Weaponry ordered after 2006 helped war victory - Former Navy Chief

Former Navy Commander Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda in an interview with the Sunday Observer said that the new military equipment bought during the Mahinda Rajapaksa administration greatly contributed to the May 2009 war victory.

Denying charges by the New Democratic Front candidate Sarath Fonseka and the Opposition parties supporting him that the new military hardware was not purchased during the present Government’s tenure, Admiral Karannagoda said that if the Sri Lanka Navy did not acquire the new military hardware, victory would not have been possible at all.

“In 2006, we chartered the Passenger ferry `Jet Liner’ from Indonesia. Then we ordered six heavy Dvoras from Israel. We bought brand new 30mm Bush Master Weapons from USA for our Dvora craft. We upgraded the weapons outfitted to the Dvora craft.

The 23 mm guns were purchased from Bulgaria and thereafter 14.5 mm guns, 107mm rockets and Red Arrow missiles from China and Armoured Personnel Carriers from India,” Admiral Karannagoda said.

To detect intruding vessels in the deep sea, the Navy purchased a High Frequency Surface Wave Radar from Canada that could detect vessels up to 400 kilometres away. To safeguard the harbours special Sonars were bought from the United Kingdom and to develop the night fighting capabilities new Thermal Imaging Systems were bought from Israel, the former Navy Chief said.

“All these were purchased since the beginning of 2006 till the end of the war. If not for these we would have lost the war. The new armaments and the craft made the difference. This enabled us to defeat the Sea Tiger power,’ he said. He said some of the new equipment purchased by the Navy were used to protect the ports and harbours. “We had to use a lot of modern equipment to secure the harbours. We deployed Sonars and thermal image cameras to secure all harbours,” he said.