Sri Lanka It's Happening

June 10, 2004

Yesterday the picturesque Negombo lagoon recieved the single biggest piece of junk that has been thrown into it in recent years. It was a MIG 27 fighter air craft belonging to the Sri Lanka Air Force.

Since more SLAF fighters have been brought down by technical problems or old age than enemy fire, few people paid any attention to this incident, I certainly didn't bother to listen to the news about it sicne the slug match in parliament was more interesting.

Then in today's paper there was a report about the crash, this report addresses the fighter by it's nick name 'Flogger'. I distinctly remember playing some computer game in the late nineties that involved the flogger. Why did the government of Sri Lankan bough this obsolete aircraft in the year 2000? If you know the way Sri Lankan politicians behave it's not hard to guess.

The last time Sri Lankans fought a foriegn invader was in 1815. Thus we have little need for fighter aircraft. If someone were to invade Sri Lanka might as well send in the Sopwith Camels or Spitfires they would probably fare just as well as a flogger against modern fighters.

The aircraft are ostensibly for the use of fighting the LTTE. What use is such a high speed machine against a gurilla army? couldn't we have bought a helicopter gunship instead?

The only use these fighters might have is against ships that that the LTTE uses to smuggle in weapons, but to attack them you have to detect them first.

Posted by raditha at June 10, 2004 2:31 AM