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| Sunday, 23 October 2005 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Story of the missing UAV Bull's Eye by a special defence correspondent According to the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF), the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), which went missing in the LTTE held Vanni last week has crashed due to a technical error.
In any case the Sri Lanka Government has the authority unrestricted even under the CFA to take any measure including surveillance to defend its territory in land, sea and air. Anyway, the LTTE would find it a blessing in disguise if they received it safely in their jungles. Meanwhile, Tamilnet reports that the UAV had been launched from the Joseph camp in Vavuniya on a surveillance mission in the LTTE held area. It had come down in Vanni Wednesday afternoon in Vignanikulam between 9th Milepost and Karappukuththi, 20 km northeast of Omanthai. The Tamilnet obviously gathered the news from the LTTE and the word 'came down' that the UAV landed safely. If it came down safely, that means the LTTE would not have shot it, as they knew its mission was surveillance but not bombing. There was no reason for them to suspect such aircraft coming to bomb at this juncture as the Government is strictly observing the CFA on one hand and on the other hand, it does not need to do so while the country is facing a Presidential election. Under such circumstances, the LTTE would not have shot the UAV but allowed it to land safely. Nobody can deny that the LTTE is fully conversant with UAV technology, its movement and operation as they have been studying and gathering information on the technology in order to strengthen their air power.
The authorities could argue that the LTTE would be unable to operate it without the control system that is installed in an air base. Wouldn't the LTTE with the help of their international contact purchase the particular control system and use this aircraft on missions against the Government and its forces, one could argue. On earlier occasions, the SLAF was able to destroy whatever aircraft that crash landed in enemy territory, but this is the first time an Air Force plane has gone missing without any clue to confirm its fate in the LTTE held areas. Therefore, getting confirmation of the fate of the missing aircraft at least through the SLMM is of paramount importance rather than relying on typical official statements because this type of incident could bring disastrous consequences to the national security in particular and to regional security in general. A UAV also called a drone is a self-descriptive term used by the US military, the Israeli Defence Forces and others to describe the latest generations of pilotless aircraft. Taken literally, the term could describe anything from kites, through hobbyist radio-controlled aircraft, to cruise missiles from the V-1 Flying Bomb onwards, but in the military parlance is restricted to reusable heavier-than-air craft. The earliest such craft were developed after World War I, and they were used during the Second World War to train anti aircraft gunners. Nevertheless, they were little more than full-sized remote controlled airplanes until the late 20th century. Lately, interest in such craft has grown within the higher echelons of the US military, as they offer the possibility of cheaper, more capable fighting machines that can be used without risk to aircrews. Initial generations have primarily been surveillance aircraft, but some have already been fitted with weaponry (such as the RQ-1 Predator, which has been fitted with AGM-114 Hellfire air-to-ground missiles). The military envisions that more and more roles will be performed by unmanned aircraft, initially bombing and ground attack, with air-to-air combat expected to be the last domain of the fighter pilot for now. Unmanned fighter jets are known as the Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle or UCAV for short. The Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) has pioneered the production and usage of UAV for military purposes, as early as 1982. The IMI Scout UAV System has played an important combat role both in the service of the Israeli Ground Forces and Israeli Air Force, during the Operation Peace for Galilee. The IDF uses the UAVs mainly for reconnaissance, intelligence gathering, scouting and communications. The IAI Pioneer was purchased by the US armed forces and proved itself as a reliable system in the first and second Gulf Wars in Iraq. Among the US models are: RQ-1 Predator/RQ-1 Mariner, RQ-3 Dark Star, RQ-4 Global Hawk/Euro Hawk, RQ-5 Hunter, RQ-6 Outrider, RQ-7 Shadow, RQ-11A Raven, GNAT-750, ScanEagle, Dragon eye and BQM-74E Chukar. Sperwer is a French model, ADA Nishant (RPV) is Indian, Vector is Pakistani. Chinese Models are: ChangKong-1, ChangKong-2, WuZhen-5, WuZhen-9, N-206. South African models are: Kentron Seeker, ATE Vulture and Denel Bateleur. Israeli Models are: IAI Pioneer (with the USA), RQ-5 Hunter (with the USA), IAI Harpy, IAI Heron, IAI Ranger, IAI Scout, IAI Searcher and IAI Skylite - Canister Launched mini-UAV system. NASA has been sponsoring research into a solar-powered UAV called Helios, which in 2001 reached an altitude of almost 30 km. Helios broke up and crashed over the Pacific on 26 June 2003. An Israeli company has developed a unique unmanned aerial vehicle that could be a future homeland security defense tool. The craft does not have a pilot, not even one who controls it remotely from the ground. All aspects of flight - takeoff, hovering and landing - are completely autonomous, making this UAV the first of its kind. The company, Steadicopter, developed the UAV by combining a patented computer program and Global Positioning Satellite with an existing minicopter. It will work on any size copter. Before the flight, an operator who needs not special training enters flight instructions and routes into a standard PC. The helicopter flies at an altitude of a few hundred feet with an operation range of six miles from ground control about 90 minutes, reports sated. |
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SLMM spokeswoman Helen Olattsdoftir, however, stated in a statement that
the UAV's mission went against the spirit of the Ceasefire Agreement.
Meanwhile, Government spokesman Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva's said that
the UAV was on a routine training mission and as such it was not a violation
of the CFA. 
We reported last week on the LTTE's enthusiasm concerning such airpower
and their keenness to gather information internationally as well as their
readiness to buy aircraft on-line. So this incident would be a blessing in
disguise for a terrorist group like the LTTE if they received it safely to
add to their fleet of two light aircraft believed to be in their possession
at the Iranamadu airstrip in the Vanni. 
