Was Prabakaran At Bombed Location?

[miniace]

  Ripper said:

anyways...as long as the birds are in top spec ensuring safety for our boys ans utter destruction for the baddies

Birds are serviced and maintained according to manufacturers schedules.No operator can violate that.(no matter how powerful the country/armedforce be).

Remember SLAF won the Sri lankas highest quality award in 96 (or 97) and national productivity award 2000( If im not mistaken).This was after beating many multi-national companies.

MINIACE

[Ripper]

  miniace said:

Birds are serviced and maintained according to manufacturers schedules.No operator can violate that.(no matter how powerful the country/armedforce be).

Remember SLAF won the Sri lankas highest quality award in 96 (or 97) and national productivity award 2000( If im not mistaken).This was after beating many multi-national companies.

MINIACE

that's great news bro

we gotta take good care of the small amount of assets we have both in manpower and machinery

looking forward to sharing a beer with when next AL G2G happens

[miniace]

  Ripper said:

that's great news bro

we gotta take good care of the small amount of assets we have both in manpower and machinery

looking forward to sharing a beer with when next AL G2G happens

Of course ...see ya soon!!

MINIACE

[xXx]

I was quite disappointed to see that lot of members who participate in this thread was more focused on arguing about their knowledge on military hardware than the current situation of the country.

Read in the papers that a very prolific figure in the MOD is pressing ahead for a full blown media censorship. This is the sort of suppression I was on about in my earlier posts. If we are doing so well in the tackling terrorisms why does the government wants to hide the truth from the public?

I know we shouldn't help the enemy by discussing so called classified information (I still find it hard to understand how operating speed of an aircraft is labeled as classified info. My knowledge on aviation is absolutely nil so my apologies if this info is actually that critical and it can't be obtained from anywhere else apart from SLA) but lets face it LTTE is a very well organized outfit, isn't it possible with their monetary power to obtain these info fairly easily? I think this is a fundamental mistake we've always made. We are underestimating the enemy.

LTTE can act as inhuman as possible as they are a ruthless terrorist organization but the government of SL as the protector of its citizen need to behave in a much more responsible manner.

[pissa]

  xXx said:

I was quite disappointed to see that lot of members who participate in this thread was more focused on arguing about their knowledge on military hardware than the current situation of the country.

Read in the papers that a very prolific figure in the MOD is pressing ahead for a full blown media censorship. This is the sort of suppression I was on about in my earlier posts. If we are doing so well in the tackling terrorisms why does the government wants to hide the truth from the public?

I know we shouldn't help the enemy by discussing so called classified information (I still find it hard to understand how operating speed of an aircraft is labeled as classified info. My knowledge on aviation is absolutely nil so my apologies if this info is actually that critical and it can't be obtained from anywhere else apart from SLA) but lets face it LTTE is a very well organized outfit, isn't it possible with their monetary power to obtain these info fairly easily? I think this is a fundamental mistake we've always made. We are underestimating the enemy.

LTTE can act as inhuman as possible as they are a ruthless terrorist organization but the government of SL as the protector of its citizen need to behave in a much more responsible manner.

you are wrong. it makes complete sense to have a media censorship at times of war, especially in view of the irresponsible manner in which certain media behave (maybe purposely), LTTE may be able to obtain information about the military HW, but they must be loving the way certain media simply gives out military strategy. no need to remind everyone how the last episode of complete media openness resulted in most of the DPU being wiped out.

[miniace]

  xXx said:

I was quite disappointed to see that lot of members who participate in this thread was more focused on arguing about their knowledge on military hardware than the current situation of the country.

So Finally you want to discuss the govt hah?

[miniace]

  xXx said:

I was quite disappointed to see that lot of members who participate in this thread was more focused on arguing about their

I know we shouldn't help the enemy by discussing so called classified information (I still find it hard to understand how operating speed of an aircraft is labeled as classified info. My knowledge on aviation is absolutely nil so my apologies if this info is actually that critical and it can't be obtained from anywhere else apart from SLA)

Very basically...Man portables and SAMs are based on velocity and hight.

MINIACE

[The Don]

  miniace said:

Very basically...Man portables and SAMs are based on velocity and hight.

MINIACE

Mini but aren't actual operating speeds dependent on tactics rather than what an air craft is capable of ? In the sense what an air craft is capable of is publicly available info to a large degree but the tactics of the SLAF are (at least should be) classified information.

Also is it possible that the LTTE has mobile radar units ?

I am sorry but my knowledge in this particular area is very limited which is why I did not really participate in the discussion and did want to stay away from discussing probable sensitive information, though I do not think this has actually happened in my humble opinion

As for media censorship, this much I have to say. There are certain facts that need to be kept confidential but they way to do it is NOT to impose censorship but to engage with the media and get them to co operate and exercise self censorship, because I do not think journalists are traitors in any way and they perform a national service. Traitors are the people who take money in return for sensitive military information, or sell military equipment not people who expose corruption and mismanagement.

[miniace]

  The Don said:

Mini but aren't actual operating speeds dependent on tactics rather than what an air craft is capable of ? In the sense what an air craft is capable of is publicly available info to a large degree but the tactics of the SLAF are (at least should be) classified information.

Also is it possible that the LTTE has mobile radar units ?

I

Correct! The actual operating speeds always vary with the tactics adopted. Anyone can simply obtain aircraft speed capabilities from the net but not the tactical operating speeds.Keeping the tactical diving ,aiming and bombing speeds as classify details will save men and machines!

MINIACE

[GTAm]

  xXx said:

I was quite disappointed to see that lot of members who participate in this thread was more focused on arguing about their knowledge on military hardware than the current situation of the country.

Read in the papers that a very prolific figure in the MOD is pressing ahead for a full blown media censorship. This is the sort of suppression I was on about in my earlier posts. If we are doing so well in the tackling terrorisms why does the government wants to hide the truth from the public?

I know we shouldn't help the enemy by discussing so called classified information (I still find it hard to understand how operating speed of an aircraft is labeled as classified info. My knowledge on aviation is absolutely nil so my apologies if this info is actually that critical and it can't be obtained from anywhere else apart from SLA) but lets face it LTTE is a very well organized outfit, isn't it possible with their monetary power to obtain these info fairly easily? I think this is a fundamental mistake we've always made. We are underestimating the enemy.

LTTE can act as inhuman as possible as they are a ruthless terrorist organization but the government of SL as the protector of its citizen need to behave in a much more responsible manner.

I wish I am wrong but I too get the impression xXx has a valid point. The MOD has been 'cooking' the casualty figures a lot. If you read Iqbal Athas' write up about two Sundays ago in the Times you will see that according to government casualty figures of LTTErs that the LTTE are now left with only 300 something fighters. This simply cannot be.

While I acknowledge its a nice feeling to be patriotic I think we must be aware not to get carried away. Simply because successive leaders of this country have used this for political gain.

Think of when Sinhala was made the first language. This was not done (and cannot be done) for the love of the country. Rather to win more votes. Also think of the many many times successive govts. have given incredible LTTE casualty figures.

The reality is I fear that we cannot sustain this war given our economic strength (or weakness) and the economy is really heamouraging cash at an alarming rate. I run a small business but I have contacts in very very large businesses. The vibes I'm getting are very grim. We are seeing only the mildly colourful surface here. Underneath there's a sevre crisis looming.

If you read last month's LMD where Wijedasa Rajapaksa was named Sri Lankan of the year you'll not that from only one third of the govt. institutes investigated by COPE so far, they estimate the country lost 150bn due to corruption and malpractice. He estimates the total of all the 300 institutions would lose a minimum of 450bn a year. He goes on to state that our defence budget without the war is 70bn and with it is "only" 140bn this year. Still short of 150bn from the one third investigated. What crazy figures!?

He says his reason for crossing over to the opposition (and no he has not joined the UNP) is because he is certain that corruption is a far greater threat than the war/LTTE/ethnic conflict whatever. And his figures prove this.

So while it would be nice if there were no terrorists around I don't think we can afford to get our hopes high too soon. Sorry if I spoilt everyones day but its better if we have a low expectation and be pleasantly surprised rather than have a high expectation and be totally dissappointed. And boy aren't we Sri Lankans used to that?

[The Don]

  GTAm said:

I wish I am wrong but I too get the impression xXx has a valid point. The MOD has been 'cooking' the casualty figures a lot. If you read Iqbal Athas' write up about two Sundays ago in the Times you will see that according to government casualty figures of LTTErs that the LTTE are now left with only 300 something fighters. This simply cannot be.

While I acknowledge its a nice feeling to be patriotic I think we must be aware not to get carried away. Simply because successive leaders of this country have used this for political gain.

Think of when Sinhala was made the first language. This was not done (and cannot be done) for the love of the country. Rather to win more votes. Also think of the many many times successive govts. have given incredible LTTE casualty figures.

The reality is I fear that we cannot sustain this war given our economic strength (or weakness) and the economy is really heamouraging cash at an alarming rate. I run a small business but I have contacts in very very large businesses. The vibes I'm getting are very grim. We are seeing only the mildly colourful surface here. Underneath there's a sevre crisis looming.

If you read last month's LMD where Wijedasa Rajapaksa was named Sri Lankan of the year you'll not that from only one third of the govt. institutes investigated by COPE so far, they estimate the country lost 150bn due to corruption and malpractice. He estimates the total of all the 300 institutions would lose a minimum of 450bn a year. He goes on to state that our defence budget without the war is 70bn and with it is "only" 140bn this year. Still short of 150bn from the one third investigated. What crazy figures!?

He says his reason for crossing over to the opposition (and no he has not joined the UNP) is because he is certain that corruption is a far greater threat than the war/LTTE/ethnic conflict whatever. And his figures prove this.

So while it would be nice if there were no terrorists around I don't think we can afford to get our hopes high too soon. Sorry if I spoilt everyones day but its better if we have a low expectation and be pleasantly surprised rather than have a high expectation and be totally dissappointed. And boy aren't we Sri Lankans used to that?

The really sad thing GTAm is that certain elements are prepared to slam people like you who make comments like this unpatriotic

Patriotism has become a good excuse and veil to shield corruption, and you are perfectly correct in saying that is probably a greater threat to our country than terrorism

[Ripper]

  The Don said:

The really sad thing GTAm is that certain elements are prepared to slam people like you who make comments like this unpatriotic

Patriotism has become a good excuse and veil to shield corruption, and you are perfectly correct in saying that is probably a greater threat to our country than terrorism

true... greedy politicians have ruined this country and made it how it is now...

And it's really stupid that certain people get into party politics and have their agendas other than work for a common agenda to bring prosperity to this country and all it's people

One comment on Mt. Athas though... I had great respect for the man since school days and used to be a huge fan of his column on S.times... But i have serious doubts about his so called "expertise" as a defense writer... After the AAB bombing, the man couldn't differentiate between a jet powered K8 trainers and prop driven chinese made aircraft...

He had a picture of this prop driven craft on his column and said something to the effect "k8 jets like the one picture here was damaged etc"

So when a so called "expert" can't identify something so simple like that and go public with it...you can just imagine the credibility of his other writings...

I think what "The Don" said is so true...

Government censorship is a definite no-no since knowing out fellas they will misuse it to the max... A self censorship is a good idea. Whatever the journalists write should be for the betterment of the country in some way or the other... putting out false info and compromising the security of those involved in the battlegrounds should be no go territory...

I have little to no respect for politicos but gotta give credit to the fellows working in the forces, risking their lives daily and doing a great job so all of us can nicely sit here and chat

[xXx]

  miniace said:

So Finally you want to discuss the govt hah?

Yes I do. Why do you have a problem with that?

Actually I wanted to scrutinize the government since my very first post but people keep on bringing up migs and kafirs

[xXx]

  pissa said:

you are wrong. it makes complete sense to have a media censorship at times of war, especially in view of the irresponsible manner in which certain media behave (maybe purposely), LTTE may be able to obtain information about the military HW, but they must be loving the way certain media simply gives out military strategy. no need to remind everyone how the last episode of complete media openness resulted in most of the DPU being wiped out.

Do you really think these media organizations are the main source of LTTE intelligence?????

This is what I keep on saying we (in this case you) are underestimating the enemy way too much.

Edited January 29, 2008 by xXx

[Pericles]

Now boys, of course they wanna have media censorship. No other choice left with Dr. Silva on the loose on the populace.

But seriously, there is a valid point for. There is no reason to have the intelligence available for the cost of a daily. Might as well them work for whatever they get. Makes them tie up manpower and resources that could be used elsewhere. I'm with Ripper, this being SL, censorship will be misused. However, this being SL, non-censorship will also be misused. Not an ideal world we live in. And quite frankly, how much do we need to know as citizens? We don't need to know details of what troops are up to what, and where they are up to it. Unless they are upto something naughty that they shouldn't be up to. Operational and strategic needs for information released on a "need to know" basis exists, but the real issue is, who can be trusted to decide what needs to be known?

[miniace]

Its time for me to insert a bit to the circumstances.

Firstly all should comprehend the political agenda of our war.I state in public that im anti-war.I don’t think no one could challenge me on this.I don’t give a damn on how many square kilometers we liberate from enemy or what’s the foe body count but I’m very much bothered even about the slightest injury to govt forces member. Security forces not swayed by politics, they just carry out the top command orders obliged to accomplish whether agreed or not or right or wrong.

I don’t think most of the forum patriots got any thought what an extreme encounter the front line soldier faces, both mentally and physically or a pilot who make a way into SAM enabled enemy sky with half a dozen of bombs with a target to strike he had never spot before. Thats why people called to have all bombs to be plunged on enemy head. Take time to talk to a soldier who escaped death or a person who lost his good buddy infornt of his eyes in battlefront.

War is the solution government implied. This is what the preponderance of the democratic nation wanted or at least a hundred thousand odd majority sought. Its a question whether we have justified our actions to the poor soldiers in battlefront. What contributions we have done apart from paying taxes and declaring ourselves-patriots to placate him or save the life. It’s a decision of war or peace!

We are in a country where decision makers favor a three hundred thousand Rupee death donation to a dead soldier above purchasing a four hundred thousand Rupee comprehensive ballistic-amour kit to save his life! Let’s learn the value of life-At every cost than being so called patriots.

MINIACE

[Ripper]

Well Said MiniAce...

If only many of our high level decision makers can think like tat

If i'm not wrong, sometime ago we had imported bulletproof vests from certain supplier which were in fact not bullet proof...

Don't think the culprits who pocketed the money was ever brought to justice...

IMHO...I think both sides of the fence have to compromise from their present stances and come to an amicable solution cos as a nation we all have been brought down by this war...

Of course except for those few bigshots who made millions thanks to it...

Military victories should be followed by political solutions or else this won't be a war that can be fought and won in the battlefields alone.

It's sad that some extremists from both sides seems to have no limit to their thirst for violence and spilling blood...Mostly due to lack of respect for the fellow man and greed for power and supremacy...

[miniace]

Since we talked about aircrafts a lot..thought sharing this with you guys! sorry this is OT

This Mig25 was dug out of a massive sand dune near the Al Taqqadum airfield-Iraq by U.S. Air Force recovery teams. The Mig was reportedly one of over two dozen Iraqi jets buried in the sand, like hidden treasure waiting to be recovered at a later date. Contrary to what some in the major media have reported, not all the jets found were from the Gulf War era. The Russian-made Mig-25 Foxbat being recovered by U.S.Air Force troops in the photos is an advanced reconnaissance version never before seen in the West and is equipped with sophisticated electronic warfare devices. U.S.A.F. recovery teams had to use large earth-moving equipment to uncover the MiG, which is over 70 feet long and weighs nearly 25 tons.

-quote

MINIACE

[Ripper]

man those lucky yankees

what a beautiful machine that is... always loved the russian stuff I mean their military technological stuff

once they showed on tv a hover craft type of thingy which is actually a large troop carrier ship with wings that uses "ground effect" to fly few feet off the wave tops at very high speeds...

was powered by multiple jet engines i think

the craft was only discovered by the yankees after it was sent to be scrapped after the fall of USSR and that too was through spy satellites...

The tv program was saying that it was nearly impossible to detect on radars and could've reached the US in a matter of few hours with complete surprise...

[miniace]

The said MiG25 is in US soil now.At National meauseum of the USAF.

MINIACE

[Thanushka]

  miniace said:

Since we talked about aircrafts a lot..thought sharing this with you guys! sorry this is OT

This Mig25 was dug out of a massive sand dune near the Al Taqqadum airfield-Iraq by U.S. Air Force recovery teams. The Mig was reportedly one of over two dozen Iraqi jets buried in the sand, like hidden treasure waiting to be recovered at a later date. Contrary to what some in the major media have reported, not all the jets found were from the Gulf War era. The Russian-made Mig-25 Foxbat being recovered by U.S.Air Force troops in the photos is an advanced reconnaissance version never before seen in the West and is equipped with sophisticated electronic warfare devices. U.S.A.F. recovery teams had to use large earth-moving equipment to uncover the MiG, which is over 70 feet long and weighs nearly 25 tons.

-quote

MINIACE

I wonder Prabha had also buried his 'Kite' too.

[Supra_Natural]

  Ripper said:

man those lucky yankees

what a beautiful machine that is... always loved the russian stuff I mean their military technological stuff

once they showed on tv a hover craft type of thingy which is actually a large troop carrier ship with wings that uses "ground effect" to fly few feet off the wave tops at very high speeds...

was powered by multiple jet engines i think

the craft was only discovered by the yankees after it was sent to be scrapped after the fall of USSR and that too was through spy satellites...

The tv program was saying that it was nearly impossible to detect on radars and could've reached the US in a matter of few hours with complete surprise...

Is this what you were talking about?

Two examples of the Russian "Ekranoplan", like you said, a vehicle that uses ground effect to skim a few feet above the waves at high speeds (also called

Wing-In-Ground Effect vehicles) ..... essentially a cross between a hovercraft and an aircraft

Article on this particular bird

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ekranoplan

They are really amazing innit?

Edited February 1, 2008 by Supra_Natural

[Ripper]

MiniAce

You reckon the iraqi's buried these babies in the sand to keep em away from the americans?

think i can see some form of polythene covering and cammo net on the first pic....

[Supra_Natural]

Apparently, one still survives.... check this out.

Dated 2008/1/23... (not sure though)

a russian shipyard in the caspian sea

http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=42.880556,4...80556,47.665833

http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=42.881667,4...81667,47.656667

Edited February 1, 2008 by Supra_Natural

[Ripper]

  Supra_Natural said:

Is this what you were talking about?

They are really amazing innit?

damn you're fast

yep that's the one these russians are very clever... must be all that vodka, cold weather and long legged ladies