3RD LEAD

SLAF bomber shot over Ira'naimadu

[TamilNet, Monday, 30 April 2007, 11:22 GMT]
Sri Lanka Air Force's (SLAF's) aircraft on a bombing raid south of Ira'naimadu in Vannai around 2:45 p.m. spewed large cloud of smoke after a explosion and the jet suspended the bombing raid struggling to maintain height, traders in Kilinochchi who saw the troubled aircraft said. Meanwhile, unconfirmed reports from Colombo said a Israeli-built fast attack Kfir which took off from Katunayake Air Force base Monday has failed to return to the base.

Military officials of the Liberation Tigers told TamilNet that their anti-aircraft defence system is automatically activated when an intrusive aircraft is detected in Ira'naimadu area.

Defence analysts have previously speculated that either the LTTE does not have Surface to Air Missiles (SAMs), or the types the LTTE possesses are outdated and cannot be used against supersonic fighters of the calibre of Kfirs.

Sri Lanka deploys Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) built Kfir bombers in air raids on LTTE territory.

The SLAF is known to own 12 Kfir bombers (two TC.2s, two C.7s and eight C.2s).

Kfir, meaning "Lion Cub" in Hebrew, is an all-weather, single seat multi-task combat aircraft based on a modified Dassault Mirage 5 airframe.



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