ADIZs

The Sri Lanka Government has created an Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ) in 11 key areas of the Island. The Air Navigation Act of 9^th October 2007 states that “No flight or aircraft shall operate within, into or out of an ADIZ without a valid Air Defence Clearance (ADC).… Any aircraft flying without an ADIZ is liable for interception by the Sri Lanka Air Force under the interception procedure as published in the Sri Lanka AIP [1] (AIP refers to the Aeronautical Information Publication).

ADIZs form the first line of defence against aerial intrusions into a country and are vital to a country’s national security. They are usually formed along national borders, above a country’s coastal waters (Coastal Air Defence Identification Zone) and also, due to some recent high profile terrorist attacks, in specially designated areas of strategic military or political interests. In aviation terms, an ADIZ is defined as “The area of airspace over land or water, extending upward from the surface, within which the ready identification, the location, and the control of aircraft are required in the interest of national security.” A third variety of ADIZ is defined in the United States and Canada called a “Distant Early Warning Identification Zone (DEWIZ)”.

An important recent development of ADIZs is being observed in Sri Lanka and India. The first major international change on ADIZs took place following the September 11^th attacks in New York and Washington DC. The US government decided to create an ADIZ for Washington DC, that country’s Capital. This was seen as a desire to protect that country’s Political establishment. In Sri Lanka, the majority of the ADIZs are over the skies of key Military Installations [2]. It is the same case in India. Interestingly, the skies over the Economic Capital of Sri Lanka, Colombo, and the sacred Buddhist Shrine the Dalada Maligawa has also been declared ADIZs. Setting yet another precedent, the skies over President Mahinda Rajapakse’s ancestral home at Medamulana, Weeraketiya in Tangalle has also been declared an ADIZ. The last two locations, namely the Dalada Maligawa and Medamulana may enter the record books as the most unusual places ever to have been declared AIDZs.

ADIZs are worthless unless there’s a deterrence capability. Deterrence in this scenario is the capability to intercept enemy aircrafts flying in an ADIZ. To test this capability the Sri Lanka Air Force ran a mock trial on the 12^th of this month in Colombo and previously at Katunayake, home to the SLAF’s number 10 Fighter Jet Squadron. The Indian joint operation Dhakshina Prahar, involving the Indian Air Force (IAF), the Indian Navy and the Coast Guard had also concluded a week-long simulated Air Defence Exercise which ended the day of the SLAF’s Colombo trials. Using Beyond Visual-Range Missiles, Sukhoi-30 and Mirage 2000 fighter jets, the Indian Air Force engaged mock intruders at Thiruvananthapuram, Vishakhapatnam and Arakkonam, all areas of possible intrusion by Tamil Ealam Air Force (TAF).

These and other developments since 9/11 point to some grave conclusions, which are as follows;

1. The acquisition of ‘Air-capabilities’ by Non-state actors considered terrorists are a serious threat to global security.
2. States, whether large or small or powerful or weak must take these threats seriously or face humiliation or grave threats to National Security.
3. States, whether large or small are forced to spend enormous amounts of money for defence against preemptive attacks by terrorist planes while the terrorists themselves may use low-cost methods for such attacks.
4. The threat of non-state actors, especially those branded terrorists acquiring air capabilities increases chances of transnational or cross-border terrorism.
5. Whether it’s Washington DC, a religious shrine in Kandy or a small village in the rural south of Sri Lanka, no place is spared by the threat of the ‘airborne terrorist’.

[1] THE AIR NAVIGATION ACT, (CHAPTER 365), No. 1518/12 – TUESDAY, OCTOBER 09, 2007

[2] AIR NAVIGATION (AIR DEFENCE) REGULATIONS No. 1 OF 2007, No. 1524/16 – FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2007