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Kfir mishap averted
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Mig-29C
Joined: Jun 2005
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 4 Oct 2006 07:44:04 GMT Report for Abuse
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Mr.Sandman
Good morning to you .. with regards to the following questions:
How exactly do these bombs achieve the goal of penetrating reinforced concrete, generally having at least a couple of feet in thickness ?
The following website will give you quite a well balanced and easy to understand summary of how this munition and its guidance system works..
http://science.howstuffworks.com/bunker-buster.htm
http://science.howstuffworks.com/smart-bomb.htm
Also, is there such a thing as a 'fuel cell' bomb ? What is it ?
I believe your referring to fuel-air munitions, or now commonly referred to as thermobaric weapons..
Basically, fuel-air explosives (FAE) disperse an aerosol cloud of fuel which is ignited by an embedded detonator to produce an explosion. The rapidly expanding wave front due to overpressure flattens all objects within close proximity of the epicentre of the aerosol fuel cloud, and produces debilitating damage well beyond the flattened area. The main destructive force of FAE is high overpressure, useful against soft targets such as minefields, armoured vehicles, aircraft parked in the open, and bunkers.
Again a good summary of this weapon can be found at the following link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermobaric_weapon
Hope this helps :o)
Edited By - Mig-29C - 4 Oct 2006 08:31:06 GMT |
Mig-29C
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4 Oct 2006 13:10:35 GMT Report for Abuse
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If the Forum would like to see the Laser Guided Munitions currently with the SLAF they can be see in the following thread:
http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/showthread.php?p=998942#post998942
These munitions will soon be used against the Thamil Tigers once they officially declare war and break the CFA in Sri Lanka.. |
panzer
Joined: Oct 2006
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 7 Oct 2006 03:54:30 GMT Report for Abuse
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Hello Mig-29C,
Thank you for all the very insightful and enjoyable posts. Something which I have been pondering for some time now: how difficult is it for a MI 24/35 to successfully confront a fast moving target like a LTTE boat?
Thanks |
Sandman
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 7 Oct 2006 05:20:23 GMT Report for Abuse
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Panzer
They are very effectve at intercepting sea borne targets, but are vulnerable to anti-aircraft fire at the same time.
A better alternative for SL Navy would be to have a heavy lifter like a C-130 Herc or similar aircraft equipped with cannon, available for such engagements. The US uses a similar system called Super-Spectre, which has proven amazingly effective in Afghanistan and other wars. There are some real life amatuer movies made by guys who fly these machines on metacafe, ifilm, youtube etc, which may be worth seeing for you. |
boola
Joined: Apr 2006
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 8 Oct 2006 14:29:50 GMT Report for Abuse
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Mig-29c,
During the last two weeks I heard several times that SLAF claimed that they hit LTTE artillary and motar positions. And they confirmed that they saw the flames after the explotion with the help of the beech craft. What I want to know is by seeing the flames can we come to conclution that the guns was destroyed? Why couldnt they hit these positions when ltte was targetting jaffna penisula? Is it very difficult to locate these positions eventhough we have spy planes. |
Mig-29C
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10 Oct 2006 08:42:04 GMT Report for Abuse
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Mr. boola
Sorry for the late reply :o) .. I've been away on company business this last week.
Now in reply to your questions:
During the last two weeks I heard several times that SLAF claimed that they hit LTTE artillary and motar positions. And they confirmed that they saw the flames after the explotion with the help of the beech craft. What I want to know is by seeing the flames can we come to conclution that the guns was destroyed?
A successful strike on artillery or heavy calibre mortar units will generate a very distinct explosion which is characterised by both radial and vertical features. A successful hit will generate a large radial/semi-spherical explosion pattern with a characteristically long dark bellowing smoke plume as a result of additional explosions caused by the exploding artillery or mortar shell. This is visually quite distinct to a munition hitting the ground which will also generate a fireball, but the scale of the radial and vertical patterns are a lot smaller. The subsequent plume is more lighter in colour since its composition consists mainly of dirt and dust which dies away quicker.
From information that I was able to obtain from sources at the time - the fireball observed by CR842 (Beech B200T SIGNIT) on the 19th of August when the 130mm howitzers in Pooneryn were targeted had the characteristics described above for a successful strike. The smoke plume was observed to burn for several hours giving definite confirmation that the target was successfully engaged and destroyed. Subsequent SAR images from CR843 (Beech 200T HISAR) and IR images from CR842 confirmed the presence of 2 destroyed 130mm guns. Similarly my sources were able to confirm that one 122mm howitzer was successfully destroyed in Sampoor.
However I cannot verify all the recent assertions by your MOD since I have not enquired about all recent SLAF air strikes from my sources.
However it is possible some were successful and others were not. It would depend on how accurate the aerial intelligence was at the time. I will have to look into this and get back to you on a later date.
Why couldnt they hit these positions when ltte was targetting jaffna penisula?
The LTTE was know to posses the following assets before recent hostilities began:
3 x 152mm (Type 66) howitzers;
3 x 130mm (Type 59) howitzers;
Approx. 20 x 122mm (Type 86 and Type 83) howitzers;
Approx. 1 x 85mm (D-48) howitzer;
Approx. 20 x 120mm (Type 86) Heavy Mortar Units;
Approx. 30 x 81mm (Type 84) Medium Mortar Units;
Approx. 60 x 60mm (Type 89) Light Mortar Units;
Thus far the SLAF has destroyed/damaged the following artillery assets of the LTTE, and these are confirmed hits:
2 x 130mm Type 59 (destroyed)
1 x 122mm Type 83 (destroyed) + 1 badly damaged
That's approximately a 33% loss in capability to attack long range targets and about a 10% loss in capability to attack short/medium range targets.
The 130mm towed howitzer units that were targeting the SLAF airbase in Jaffna were taken out as a result of a combined air-recon operation - the details of which I highlighted to the forum on the following thread.
http://www.lankanewspapers.com/news/2006/8/8231_77.html
Is it very difficult to locate these positions eventhough we have spy planes.
The terrain, from what I've seen from satellite and video footage of the northern and eastern districts in Sri Lanka, show quite a lot of foliage and tree cover. Although this does present its own unique problems, it is not difficult for Searcher UAVs or for Beech aircraft to locate these units using its IR sensors even when under tree cover. In addition, the presence of special forces behind enemy lines provide a second tier in providing the locations of these units.
I was told that the recapture of Sampoor apparently provided the SLAF with a considerable amount of intelligence about LTTE artillery installations.
You have to bear in mind the Thamil Tigers have quite a few mortar units ..
Most artillery attacks reported on the news in your country are in fact heavy mortar attacks .. neutralising mortar units using conventional low-drag iron bombs like the Mk80 series is less effective compared to using the same munition type on towed howitzer units.
This is mainly due to the increased mobility of mortar systems. Information I've seen indicates that Thamil Tiger mortar units are not dug in and are more mobile compared to their howitzer units.
To target mobile 120, 81 and 60mm mortar units the preferred weapon of choice are cluster munitions. As far as I know the SLAF has not used this weapon yet in the Northern or Eastern operational theatres. There are several operational reasons why this weapon has not been used thus far. I will try to explain it to you later.
Form what I know thus far I can tell you this:
'' For the time being, at the current level and scale of hostilities, Thamil Tiger towed howitzers and Mortar units are being targeted by SLAF Kfir ground attack aircraft using Mk 80 series iron bombs. The current threat assessment coupled along with resources dictate that the current strategy is sufficient to deal with this threat.
However I have been informed that if and when a full scale war breaks out, the targeting of these assets will fall on to SLAF MiG-27Ms and Mi-24/35 Hind Gunships. These two SLAF aerial assets will employ completely different weaponry and approaches to target these units, in short, there will be quite a difference in results. ''
I hope this helps..
Edited By - Mig-29C - 10 Oct 2006 09:09:24 GMT |
LankaTileke
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 10 Oct 2006 08:50:24 GMT Report for Abuse
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However the regulations limit the frequency radius of ground and water toys (cars and jeeps) to ten metres.
http://www.lankanewspapers.com/news/2006/10/8852.html
Miggy,
have you ever heard of the technical term 'frequency radius'?
Do you think this ban is going to have good effect on neutralizing claymores?
Edited By - LankaTileke - 10 Oct 2006 08:52:47 GM |
Mig-29C
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10 Oct 2006 08:54:08 GMT Report for Abuse
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Mr. LankaTileke
Basically they are talking about the operational range of the transmitter.
it's a high frequency transmitter with a short wavelength - hence higher attenuation - hence a limited range. |
KfirC2
Joined: Sep 2006
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10 Oct 2006 09:46:33 GMT Report for Abuse
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Hi Mig-29C
However I have been informed that if and when a full scale war breaks out, the targeting of these assets will fall on to SLAF MiG-27Ms and Mi-24/35 Hind Gunships. These two SLAF aerial assets will employ completely different weaponry and approaches to target these units, in short, there will be quite a difference in results
What sort of approach will these unit use? Does SLAF culuster bomb has the capabilities? |
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