Jungle Telegraph

4th October 1998

Unidentified helicopter

Reports of the sightings of an unidentified helicopter over Mulliyaweli near Mullaitivu raised concerns in the defence establishment.

Though no hard evidence is yet available, the claim is based on a few eye witness accounts and the blips that appeared on a Navy radar.

The descriptions prompted experts to suspect whether the chopper in question is a French built Aloutte or a US made Bell 47G.

Whilst the former is a non military aircraft, the latter, they say, is a gunship which is easily movable in knocked- down condition. In fact they have been in use in Sri Lanka during the abortive 1971 insurgency.

Like in all cases, the cynics had their own views too.

They ask whether this is a precursor to a move to install radars at various places to detect unidentified aircraft. That of course will mean more commissions and omissions.

Missed opportunity

Army Commander, Lt. Gen. Rohan de S. Daluwatte, has missed an opportunity to shake hands with US Army top brass including the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Henry H. Shelton.

Lt. Gen. Daluwatte who is Chairman of the newly set up Joint Operations Command (JOC) was to have attended the 1998 Asia Pacific Chiefs of Defence Conference in Honolulu, Hawaii.

The conference theme is "Asia-Pacific Security Challenges of the 21st Century" and was hosted by Admiral Joseph W. Prueher, US Navy Commander-in-chief, US Pacific Command.

The visit had to be called off since PA leaders were keen to ensure the renewed phase of "Operation Jaya Sikurui" went ahead.

Forced retirement

It was barely a month ago the defence establishment in Colombo entered into a multi billion rupee defence procurement deal with China's People's Liberation Army (PLA).

That was despite the existence of a government to government agreement between Sri Lanka and China where all purchases were to be made from Beijing's official supplier, NORINCO.

In a protest note to the Government, NORINCO itself used strong language.

They said the agreement needed to be adhered to to "safeguard the dignity of both the Sri Lanka Government and the Chinese Governments."

Now comes the news from Beijing that 71 year old General Zhang Wannian, China's top military chief is to be forced into retirement for a series of corruption scandals and disciplinary problems that have damaged the image of the PLA.

Chinese President, Jiang Zemin, issued an edict on July 22 forbidding the PLA from being involved in commercial activities.

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Editorial/Opinion Contents