Saturday, September 6, 2008

The face of things to come

The pro-LTTE media, quite understandably is excited that the LTTE has stopped running and started defending their positions although the Army too is not unhappy about this new development. The SLA understands the difference between defense and offense, having mastered the former with minimum success and now mastering the latter with great success.

Around 55 soldiers have laid down their lives in fighting at Nachchikuda, Vannerikulam etc in the past few days. These are the true figures. Government media reports the figure low while pro-LTTE media exaggerated it. Any reader with a reasonable intellect knows which is which.

The state media has to hide the fact, understandably due to politics, but the Army has no real reason for concern. A concern would arise if the LTTE annihilated an SLA garrison in a matter of few days, like in the days gone past. But those days are now long gone.

We must understand the present context in which the fighting is happening before reacting (either pessimistically or optimistically depending on which side you support). We at DefenceWire also wish to make this an opportunity to answer some email queries made by some of our more 'connected' viewers who are closely following the developments up north. We will answer each concern one-by-one in our posts, starting today.

First of all, the concern that the Army is losing more men now and that it would not be able to make it past the Nachchikuda line.

The LTTE is getting into a do-or-die situation. They are fighting closer to home than before, therefore the defence-in-depth strategy has to kick in sooner rather than later. This is not a surprise. It has certainly not surprised the Army.

Anyhow, if our wish is to save the lives of our soldiers, we must then urge the government to stop the war and justify to ourselves the continued acts of terrorism on our soil. No war is possible without the loss of lives. What is possible is to make a reasonable effort to minimize it and this includes the lives of civilians.

Let's analyze the ground realities. LTTE absolutely must guard Pooneryn. If it loses Nachchikuda, it will lose Pooneryn. Two more offensive SLA Divisions plus a mechanized infantry division are waiting to come south.

Pooneryn is also the buffer between Jaffna and Kilinochchi. It is the last remaining coastline and sea route to India for immediate logistical needs such as medicines, fuel etc. It is also the base from which the Jaffna insurgency is maintained. All will be lost if Pooneryn is lost.

The Nachchikuda FDL is crucial and the LTTE knows it. Rather than risking its cadres lives to flanking and a collapse from the rear by 8-12 man SLA teams spread throughout a large area, the Tigers have constructed a large trench-line forming a single FDL. The strategy is to increase safety in concentrated numbers. It is these numbers that the Army is also after. So the LTTE has entered into a gamble.

With the trench comes a defensive posture uncharacteristic to the LTTE. In affect, the LTTE is behaving the same way the Army did in the face of the Ceaseless Waves. It is using conventional tactics developed during World War I to fight the Army's 3rd generation warfare and unconventional tactics.

The strategy has its advantages and disadvantages. A trenchline offers the defenders the first 'shoot-to-kill' opportunity as attackers attempt to breach it at its weakest points by crossing natural or man-made obstacles. But disadvantages of the strategy were discovered over 50 years ago by the Allies. More recently, the Sri Lanka Army has learnt the same lessons many times over.

The disadvantages come with the amalgamation of all your strength into one place. This makes their location known, reduces the level of surprise etc. The level of fatigue in holding out against continuous day and night raids is high. The psychology and emotional capacity of the soldier is adversely affected at times. Rain, flooding, mud-slides and constant reconstruction of damaged lines can exhaust the manpower.

A line trench with large numbers of troops committed to is has to maintain complete control of the line at all times. If the enemy breaches the line continuously and manages to gain a foothold in a few locations, the defenders become demoralized and vulnerable.

Currently, the SLA has breached the Nachchikuda-Akkarayan LTTE FDL at 6 different locations. The LTTE has used its initial advantage against the Army and managed to spot and kill and injure 4 SLA platoons through early action with a loss of a platoon on its own side. But the defenders will not receive a reprieve. Their location is known, but the location of the raiders is always a guess.


To be continued.....

129 comments:

Malin said...

Thank You very much for the update defencewire..

Infinity said...

Situation maps have been updated:

Map of Western situation as at September 6
Map of Eastern situation as at September 6

out_sider said...

I have seen many comments here asking about the mig29's. But given the limited budget, I have to wonder if another 10 hinds would have been a better use of the money.

Jets are very impressive but the SLA needs close air support and a small fleet of hinds sweeping over the LTTE FDL lines is likely to have a far greater impact on the cadres than any jet attack might.

Anonymous said...

Thanks dw. We like these kinds of analysis to deepen our mlitary knowledge.
Pls also find a way to sweep the blog-intruders away from the comment section. It will add more value to the blog. My suggestion is to activate some more friendly forces who will delete the nonsense, which doesn't belong to a defenceblog.
If necessary remove my comment too.:)

Achi said...

Tnx DW

dhinuksha said...

Out_sider,

We are getting MIG29SMs not for the CAS role. it's for the precision strikes and AA Role. MI24/35 and MIG27 are for CAS role. it's two different scenarios. we got enough MI24/35s for the moment and there are few of them going on upgrades in India. anyway we are getting 4 or 5 Hinds along with the MIG29SMs.

Unknown said...

Hello, By Gotymbara

Sam Perera said...

DefenceWire,

Thanks for the insightful review of the situation. Your style of writing is more akin to the academic style than military. I think that, now I have some idea of who you are; not your name or rank but what you do for living. That was a short digression. I hope that our military high command evaluates the situation very carefully. I totally agree that loss of life on our side is inevitable in any war. At the same time, I want my brothers and sisters of all creeds and walks in our defence forces not die in vain like LTTE cadre die for an unachievable goal. I look forward to seeing more insightful posts likes this.

Thanks,

Sam

IntelAttack said...

DW,

Thanks for the clean report.

Hope you would keep an eye on spammers at least once a day. :)

lankaputhra said...

Interesting analysis thanks DW,

If the army can break the trench in few location along the line can they seize the LTTE area ? As Israel army did in Egypt I can remember while ago I saw a film how they broke the dame using water pressure and entered from two fronts and made whole Egypt army vulnerable. Also our forces can use their fair power from Mahamalei side towards south. Also would it be possible to break the trench using home made earth movers with bullet proof guards (this could be very primitive). Even though solders die in any war I feel so bad when I see them die in the war front (hope this war will end this time forever) ..if we can use any hardware to reduce the number of deaths? …I am not military expert but I feel that the Air Force is not giving enough support for ground forces…
Is it not possible to attack from the sea side above Nachchikuda while backing from the artillery guns from the land…so many ideas? …may be all crazy…
In this case DPU also can make huge difference I guess.

phaedrus said...

The LTTE is correct about what will happen if Pooneryn is captured by the army. If they can't handle the current divisions, there is no hope when the divisions in Jaffna land in Pooneryn.

By the time 53rd joins, it might just be a token resistance (if any) in Kilinochchi city/town.

Apino Dannachess said...

Hi DW,

Thanks for this recent post. I think its time we lay to rest the MIG29 related discussion, as its sunk cost now. Good to hear that some hinds will be upgraded and some new additions are on their way. Thanks Ruslan for the news.

Moving on to a different topic....I think its a foregone conclusion that our SLDF are creature of habit and LTTE has used this to their advantage on numerous times.

Given that the flying tincans have always done their stunts during night time following certain MO, I'm sure our response mechanisms are now set to this rythm: i.e. two planes/ under the cover of dark/ short distances/ always returns to the roost in Vanni/ drop about 4 bombs. What if they change the game plan now? Are we ready for such an eventuality?

As the LTTE continues to loose their land base, the TinsCans will increasingly become expendable...so does their crew...thus more daring attacks can be expected with changes to their known MO.

I hope relevant people in the defense establishment had done such scenario planning and mapped the appropriate counter measures.

In an act of desperation they may a) sacrifice the planes,
b) can they increase the payload by using one pilot only,
c) Will they home in on civilian targets:civilian jetliner on its approach to Katunayake
d) split up: first one going north and drawing the F7s northwards while the second sneaks in to south to engage the real target.
e) do they have more than 2 Zlins that can overwhelm our response systems,
f) Can they carry enough payload to successfully breach one of the hydro reservoirs,
g) can they reach Anuradapura to take on a target with religious significance ( I hope somebody with correct numbers can do the maths),
h) do they have sufficient range to fly out to sea (under the radar) and then approach the Galle Navy base from south ( drop tanks might help)
i) Assuming LTTE don't have sea planes, can the Zlins be retrofitted with floats, thus being a means of escape for the FATCAT/ LTTE bigwigs: rendezvous with a ship/ trawler waiting in the deep-sea can easily whisk them away to safety.
j) What if this time they make a pre-dawn foray in to south...will our stand by crews will be in a not-so-standby position at that time?
k) now that there is some talk that LTTE may possess bio-weapons, can they be successful means of conveyance: over SLDF troop concentrations/ Sinhala civilian populations.

Over to your gentleman.

Word of caution: this is an average joe writing and thinking out of the box...sincerely hope the content and the suggestions will not get the experts/ experienced in to a feeding frenzy.

Objective is to lead this to a productive discussion, but not to give an opportunity to some to vent their frustrations.

Cheers all

Ares said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Apino Dannachess said...

Hi Lankaputra,

Thanks for the suggestions. Going further would like to suggest that we focus all out strengths/ assets in to one sector of this trench line continuously allowing our troops to breach it soon afterwards.
a) Waive of Migs27/Kfir sorties too shake the terrorist from their dug in positions
b) followed by Hind gunships to takeout regrouping terrorist and to shake therm a bit further
c) Artillery and MBRL fire
d) Mechanized units and may be the armored bulldozers (I'm sure Sudu NOGs will be happy to donate us few) as you mentioned
e) A measured and diversionary breach attempt in a nearby sector might help to draw away terrorists assets giving us a window of opportunity
f) UAVs hovering overhead coordinating the various assets to maximum effect
g) Dropping Napalm might help (from Wiki....napalm "rapidly deoxygenates the available air" as well as creating large amounts of carbon monoxide causing suffocation)
h) Use flame throwers ( another from Wike...Flame throwers use a thinner version of the same jellied gasoline to destroy gun emplacements, bunkers and cave hideouts. U.S. Marines fighting on Guadalcanal found them very effective against Japanese positions. The Marines used fire as both a casualty weapon as well as a psychological weapon. )

Over to you gentleman....

Apino Dannachess said...

Lkdood

Thanks for the info. Hope our diplomats and foreign missions will start engaging the their US counterparts to act on the hosting company of Tamilnet

Cheers

Apino Dannachess said...

Can anybody shed light on Thermobaric weapons: (Thermobaric weapons distinguish themselves from conventional explosive weapons by using atmospheric oxygen, instead of carrying an oxidizer in their explosives. They produce more explosive energy for a given size than do other conventional explosives)

a) Are these available for SLDF?
b) Can they be locally developed?
c) Are they effective to takeout enemy hiding behind a trench/ protective embankment?

LKDOOD said...

Blogger Ares said...

hosted by network solutions?


1-800-333-7680 -- phone number

September 7, 2008 12:49 AM
--------------------------

the government should call, write

LKDOOD said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
LKDOOD said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
LKDOOD said...

my question is why for years nobody took any action on this


????

මොරටු සමන් - MoratuSaman said...

DefenceWire amazing article and thank you !

Can we use flamethrowers; bulldozers (Isral did this to palastine)etc to destroy LTTE front line?

I like fire....

Unknown said...

lkdood, there domain/provider has changed couple of times.

If you can, write to the company with an email as they will look into it and hopefully take down the site.

මොරටු සමන් - MoratuSaman said...

LKD

"my question is why for years nobody took any action on this
"

You are absolutely right, but I think it's a business as everything else.

Wech-cha deata enna saiya-du

hemantha said...

Excellent post, DW. Just, excellent.

Observer said...

Thanks for the very insightful post DW. Keep up the good work as always ..!

Observer said...

DW,

Earlier there was some news that we have by passed Nachchikuda along A32 Mannar-Pooneryn road.

Isnt Mannar Pooneryn main road affected by this trench ?

Or was it just our small teams operating 4 KM pass Nachchikuda, just like we operate in Akkanarayankulam area?

It would be great if you can shed some light on this if possible..

මොරටු සමන් - MoratuSaman said...

We should multiply harvesting ltte
like Here

Be sure to bulldoze those beautiful cemeteries too...

hemantha said...

"The LTTE has used its initial advantage against the Army and managed to spot and kill and injure 4 SLA platoons ..."

I am greatly saddened. I understand that the loss of life is a norm in any war. But some casualties in the recent battle were the bravest and the best in 57 division. During the last year how many times have we heard about these units Charlie, Alpha, Delta and Bravo. These were the first leading all the offensives in this area. It looks like these were the units suffered mostly. None should forget their bravery and the great sacrifices they made (after winning this war).

Sunil said...

Bias BBC Sinhala - U turn

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sinhala/news/story/2008/09/080906_glapology.shtml


BBC apologise for error

The office of the Ministry of Export Development and International Trade say the BBC Sinhala.com had misquoted the minister G. L. Peiris in an article published on the 5th of September.

In a letter written to the Editor of the BBC Sinhala Service by the private secretary to the minister it say, [full text]

“It has been brought to my notice that your website posted on Friday, 5th September 08, contains the following caption; “Minister admits rights violations”

“Your website then continue as follows; “Minister in charge of Investment Development Professor G. L. Peiris told BBC Sandeshaya that the international community should understand the context in which these abuses taking place.”

“I wish to state categorically that the Hon. Minister did not at any time state or imply that human rights violations are being committed by the government of Sri Lanka. Your statement to the contrary is entirely false and mischievous and made with malicious intent”.

“You are kindly required to retract your false caption and report, and to give necessary publicity to this statement”.

Yours faithfully,

Sampath Dissanayake,
Private Secretary to the Hon. Minister of Export Development and international Trade.

Editor’s note

In the above mentioned article published on Friday 5th of September 2008 with the headline, “Minister admits rights violations” the writer had misquoted the minister. We retract the article and unreservedly apologise to the Honourable minister G. L. Peiris and to our readers.

The error was made unintentionally due to writer’s misinterpretation of the statement made by the minister.

Priyath Liyanage
Head of Sinhala Service.
06 September 2008

out_sider said...

lkdood

The problem you will have with the US hosting company of tamilnet is that it is the ltte that is banned not tamilnet. And, while there is no doubt about the bias when was any news organization not biased one way or the other.

I am sorry to say that any attempt to have the hosting company take down the site is doomed to fail.

මොරටු සමන් - MoratuSaman said...

"The LTTE has used its initial advantage against the Army and managed to spot and kill and injure 4 SLA platoons ..."

"I am greatly saddened. I understand that the loss of life is a norm in any war. But some casualties in the recent battle were the bravest and the best in 57 division."

Dear Hemantha, I too upset and saddened by this, and don't know why our planning dept..act ding dong on such dangers area.

may be they can't do anything, when do or die stuff happen.

I gess no other options and life gose on...

මොරටු සමන් - MoratuSaman said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
mboi said...

guys, no one can prove tamilnet is ltte's mouthpiece. we all know it but law enforcement authorities can't do anything about it if there is no direct evidence to prove it.

much like the situation was with the tro. ltte has a multitude of front organisations all over the world and they will always deny any association with ltte.

DENT said...

you cant do anything to Tamil Net.. that would be a against constitution. and they have no interest in bringing up charges for some thing they have no interest in.. If we had some thing US wanted..or some thing they value, tamil net would have been a thing of the past. years ago.

Having said that US is taking a greater interest these days because China is strengthening its relations with us. The port they are building in Hambathota is a for civilian use, but US is worried it could be used as station for Chinese subs and Navy in general. Otherwise Sri lanka is becoming a one of the pearls in China's necklace in the Indian ocean..

Moshe Dyan said...

thanks DW for the update and thanks again for REGULAR updates. we are starving for news.

the nachchikuda things was coming a long timeand we knew it the moment 58 started going nortward WITHOUT having "DEPTH" inland. before that there was a BROAD front from the WEST COAST to 57's EASTERN-MOST point. bloody tigers could NEVER isolate any army unit/platoon, etc.

after that the A32 movement became ISOLATED from inland areas MAY BE in the "RUSH" (than b4, no real rush otherwise) to poonaryn.

after THUNUKKAI and MALLAVI 57 also ventured into MORE (than b4) "columnar" thrusts.

why can't we ALWAYS stick to,

1. BROADER fronts, and,
2. the "BOX" strategy

in this area???

had we done so, LTTE trenches would have been their DEATH TRAPS.

IF there are too many obstacles advancing THROUGH A32, we can advance ROUND this area TRAPPING tigers into ditches then HARVESTING.

turning threats to opportunities.

Rover said...

Excuse me for highlighting some earlier posts, this is to give some direction to what I was saying, and it coincides with most of what DW says here.

“Yes! they are playing into our hands. It is a win win situation of SLA anyways,

Available options:
1. We get Pooneryn without LTTE sacrificing their cadres.

2. We get Pooenryn after LTTE sacrifices a significant number of LTTE cadres.

I like the second option better, as we then don't have to engage all these scum in the midst of civilians.”

And

“I also strongly believe that we need to lure and engage the LTTE in the barren lands way from the civilians and their infrastructure. Meanwhile, the LTTE will want to lure us to fight where there are civilians. Nachikuda area (the Eastern coastal area in general), en route to Pooneryn, is an ideal place for us to implement what I said above.

This is accessible ground, to both groups and in such ground the need to carefully guard line of supplies exists. LTTE knows this, and contributes towards the lure.

Ground that is easily abandoned but easily captured can be used to entangle the enemy, and LTTE knows this as well. This is the reason for the newly constructed bunker line, from Nachikuda towards Kili, that is designed to prevent our army from entangling the LTTE. To prevent excessive loss of soldiers, we have started this bombarding of the the FDL using heavy weapons.

In short, the existence of Pooneryn changes the equation. It polarizes the battle. So we can use Pooneryn (together with the easily traversable terrain) to lure them.”

“Carl Von Clausewitz who is attributed to the famous sayings such as "best form of defense is attack" and "blood is the price of victory" is however, most famous for his nine priciples. The first of these is
Mass - Human waves can be considered as mass. The Russians in WWII, who fought with poorly trained solders who came from various backgrounds (farmers, blacksmiths, shepherds ect.) used human waves effectively. LTTE has also used this tactic effectively, many times; they too use the poorly trained kids, farmers and women to implement this strategy.

Human waves are effective where defenders rule. For example in WWI, where trench warfare was the norm, human waves were pretty much the only form of attack to breach enemy defenses. Tanks also pretty much emulate human waves, they are most effective when used as a group and many great tank commanders used this strategy to shock and awe their enemies.

I think that we were defending the areas that we we captured too vigorously, using men, for the LTTE to have launched such a human waves type of attack. In other words, we were turning the front line into a conventional FDL (but this is usually the way the less specialized infantry units fight, and indeed the deaths reported are from 4GW, a non-specialist unit). We should have used spotters in tandem with MBRL and Arti to defend the FDL. Though,the casualitie are not high enough to worry us, or to change the direction of the war, I hope our commanders will adapt/change tactics according to the situation to reduce our casualties.”

I payed tribute to our commanders for not wasting our soldiers:

“Sun Tzu (in Art of War) said "Regard the soldiers as your children and they will follow you into the deepest valleys. Look upon them as your own sons and they will follow you even on to death"

The commanders of the forces that are currently leading from the front have this kind of respect from the soldiers. It is part of the responsibility of the commanders to treat their subordinates in a way to reassure them that the commanders are smart enough to achieve the objectives to help the motherland. This reassurances motivates the soldiers. The blasting of the LTTE FDL, though expensive, hence have several other uses as well.”

And:

“Battle planning and coordination of men and material requires a high degree of discipline and organization. This is proven again and again mostly by the increased LRRP activities. This also build confidence among our soldiers to fight well.

A long time ago, a general in the Chinese army called Wu Chi was thoroughly respected by all his subordinates. This is because he carried his own battle pack, refused to use a horse when everyone else walked and mostly because how he treated them. Once, famously, it is said that he drew out "poison" from the wounds of one of his soldiers (usually it was the practice to apply the mouth to a wound to suck up all the pus, bacteria and the toxins that prevents healing, this would also causes fresh blood containing antibodies and macrophages to flow into the wound, which hastens healing). Hearing of this, the soldier's mother had started wailing and crying. Inquired why she was crying, she had said, that Wu-Chi did the same to her husband as well, and since then, the man had followed Wu-Chi like a faithful dog, fighting in every battle until he was eventually killed (so the women knew that her son would do the same and get killed at the end). But then she started laughing, and when inquired why she was laughing, she said, that it would be the best thing to happen to the motherland (the laughing part, I think is a later addition!).

In the current setting, it would boost the moral our our soldiers tremendously when they are sure that the commanders are not sacrificing them needlessly, rescue missions (like the one we saw recently) ect.”

A great success of the Army is also the improvisation of our command structure, where General SF (+ the top battle planners) outlines the general concept and does not try to micro-manage. Our young and brilliant field commanders do the micro-management, and reports success/faliure to SF, who puts his best men to change battle plans for the better [contrast this to VP, who tires to micro-manage everything since he does not really trust most of his junior commanders].

Anyway, getting through the Nachchikuda defenses will help us to entangle the terrorists in Pooneryn. Though this looks like a simple procedure, something that Santiana comes to mind “even the simplest maneuver becomes complex in a war”; but absolutely trust our commanders “ to be like a compass in bad weather, directing our forces to victory through the fog of war”.

TropicalStorm said...

Given the fact that Pooneryn is a decisive milestone in this war, and the LTTE is likely to commit significant forces to hold it down, doesn't it make sense to surround the area and turn it into a killing ground?

Obviously it is going to be the second before last holding ground for the LTTE.

My bet is on the LTTE fighting to slow any induction of troops southward from Jaffna, especially the mechanized brigade. The chaps in Pooneryn are going to be sacrificed for that purpose. The SLA has he ability to cordon and offer a surrender opportunity to these guys.

Killi will be the second battle ground, while the LTTE finally battons down in the Mullaitivu jungles where in the past both Indian and SL forces have had significant disadvantages.

In there, the SLA will face an enemy very much at home every inch of the way.

TropicalStorm said...

Apino

Tamilnut is a not a terror organization. It merely is a mouth piece for them.

They have not broken any US laws.

OneSpirit said...

LkDood,

I think you will find that the tamilnet.com domain name is registered through Network Solutions in U.S. but the actual server hosting the content is in Norway.

In the past, I have sent emails to the service provider hosting the content with no replies. Again, this is something that is much more effective coming through official channels rather than Joe Public.

Apino Dannachess said...

tropicalstorm,

Ref you comment, same can be said about all the news channels that were successfully closed in the recent past due to intervention of SL diplomats and authorities. They too are mouth pieces and not the terrorist. I think US and other western countries are now enlighten to the fact that to get the terrorist one has to engage them on all fronts, financial networks, propaganda etc. So given that our guys get their act together, and approach the right people, some results cab be obtained.

mboi said...

tamilnet is very clever, unlike those tv channels that got shut down, tamilnet never openly promotes terrorism. they simply report. that is what gives them legitimacy.

surely there r some good sl hackers out there. how about gaining access to that server in norway?

Apino Dannachess said...

I think the time is ripe for some security sweeps in Colombo, Kandy, Galle, Matara, Wattala, Negombo,Anuradapura, Trinco, Hingurakgoda and in other townships with vital military and economic assets.

LTTE must be getting ready in these areas to turn up the heat by means of suicide attacks and commando style attack.

Such action will be initiated when SLDF makes the final trusts in to LTTE strongholds.

Such high probability towns should be searched using fine a tooth comb: let the NGO's, and Foreign DukGannarala's cry foul about the innocent civilians arrested for questioning. Play the good cop-bad cop and get our diplomatic guys to profusely apologize later.

Rattle the cage hard, and you will catch the vermin.

Knee jerk reaction type searches done in a post attack environment are useless.

Apino Dannachess said...

Mboi, noted and agreed. Good suggestion. Actually sometime back I have suggested this to some IT buffs.....I was told that their servers are hosted in Russia...and protected by strong firewalls.

But its worth the try .....all problems have a solution....trick is to find it.

As suggested early, we should open another front locally....that is to home in on the their local agents uploading news from Colombo suburbs...

I'm sure if we really want we have the resources to do so.

I have asked for some expert comments on this ....will revert if and when I get a reply.
Cheers

Apino Dannachess said...

Any body hear know about EMP bombs

.....(An electromagnetic bomb or E-bomb is a weapon designed to disable electronics with an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) that can couple with electrical/electronic systems to produce damaging current and voltage surges by electromagnetic induction. The effects are usually not noticeable beyond the blast radius unless the device is nuclear or specifically designed to produce an electromagnetic pulse.)

Can somebody comment on it:
a) Is there a non-nuclear version of this?
b) Can it be locally produced?
c) Can this be a solution to takeout LTTEs communication and propaganda infrastructure in Vanni?

mboi said...

slaf has bombed a sea tiger base at Kavitharamunai in a pre-dawn raid. Kavitharamunai is just south of kalmunai in pooneryn. i wonder whether they r trying to clear the area for an amphibious landing.

Apino Dannachess said...

Thanks Mboi for the update....yeah that can be an option

Apino Dannachess said...

Hi Rover, Shay...are you guys still sleeping in Sri Lanka on a sunday morning? I don't know about SL, but where I am its a sunny morning. Rise and shine!!!

Apino Dannachess said...

SLblogger,

Ref. your article on BBC distortions on Ministers comments....

BBC is well known for their distorted and Pro LTTE biased coverage of the SL terrorist conflict. Have your realized how they avoid the use of terror/terrorist in reporting the LTTE attacks on civilian?

I can remember the day the LTTE made an abortive attack on the Pakistani Ambassador. Thats the day Brtis discovered the plot to blow up airlines over the Atlantic. BBC aired the two news items one after the other and SL news item was described as a rebel attack and no civilian casualties mentioned, while the said bomb plot was showered with the words terror/ terrorist etc.

Similarly the the Roland Burk Monkey when reporting on the 3 ships sunk by the SLN in deep sea, showed a footage of a Sea Tiger attack on the SLN vessel as the back drop to the commentary.

Time our patriots zeroed in on Rolland Burk and BBC locally and proactively goes after the news bias...

Anonymous said...

The following two posts are LTTE's report and 'analysis'. This shows their military expectation. (What they say as happened, happening or will happen are what they expect no matter they happened or happening or will happen or not.)

They need relating to military process (i.e. apar from economical, political, social and interational processes)basicaly a jayasikuru repetetion. They expect:

1. Troops suffer high casualties
2. Troops become demoralise
3. No new recruits
4. More desserting
5. Moral boosting of LTTE hardcore
6. Retaining civilians
7. Atleast convincing LTTE is still powefull
8. Finally, SLA withdrawel

Propaganda plays somewhat importent role in this war though it seems its not very importent. And LTTE is better than thier enimy in propaganda. We observe GSL didn't capitalize on propaganda even after getting Thunukkai and Mallavi. (But they sell K'chi in election campaign even without getting closer there.) When it comes to victory in this war we should not give every thing to SLDF and GSL (and blame if it fails.) Rather we should do whatever we can towards the victory of this war (of course MR and few grab the credit.)
____________________________________________________

Casualty toll: 85 SLA killed in Vannearikku'lam
[TamilNet, Friday, 05 September 2008, 17:14 GMT]

85 Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were killed in Vannearikku'lam and 280 wounded in the fighting on Monday and Tuesday, according to informed sources close to the hierarchy of the Sri Lankan military. Meanwhile, Jayaratna florist, one of the leading florists in Colombo, took in charge 56 remains of SLA soldiers on Wednesday, before the 29 dead bodies handed over by the Tigers had reached Colombo. The high toll was not anticipated by the top brass of the SLA, which deployed elite Special Forces (SF) with high-powered rockets and explosives during the offensive push at Vannearikku'lam on Monday.

Despite the losses, a group of the SLA soldiers managed to sustain one point till Wednesday night when the Tigers overran their point, according to the Sri Lankan sources.

The SLA soldiers were equipped with anti-tank rockets, high explosive anti-tank RPGs and were instructed to use extensive explosive and fire power.

However, the Tigers managed to engage in close fighting, causing heavy casualties.

LTTE laid booby traps have also caused high number of amputations and deaths among the SLA soldiers.

Despite military hospitals in south getting full of SLA soldiers with serious injuries, the Rajapaksa administration is intent on continuing the war, the sources further added.

The SLA hierarchy has instructed the field commanders to submit an in depth evaluation of the debacle at Vannearikku'lam.

On Thursday, the Sri Lankan Naval Commander, Vice Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda, in an interview to the state owned Daily News, claimed that his navy played a vital role in denying the LTTE of their supplies and noted: "if we cannot win this war at this stage, we will never win this war."
____________________________________________________

The Tide is Turning


by K. Mylvaganam reporting from Vanni

(September 06, Kilinochchi, Sri Lanka Guardian) A few weeks back in one of my reports from Vanni I wrote that the war would take a turn, when the fireworks start from the LTTE. I predicted it to commence by the end of September. But I was proved wrong. The game has already started, I guess.

From Kilinochchi, where I live I was able to note in the past months, that the shelling was nearing day by day though slowly. But for the past one week it was getting little more faint indicating that the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) was on the retreat or stagnant. I heard that their advancement was curtailed due to the fierce attack by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

Apart from it we were getting a few bodies in single digits now and then during the past 10 days or so. But it hit the ceiling today when I saw 29 bodies (see picture) of the SLA laid on the Kilinochchi esplanade. It was nice to see that the bodies were being caringly covered from the scorching sun after the photographing by the press was over. This is in contrast to what the SLA did to the bodies of the LTTE cadre, who died after their attack on the Anuradhapura airbase. The SL army striped them naked, even the fair sex, and put all the bodies in an open trailer and paraded them through the city. It reflects the difference in culture and the humane nature between the two parties. I was told a few more bodies were expected. But to be frank I could not wait there as the bodies were stinking due to decomposition. I saw a representative from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) was about to take over the bodies and transport them to Vavuniya to be handed over to the SLA. Out of the 29 bodies I understand that 19 would be transported today (03.09.2008) and the balance 10 tomorrow.

The casualties on the part of the SLA have been on the increase for the past two weeks. These twenty bodies are part of the 86 killed in the past two days. This is because they were getting exposed to the LTTE as the SLA moved towards the north. Earlier they were in a constricted and well fortified area with lots of concrete bunkers and earthen bunds that were 10 metres high. Once they get on to an open terrain they become an easy prey to the well trained cadres of the LTTE.

All these days I understand, that mainly the new recruits and junior members of the LTTE were put in to play a defensive role thus preventing or retarding the SLA from moving too much into the interior part of Vanni. Now I gather the senior and well trained personnel of the LTTE are deployed onto the front. This we are able to see from the results during the past few days.

This reminds me of what the former Air Field Martial from the Air Force Mr. Perera said repeatedly. He said: “It is safe for the army to be behind their Forward Defense Line (FDL), which is well fortified from the enemy. But once you cross the FDL then you are in for attack." He also said that the further you go into enemy territory, the more susceptible you will become to the enemy. One reason is; it is an unknown landscape for the arm, but on the contrary the enemy will know it as much as the back of their hands. The next was that, when you put your feet wider, you tend to loose your balance.” He also said very often “It may be easy to take over the enemy territory but holding it is entirely a different story.”

General Sarath Fonseka is in a real fix now. With such heavy toll of his soldiers there is going to be very high desertions. Already over 27,000 are reported to have deserted in 2007/2008 alone. In the past the number exceeded 50,000. This is going to be accelerated now. It is also reported that those who went on leave are sending medical certificates and staying away and some have absconded already.

Gen. Fonseka has to recruit new personnel or pull out forces from the East and the Peninsula. Fresh recruitment will not prove to be successful under the present circumstances. The Sinhalese village youths know that it will be suicide to join now. Even their parents will not let them go even though they may be poor.

He can ill afford to take soldiers from the East as the soldiers in the East are getting killed, though in small numbers, daily. He cannot pick from Jaffna, as he will fear the LTTE may walk in and take over Jaffna if the forces there are depleted. Already there is a fear in the government sector, that the Tigers may attack Jaffna. Thus he is in a big dilemma right at this moment.

On top of this, unknown persons are said to have exploded a bomb in the heart of the Colombo city recently injuring over 44 people. The government blamed the LTTE for it. Luckily, none of the people were seriously injured as the explosive used was of a less effective type. It appeared that whoever did it wanted to show the government “Don’t you boast a lot of your security arrangements as we can still explode bombs when and where we will.” This bomb hinders Gen. Fonseka to pull out forces from the big cities too. Thank God I am not in Gen. Fonseka’s shoes. Poor chap he has only a few months to go before his retirement. It is a pity he is going to leave with a sorrowful ending. Who said, “One reaps what one sowed.”

This miniature bomb only illustrates that the so called “Terrorists” are more humane than the government, which drops high powered bombs and artillery shells of devastating nature on civilian targets. This reminds me of another incident when a bomb exploded just outside the Dalada Maligawa, where the Tooth Relic of Lord Buddha is kept. The “Terrorists” could have placed the bomb inside the Sanctum Santorum of the Temple. That would have demolished the entire temple and the Relic could not have been traced. Instead the bomb was placed outside the Temple where the Pandal was erected to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Independence in February 1998. Also they selected a Sunday morning to detonate the explosive. This is what our Sinhalese brethren must take into consideration.

Instead some hooligans calling themselves “Patriots” went into the Ganesha Temple that was nearby and demolished the Temple including the Deity Ganesha. This shows the difference between the “Patriots” and the “Terrorists.”
_____________________________________________________

mboi said...

if an amphibious landing is to going to happen, it has to be timed to precision with other attacks on ltte defences to seriosly fuck up the ltte command. ideally, 56 should surround a town/ bastion in vuvuniya, 59 in andankulam, 57 in kili, and 58 at nacchikuda, and thrusts at nagarkovil and muhumalai. air force has to hav mi-24 and jets airborne and ready to bomb artillery positions and navy has to defend the troop transports.

Rover said...

Hi ya Apino,

I sleep only about 4 hours per day, so day-night doesn't make a difference for me ;)

Actually, E-bombs are just in their infancy. A nuclear explosion is not always needed to make electromanetic waves (that has the capacility to destroy electronic cicuits/gadgets), but strong EM waves are a by product of all nuc-explosions. Pretty much everything will get destroyed by a Nuc explosion, and the point that it produces EM waves that can destroy electronic equipment is hence, rather moot.

Howver, it should be noted that electronic devices can be specially made to resist EM type attacks. This is mostly done by having a protective cage around the device (its called a Faraday cage), but this will complicate the design of most devices, and when light weight and minuteness is essential, Faraday cages are pretty useless.

We are not using any EM devices to fight the LTTE; and in fact, only a very few armies in the world use this technology, and even then covertly. Given that LTTE does not have a significant amount of electronic devices and units that use a lot of electronics, using EM generating devices to knock these off is not going to significanlty change the direction of the battle.

Our army's forte, though it took sometime for us to recognize this (due to the fatheadedness of some of our previous commanders), is using surprise, concentrated fire power, and the terrain - in short, fighting through LRRP units. This invisible (and invincible) units have kept the most important leaders and the heavy equipment away from our regular troops, thus diminishing our causalities.

Rover said...

Ninja,

Mylvaganam is an ass, no substance, just noise. I like the way Army makes him eat his own words (now many times over).

1. BBC Tamils is published in Tamil, while BBC Sinhala is published in English.
2. There are more Tamils in the world and only 1/10th of that much or less of Sinhalese.

BBC is a company, a profit making entity, and such an entity will while trying to adhere by the code of cunduct for journalsim, will also try and make money; and balancing these two is not easy.

I am not going to make the conclusion for you, but you can now see the pattern.

AND the success/failure of the article is ultimately decided by how many hits the page gets, and not by the correctness or the diplomacy of the article. Generally please keep this in mind when reading some of the papers that are put out by these mega-enterprises.

Unknown said...

rover said
"Mylvaganam is an ass, no substance, just noise. I like the way Army makes him eat his own words (now many times over)"

as far as i am concerned the report gives view of his version of current event and the past. no one can accept the treatment of bodies from the AAB and the whole world saw and LTTE atleast cover them for the sake of humid weather.

every time there was a defeat for the SLA we been calling names the tamilnet and BBC.

i think its time for all of us to get real and accept the facts from the battle front whether its a win or lose.

lankaputhra said...

news from AlJazeera

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyTFJIaUlr4&eurl=http://news.google.co.uk/news?hl=en&um=1&tab=wn&nolr=1&q=sri+lanka+news&btnG=Search+News

Dumindak said...

After the war is over we should teach these journalists good lessons for treachery. We will bring this Priyath liyanage of BBC to Gall face and stone him to death.
Betraying the country is the biggest crime one can do that we should not tolarate. the culprits should face the death by legal or illegal.

Lankapura said...

Great article DW.
Like Muhamalai, there must be something about the terrain which makes this FDL harder to take.
If so, our forces should think of alternatives. No point in risking several failures like Muhamalai.

Renegade! said...

Defwire

Excellent post-keep it up!!..cant wait for the next one..

Renegade! said...

Defwire,guys

Can u please confirm what the SLN is upto?.what are their latest procurements? i hear rumours and even comments stating that we are going for 2 missile boats from serbia??..true or false?

Renegade! said...

apino,

dude this war is not like a hollywood movie,ok?..interesting ideas,tho in theory..

Jambudipa said...

According to LakbimaNews, Charlie and Delta teams lead by Lieutenants Rajada, Thiranagama and Capt. Jayasuriya broke through the bunt and setup a defensive position. Indeed photos from TN show sandbags and shallow bunkers dug by troops on LTTE side of the FDL. 600 meter stretch held by troops had little protection from mortar and artillery barrage that showered on them. While the troops were recovering from a shell shock, LTTE charged in from three directions. Lt. Thiranagama was killed in action and Capt. Jayasuriya was caught in a booby traps. The ensuing firefight would have shown tremendous bravery by troops considering most were recovering from artillery barrage just a few minutes ago.

The nation owes a debt of gratitude to these troops who fight with incredible valor. What saddens me to see how lives are cut short trying to fix problems created by corrupt and incompetent politicians. Those crooks who steal from the public and mismanage the country even now must die a thousand deaths for each of these lives lost in the battlefield from both sides.

When LTTE offered little resistance in Vellankulam should have been indicative of things to come. They were digging in Nachchukudah to Akkarayankulam behind the earth wall stretching over 25kms. Its very interesting here because the range from Poonaryn to Muhmalai and Poonaryn to Nachchukudah-Akkarayankulam FDL in is roughly the same. They reversed the defense they putup in Muhmalai to Akkarayankulam by turning the guns south. Theepan in control would repeat what worked for him in Muhmalai. Had troops from 53 and 55 moved towards EP simultaneously, LTTE would have found it difficult to cover both ends with the same guns. Even then, the casualties would have been high because they are entreched behind the earth wall.

Moshe Dyan said...

SLAF jets have attacked nachchikuda area this evening. i have little faith in these attacks. now more than 10 have been carried out without much success. the reasons are clear. trenches/bunds create something like bunkers.

according to the lakbima report tigers had heavily shelled SLA movement. this would have been a good opportunity to destroy these arti guns.

a 25km trench cannot come up from no where. it should have been dug up by men and machines which would have taken A LONG time. why weren't it effectively disturbed. may be SLAF and arti fire was aimed at doing this but they have not been very successful.

if A32 is proving too risky, we should avoid it by making the journey more inland.

Moshe Dyan said...

tigers report 2 "DPU" attacks in the puliyankulama to nedunkernni road last thursday and friday.

according to them at least 2 ppl have died.

Jambudipa said...

What are the lessons we can take from this experience? The earth wall is high enough we cannot reliably say which areas are concentrated with LTTE. This makes it hard to guide artillery and mortar. There are bunkers along the wall too - much like the great wall of China. Even then, the casualties occurred mainly AFTER breeching the wall. They must have GPS located each sector for artillery. They must also have mapped a defensive plan for each sector. Their accurately guided artillery and mortar is followed by attacks by mobile teams armed with 50inch guns and grenade launchers.

Venturing any further north from Nachchukudah is risky until we have an answer for their concentrated artillery and mortar. While its important to have good plans, we must also adapt to new realities and realign strategies accordingly. Poonaryin is important because it offers an indirect route to Kilonochi. Why take the indirect route if the alternate is the direct route?

They move freely up and down the A9 resisting eastward movements. However, their defense is tilted towards the west. The west is important because of oversea supplies and for reaching deep into the Jaffna peninsula with guns at k-point. Its also urgent for them because TF-1 have made incredible progress in very little time along A-32. This is why the bulk of their force must be concentrated towards north beyond Nachchukudah.

As Moshe suggests, we must now extend towards east from Murikandi and Mallawi and take control over Kokavil and Mankulam. This will make LTTE held areas south of Mankulam untenable. Unlike Jayasikuri, A9 would not be exposed for attacks from all sides. Kokavil to Kilinochi is a very short distance. When we concentrate on A9, they will have to move to the middle softening Nachchukudah making allowing TF-1 to make another attempt.

Before taking on these key towns, bridges along A9 between Kokavil should be blown up disrupting reinforcements and supplies from Kilinochi.

http://www.cyberlk.com/defencemap

The map above shows at least one river crossing between Kokavil and Kilinochi. A9 can also be totally isolated from the east by blowing up bridges between Mankulam and Oddusudan along A-34. Then there seems to be a bridge between Pulliakulam and Naninamadu.

Shyam said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Shyam said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
LKDOOD said...

Blogger Duminda said...

After the war is over we should teach these journalists good lessons for treachery. We will bring this Priyath liyanage of BBC to Gall face and stone him to death.
Betraying the country is the biggest crime one can do that we should not tolarate. the culprits should face the death by legal or illegal.

September 7, 2008 3:01 PM

how can you bring Mr. Liyanage to gall face ?

i don't think Sri lanka will carry out such acts

Unknown said...

hahaa :) you fools...

I heard, that thousands of your troops went to Vanni are missing now... and a high deployment of Army is in Vavunia and all are in a state of shock and silence...

no wonder the fight is on hold...

Let's hope all for the best! and stop talking rubish on this blog, you aint going to win the war and Tamil Eelam is inevitable

Unknown said...

Does any of you have idea where would they be?

wijayapala said...

Rover,

"Human waves are effective where defenders rule. For example in WWI, where trench warfare was the norm, human waves were pretty much the only form of attack to breach enemy defenses. Tanks also pretty much emulate human waves, they are most effective when used as a group and many great tank commanders used this strategy to shock and awe their enemies."

I think I have a different perspective. The LTTE's strength in "mass" came not so much from the human waves assaults than its ability to find weak points in the SLA's defense to exploit and break into. The LTTE did not simply throw human beings against strong positions to get slaughtered- it made weak areas even weaker and more vulnerable to mass attacks. The LTTE developed these infiltration tactics (called "mirage attacks" by SLA because the SLA would get hit on the front and rear simultaneously) in the early 1990s, and added firepower to the mix in the latter 90s.

This closely paralleled with what the Germans did to achieve breakthrough during WWI. Up until 1917-18 both sides had a stalemate caused by superior defensive positions and heavy weapons (machine guns and mortars)- any side that attacked the other en masse would get tied up in obstacles and mowed down by fire. Each side attempted to overwhelm the other but would take enormous casualties as a result. Morale dropped severely and there were large-scale mutinies in the French Army.

The Germans realized that human waves would not work in this environment. To break the stalemate, they made innovations in infantry tactics and artillery. They trained their infantry to work in small teams armed with special weapons designed for trench warfare: hand grenades, flamethrowers, light and transportable machine guns and mortars. These small teams would find weak points in the Allies' trenches to infiltrate into. At the same time, the Germans changed their artillery tactics from pure destruction to simply keeping the Allies' heads down to cover the infantry's advance. This close coordination of artillery and infantry began to be called "combined-arms tactics."

The Germans used these tactics to achieve breakthrough against the Allies during the Spring Offensives of 1918. These offensives eventually fizzled out however because the Allies had a strong transportation network in their own territory and were able to bring in reinforcements quickly by railroad, whereas the Germans were advancing on foot. The Germans learned from this experience that they had to become more mobile to exploit a breakthrough and this eventually led to blitzkrieg based on tanks and aircraft to strike behind enemy lines.

The Germans were smart to realize that mass tank formations would not be sufficient for victory. They split their resources between tank formations and mechanized/motorized infantry (infantry traveling in vehicles to support the tanks), unlike the British who continued to segregate the tanks and the infantry. Blitzkrieg very much depended on well-trained infantry to support the offensive.

The counter-tactic to infiltration is called defense-in-depth where you layer your defenses instead of putting all your guys at the front line. The SLA developed this by the mid-1990s, which forced the LTTE to use human waves against Mullaitivu in 1996. Afterwards, though, the LTTE did not have to rely on human waves because it captured heavy artillery from Mullaitivu and began importing mortars. The SLA was not used to being hit with heavy firepower which is one reason why it collapsed by 2000.

It is not true that the SLA did not learn anything in the 1990s. It did learn and adapt, but the LTTE learned and adapted FASTER and that made the key difference.

Kithul said...

kavaalan

wake up it's raining outside

Kithul said...

Does any of you have idea where would they be?

September 7, 2008 9:05 PM

-------------------------------
hunting for a bunker rat...

LKDOOD said...

many air strikes

Unknown said...

"tigers report 2 "DPU" attacks in the puliyankulama to nedunkernni road last thursday and friday.

according to them at least 2 ppl have died.

"

MD what's the source?

onecountry said...

Have you seen this map? Fantastic interactive map.

http://www.cyberlk.com/defencemap/

Anonymous said...

Rover

Let's forget the name 'Mylvaganam' and read and understand what 'LTTE want to say' to us, diaspora and others in the world.

[When LTTE say some thing at the same time they want to some thing different, hide some thing too.]
___________________________________________________

It is said LTTE now building a another huge trench 5km away from K'chi. SLA used this small team attacks plus jungle war tactics and succeeded from Mavil Aru to Mallavi. But similer tactic didn't work at Muhamale where they have a static FDL. (Conventional tactic too didn't work at Muhamale so far.)

So it seems now LTTE prefer that way of defense and we yet to see same in Welioya front. We may face that in Kalmunei where there is open land.

Past observations (Muhamale/ Akkarayankulam) suggest though both parties get high casualties irrespective of its whose offensive. Thus if we try offensive even at same time in Muhamale/ K'chi fronts I think we suffer high casulties. I think we need a different approach in this case.

Unknown said...

apino,

The agents in colombo upload pictures through email attachments to different emails and not directly to the servers. so in this case, it is hard/almost impossible to track those that are uploading the pictures since it is more then one person that is part of the process . (one actually taking the picture, handing it over to someone else, another person to scan/download picture then upload to an email addresss, then someone picking up that email address and dowloading it in a diff country)

Unknown said...

by the way, tamilnet has been hacked couple of times in the past.

Unknown said...

There are many "persons" that is interested in catching the people that are taking pictures in wanni, and getting them up on tamilnet. But sadly, some of those people that are involved are helped by none other then some sinhalese journalists themselves due to lot of money given to them.

TropicalStorm said...

kaavalan

You are correct; thousands of SLA troops have gone missing.

They are doing a 'polima' to your wife, and she's thrilled...

hind - 35 said...

1st of all my gratitude to SLDF 4
the excellent job they are performing in liberating our country from Terror .

The corrupt politicians & a failed system has bought it to the loss of life in SL on both sides specially in SLDF.

Political solution:

SL need to change the way of governing through political parties
& transfer it to a " Governing through qualifications & results oriented - real free market system ".

Military solution:
LieTTE must be militarily wiped out.
Although our forces are performing queit well under very difficult circumstances the PLANERS need to think out of the BOX.

Examples:
TAF ( tin can air threat)

@ SLAF we must update all Mi 24 + 35 for night missions & train the crew for interception missions .
They must be located near the conflict area in well protected bases + solid hangers ).

Tin can planes can cause serious probs as they are flown by brain washed fanatics.
The best moment to hit tin cans will be when they are Air born.

massage to the KEY BOARD WARRIORS:

It´s time we contribute finacially
to SLDF so they can upgrade:
1.
Proper body Armour ( made in SL )to our bros & sisters

2. Update SLAF birds + navy vassels

3. Help injured & killed in action

4. Upgrade our MI / counter MI

5. replace our civil defence forces
through SL Rangers with a standard
of STF


Air cover 4 ground troops:

their must be a permanent interaction / brefing btw SLAF + SLA @ all levels , so the SLAF can eliminiate the Artillary / mortar threat 2 our forces.

I must say SLAF is performing queit well on pre selected targets.
But Air cover 4 ground troops a MUST.

SLA:
When soldiers go missing & they rarely come back - A LIVE.
We shall train special units 4 serch & rescue missions as the one we saw recently on DW.

Defence wire:
Pls set up a tool so we SL can contribute financially to our forces by-passing the typical SL
corruption.

Freedom is not 4 free. We owe our soldiers who dedicate their valuable lives to preserve the freedom of others & the integrity of the nation.

Anonymous said...

//kaavalan

You are correct; thousands of SLA troops have gone missing.

They are doing a 'polima' to your wife, and she's thrilled...//

LOL

Moshe Dyan said...

as mentioned previously, tigers are builing a VERY large number of trenches after their ONLY successes came in "trench" related warfare

e.g. muhamalai, nachchikuda,

at the moment these trenches/embankment provide tigers,

1. safety from air raids (than otherwise)
2. safety from motar/arti attacks (than otherwise)
3. safety from gunfire/RPG fire (than otherwise)
4. enable movement (than otherwise)
5. ability to lay booby traps targeting SLA (little escape avenues)
6. trapping advancing SLA soldiers
7. obstructing tanks, tatra trucks (MBRL), mechanised infantry vehicles
8. adds the element of stealth and surprise to LTTE attacks
9. bog down SLA movement and reduce the speed of advance
10. increased ability to target SLA equipment that have LIMITED movement in these areas
11. very low cost and (relatively)fast to build
12. increased effectiveness of LTTE arti targeting troops that are bogged down in the shitty terrain of trenches/bunds
13. an escape route for fleeing/injured tigers
14. small tiger teams can take on SLA which is FORCED to break into small teams in fighting in these areas.
15. firepower/troop advantage in a flat terrain is taken away from SLA

++++

when it rains, things get even more nastier especially for SLA.

i recon SLA should BYPASS trenches/bunds where ever possible. then trap tigers into trenches and harvest them.

NOLTTE=Peace said...

Multi-prong softening of LTTE defenses mainly using 'Unceasing Waves by SLAF, and precise arti and gard rocket fire would pave the next phase to progress rapidly.

Supremacy from air will be the force multiplier. Therefore, more UAVs and Aircraft would be great aids.

We need the Mig 29s for this phase. That means 24 hour softening of LTTE defenses.

Unknown said...

http://www.puthinam.com/full.php?2b34OOS4b33U6Dre4d45Vo6ca0bc4AO24d3oImA3e0d60MtZce03f1eW0cc3mcYAde

Defencewire congrats, you have been qouted by Puthinam. It looks like a blog has now been accredited with the same status as established reporters. Other blogs have surfaced but none have been qouted in Pro LTTE media.

It reflects the quality of the blog and the popularity of your site and hardwork in bringing up to date defence related news. Further unlike Journalist you do not get paid. Hats Off.

Anonymous said...

MD

I agree with start and end of your post but mostly disagree with 1 to 15. As I see;

0. I agree this reduce the speed of SLA advance, become nasty in rainy season and better avoid it. But Jaffna front avoiding no possible if advance.

1. Trench at Muhamale proved good for LTTE so no wonder they like it.

2. If they did this for earlier FDL 2 years back things could be different.

3. This is for defence and it should holt LTTE offensive too.

4. This makes SLA detected whe they try to break it no matter small or large teams send, unlike advancing via jungle.

5. What about giving the job to UAVs and HINDs? Idea is to destoy strong possitions with cadres.

6. However SLA was able to break some trenches previously in Mannar front.

7. So I think its trench + required number of cadres do the job.

Anonymous said...

Navindran

Can you translate the relevant part for us or give a summury?

Mango said...

Have to agree with Hind-35.

"Pls set up a tool so we SL can contribute financially to our forces by-passing the typical SL corruption."

This is probably more valuable than all the hot air generated on these forums. The LTTE manage to raise millions through their willing and unwilling contributors.

On to military matters, what is the level of CAS (close air support) for the SLA? i.e. is there a FAC (forward air controller) from the SLAF accompanying ground troops in constant touch with Mi-24 attack squadrons?

Often the SLAF don't seem to (correct me if I'm wrong) co-ordinate their air-strikes with ground offensives or preparing for ground offensives.

For example, this huge trench line was presumably dug with earth movers and manual labour. This must've taken at least a week or more to prepare. Bulldozers are not easy to camouflage. We know that some NGO operated heavy vehicles were taken by the LTTE. Why wasn't the trench construction under continual artillery and air attack?

The LTTE also used their heavy artillery to support their counteroffensives. Where was the SLA's counter-battery radar? Surely this should've been operational and linked to the SLAF attack squadrons for near instant air-strikes on these arty positions?

What's happened to our UAVs? I presume the areas under consideration for attack were under continual surveillance? If not, why not?

Moshe D's given a good list of LTTE preparatory measures. Countermeasures for overcoming trench lines include armoured vehicles with short bridges for crossing these gaps. I recall seeing the Brits use huge bundles of rolled up logs to fill in the trench gap. Could we do something similar?

Navindran, is it possible to give a brief outline of important Puthinam articles for those of us that don't read Tamil? Thanks.

Moshe Dyan said...

ninja,

i stick to my guns, mate. i recon it is important to list down ADVANTAGES so that SLDFs can tackle them. DISADVANTAGES so that SLDFs can make use of them.

you can read something similar to 1-15 in wikipedia (trench warfare). basic difference is SLDFs are NOT using THEIR OWN TRENCHES.

mango,
yes. similarly we should list down WAYS TO COUNTER. the best i could think FOR THE TIME BEING is to BYPASS them and then trap them in their trenches.

thambala,
re:DPU attacks - source - a friend who probably got it from a tamil website.

Moshe Dyan said...

mr johnpulle has come up with another "BLOCKBUSTER" article in lanka guardian.

however, he seems to be a bit mixed up on who said that legendary CRAP - any ass can fight (in the SL context). it was that laksman kaeri-alla who is NOT a minister.

Unknown said...

Interesting discussion about the Trenches..
:)
The similarity of the Trench defences of Nacchikuda with muhamalai seems to be the greatest barrier Holding & Delaying the SLDF offensives..
MD & Apino,
From the Recent photos from Nachikuda, the area seems to have great forest cover. the movements of the ltte may be difficult to track from the UAVs. But is our UAVs Equipped with any Thermal signature abilities?
If so the exact positions of Concentrations of teras can be given to the Artilery attacks & when the Arties are falling the Red Dots will Get To POINTS of Hidden BUNKERS(So Target gets Simpler..). So the Last place of the RED DOT ENTRANCE can be Shelled at Will,till that Group of teras are destroyed...
Can be repeated at seperate locations and would be very confusing to them...
1.Would not that be a good Harvesting Technique?
2. Why cant we Equip UAV with Heat sensing cameras or have I missed Something...

Just my thoughts..
:)

CriMeWatCh said...

MD Uncle

a 25km trench cannot come up from no where. it should have been dug up by men and machines which would have taken A LONG time. why weren't it effectively disturbed. may be SLAF and arti fire was aimed at doing this but they have not been very successful.

this shows the capability of our UAV. (handunwagath Illakka) All these are BAILA. SLDF Didnt know there is a Tench of 25KM. but the UAV Detects a Hidden gathering point/place etc..

;O(

Rover said...

Wijepala,

Thanks for your insightful views, which I mostly agree with. I think we should discuss a little bit more about human waves and Blitzkierg, to clarify a few things, while we are at it.

Despite the Germans changing tactics towards the end of WWI, it was mostly human waves that both parties used to overcome trenches.

During WWI, for the Germans, the two fronts, Eastern and Western, gave two different perspectives. Western front saw mostly trench warfare, and Eastern front, though there was trench warfare, was relatively dynamic and Germans resorted to many other methods where the greater mobility was important for success.

When the WWII started, Germans introduced, from what they learnt in WWI's Eastern front (with further development), to the western front: namely Blitzkrieg.

So Blitzkrieg was predominantly a WWII tactic that Germans used to overcome the numerous stalemate situations that they had to endure during WWI. Heinz Guderian's book Achtung Panzer, where he famously said "if tanks succeed, victory follows", was embraced as a masterpiece by Hitler.

And indeed, the initial successes, like the War for France, attributed mostly to Blitzkrieg. France was overcome by Germans in two months (and the Allied soldiers were pushed to the port city of Dunkirk, where they were rescued through operation Dyamo).

Blitzkrieg involved bombardment of key enemy installations, joint arms effort, including bombing by Stuka dive bombers, knocking up of communications facilities, ect. to soften up the enemny.

But the key was directing overwhelming firepower to a single location which is called "Center of Gravity". And onces the enemy front line is breached, getting to the heart of the target which was relatively undefended (no defense in depth).

Later infantry mopped up the enemy garrisons along the way to the heart of the target.

Directive control system also played a large role in German success through Blitzkrieg. This was because, Blitz relied heavily on speed, and for this to happen, it was essential for field officers to adapt to local conditions. So the top brass gave general orders as to what to do, and the more junior officers implemented it with improvisations.

So yes, it is always advantages to find the weakest spot in the enemy line to unleash human waves, and this is indeed what LTTE does. But sometimes, like when they are attacking a well fortified army garrison, a point of weakness is hard to identify. In such cases, they would attack the most crucial spot within the center of gravity (aimed point of breach). For example, they would try to disable a machine gun nest, before dealing with the rifle men.

Because the LTTE does not have powerful mechanized division, they are not very effective in emulating Blitzkreig tactics, in the sense of what happened in WWII.

But the SLarmy has the capability to do this. For example, they can bomb the key LTTE installations and then use mechanized divisions through a center of gravity to reach a heart of a target (say Pooneryn). This is however, mostly successful only if there is no defense in depth.

Defending territory vigorously allows for human wave type of attack (and also blitzkrieg); and this is why I think LTTE was able to overwhelm us in many battles using HWs. This was the point that I was trying to get across in my previous post.

___________________________


"I appreciate your comments but Nesan isn't the first to make accusations against me and Kaati. There have been others here who have called me an LTTE supporter for criticizing the attitudes of some Sinhala people."

Yes I saw this, and had commented earlier as well, which you may not have seen (I think under the DW article "True figures of 'TAF' bombing".

Moshe Dyan said...

su,

i don't think SL UAVs have thermal detection/heat detection capabilities.

another small issue. its SLAF that uses UAVs not SLA. i know this is a PETTY administration issue, BUT as it is now SLA cannot receive the services of UAVs on a CONSISTANT basis.

SLA rarely relies on UAV footage for REGULAR thrusts. no point talking about real-time UAV info for them.

as you say trapping tigers for harvesting is a good tactic. but SLA needs real time info.

crime,

usual sarcasism!! LOL
i like the hidden gathering point!

shay said...

Hi Apino,

Heavy weekend, Didn't check the net on Sunday. Will answer you shortly.

In the meanwhile, glancing through websites, looks like the SLAF has had a busy weekend. I hope the air attacks are as accurate as numerous, this is where better planes will be much more useful.

Suwaganak said...

Hi,
You can listen to Konona's interview on CBC.
http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent
/2008/200809/20080904.html

Dumindak said...

We should bring SLA,SLN and SLAF under one command. At least few units of each force and create a new force. this will help to be more effective.

Unknown said...

Heavy fighting. 50 SLA KIA. 120 WIA

Puthinam bascially translated the previous post but did not say defencewire but said military news site. Their heading was as above in tamil so no guesses. However they left out the LRRP Stuff. Maybe defencewire should charge royalty.

Unknown said...

MD,
Thankyou..
:)
I thought the Army,Air Force Coordination was better...
Well, atleast MI 24s have the thermal imaging ability (I think) & they could also be used if the Equipments are allowing such levels of accuracy with the flights range...& surely the Highest Concentrations Should be near to this Great Wall..
:)

shay said...

Apino,

Yes, the SLA does have man-portable thermobaric weapons. They were using RPO-A Shmel and later some Chinese thermobaric RPG's. There is a range of thermobaric ordnace available for aircraft and MBRL's used by SLDF.

As for the Zlin's, like I said before, if the LTTE had used them as a suicide weapon in Trinco or close to the FDL's we would have been totally screwed. This is because the radars are not sufficient to give enough advance warning (especially when they fly in low over the sea) to scramble interceptors (even if we had suitable aircraft close to the FDL's).

The only way you can stop a suicide air attack close to the FDL's is to have better radars (early detection is the key) and a medium range missile system (not MANPAD's). I don't kwow how effective radar integrated AA guns are, probably not much.

Zlins have more than enough range to reach any target in SL (about a 1000km) and yes, can carry additional payload with only one pilot. Judging by the damage done at Trinco using only the bombs, it would make quite a potent suicide weapon (when you add additional payload plus the fuel), especially aganist a small target or something like a naval OPV (I don't know about a hydro dam).

Yes, they can try and use tactics to distract while other air craft try to sneak in (they're supposed to have about 5). It would depend how many F-7's are on stand by. We have about 6 and each is capable of tracking/engaging multiple targets simultaneously (within its radar range).

I don't know if Zlins can be fitted with floats, usually they're specialised planes.

I very much doubt if LTTE have effective bio/chemical weapons and the delivery mechanisms for the same. If so, its likely to be a barrel full of human excrement (SLAF use to do that in the early days according to some) and will not be much of a threat. Making the delivery mechanisms (i.e. bio/chemical warheads) is much more difficult than making some poison gas or anthrax which can be done in any lab.

Unknown said...

This is moda and ignorant idea..

I think the key to tackling this trench is Nachchikuda(NC). It is situated on one end of the trench.
The fall of NC will lay bare the LTTE side of the trench to SLA by moving north a bit.

So to make NC fall the SLN can play a big role by using different tactics and put pressure on them and make it fall sooner than later.

what say you?

CriMeWatCh said...

poor parents... of SLDF

Kaluthara OIC Lamai dusane karanawa poleesiyedee... thawath OIC Kollo Gahanawa..

Army Major Nidan Haranawa...

POW ape hamudawa PAW bima Rakinna Duk windinawa. Ballata giya Palakayo.

CriMeWatCh said...

ree

Maw bima not PAWbima

Sounds good though..

mboi said...

guys army.lk reckons ltte has built another barrier, this time going northwards

''Tiger terrorists with the intention of thwarting advance of the troops have built a long protective wall for their defence parallel to the NACHCHIKUDA sea border extending towards POONERYN area.''

i guess they plan to jump in the sea (or flee further north by boat) when sla get over it.

Kithul said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Kithul said...

thambala

valid point.

do you know whether FAC and other veseels can operate in these waters. some areas are very shallow and only water jest can operate

Srilankan said...

mboi,
Dont worry we have the best army commander the country had for many generations..he knows what to do.However we have put the navy on full alert because we dont want any LTTE "field marshalls/air marshalls?" escaping the country.

Srilankan said...

mboi,
no number of "walls" are going to help the LTTE now..Have you noticed that the comments by these LTTE buffoons is gradually lenghtening as days go by..Wonder why

Riyaz said...

Sri Lankan, You voiced exactly what i was thinking to write... First of all Our hearts are with the brave hearts. This is only a mini hurdle, and we have the best people for the job..

These terror pussies and their supporters can jump as much they like, but They will eventually fall down and that is not very far.

To all patriots, Please be patient for a few weeks and see how things turn around..

mboi said...

thats what i meant guys. these peelam morons will have to jump into the sea when the army comes smashing. hopefully navy and air force will be ready.

personally im glad army has slowed things down a bit after this setback and arent trying to satisfy political agendas by trying to score territory in quick time. one gets the sense that they have rested the ordinary troops and have gone back to harvesting ltte from their defences using small elite teams. defence.lk reports sound like these teams aren't trying to smash headlong onto the earth bund but rather hunting in regions around nacchikuda.

maybe defensewire can enlighten us about the navy's role in the northwest these days and what are sea tiger assests north of nacchikuda and in jaffna lagoon. sea tigers hav started moving things further north towards pooneryn and slaf bombed a base southeast of kalmunai yesterday. i think sea tiger plan is to move all boats in the northwest shore to eps and then carry them overland to the other side before army takes pooneryn.

DavidW said...

CriMeWatCh said...

"Maw bima not PAWbima

Sounds good though.."

LOL ... these modayas first should try to eliminate the POICE from the country rather attacking the LTTE... Good work.. keep update these modayas...

Srilankan said...

Riyaz,
Many thanks for your comment bro.These LTTE buffoons are here for one reason only..that is to "have fun".they really dont care if all the good peace loving tamil people die provided its not them.The problem the forces are facing is that most of these LTTE guns are in IDP camps or very close to it and as a rsult not a conventional war.This is the time to encourage people to come to govt controlled areas..like the army is doing.

shay said...

Su

"But is our UAVs Equipped with any Thermal signature abilities?"

Yes, some of the newer UAV's are supposed to have some thermal imaging capability. Mi-24/35's also have FLIR.

The problem is how effective they are against personnel inside bunkers etc. Should be sufficient to detect vehicles etc, but personnel under cover might be difficult in most combat situations.

However, there are number of other devices such as handheld thermal imaging devices for infantry and thermal imaging systems for tanks/IFV's which are even more useful for this kind of situation. They're not very expensive and would make a much bigger impact on the battlefield.

I would favour equipping specialised infantry units with some of these, along with handheld laser designators which can be used with guided munitions/artillery. Most of this is now available from NORICO and other suppliers, so getting them is not a problem.

Unfortunately SLDF is very reactive instead of proactive and even minor technology upgrades such as above usually happen far too late. The SLA is by far the worse, SLAF and SLN are much better.

Riyaz said...

Remember the Madhu days brothers, The pussies were jumping exactly the same way... Once this stretch is overcome notice how things unfold.

mboi said...

there is absolutely no need to hurry. military matters must be left to military commanders. politicians should never make calls on what will achieved. battles remain but ltte has lost the war. not only battlefield successes but development successes are the best indication of this.

the excellent new hospital in vavuniya, powerplant in jaffna, hospitals, schools and roads being built in not only east but also mannar, redevelopment of giant's tank and adjoining rice cultivation regiion, reopening of the mannar railway are just few of the amazing developments that has been happening in the past 9 months. a new dawn is breaking.

sldf has handled themselves with good tactics so far and they do not need to try to gain quick solutions and play into the enemy's hand. be patient, this is a war of attrition, as someone already mentioned here, sla's forte is using small strike team's in the enemy's own backyard.

CriMeWatCh said...

lets enjoy for the moment. Pray as much as possible.... to save our PF's

Moshe Dyan said...

shay,

"some of the newer UAV's are supposed to have some thermal imaging capability."

apart from the uncertainty, that is news to me.

shay said...

Moshe,

I think it was mentioned in DW/DN at the time of the AAB attack.

Thushanthi said...

Thank you for the hard work defence wire.

Moshe Dyan said...

shay & su,

shay is right. israel has sold the following UAVs to SL,

1. IAI SEARCHER MARK-2
2. IAI SEARCHER (1)
3. IAI SCOUT
4. IAI SUPER SCOUT

......

from the above, 1 & 4 are definitely capable of FLIR.

su,
"i don't think SL UAVs have thermal detection/heat detection capabilities."

wrong; sorry mate.

Gayansphotography said...

I think all the ideas that sound so simple and too good to be true like "bypass the trench" "smash it with tanks" "land behind enemy lines" "send gifts from the sea" are what they are, TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE/PRACTICAL....

I dnt think the generals/commanders are so dumb not to realize these "simple solutions", nor do I think that the LTTE has some form of countermeasures if that to happen....

What do u think guys?

Unknown said...

MD & shay,
I am More than Happy to be wrong!!
:o)
Well if they Survived the AAB attack, then the simple method of
1.detection at dawn or in evenings any small Red dots..
2. Fire some Arti & see where the Red dots Go hiding..
3.Then Rain Arti in to that Bunker which Red dots Dissapeared could work isnt it?
Well defence.lk can say daily..
XX number of teras killed & Unfortunately No Woueded All the Group burried Now..
:)
I really enjoyed the UAV footings with Bombing of SEA Tiger Boats in the Nayaru. Seems the High Winds had not been of greater difficult for the Manuares. Hope MD,you remember that discussion...
:o)

thoughtful Guy,
I think they must have some fortificatons along the Beach as well... Coz it seems the way in the Muhamalai Front also..Not just a Single Wall. May be they could be making some in 2~3 kMs back as well..In a Wave Type So the Remaining ones can fight from the Next one..
But nothing can turn back the Tide now!!
Only a Matter of time before the Unavoidable Victory.
:O)

Unknown said...

here some comments by General Vipul Boteju here again..

Also some worrying comments about the lack of manpower to hold on to captured territory. Must be the reasons behind pressure on deserters.

perein said...

Srilankan

Many thanks for your comment bro.These LTTE buffoons are here for one reason only..that is to "have fun".

Bro, Kakulwan dagalanee Watura Nattanakme Witarai Bang.

Let them dance while music is playing.

Defencewire said...

sam,

Unfortunately I am no academic. But my collegue dA is and he brushes up whatever I email him.

Unknown said...

DW,
I have some Questions...

Good to have Mi24s & jets in action to MAKE the way..

But
1.DID these BIRDS came into action when the Breakthrough happend?Supporting the troops when mortars & Arti from Pooneryn came?
2. It is said that the ltte Arti in Pooneryn were directed to this front. So why couldnt the Army attack the arti positions from Muhamalai & Jaffna penninsula?
3.DW said some Arti Tracking Equipment were gained, So arent we using them in Nochikuda or even at Jaffna?
Seems our forces are not as Dynamic & jointly coordinated as they should have been..
:(

Kithul said...

thambala

'guarding the gains' has not been an issue for SLDF apart from intrusions in to the east which again is a 'handleable' issue. the new gained territories don't seem to be threatened, there haven't been attacks yet. lppe is hard pressed defending and would find it difficult to commit teams or resources to regain lost territory

Jambudipa said...

http://tinyurl.com/6oovsg

Lankan on Oz Idol

WipeLTTE said...

Forks,
Report any LTTE related website hosted by any US Company to the FBI here:

https://tips.fbi.gov/

However, do not try to span this site off course!

Srilankan said...

Perein,
Bro many thanks:):).This military operation is only the first phase of the attack on these LTTE di-ass-phora buffoons overseas.In phase 2-Jobs overseas for peoples of SLanka-we will see what you say in much greater detail.Did you know that these LTTE di-ass-phora buffoons are the "voice of SLanka" to the world outside SLanka..yes they are and not the embassies.we need to concentrate our resources to change this.

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