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Sri Lanka Army

Defender of the Nation

'Preventing Aviation Terrorism is a Collective Responsibility' - Air Vice Marshal Dias

The opening session on the final day (Sept 2) in the Defence Seminar 2015 witnessed an elaborate presentation on ‘Emerging Aviation Threats; Challenges to National Security’ where Air Vice Marshal Sumangala Dias, Director Logistics spoke at length and explained about the possible aviation threats in the future after submitting a detailed account of the series of experiences Sri Lanka and other nations underwent.

Here follows his full speech;

“Transport Revolution” has evolved surpassing any other evolution in the world, paving the way for rapid and free movement of people, commodities and services on a global scale.

In transport revolution, civil aviation is the aspect that has brought the greatest change. Now a day’s air transport is in a position to convey people and cargo to the remotest corners of the earth from anywhere else, in a journey of slightly over 24 hours.

It is important to note that aviation is today’s most dynamic, fastest developing area of transportation and there are approximately 10,000 plus air transport companies presently operating in the world, using more than 15,500 passenger air lines, landing at over 5000 air ports.

Air transportation is designed to be accessible and its main function is to concentrate passenger and freight flows. However, these features create much vulnerability for terrorist to exploit.

Presently, terrorism has plagued every corner in the world. It is evident that one of the main traits of 21st century terrorism doctrine is to economically destabilize and compel a state to accept political or ideological objectives of non state actors.

Targeting its economic infrastructure is one such method and presently, aviation domain in a state, which consist of aircraft and aviation infrastructure has become an imminent target of modern day aviation terrorism.

Therefore, aviation modern day aviation terrorism has a direct impact on National Security of a state.

The first incident of modern Aviation Terrorism dates back to 1968 and the first incident in Sri Lanka was in 1986. Bombing of Air Lanka flight by the LTTE in 1986 and subsequent attacks on aircraft and aviation infrastructure during the recent conflict period indicates how LTTE as a terrorist group was determined to cripple the country’s economy through acts of aviation terrorism.

Since 2009, there is a steady increase in tourism and it continues to grow. Therefore, a safe aviation domain is important for future economic development of Sri Lanka.

In this context, it is timely to create a safe and secure environment to flourish aviation in the country. Therefore, contemporary security threats such as aviation terrorism and its impact on national security has a direct bearing towards stability and development of a nation.

Preventing Aviation Terrorism is a collective responsibility of defence Apparatus and Civil Aviation Authorities of a country in pursue of National Security.

With this introduction, I would like to appraise the learned audience on “Aviation Terrorism and its Impact to National Security” with an emphasis to Sri Lankan context. The overview of my presentation is shown on the screen.

AVIATION TERRORISM & NATIONAL SECURITY

Aviation Terrorism is defined as,

“Ideologically, politically or religiously motivated violence directed against civilian targets by the use of aviation or aviation related assets”.

In spite of various lucrative targets that could be achieved easily, Terrorists continue to exploit aviation as a means of Terrorism.

Despite the absence of confession by the perpetrators of 9/11 it seems that terrorists want to cause as much havoc as possible to as many people as possible in belligerent countries by the cheapest means. Crashing a plane fits to this aim very well.

International flights involve at least two countries, “origin and destination”, and the passenger nationalities typically draw in many more. The borderless nature of the target further encourages fearful inferences in more than just the countries directly involved.

For example, if they pick Amsterdam–Detroit, next time they could just pick Frankfurt–Miami or Dubai–London which prompts the introduction of costly security measures in all place.

As for the means, small amount of explosives with just one person can put down an aircraft

Four terrorist kill 57 people in the London underground attack on 7/7, 2005, But on 9/11 in the world trade center attack, four terrorists killed nearly 3,000 people using two aircraft, attacked the heart of highly defended world democracy and brought the super power on its knees for a moment.

Furthermore, it has long lasting ripple effects on national power of a country. Ongoing “War on Terror”, which is a result of Aviation Terrorism has impacted the economy and stability of many countries in the world.

National security is given numerous definitions in literature. However, the most appropriate would be, 

National security is a concept that a government, along with its parliament, should protect the state and its citizens against all kind of "national" crises through the instruments of national power that consist of political power, diplomacy, economic power and military might..

Present aviation terrorism bears a direct impact on a nation’s economy and defence, thus becomes a national security concern and deems in-depth analysis and preventive measures to defend a nation against this growing threat.

Aviation terrorism has a long history

EVOLUTION OF AVIATION TERRORISM

The first registered incident of aviation terrorism goes back to 1930, when Peruvian insurgents seized an airplane to scatter propaganda leaflets.

The starting date of modern aviation terrorism, as we see it now, is 22 July 1968,when three gunmen from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) hijacked a passenger airliner Israel flying from Rome to Tel Aviv ,and demanded to exchange hostages for the comrades-in-arms who were imprisoned In Israel.

Later, in the 1980s, the dangerous tendency toward the further spread of aviation terrorism as a tool of political pressure and propaganda came to an end due to heightened security measures integrating modern technology.

The largest terrorist attacks world has ever seen was the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington. Those were committed by hijacking civil airliners. For the first time, the air- planes were steered by suicide pilots. Instead of being employed as leverage for negotiations or as a platform for forward demands, the airliners were used as weapons similar to manned cruise missiles, designed for destroying specific targets.

There are various methods used by terrorists in today’s aviation terrorism

Various Methods used in Aviation Terrorism

Based on the analyses of the modern dynamics and tendencies of international terrorism as a whole, categories of the existing threats related to aviation security are,

a.    Aircraft hijacking for exchange of hostages
b.    Aircraft hijacking for transfer
c.    Aircraft hijacking for annihilation and destruction
d.    Direct action against aircraft from outside
e.    Direct action against aviation related infrastructure

Out of the five, following three categories can be singled out as ones related to aviation terrorism that bears a direct impact on National Security. They are,

a.    Aircraft hijacking for annihilation and destruction;
b.    Direct action against aircraft from outside;
c.     Direct action against aviation related infrastructure

a.    Aircraft hijacking for annihilation/destruction; - Using aircraft as a weapon to hit a previously selected target is the primary object of this category of actions; passengers act as a factor, ensuring that an additional level of overall damage will ultimately result from the attack.

b.    Direct action against aircraft from outside; Both Airliners and passengers with crew on board are targets of this category of attack, whose aim is to destroy an aircraft in the air and annihilate people in order to incur material, political, and psychological damage.

c.    Direct action against civil aviation ground infrastructure; The target of this category of terrorist attacks is the supporting ground infrastructure of civil aviation. The aim is to incur material, economical, and psychological damage and reaffirm the fact of war.

Now we will look at the impact of aviation terrorism in Sri Lanka

    AVIATION TERRORISM IMPACT ON SRI LANKA

Presently, Sri Lanka is one of the most peaceful and stable countries in the world. Its citizens enjoy the benefits of peace after the end of war in 2009 and have complete freedom and countless opportunities to build better futures for themselves.

At the same time, Sri Lanka faces potential threats from various sources. Therefore, country needs to be defended against these threats and ensure the safety of the nation, because national security is the foundation of freedom and prosperity.

The first incident related to aviation security, relevant to Sri Lanka, dates back to 30 June 1982 when a Sri Lankan citizen single handedly hijacked an Alitalia Boeing 747 with 340 passengers and gained international publicity.

However, the proper taste of aviation terrorism was felt by Sri Lanka in 1986 in the hands of LTTE.

LTTE detonated a bomb in Air Lanka Flight 512 at Bandaranayake International Airport, which was about to depart to Male. Tristar carried mainly French, German, British and Japanese tourists; 21 people were killed on the aircraft, and 41 people were injured.

This marks the first aviation terrorism act in Sri Lanka, however, it was not the first and the last.

The Bandaranaike International Airport was attacked again by the LTTE on 24 July 2001 it had a profound impact on the country's military, economy, and airline industry.

During the attack LTTE destroyed three (03) Sri Lankan Airlines Airbus aircraft and damaged another two (02), resulting nearly half of the Airline fleet out of commission.

This attack was a huge blow to the economy of Sri Lanka. It had an impact in terms of trade and travel. Both exports and imports declined sharply while tourism was badly affected.

This is a classic example of aviation terrorism “how terrorists target aviation related economic infrastructure to destabilize a country economically and compel a nation to give-in to their political/ideological objectives”.

It is to be noted that Sri Lanka became a victim of modern day terrorism before US and rest of the world.

In the subsequent time period threat to aviation and aviation infrastructure in Sri Lanka started to emanate from small suicide aircraft flown by terrorists, which had a devastating impact not only on security but in terms of economy and most importantly social and moral fiber of the country.

Sri Lanka suffered her mini 9/11 in February 2009, when two explosive laden LTTE aircraft narrowly missed the international airport and air HQ during a suicide raid. One plunge in to a building and the other one hit the ground after both aircraft were shot down by the AD guns of SLAF.

Subsequent to a three decade of brutal war, at a time when Sri Lanka is thriving to be an aviation hub in Asia, it is imperative to implement protective measures to defend the nation from evolving aviation terrorism threats and ensure National Security.

There for it need to consider current dynamics and future trends of aviation terrorism.

CURRENT DYNAMICS & FUTURE

A clear paradigm shift is visible in modern day aviation terrorism. A threat that arose with limited objectives of various groups has now developed to a full blown National Security Threat.

Present-day aviation terrorism has become a very effective tool and a tactic in contemporary asymmetric warfare. It is making a direct impact on a nation’s military, economic, financial, and cultural-civilization. It is the practical inability to endure direct confrontation with the regular military forces of countries that pushes non-state actors in the direction of non-conventional operational approaches.

The terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 marked the start of a new period in modern history. This is the emergence of terrorism as a truly global threat.

Following are a few methods that may be adopted by terrorist in the future to threaten National Security

a.    Use of small aircraft to attack civilian airlines and aviation infrastructure
b.    Use of drone strikes on aviation and civil assets
c.    Cyber and IT warfare against aviation governing related networks
d.    Deploying in controlling centers and carrying out sabotage activities.
e.    A collaboration of all of the above to achieve maximum destruction

From 2008 and 2009, LTTE launched attacks on Sri Lankan aviation infrastructure using Zling 143 small piston engine aircraft. Referring to this, defence columnist of Air forces magazine has written

Wonder how RAF would react if a terrorist should decide to crash a light aircraft to a high-value target at night. After all, chasing a slow mover in the shadows of London skyscrapers or over-populated areas isn’t something you would leave to a fighter?”  

Protecting aviation assets, demands a high level of vigilance because a single lapse in aviation security can result in hundreds of deaths, destroy equipment worth hundreds of millions of dollars, and have immeasurable negative impacts on the economy and the public’s opinion on the air travel.

Way Forward

Aviation terrorism is definitely a national security threat and its dynamics deems a holistic and cohesive approach to counter. It should consist of both local and international counter measures and legal instruments.

Accordingly, following are few of the measure in the Sri Lankan context.

1.    Priority should be given to timely collection, exploitation and dissemination of intelligence amongst relevant agencies.

2.    Conduct of exercises on individual joint plans related of aviation security amongs relevant agencies.

3.    Enforcing ICAO counter terrorism related conventions and protocols with respect to aviation security, in an efficient and effective manner.

4.    Establishing of collaboration between regional and international agencies related to Aviation Security.

7.    CONCLUSION

As a concluding note, it is be noted that, despite heightened safety measures at airports and the introduction of appropriate technologies, the threat of this absolute use of aviation terrorism does not diminish, but rather increase. An eloquent testimony to this fact is the information that has been gathered about Al Qaeda operatives’ testing of innovative techniques of seizing and hijacking airplanes, aiming to conduct kamikaze type attacks.

That is why it is not surprising today to see SAM firing units and radar arrays in capitals around the world, from Washington to Colombo, to thus protect vital national assets against this “uninvited guests” 

It is evident that modern terrorism doctrine is formulated to economically cripple a country and compel it to accept their ideology. Economy being a modern day strongest Instrument of Power of a nation and the bargaining tool in diplomatic world, economic stability has become the center of gravity of modern day conflicts. Accordingly, terrorists’ MODUSOPERANDI is to target potential economic installations. Civil aviation infrastructure in a country is one of the most vital economic installations. Therefore, counter measures for aviation terrorism has become a vital factor in National Security.”