The LTTE’s Air Tiger Wing (Vaan Puli) operations have receded to a lull with the element of surprise now lost. The lull is also subsequent to the installation of upgraded radars at the Katunayake Air Base. The LTTE is not the first and perhaps the last rebel-group to use airborne attacks on established armies. Apart from the 9/11 attack some rebel movements have targeted civil, military, and political targets in daring aerial attacks. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command (PFLP-GC) launched a hang-glider attack on Israeli soldiers in November 1987.
A close comparison between these attacks and the attack by LTTE reveals considerable skill and success on the part of the LTTE in smuggling in, concealing, arming and resourceful use of its light Aircraft. The Air Tigers used home-made gravity bombs which were off-target in most cases. In the dark, they were guided by the lights at Katunakaye Air Base. However, the Tigers managed to expose the lackluster approach by the former governments and former heads of Armed Forces to the potential threat posed by a Tiger Air Wing. With that battle won, the Tiger Air Wing went into hibernation, maybe to reappear again when least expected. This time it could be a combined air, ground and sea assault!
The significance of the LTTE’s air attack in the post 9/11 period is that it has considerably increased the organization’s options for launching suicide attacks on selected targets. For the time-being LTTE seems to be using its Air Tigers sparingly with majority of strikes occurring at night to ensure low detection. However, given the organization’s insistence on Martyrdom for the cause of Tamil Ealam, Tiger pilots volunteering for Black Tiger (Karum Puli) suicide missions would not be surprising, especially if and when the LTTE has its back against the wall.
The LTTE is considered the leading non-Islamic ‘terrorist’ group to use suicide attacks on military and political targets both in
In the post 9/11 scenario the group has not been considered a direct threat to Western Powers although an LTTE-like sea-borne suicide attack crippled USS Cole in