 |
|||||||
| |
|||||||
|
UAV:
What happened or who did it? The first occasion was on November 25, 2003 when the ceasefire was in force. Since the CFA was signed on February 22, 2002 by then United National Front (UNF) Government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) no new acquisitions were made for the Air Force. The UNF felt such procurements would have been construed by the LTTE as an act of bad faith in the light of the CFA. On
that occasion the same Searcher Mark II UAV obtained video footage
of a large clearing in the jungle east of Iranamadu. Thereafter
this UAV on February 16, 2004 obtained video footage of construction
work under way for a runway at this cleared site. Later, on September
30, 2004 video footage obtained from this UAV confirmed beyond doubt
that a paved runway had been constructed, threshold and centreline
markings added. The next day, January 13, 2005 this UAV transmitted video footage of the aircraft still parked at the southern five zero end. The second, it was observed, had been covered in camouflage nets. This was the time that aircraft belonging to several friendly countries were in Sri Lanka engaged in tsunami relief operations. At least the aircraft of two such countries were able to ascertain on their own the existence of the runway and aircraft on the ground. Later, the United States helped identify one such aircraft as a Czech built Zlin Z-143 two-seater trainer. As revealed exclusively in The Sunday Times these findings went into an aide memoire the Government made available to several countries, including those in the European Union about threats emanating from the new air capability acquired by the LTTE. These findings also prompted the Government to lodge a strong protest with the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM). The latter's efforts to inspect the airstrip and areas surrounding it did not meet with success. The LTTE did not favourably respond to their requests. The late Lakshman Kadirgamar, Foreign Minister, told Indian leaders during his visits to New Delhi that the acquisition of air capability by the LTTE not only posed a threat to Sri Lanka's national security but also to the region. The move later prompted Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as well as Foreign Minister Kanwar Natwar Singh to express their Government's concern. The
Sunday Times is able to reveal today that the number of aircraft
now available with the LTTE is over five. The fact has been confirmed
to their local counterparts by at least one foreign intelligence
agency. In addition, the presence of an unidentified aircraft over
the Jaffna peninsula in the early hours of October 14 has heightened
concerns of security authorities. According to an Air Force official, who spoke on grounds of anonymity for obvious reasons, the aircraft flew at an altitude of some 2,500 to 3,000 feet. He said no one made visible contact since it was dark during that time. "The aircraft was known to have been heading from a southerly direction and flew in a northerly direction," he added. Yet, there was no other hard evidence to confirm this reported hearing. The radar of a service arm located in Jaffna to track down illegal boat movements had also not shown any indications of the flight. Though meant for maritime use, the powerful radar in the past had recorded blips of movements in the sky. On one occasion what was suspected to be an unauthorised air movement turned out to be a flock of birds. But only the loud roar of engines was heard on the October 14 flight over Jaffna. It is in this backdrop that the Searcher Mark II UAV, an Air Force asset that had made an immense contribution to the country's national security, took off last Wednesday. It had carried out a sortie over guerrilla-held Wanni including east of Iranamadu tank where the illegal airstrip is located. Thereafter, controllers had commanded its return around 1.30 p.m. The Searcher Mark II was 23 nautical miles north of the Air Force base in Vavuniya cruising at an altitude of 10,000 feet at a speed of 75 knots. Just then men at the Ground Control Centre saw pictures disappear from the television screen. Three different warnings appeared simultaneously across the screen thereafter. One warned of engine failure, the second about a generator failure and third a communications failure. On no previous occasion when a UAV was lost did all three warnings appear on the TV screen at the same moment. More importantly, the communications link powered by a battery that worked the onboard day-night television camera had an endurance of 15 minutes if the generator failed. "This was strange indeed. On no occasion in the past did all three systems pack up simultaneously. If either the engine and the generator or both packed up, we could still have been left with 15 minutes of battery power to work the TV camera," a senior Air Force officer in Colombo told The Sunday Times. Speaking on grounds of anonymity he said, "This could have given us some idea of what was going wrong. The immediate non-functioning of the engine, the generator and the battery system, all at the same time could occur only if the UAV sustained sudden destruction. Such destruction, in all likelihood, could have been caused only by enemy action." Air Force officials are puzzled as to how a destruction of the UAV could have occurred. They say the heat generated by a 73 horsepower UAV engine was not sufficient for it to be acquired by a Surface to Air Missile (SAM). Moreover, the afternoon sun would also have deflected the heat seeking missile. The LTTE is known to possess Igla type Russian made SAM missiles. However, these officials say it is possible that a radar guided gun may have been used to bring down the UAV. There have been reports of the guerrillas acquiring such guns to secure the airstrip and their air assets. They also do not rule out the remote possibility of an airborne attack by the guerrillas using one of their light aircraft. Since the TV camera on board the UAV is positioned facing the ground, an LTTE aircraft, known to have twice the speed of the UAV, they say, could have climbed over the UAV's flight level to destruct it through gun fire. "However, other than making educated guesses, we are yet to gather concrete evidence," the official added. The Air Force has made contact with the Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) to obtain expert opinion on the reasons for the unprecedented simultaneous malfunctioning of the engine, generator and communication links. The Searcher Mark II built by the Israeli Aircraft Industries (IAI) is an advanced fourth generation UAV system. Its overall length is 5.85 metres (19.20 feet) and Wingspan 8.55 metres (28.10 feet). Its maximum take-off weight is 426 kilogrammes (940 pounds) and the maximum payload weight is 100 kilogrammes (or 220 pounds). This UAV has an endurance of 15 hours. On a direct line of sight, it has a range of 200 kilometres (105 nautical miles) and 250 kilometres (130 nautical miles) beyond the-line-of-sight of the Ground Control Centre. According to Air Force officials, the Searcher Mark II cost US $ 1.3 million dollars or Rs 130 million. In addition the on board day-night television cum infra red camera cost US $ 600,000 or six million rupees. The
first official confirmation that the UAV fell in the Wanni came
in a report in the Tamilnet website. This is what the report said: A UAV was seen coming down in Vignanikulam between 9th Mile and Karappukuththi, around 20 kilometres northeast of Omanthai, according to civilian sources in Vanni. Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) sources in Colombo also confirmed that an UAV was missing. "The Liberation Tigers have on many occasions lodged complaints through their Peace Secretariat to Colombo that the surveillance activities violated the Ceasefire Agreement, sources in Kilinochchi told Tamilnet. "The SLAF used up to half a dozen Israeli built drones extensively during major military offensives in the Vanni region in the late nineties. Almost all were lost either through LTTE ground fire or accidents, Sri Lankan press reports said at the time….." Wednesday's UAV incident drew a critical response from the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM). "The flying of the UAV over Wanni happens quite frequently. Though not last year, it took place in 2002 and 2003. The incident is not in the spirit of the ceasefire," Head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission Hagrup Haukland told The Sunday Times. He said this was causing mistrust among the people. "It is violating the spirit of the Ceasefire Agreement. The LTTE has brought the matter up with the SLMM. We will be taking it up with the Government," he added. Unlike on previous occasions, the response of Government officials to Wednesday's incident has been more than apologetic. They meekly went on the defensive. One of them claimed that the UAV, which as the acronym implies is an unmanned aerial vehicle, was on a training flight. The official was also quoted by several foreign media outlets worldwide as saying that the UAV disappeared in an area in Government-held Vavuniya. Such blatantly wrong assertions only ruin a Government's and the military's credibility. Even if the UAV was on a training mission as claimed, one would presume it would perform the role for which it is meant - carry out aerial surveillance utilising the on board camera. Logically that was how the controllers would have been able to learn sitting inside a container that holds the Ground Control Centre. Therefore, trying to claim it was on a "training mission" does not erase the fact that there was no surveillance. To the contrary, a training mission usually is more arduous than routine surveillance. It is here the UAV is put to a hard endurance test. The skills of those under training in the Ground Control Centre are honed by exposing them to maximum limits. It is now clear even to a schoolchild that the UAV did not fall in a Government-held area. More than three and a half years after the last separatist war, media handlers do not seem to have learnt lessons. If they were unable to comment, would it have not been wiser to say so? Do such amateur, apologetic assertions mean the Air Force has given up its primary responsibility of safeguarding the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Sri Lanka? Conducting surveillance in any part of the nation's air space is the legitimate right of a nation's Air Force. In fact Article 1.3 of the Ceasefire Agreement lays down that "The Sri Lankan armed forces shall continue to perform their legitimate task of safeguarding the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Sri Lanka without engaging in offensive operations against the LTTE." The CFA does prohibit the two sides from engaging in offensive military operations. This requires the total cessation of all military action and includes, but not limited to, such acts as (a) the firing of direct and indirect weapons, armed raids, ambushes, assassinations, abductions, destruction of civilian or military property, sabotage, suicide missions and activities by deep penetration units; (b) aerial bombardment, and (c) offensive naval operations. In this instance, the Air Force was engaged in a defensive role of safeguarding the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the nation by using the UAV to patrol the nation’s air space. This is much the same way the Sri Lanka Navy patrols the territorial waters around Sri Lanka. It is such patrolling that helped the Navy to intercept and destroy vessels attempting to smuggle military hardware during the tenure of the ceasefire. Whilst one appreciates Mr. Haukland's point of view as the Head of the SLMM, a serious ground reality appears to have been lost on Government officials who have reacted to this incident. After all, if such UAV missions were not undertaken in the past, Sri Lankans, the outside world or for that matter even the SLMM would never have known officially that the LTTE had constructed an airstrip and acquired aircraft. That the acquisition of this air capability came during the tenure of the ceasefire and thus grossly violated the Ceasefire Agreement is now equally well known. Hence, Wednesday's UAV mission constituted only a further monitoring of ongoing developments. Similarly, if not for the naval patrols, unabated smuggling of military hardware by the guerrillas would not have come to light. The latest instance to prove the point came in a message from the Eastern Naval Area Headquarters in Trincomalee to the Joint Operations Headquarters (JOH) in Colombo on October 12. It said "Naval troops have observed a suspicious movement of an LTTE craft between two shipwrecks in the general area off Mullaitivu on 10 October 2005 around 2 a.m. Later, it had been joined by another two sea craft around 8 a.m." Senior Navy officials suspect this related to the unloading of military cargo that had been smuggled in from the north eastern high seas. Wednesday's
incidents come in the wake of several significant developments.
In the north, the LTTE took an unprecedented step since the ceasefire
by ordering civilians to sever all links with the military. Notices
warning them not to have anything to do with military personnel
have been distributed in the Jaffna peninsula and even the guerrilla
dominated areas. Businessmen have been told not to sell any goods
to military personnel or make purchases from their welfare shops
that adjoin camps. These shops sold biscuits and aerated water among
other things. State intelligence agencies have reported in the past many weeks about the infiltration of guerrilla suicide squads to the City and important towns. On Friday, Police arrested a female guerrilla cadre in Galle after her conduct roused suspicions. She had been present at a rally in support of the candidature of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse where JVP's Wimal Weerawansa was due to address. She had at first confessed to being a Muslim and given her name as Fathima. However, upon further interrogation she had admitted she was a member of the LTTE trained to handle weapons. She said she was unaware of her mission and was awaiting the arrival of three colleagues for instructions. She had been ordered by her handler to meet a young man wearing a red T-shirt and denim trouser who would arrive by train in Galle. He was to be accompanied by two girls. The female cadre, now under interrogation, had demonstrated to the Police how to handle an assault rifle. She had even dismantled one and later assembled it together. In another development, Police have conclusively established that a Chinese built T-85 weapon, found near a paddy field in Mahawewa in the Marawila Police area, was the one used in the assassination of Foreign Minister, Lakshman Kadirgamar. Investigations have revealed that a person travelling in a vehicle may have thrown it near the paddy field located along the Colombo-Chilaw road. A king coconut vendor had spotted the bag containing the weapon and ammunition among others and told Inspector Upali Hettiaratchci, HQI Chilaw Police who happened to pass by in a Police Jeep. Police suspect it was being taken to a spot from where plans had been afoot to assassinate a VIP. The defence establishment was preoccupied this week over the implementation of recommendations by a tri services Committee. This Committee had recommended extended terms for armed forces chiefs and senior officers. Regulations governing the Army, Navy and Air Force Act were to be amended to give effect to them. Whilst the move will benefit those in the higher rungs, officers at junior level are worried it may lead to their early retirement from service. The enforcement of the recommendations now hinges on approval by President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, Commander-in-chief of the armed forces and Minister of Defence. It is unlikely it will receive her immediate approval. These developments come with just over four weeks to go for LTTE leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran's "Maveerar (Great Heroes) Day" address. The decree ordering civilians to keep away from the military, the resolutions adopted at Tamil resurgence (Pongu Thamil) rallies and the stepped up violence all seem to point as setting the stage for the November 27 event. Even if the SLMM did not say it, these developments are also not in keeping with the spirit of the ceasefire. Who ever speaks for the Government, their message does not seem to be reaching the Sri Lankans or the world at large. The crisis of credibility which was at peak during the separatist war seems to continue during peace times too. |
|||||||
Copyright © 2001 Wijeya Newspapers
Ltd. All rights reserved. |
|||||||
