RESPONDING to claims that the Rajapaksa administration had not acquired any new, weaponry except ammunition during the Eelam War IV, Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa told The Island that nothing could be further from the truth. "What we acquired after fighting erupted in August 2006 was amazing," he said adding that no previous government had provided such a range of equipment to the men on the battlefield.
The Defence Secretary said that the government had obtained a range of armaments, including armoured fighting vehicles, aircraft, ships, missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) as well as radars over the past four years, though the Opposition recently praised former President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s government for bolstering the firepower of the armed forces. He said that security forces would continue to receive good quality weaponry to meet any future threat. A case in point was the Navy taking delivery of six Israeli Fast Attack Craft (FACs) during this year, he said.
The Israeli-built Kfirs, Russian MiG 27s, Czechoslovakian-built multi barrel rocket launchers and UAVs were first introduced during the Kumaratunga administration.
Opposition presidential candidate Sarath Fonseka said that the Rajapaksa administration had bought only ammunition and that, too, only at the latter part of the offensive though the President and the Defence Secretary now claimed credit for the war victory. He said that former President Kumaratunga had bought a range of artillery pieces, including 130 mm and 152 mm field guns to boost the firepower of the Army. He said that the Army had fought with available ammunition before fresh stocks arrived from China several months after the 2008 Olympics, for which payments would continue for some time.
Rajapaksa said that the incumbent President’s predecessors, too, wanted to defeat the LTTE, though the armed forces could not realise the objective due to periodic battlefield setbacks experienced in the war front.
Army headquarters said that the Mechanised Infantry Regiment received armoured fighting vehicles from China and Russia. The Regiment comprised four Battalions, including one deployed on a ground role. The remaining three formations had received well over 100 T 89 VP 1 and WMZ 551 B of Chinese origin and Russian-built BMP Mark IIs.
The Defence Secretary said that the government had ordered new weapons for over 150,000 personnel recruited to the three armed forces, the police, including the STF and the Civil Defence Force. He said that the government had acquired a range of new weapons. He emphasised that whatever the economic difficulties, the government had bought a range of armaments to equip the rapidly expanding armed forces, provided the best possible training to the forces.
The newly acquired weaponry included 30 mm Bushmaster weapons now deployed on FACs, 107 mm multi barrel rocket launchers also deployed on naval platforms and jets capable of firing missiles as well as state-of-the-art Chinese 3D Radar. The Army bought a range of artillery pieces and mortars while the Navy ordered weapons to equip the Special Boat Squadron and the Rapid Action Board Squadron. Among the weapons ordered were 14.5 mm twin barrel guns of Chinese origin and 23 mm weapon manufactured in Bulgaria.
The Defence Secretary said that the country should be proud of the men behind the weapons, who defeated the LTTE outright. (Courtesy: Island.lk)
