More evidence of mercenaries flying TAF planes

Intelligence agencies in Sri Lanka are examining what they consider are international mercenaries fighting for the LTTE, particularly with regard to the "Tiger Air Force" or TAF.

We have discussed this issue in early September this year following our own investigations into the Trincomalee attack (Click here for article). These suspicions first arose during an investigation on the bombing where an F7B Pilot had locked its radar on a Zlin, only to lose it in a second.

The Pilot claimed the Zlin pilot went into a dangerous dive as soon as his radar tried to lock the plane. He claimed at the time that the dive and subsequent evasion tactics were 'unusually good' for a rookie pilot and instead resembled more the tactics of a seasoned fighter pilot.

The second clue comes more recently during the attack on the Vavuniya Air Force base where one pilot's performance stood up against the rest. This pilot, having observed the AA batteries in operation, pretended to retreat towards Mulaitivu then half way there, suddenly turned back and bombed the base. One of these bombs landed close to Special Forces CO Brigadier Nirmal Dharmaratne's official quarters but failed to explode.

This pilot's accuracy was comparatively much better than that of the other pilot who was subsequently chased and shot down by the F-7. This has given rise to considerable suspicions that one of the two planes that carryout the bombings is piloted by a foreign mercenary. He/they would act as instructors, guiding the Tiger pilot to the target. It is a case of leading by example.

The Tigers weren't the first to use foreign pilots in actual combat missions over Sri Lankan airspace. Pilots from the former USSR flew MIG27 jets in military operations against the Tigers many years ago, before SLAF pilots were on par with them.

A famous such operations was the bombing of the Navatkuli Bridge when the Army started retreating towards Jaffna Town. SLAF pilots followed close behind but the Russians took the lead in the bombing run and helped the SLA delay Oyatha Alaikal from reaching Jaffna in a hurry.

Experts who spoke to us confirmed that many mercenaries, having retired from leading armed forces of the world, would take such risks in consideration for large payments. Until the recent downing of the Zlin , SLAF did not pose much of a threat to such pilots. Even if they did, the evidence presented earlier indicates that they have escaped unhurt on both 'close calls' while the unskilled Tiger pilot/s perished.