The weapons of the Sri Lankan Civil War.

[Ace Oliveira]

I like you Matt. That's why i'm going to kill you last.

Did were the G3A3s still in widely use in the Vadamarachchi Operation?

Also, the Type 95 is only used by the Special Forces. And i think so does the Type 81. The FNC was used in the Vadamarachchi Operation Also, Correct?

[MT2008]

Originally Posted by Gunmaster45

I feel out of the loop. I don't know any of this shit.

Basically, the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) want to create their own little country in the Northern part of Sri Lanka. The Tamil people got imported to the island by the Brits, back when Sri Lanka was still a British colony, and the native Sinhalese hated them. Thus, after independence, Sri Lanka was an island where you had two tribes who hated each other. Some of the Tamils took this as far as wanting their own country on the island (which would be called Tamil Eelam), so various militias were formed to fight for it.

The LTTE got to be the biggest and most dangerous of the Tamil rebel groups, and eventually controlled half of Sri Lanka. They're best known for having used suicide bombers (before the jihadists took up the tactic), and even a ragtag air force and navy. Eventually, the Sri Lankan Army pretty much kicked their asses this past May when they killed off most of the LTTE leadership (including Prabhakaran, the chief of staff), so now it looks as though the LTTE is done, for the foreseeable future.

Hope that explains it.

[MT2008]

Originally Posted by Ace Oliveira

I like you Matt. That's why i'm going to kill you last.

Did were the G3A3s still in widely use in the Vadamarachchi Operation?

Also, the Type 95 is only used by the Special Forces. And i think so does the Type 81. The FNC was used in the Vadamarachchi Operation Also, Correct?

I don't think the G3A3s are used very much anymore. I've seen hundreds of photos from the conflict, and the G3's use by the SLA pretty much seems to stop by the 1990s. I'm sure they are still used by reserves and other rear-echelon forces, but the vast, vast majority of SLA personnel I've seen on the front lines (both during the Vadamarachchi offensive and before) have Type 56s now.

They especially seem to have bought many of the Type 56-2 side-folder, which isn't too common anywhere else in the world. Not sure why they prefer that variant.

[Ace Oliveira]

Not Only that, but the Civil War started back In 1983 and the both the Sri Lanka Army (Composed almost entirely of Sinhalese) and the Tamil Tigers (Composed of Tamils) commited some small scale Genocide by commiting Massacres all over the country. The SLA raping and killing Tamil Civilians and the Tamil Tigers doing the same against Sinhalese only with some Car Bombs and suicide bombers in Civilian Locations. There was some trophy taking commited by both sides too Ala World War 2 and Vietnam too.

[Ace Oliveira]

Also, What was the standard uniform of the SLA in the 1980s and 1990s?

[MT2008]

Originally Posted by Ace Oliveira

Not Only that, but the Civil War started back In 1983 and the both the Sri Lanka Army (Composed almost entirely of Sinhalese) and the Tamil Tigers (Composed of Tamils) commited some small scale Genocide by commiting Massacres all over the country. The SLA raping and killing Tamil Civilians and the Tamil Tigers doing the same against Sinhalese only with some Car Bombs and suicide bombers in Civilian Locations. There was some trophy taking commited by both sides too Ala World War 2 and Vietnam too.

In conflicts like the Sri Lankan Civil War, atrocities on both sides tend to be the norm. That's how it often is in Africa, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, etc. - no obvious good or bad guys, no matter what ideology or cause they claim to be fighting for (as far as I know, both the Sri Lankan govt. and LTTE claim to be "socialists" even though what they are in practice is ethnic nationalist/tribalist).

That being said, I'm just a tad bit more sympathetic to the SLA in this conflict, mostly because Prabhakaran has always struck me as one of those "Dear Leader" types. By most accounts, his rule in Tamil Eelam (while it lasted) was a lot like that of the Kims in North Korea - a cult of personality, press-ganging into military service, and starvation of Tamils who disagreed with the LTTE's agenda, among other things. I hear the LTTE even had something called a "life tax" - literally, they taxed Tamils for the right to be alive!

[Ace Oliveira]

Most Civil Wars are like that. There are exceptions though.

[MT2008]

Originally Posted by Ace Oliveira

Also, What was the standard uniform of the SLA in the 1980s and 1990s?

I've seen them wearing surplus British, American, German, and Chinese uniforms. It seems to vary based on units. I'm not sure they've adopted a standard, and I doubt they've had the money to afford standardization. Which is typical of many Third World militaries that have had to expand quickly and cheaply.

Recently, I've noticed a lot of their special forces wearing the same style dark blue urban camo that the Pakistani special forces wear...I'm not sure who makes it (probably some American manufacturer).

[Ace Oliveira]

Do you got pictures of varius SLA units in the 1980s and 1990s? They would be very helpful.

[MT2008]

Originally Posted by Ace Oliveira

Do you got pictures of varius SLA units in the 1980s and 1990s? They would be very helpful.

On my hard drive? No. Check Military Photos.com and do a search, that's where I find a lot of this stuff.