Remember Saving Private Ryan, how those aero planes came down just in thenick of time to save the good guys? I have to admit that I stole the
headline from Captain Miller. But our angels did not come just in the
nick of time; they were there from day one. In fact it would be safe to
say that without Sri Lanka Air Force – as for any other of the three –
this war could not have been won.
 To put it in a nutshell our Air Force have had to constantly keep our
skies enemy free; carry out surveillance over land and sea; providing
close air support and destroying the enemy’s fighting capability by
attacking their infrastructure and resources far behind their lines,
making them feel insecure in areas under their own influence,
attackingtheir leadership, which would affect their decision making
capacity.
 But the actual procedure is a long and grueling process. The role of
the Sri Lanka Air Force in winning this war cannot be taken for granted.
When frontlines are facing heavy resistance SLAF (Sri Lanka Air Force) –
using MI 24 helicopters of N. 9 attack helicopter squadron – carries out
operations to neutralize or destroy these resistances.
This is a major part of providing close air support to ground troops.
More ground support is provided by No. 32 Land Based Air Defence Wing
(the guys that shot down theplane that tried to attack the main SLAF Air
Base at Katunayake, last February).
Infantry regiment of the SLAF has two major duties – to secure
airfields and airbases and secure territory liberated by the Army. Their
high-tech airdefence networks include radars, interceptor aircrafts,
surface to air missiles and air defence guns.
Their surveillance is done by UVAs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles). And
their fighter crafts include MIG 27s, Kfirs and F 7s.These amazing
machines penetrate deep into enemy territory and take out their targets
to military precision. And of course keeping aircraft like these
continuously operational demands an enormous amount of expertise, which
is provided by SLAF engineers.
I conclude saying that with such men as Defence Secretary Gotabhaya
Rajapaksa and Air Chief Marshal Roshan Goonatilleke in command the LTTE
got what was coming for them.
Source: MCNS (Media Centre for National Security)
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