Developing an Explosive Laden Unmanned Waterborne Vehicle to Eliminate Liberation Tamil Tiger Elam (LTTE) Suicide Boat Attacks at Sea

Abstract

The LTTE was one of the most ruthless terrorist groups, which had operational sea capabilities. In the early 1980s, the LTTE formed a naval wing called sea tigers. Subsequently, the sea tiger leader introduced an elite and highly trained suicide carders to this special element to carry out attacks against Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) ships, using explosive laden boats. The Sri Lanka Navy, thus, was faced with a unique challenge. The highly developed maritime guerrilla warfare, which the SLN faced, had to be fought and won in close proximity to the enemy, at visual range, where speed and manoeuvrability took precedence over long-range weapons and endurance. Then, the SLN decided to build an unmanned waterborne vehicle (UWV), to counter suicide boat attacks of the LTTE without harming its own men. This UWV was unique and operated at a wide range of both shallow and deep waters effectively. Further, it was fixed with 120 kg high explosive claymore mines that could be detonated remotely. The speed, manoeuvrability, and explosion impact of UWV were investigated by ramming it to the LTTE target. It was found that significant damage to the enemy was done by the explosion and shock wave during the test. Consequently, the LTTE suicide boat launching dramatically reduced.