A Large Fleet of Low-Cost Propeller Driven WW-II Fighter Planes for Coastal Defence

The purpose of these P51 Mustang fighter planes would be for low-tech warfare; not for opposing the state-of-the-art airforces of other countries. They are perfect for shooting down Zlins, patrolling the sea coast, taking out gun/ammunition smuggling vessels, and for close air support against troops, trucks and guns, and destroying earthbund fortifications. They served these same purposes during WW-II in addition to protecting bomber formations against German fighters during bombing runs over Nazi Germany.

Pilots were trained in as few as 4-months for flying P51 single-engined fighter planes during WW-II. These planes were superb highly maneuverable long-range planes that were used to escort bombers over Germany and shoot down attacking Me109 and FW-190 German fighters. Training a pilot to fly a P51 at slow speeds is not as difficult as training a jet fighter pilot...reaction time limits are much longer. Training pilots would not be a big problem.

The most serious new type of threat they would face would be from shoulder fired rocket-propelled SAMs (e.g., Russian Sagger-type, and US Stinger-type) travelling at high speed, that are available even to the LTTE only in very limited numbers. The SAMs can be confused by a variety of counter measures that can be deployed from P51s also. The tight turning radius of a P51 can be used to avoid SAMs which cannot turn as fast at their high speeds; this is not possible with jet fighters which largely depend on high-speed to outrun the SAMs, and on countermeasures to divert the SAM homing sensors.

Obviously, it is not the best, safest, state of the art solution. An advanced VTOL aircraft, such as a British/US Harrier, that can fly at both high and low speeds, can hover in one place, can liftoff and land vertically on small field, and has state-of-the-art countermeasures would be the way to go, if we had the funds. My idea is only an affordable solution for a poor country; a solution that would allow us to deploy the hundreds of aircraft needed to maintain a intensive detect-and-destroy coverage everywhere.

The low cost of these planes is a great advantage. Just imagine, 150 planes can be bought for, say $2,000,000, which is much less than the price of one Harrier. We can use 50 of those planes for spare parts, and fly the remaining 100 forever, until Sri Lanka becomes rich enough to afford better weapons. In the post war period, this solution will allow us to tightly protect our coast and territorial waters. We can refurbish and use LTTE's airstrips for this purpose as regional airfields close to the field of action.

Another idea would be to develop a similar low cost fleet of sea-planes with either a boat-like fuselage, or two independent floats in addition to wheels, for landing on water surfaces. These planes can land in the ocean near ports when the sea is calm, or land in lagoons or in our inland tanks/ reservoirs. The sea-planes with floats can be P51 mustangs, with the undercarriage permanently extended and wheels and floats incorporated as a single unit to allow landing on either land or water. Such a modified P51, of course, would not be able to fly at the high speed of one without modification, because of the extra drag of the extended undercarriage. That is the trade off.

These ideas can be combined to provide a low cost mix of planes to meet our security needs, and would complement the more advanced jet fighter force of the SLAF.

December 31, 2008 8:40

LTTE Withdrawals from Peace Talks

LTTE withdrawals from Peace Talks

• June 11,1990 - Breaks off talks with Ranasinghe Premadasa Government and starts Eelam War two.

• April 19, 1995 - Breaks off talks with Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga Government. Begins Eelam war three by attacking Trincomalee Naval Base.

• April 21, 2003 - Withdraws from peace talks with Ranil Wickremesinghe Government. Continuously violates the CFA.

• December, 2005 - LTTE begins Eelam War four.

Paper Planes

When they flew across Sri Lankan skies over Colombo on the night of 20th Friday [Feb 2009], the self styled terrorist ranks of Tamil Tiger Air Wing may have thought that success was written in gold for their mission. They had taken the small island nation for a free ride, by violating its air space with low flying light planes - mostly below radar detectable height - and gravity bombing hype and mystery. Purpose of their visits has never been benign, but this time the plot was even sinister. Instead of bombing targets off the high security zone and flying away with triumph, this time they pierced right through the Colombo HSZ, possibly targeting a VIP position on a journey of no return. They were attempting a suicide fly by.

Tamil Tigers, also known as LTTE, have brought a number of evil elements to the world. Tamil Tigers are the first to coin the term of “Suicide Bomber”. They have obtained some naval capacity [of the size of fishing trawlers], submersibles and light planes. They introduced internationally organized Credit Card Theft. They have extended the cutting edge of global terrorism to a new height, creating human catastrophes in many parts of Sri Lanka.

And their approaches have been copied fondly by other terror groups, like in the case of countless suicide bombing in Iraq and Pakistan and ambush style terror attack in Mumbai. This time they were trying to set up another chapter in Terrorist’s Cook Book on Kamikaze.

World has reacted to these wings of Satan in different ways. Having publically denounced the evil motto, many people seem to be fond of its operational detail and secretly admire the fiasco. Singers have sung and ethnic migrants have boasted, but world is yet to know that they are adoring a two horned bastard who threatens tomorrow’s aerial safety as a whole.

Like law, diplomacy and religion, terrorist philosophies fly over the country borders. Different terror groups adapt ideologies of one another. Like fashion, terrorist maneuvers are copied. In a world where technology marvels, there is no guarantee that another terror movement will not adapt flying examples of Tamil Tigers of today. It can happen in any place where they have significant cover for the safety of the machines - not only in third world, but also in first world. It is correct that all big nations are protected with significant air defence systems. But it is rather unknown to many that no nation is fully protected from aerial threats. Low flying small planes can get away from many radar systems. Also they can play a drama of benign agenda until they reach the Kamikaze target. This is a threat that world has not yet felt. And they admire the first terrorists to fly.

Of the possibilities, bombing is the least, has anyone calculated what kind of catastrophe they can create by spraying malicious material such as toxic gases, germs or nuke-waste. Tamil Tigers may have plotted all these. Who knows, they might do it tomorrow. It is a paramount responsibility of world as a whole to defeat such movements as soon as possible, before they become a legend and example for other jungle prowling terror masterminds, who mean nothing but doom.

Back to the story – With the approaching city skyscrapers, the terror pilot raised the altitude. At this night hours, crashing into one of the business centers would not cause much damage other than the loss of the flying machine. They needed a better target - perhaps some military establishment, maybe the President’s house or maybe they were looking for a place of public gathering. Tamil Tigers measure triumph in civilian head count – a diminishing habit from even the most uncivilized tribal regions of the world today.

Before we move further on the events unfolded on that decisive night it is important to go through the hype and myth of the air capabilities of Tamil Tigers. Is it a great feat to possess air capability for a terrorist movement? Surely it is one of the first occasions, but given the world order of today, and the volatility on anti-terror policies and foresight in Sri Lankan politics, it is not a magic at all. Let the facts speak.

Tamil Tigers are the wealthiest terrorist movement in the world, ahead of Al Qaeda [funded by millionaire supreme leader Osama Bin Laden], Colombian terrorists [humble cocaine traders], Hisbullah [allegedly funded by oil-rich Arab communities] and Somalian gangs [who mastered sea piracy for million dollar ransom]. They all envy the thick pocket of Velupille Prabhakaran, the elusive leader of Tamil Tigers. Bagging an annual global hat collection of more than USD200 million - mostly extorted from the ethnic Tamil immigrants in west - Tamil Tigers have other unaccounted income sources such as drug selling, human trafficking and credit card theft. Analysts speculate a staggering sum of USD one billion of annual revenue which is comparative to a national GDP of a smaller third world nation. In a world where many millionaires can afford for private jets and helicopters, Tamil Tigers are humbled to possess light planes only. Technically speaking it is a Mafia organization of global scale.

Like Al Qaeda who obtained training to fly Jumbo Jets in US, Tamil Tigers have trained their pilots overseas, hiding within the immigrant community. Apart from the newly trained inexperienced pilots, they seem to have employed mercenaries on bombing.

With wealth, logistics and expertise, they have shown a path for the jubilant terror supporters. It is to fly over anyone’s head and bomb if they do not listen to your demands. And the hype and myth has turned into legend and bandwagon. Ethnic Tamil pop star Methangi Arulprasagam aka MIA sang “Paper Planes” at the time Tamil Tigers acquired the flying capability. Her seemingly innocent song may be a coincidence, but the terror past of her father [Mr Arul Prasagam - former leader known as Arular in Tamil Tiger ranks] and terror bandwagon of her public appearances are not. Even for the song itself, MIA features gunshots in back ground. Following rather interesting segments are extracted from original lyrics.

“Pirate skulls and bones Sticks and stones and weed and bombs Running when we hit 'em Lethal poison through their system”

“Some some some I some I murder Some I some I let go”

MIA is free to express her views. But too many coincidences spawn a whirlpool of speculations. For an example her deceptive voice tells “bombs” in original song which is mostly interpreted as “bongs” elsewhere. Having preserved the freedom of expression, what right do we deserve to promote terrorism at its lethal height of aerial capability? Things to ponder.

The plane lowered between the skyscrapers. Except for one or two stubborn parties, the entire city was in self-inflicted darkness. The Defence Forces were ready from the moment they detected the threat. Many guns were waiting, one plane to fly, they were attempting yet another impossibility.

Inevitable happened at once. It is not clear who took the target. It can be a naval gun ship, a ground AA gun, or a shooter on a high rising building. In a sudden flare of light, the invader vanished into pieces, mostly damaging a government office building. Explosion was rather gigantic. Nevertheless two innocent bystanders paid ultimate price of terrorism while nearly fifty others received injuries, leaving the sadistic Tamil Tiger supporters with something to be happy about.

Moments later another plane was found crashed into an abandoned field near the main airport of the country. Signs of it being hit by AA gunfire were apparent.

Some believe that it is the end of the Tiger air capability. But it is unknown how many hidden sinister planes Tamil Tigers possess. In addition, there is no assurance that they will not acquire any in future, even after being deprived of their territorial control. You can fly a plane from anywhere, be it a neighboring country or mere ocean. And most importantly there is no assurance that other such movements will not adapt the newest weapon on terrorist range. The era invented by Tamil Tigers assures no one - anywhere in the world - free sleep, without the scare of sky falling on you. It is the era of terrorist flying.

In the current phase of this war, Sri Lanka has lived its moments of truth - the valuable proof that it would not kneel in front of the ruthlessness of terrorism. It has proven to all that possessing money and preaching cruelty is not enough for savagery to rule. It has shown the world that on the strict stance of righteousness you can beat any evil force. And by shooting down the air capability of Tamil Tigers they have proven the world that sanity prevails.

Yet the hype continues. MIA will sing Paper Planes for another decade, denying her subtle propaganda and indirectly providing morale jet fuel to the thousands of like sinister incest minds plotting the next big human catastrophe anywhere in the world. Tamil Tigers may not fly again, but the terrorists elsewhere might take up the baton.

But one thing remains assured. They are Paper Planes indeed and they burn very fast.


- Bharana Ganitha -

Impacts of Sethu Samudram Project on Sri Lanka

By Ananda-USA

The Sethu Samudram Canal project, advocated by Tamil Nadu, proposes to create a sea channel through the Palk Strait, lying entirely within Indian sea territory, that would enable ships to avoid going around Sri Lanka to ports along the East Coast of India.

In my judgment, the Sethu Samudram canal will be built no matter what objections, if any, that Sri Lanka raises, because it will be built in Indian territory, with Indian funds. Sri Lanka should be looking to proactively cope with the fallout of its construction. The current objections raised by Indians arise mainly from Hindu zealots who wish to preserve the "bridge" built by Hanuman in the Ramayana epic, central to Hinduism, unaltered by human hands. In my view, saner Indian minds driven by economic, military and political factors will ultimately prevail and the Sethu Samudram canal will be built in some form in the future.

This project will have significant Economic, Security, Environmental, and Political implications for Sri Lanka, that Sri Lanka must anticipate and prepare to accommodate effectively.

Economically, this would reduce the need for ships to berth at Sri Lankan ports, and will afford additional porting alternatives to ships crossing the Indian Ocean. That would reduce future income for Sri Lanka. This economic impact would be offset to a very small extent by increased utility of ports on the West coast north of Mannar, the Jaffna peninsula, and the East Coast north of Trincomalee. I think, it would negatively impact any income to be derived from a rapid expansion of the Trincomalee harbour to handle ship repairs and ship construction in the future, as I had proposed in an earlier article at this blog, and elsewhere.

From a Security and Political Perspective, we must anticipate India placing greater emphasis on security of this region, because this channel affords India a method of more rapidly transferring military assets by sea between the East and West Coasts of India. In this regard, we note that in the past, the Sri Lanka Navy was faced with the same problem. The Sri Lanka Navy purchased Hovercraft ships that rode on an air-cushion above the water surface to ferry troops and supplies from Colombo to Jaffna directly across the shallow Palk Strait that could not be navigated by ordinary deep-draft vessels. This would have avoided either shipping the same cargo around Sri Lanka, or transporting that cargo first by land to Trincomalee, and then by ship to Jaffna. The military advantage of such a sea channel to India, with defence concerns on both sides of its land mass is great. As such, the Federal Government of India is likely to back this project very strongly.

The security impact on Sri Lanka of the Sethu Samudram Canal being built, however, is partially conditioned on Tamil Nadu remaining within the Indian orbit. Given the separatist tendencies of Tamil Nadu politicians, and their oft declared Aryan-phobicity, that is by no means certain. Also, these longer-term considerations could explain the consistently persistent support by Tamil Nadu politicians for Eelam in Sri Lanka: They may be anticipating an existence separate from India, and want to permanently secure both ends of this sea channel for their own use by incorporating Eelam as a part of a future Greater Dravidian Nation (GDN). The southern and northern sea coasts of such a GDN independent of the rest of India, will be able to communicate freely along its entire coast only if the Sethu Samudram canal is built.

This also underscores why Sri Lanka must never devolve power to the North and the East on an ethnic basis, because the GDN will rely on the ethnic Tamil leaders of the North and the East to enable them to secure the Sri Lanka end of the Sethu Samudram sea channel. These objectives can be realized only by keeping the Eelam pot boiling in Sri Lanka, even after the current war is ended in Sri Lanka.

Therefore, it is essential that

1. The population of Sri Lanka is homogenized as quickly as possible to eliminate ethnic demographic concentrations that can be exploited by its future enemies,
   
   
2. That Sri Lanka develops a large and permanent defense force, including a strong coastal defense, that is capable of preventing any encroachment and insurgent activity along its shores. This should include a large and highly capable permanent defense force of 500,000, supported by a 4,000,000 man National Guard including every able bodied adult in the country.
   
   
3. Sri Lanka moves rapidly to develop and capture for Trincomalee the premier position as the preferred place in the Indian Ocean for ship repair, shipbuilding, and container shipping. This may require a substantial investment in iron, steel and specialty metals manufacturing, cold storage facilities for perishable commodities, in heavy equipment manufacturing, and fuel storage and refining facilities as well. Sri Lanka should make various incentives available to the international shipping industry, to register their ships under the Sri Lanka flag, just as Panama and Greece did in the past.
   
   
4. Sri Lanka evaluates the development of a deep-water Canal through the Palk Strait lying entirely within Sri Lankan maritime territory to capture a part of the income from the ship traffic through the Palk Strait. If the Indian canal is halted because of Hindu religious opposition in India, Sri Lanka would become the sole provider of access through the Palk Strait. In fact, Sri Lanka should volunteer to replace the Indian project with a Sri Lankan project and get the financing for the project from India, on the condition that this would remain sovereign Sri Lankan asset, and not an International waterway. The advantage of doing this is that, since such a canal would be built anyway with or without Sri Lanka's participation, why not acquire the entire project and derive a stream of income from usage fees in perpetuity? There may be some adverse security implications, in that India may feel the need to seize the canal and land in Sri Lanka to defend it, should some conflict in the future require sole use for India's defence against any other country. If the Sri Lankan canal is in addition to a canal built in Indian territory, that need would be significantly reduced. It is important to appreciate here that both the construction of the canal, and keeping it clear of obstructions due to the movement and deposition of marine sediments by periodic dredging, is a costly, fulltime undertaking, that must be more than offset by the income from usage fees, to provide the necessary financial incentive. As a result, the construction and operation of two canals in Indian and Sri Lankan waters is unlikely to be financially viable, especially if the bulk of the traffic is of Indian origin and chooses to the Indian canal.
   

I have laid out here a partially fleshed out rationale for Tamil Nadu interest in supporting Eelam in Sri Lanka, that goes beyond the well trumpeted support for fellow Sri LankanTamils, and what Sri Lanka can do now to cope with these looming future developments.

Sri Lanka needs to develop a National Policy to anticipate, counter and defuse the Economic, Security and Political impacts of the Sethu Samudram Canal Project as an urgent National Priority.

INDIA-CENTERED PERSPECTIVE OF THE SETHU SAMUDRAM PROJECT
(From Wikipedia.org website )

Sethusamudram Ship Channel Project proposes linking the Palk Bay and the Gulf of Mannar between India and Sri Lanka by creating a shipping channel through the shallow sea sometimes called Setu Samudram, and through the island chain of Adam's Bridge, also known as ram sethu. This would provide a continuous navigable sea route around the Indian Peninsula. The project involves digging a 44.9 nautical mile (83 km) long deepwater channel linking the shallow water of the Palk Strait with the Gulf of Mannar. Conceived as early as 1860 by Alfred Dundas Taylor, it recently received approval of the Indian government. Government of India plans to break limestone shoals called Ram's Bridge or Ram sethu as part of implementation of this project. A few organizations are opposing damage to Ramasethu on religious,environmental and economical grounds. Many of these parties or organizations support implementation of this project using one of the 5 alternative alignments considered earlier without damaging a structure considered sacred by Hindus. Current alignment is planned as Mid-ocean channel which is unprecedented. Other famous shipping canal projects like Suez Canal and Panama Canal projects are land based channels.

History

Due to shallow waters, Sethusamudram presents a formidable hindrance to navigation through the Palk strait. Though trade across the India-Sri Lanka divide has been active since at least the first millennium BCE, it has been limited to small boats and dinghies. Larger ocean going vessels from the West have had to navigate around Sri Lanka to reach India' eastern coast. Eminent British geographer Major James Rennell, who surveyed the region as a young officer in late eighteenth century, suggested that a "navigable passage could be maintained by dredging the strait of Ramisseram". However little notice was given to his proposal, perhaps because it came from "so young and unknown an officer", and the idea was only revived 60 years later. Efforts were made in 1838 to dredge the canal, but did not succeed in keeping the passage navigable for any vessels except those with a shallow draft.

Possibly conceived in 1860 by Commander A. D. Taylor of the Indian Marines, the project has been reviewed many times over the years but no decision was ever made. It was part of the election manifestos of all political parties during elections. The Union Government of India appointed the Sethu Samudram Project Committee in 1955, headed by Dr. A. Ramasamy Mudaliar, which was charged with the duty of examining the desirability of the project. After evaluating the costs and benefits, this committee found the project feasible and viable. However it has strongly recommended land based passage instead of channel cutting through Ram's bridge due to several advantages of land based passage like Shifting sandbanks, Ability to prevent navigational hazards etc. Several reviews of the proposals followed. Finally, the United Progressive Alliance Government of India headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced the inauguration of the project on July 2, 2005.

Benefits

The strategic advantages to India derive from obtaining a navigable sea route close to the coast, with a reduction in travel distance of more than 350 nautical miles (650 km) (for larger ships). The project is expected to provide a boost to the economic and industrial development of coastal Tamil Nadu. The project will be of particular significance to Tuticorin harbour, which has the potential to transform itself into a nodal port. The State Government has announced its proposal to develop 13 minor ports, including Ennore, Cuddalore, Nagapattinam, Thondi, Valinokam, Kolachel and Kanyakumari.

Development of the canal and ports is also expected to provide increased maritime security for Tamil Nadu.

Other Arguments

Safety, requirement of Constant Dredging, question arising on its suitability for Heavy Ships, time spent due to slow speed that would be necessary for passage in the canal, cost aspects... were some of the arguments put forth by Captain (retired) H Balakrishnan of the Indian Navy has to say about the project in an interview to Shobha Warrier of Rediff: In the case of the Suez and the Panama canals, ships save thousands of nautical miles in sailing distance and hundreds of hours in sailing time.The difference with the Sethu Samudram project is that the ships will probably save a few hundred miles and at the most two hours in sailing time.

Issues To Be Resolved

Economic

Some naval hydrographers and experts suggest that the project is unlikely to be financially viable or serve ships in any significant way. The savings for ships that originate from Kanyakumari or Tuticorin is between 10 and 30 hours. For ships from other destinations like the Middle East, Africa, Mauritius and Europe,the average savings by using this canal is just 8 hours.

At the present tariff rates, ships from Africa and Europe will lose $ 4,992 on every voyage, as the savings in time for these ships are considerably lower that what is calculated in the DPR. This loss is significant as 65% of the projected users of the canal are those from Africa and Europe. If tariffs are lowered to a point where ships from Africa and Europe will not lose any money from using the canal, the IRR of the project falls to 2.6%. This is a level at which even public infrastructure projects are rejected by the government.

Depth envisaged for this canal is designed for ships with weight of 30000 tonnes and less. Most of the new generation ships (with weight more than 60000 tonnes and tankers with weight above 150000 tonnes) cannot make use of this canal.

Cash Crunch For The Project

Axis Bank Ltd. was appointed “loan arranger” for the project in 2005.Since its inception in 2004, costs have skyrocketed to at least Rs 4,000 crore, interest rates have crawled higher and old loan terms have lapsed.Even before the first dredger began its work in 2005, costs had already spiralled to more than Rs 3,500 crore. The loan sanctions, valid only up to Rs 2,400 crore, lapsed. To secure more money, Sethusamudram Corp. Ltd would have to return to the drawing board, draw up new reports, sit with parliamentary committees and receive fresh approval.

Environmental

The Environmental Impact Assessment carried out by the Indian government On July 2, 2005, the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh unveiled the Sethusamudram Ship Canal Project.The Project would disturb the ecological balance and would be the reason for the death of corals.It is also an important fishing ground for the state of Tamilnadu.There exists an Biological park in the vicinity of the proposed project.

Political And Economic

There have been concerns about the impact of dredging. Nevertheless, the economic benefits will be mutual for Sri Lanka as much as it is for India by reviving minor ports in Sri Lanka. The underdeveloped region of Northern Srilanka is currently occupied by LTTE. Sethu Samudram project could potentially allow economic benefits to this region. This is being viewed with mutual suspicion of both Sri Lankan and Tamil leaders. Further it is expected that in addition to Colombo, new ports to be developed near Jaffna. There has also been criticism expressed, on the basis that the project could damage relations with Sri Lanka.

Religious

This land bridge is the site of the famous Lord Rama's Bridge, making it a historical, religious and cultural monument of great significance. For this reason, many, including chief ministers of states, oppose the project.

While the age of the Ram Setu is disputed it's importance as a religious symbol in the minds of some Hindu's is not. Nevertheless, the Govt. of India through Mr. Nariman submitted before the Supreme Court of India on 22 july 2008 that “Kamba Ramayanam also expressly says the bridge was destroyed by Lord Ram so that no one can cross over to Sri Lanka and ships can sail through. Even the Telugu version of Ramayana says Lord Ram destroyed the bridge.”

End Of Article

National Security

National Security of Sri Lanka
To Be Written