion to expel the Communists -- India's allies -- from countries they had taken by force. Getting the Communists out of there was the right thing to do.
Unfortunately, in freeing Afghanistan, the democratic forces wound up losing out to the Islamist forces. So now hte country has had to be liberated again, at great cost in blood and treasure to the United States.
The United States has a long record of opposing terrorism and laying out our resources and our people to fight it. India's record on that score is quite different.
For example, according to the Washington Times (January 2, 2002), India is supporting cross-border terrorism in Sindh (a province of Pakistan.) The newspaper Hitavada reported that the late governor of Punjab, Surendra Nath, was paid the equivalent of $1.5 billion to foment, organize, and support covert state terrorism in Punjab and in Kashmir.
What kind of record is that?
Bull$hit. Tell me about Bangladesh. Wo supported whom. And the Nixon-era China love-affair. And the one still going on with Pakistan. And the Saudis. And the Iraqis, before Saddam became the enemy. And Iran, in the late '40s.
The newspaper Hitavada reported that the late governor of Punjab, Surendra Nath, was paid the equivalent of $1.5 billion to foment, organize, and support covert state terrorism in Punjab and in Kashmir.
Definitions. Definitions. Definitions.
Anyway, the mainstream terrorism is wiped out in Punjab. In Kashmir, it's dying. Plus, 1-billion to foment terrorism? A tad bit too much for a country like India, wouldn't you think? And foment terrorism for what gain? Punjab and Kashmir are states of the Union, and have no right, or its people, neither the will, nor the necessity, to secede.
The Catholic Institute for International Relations summarized Contra operating procedures in their 1987 human rights report: “The record of the Contras in the field, as opposed to their official professions of democratic faith, is one of consistent and bloody abuse of human rights, of murder, torture, mutilation, rape, arson, destruction and kidnapping.”
I am not very informed about the Contras. If you have anything to the contrary, please submit them. But after you’ve replied in detail to my earlier post.
1.5 actually, and yes, it's a lot. Especially when half the population lives below the international poverty line. But he was found with massive amounts of money and Hitavada was apparently able to trace it.
And foment terrorism for what gain?
To give themselves an excuse to cover the bloodshed that was being inflicted day after day.
Punjab and Kashmir are states of the Union, and have no right, or its people, neither the will, nor the necessity, to secede.
They do have the right. Kashmir was promised a plebiscite on its status, which has never occurred. Punjab was to become independent at the tim of independence, but stuck wiht India on false prom,ises from Nehru and Patel. No Sikh representative has ever signed the Indian constitution to this day. And the essence of democracy is the right to self-determination. The people hve the right to choose independence if they so desire.
If you're so sure they don't have the desire, why not simply do the democratic thing, hold a vote, and prove it? The marches for independence, seminars on independence, and other such peaceful, democratic, nonviolent activities would tend to indicate that there is at least some desire for sovereignty. As for the necessity, do I need to cite the statistics on the mass murders of minorities, the political prisoners, the arrests simply for making speeches, and so forth yet again?
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