Sri Lanka News Updates with Discussions

Mr Dishan:

The original Marine One - the Sikorsky VH-3D - uses two AN/ALQ-144A sensors mounted on the underside of the aircraft. The AN/ALQ-144 system is an omni-directional active infrared Countermeasures Set and is designed to provide jamming of all known IR threat missile systems. It can detect and defeat multiple missiles launched at it.

The VH-3D successor - the Sikorsky VH-92 - will use the AN/AAQ-24, DIRCM (Directional Infrared Countermeasures) sensor suite.

Incidently, AirForce One uses the AN/ALQ-204 Matador Infrared Countermeasure (IRCM) suite.

Hope this answers your question.

Mr Ravana27:



Im sorry but im not quite sure which airstrike your talking about here? ..

But in general most have been relatively successful based on how good the aerial intelligence was at the time .. for example the Thamil Tigers long range artillery capability, their 130mm towed howitzers, have been depleted considerably - this is why the SLAF airbase in Palaly and the SLN naval base in Kankesanthurai have not been attacked since August when an airstrike took out 2 of their units of the tip of Pooneryn.

However the LTTE still has quite a few 122mm Type 86 + Type 83 Towed Howitzers and 120mm W86 Heavy Mortar units. Both these units have the range to hit the Muhamali FDL from Pooneryn but do not have the range to strike Palaly or Kankesanthurai.

My sources tell me that the SLAF has thus far destroyed 3 or 4 out of around 20 LTTE 122mm Howitzers .. the tally on the 120mm mortars - I haven't got that information at this time.



It would be very effective that's all I can say ..



Information I've seen suggests that the SLA operation on the 11 of October was conducted without any Direct Air Support from SLAF Kfirs or SLAF Hind helicopters ..

You have to bear in mind that one 120mm or 122mm shell can kill 5-8 infantry soldiers if it lands in close proximity to them .. there for killing 80-100 soldiers would technically require only around 20 well directed shells from 3 or 4 Howitzers and Heavy mortar units. So to inflict the losses the SLA suffered didn't require that many artillery units. Its accurate to say that even though the LTTE has lost quite a few of its long range artillery assets, there still remains quite a potent threat from its medium/short range assets that need to be taken out before an operation the likes of the 11 can be undertaken.

Basically, the air operation would have needed to go on for another couple of months before an exercise the magnitude of the 11 was undertaken .. as far as I know this wasn't done.

The operation had all the hall marks of being a poor planned/poorly executed event. It appears the SLA learned an important yet painful lesson .. Complacency is a mindset an army like the SLA cannot afford to have when engaging an organisation like the LTTE.

In addition, undertaking an operation without air support is suicidal as was learnt on the 11th.

With respect to targeting these artillery units, I've written the following:

http://www.lankanewspapers.com/news/2006/9/8415_13.html?CH11161141668718EN1

hope this helps

Mr SenaM



Standard SLAF Kfir operations are done around 3500-4000m. SLAF MiG-27Ms routinely operated at around 1000-1500m and in some instances flew missions at 50-100m. The MiG is more than capable of getting down low to deliver the punch as you say.. :o)



If your countries army had any air support, period! On the that day It could have avoided the losses it suffered.. See my reply to Mr Ravana27.

Mr LokuMaththya



Lack of air support.. Moreover the operation was undertaken without any air support.

Mr Boola



The aircraft that crashed was a Kfir C.2 (CF716 or CF714 .. not sure)

Mr Raptor

Im still interested :o)

..it seems that air attcks have not been effective as expected to clear the area. Is it because that the combinations of bombs and aircraft used are ineffective. Can the Unmanned surveillance planes effectively identify terrorist concentrations even at night?

Mr. rataperata



I am truly flattered.. thank you :o) .. i never knew i had a fan..



Unfortunately sir my work load has increased considerably since October .. the project im working on at its current stage demands a lot of my time .. which means I'm almost never home - a fact not lost on my very beautiful and understanding wife :o) .. hopefully as the project reaches a plateau I should be able to contribute more often ..



The MiG without a doubt .. heres why:

Before the arrival of the MiG-27M in 2000, the SLAF at the time was heavily reliant on the Kfir C.2 to provide CAS to the SLA and SLN, and to carry out Air-to-Ground attacks on defined LTTE targets. Although the Kfir is an excellent fighter/bomber - for any operational theatre like the one in the North/East of Sri Lanka, in hindsight, this aircraft is not the most effective choice.

Most SLAF Kfir combat sorties were and are carried out at around 3500-4000m. Although the IAI WDNS-141 weapon-delivery/navigation system onboard the Kfir C.2 is capable of delivering Mk-80 Series low-drag iron bombs to a CEP of 8m - most post sortie reconnaissance imagery taken by the SLAF indicated that the accuracies achieved was between 10-20m. This is quite sufficient when targeting stationary targets like buildings, fuel depots and boat yards, however for targeting artillery, mortar and troop formations this level of accuracy is insufficient - if we're being pedantic about the effectiveness of this aircraft.

In addition, a fully loaded SLAF Kfir C.2 - (2 x wing drop tanks + 6 x 250lb or 2 x 500lb Mk80 series bombs) which represents 75% of the design combat payload - needed the entire length of the 4000m Katunayake runaway to get airborne.

Taking into account SLAF policy at the time - though based on an extremely conservative estimation of the threat posed by LTTE MANPAD's - prevented SLAF Kfirs from operating below 1500m. This policy effectively killed of low-level operations and, coupled with the limited range of ordinance used by SLAF Kfir C.2's really stifled the aircrafts ability to provide effective CAS and effective targeting of artillery, mortar and troop formations.

The arrival of the MiG-27M changed all this.

The MiG is a dedicated low-level ground-attack aircraft. The high aspect ratio variable geometry wing offers excellent low speed manoeuvrability and handling - essential for low level deep penetration bombing missions. This ability coupled with the armour plating surrounding the cockpit and the ability to accept considerable battle damage makes the MiG a very forgiving and formidable ground attack aircraft.

The PrNK-23M integrated nav/attack suite built around the Orbita 10-15-23M digital computer coupled with the S-17VG-1 sight/HUD and Klyon-PM laser designator/rangefinder enables the MiG-27M to employ a large number of highly-automated weapon delivery profiles. This includes bomb delivery in level flight, dive and toss bombing, and navigation bombing. The later method of bomb deployment is usually used against a target with a known position that did not require visual contact.

The digital computer processes all the aerodynamic and ballistic data to give significant improvements in the accuracy of unguided weapons delivery in addition to expanding the weapon employment envelope and, reducing pilot workload. The PkNK-23M is integrated with the aircraft's automatic control system to enable automatic flight without pilot involvement on a per-programmed route with up to six waypoints.

The armour protection on the MiG is not restricted to the cockpit, the engine too has some armour protection from the side and below. An active fuel tank inerting system is also available, filling the void in the tanks with inert gas to prevent an explosion which might result from a hit from an incendiary round or missile fragment.

The aircraft has a comprehensive ECM suite against IR guided MANPAD's which comprised of a pair of upward-firing KDS-23 chaff/flare dispensing units installed in the wing pivots and several Sirena-3M RWR located around the aircraft.

The MiG-27M could carry twice the combat payload of the Kfir C.2 and yet only need around a 1000m of runway to takeoff - this outstanding short field performance allows the SLAF to deploy the MiG from the Anuradhaphura Air base as well.

The MiG-27M was mainly used as a 'bomb truck' in Sri Lanka, most often carrying six 500lb bombs - either FAB-500M54 high explosive bombs (also FAB-500T and FAB-500M54), delivered from medium and high altitude or the FAB-500ShN (or FAB-250ShN) retarded high-explosive munition delivered from low altitude in level flight (usually around a 100m).

A MiG-27M carrying 6 x 500lb FAB-500 bombs only represents 15% of the aircrafts allowable combat payload .. this alone demonstrates the versatility of this aircraft.

The PrNK-23M integrated nav/attack suite routinely demonstrated accuracies with CEP's less than 10m when the aircraft dropped FAB-500 from 2000m in a shallow dive. Some pilots even achieved CEP's in the order of 5m. It is important to note that this level of precision was achieved even without using the Klyon-PM laser designator/rangefinder .

SLAF MiG-27M's also used the powerful and very precise S-24 240-mm rocket as well as the S-8 80-mm rocket fired from 20-round B8M packs on several occasions. These were in some cases fired at around 50m. SLAF MiG-27M's never used the powerful built-in GSh-6-30 seven-barrel gun in anger in Sri Lanka.

The MiG is also a lot easier to maintain than the Kfir, its PrNK-23M integrated nav/attack suite and Klyon-PM laser designator/rangefinder has proved to be very rugged and functioned continuously without fault even in the hot and humid conditions of Sri Lanka.

These factors coupled with the fact that the MiG can also fire Laser and TV guided munitions in the form of the Kh-29L and Kh-29T without the need of an external Targeting pod further enhances the capabilities of this aircraft.

Infact the aircraft used less than 30% of its capabilities in the Sri Lankan conflict..



The answer is yes .. I was able to find this piece of civilian news for you regarding this acquisition:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/428433.cms

These 4 aircraft are infact Ex Russian Airforce MiG-27M's from their 296 APIB (Fighter Bomber Regiment). These aircraft were tarnsfered to L'vov in the Ukraine for overhaul and storage after being retired from active service in 1989 from 298 squadron .. The aircraft I saw were in the process of being stripped to be repainted in the SLAF's low tone grey camouflage. I saw one aircraft complete with full camouflage and SLAF markings, the other 3 were at different stages of completion.

From what I was able to find out this package will also include an assortment of Guided Munitions - KAB-500Se GPS guided bombs or otherwise affectionately know in our country as 'JDAMski' and Kh-29L Laser Guided Missiles.



These 2 aircraft are still there in storage .. however, I haven't touched base with my contact in Israel for some time .. saying that I was able to find out from another source that this issue about the two aircraft was discussed when your Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake met the Israel Foreign Ministry Deputy Director-General for Asia and the Pacific Amos Nadai in Colombo recently..

Personally though - I think with the arrival of the MiG's with their proven superiority, the SLAF doesn't really need anymore Kfir's. Taking into account recent attritional losses - the Kfir fleet stands at:

2 x Kfir C.7's
6 x Kfir C.2's
2 x Kfir TC.2's (1 is currently not in active service pending repairs to its under carriage)

10 operational aircraft is more than sufficient.

I highlighted this deal because these 2 aircraft had the LANTIRN pod combo (AN/AAQ-13 navigation pod and AN/AAQ-14 targeting pod) which offered the SLAF a more effective and accurate night attack capability over its current method of using NVG goggles and LUU-19 flares launched from SUU-25 wing mounted pods.

However with the possible arrival of ATLIS II targeting pods from Pakistan - which can be incorporated on to the existing C7's in the SLAF - the Israeli deal will look less attractive. However, if the SLAF was to decide it needed the additional aircraft - they are available.



The current Kfir C.7 and Kfir C.2 aircraft in the SLAF are capable of Night Attack using NVG goggles and LUU-19 flares. However, thus far from 2000-2006 all SLAF Night strikes have been undertaken by SLAF MiG-27M's. This situation will change with the arrival of the ATLIS II pods.

SLAF IAI Searcher Mk II and Scout UAV's have the Controp DSP-1 sensor payload. The DSP-1 is a high resolution, high performance Dual Sensor Stabilized Payload with a continuous x22.5 zoom lens FLIR camera and a high resolution colour CCD Daylight channel with a x20 zoom lens. Basically the sensor can clearly identify a person on the ground with considerable resoultion at 7.5km.

I hope this answers your questions.

Mr. Mig27



I haven't heard of 9 but I do know of 4:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/428433.cms

Mr. snake2



AirInternational is indeed an excellent publication, if you get the chance check out AirForces Monthly and Combat Aircraft..

Mr. RAVANA27



See my answer to Mr.Rataperata..

how ever cowardiest pilot escaped? god will punish him when the times comes!