Guerilla style aerial bombing

[WMD]

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (CNN) -- Tamil Tiger rebels used two light aircraft to bomb and strafe an air force base next to Colombo International Airport, killing two airmen and wounding 10 others, a spokesman for the group's political wing told CNN.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/03/25/sri.lanka/index.html

While there have been numerous claims that the LTTE has some ultralights, I don't know if they were used in the attack. But I think the use of improvised attack aircrafts might become a new trend in unconventional warfare. What do you think?

PS: I know the use of ultralights has been discussed before, but for me seeing it in the real world is something alltogether different.

[Hirudinea]

Look up the "Night Witches" of WWII, they were Russian women pilots who flew WWI biplanes in harrassing night bombing raids against German troops, they would bomb by the light of their campfires, sometimes they would cut their engines and glide in, a silent attack, a really nasty after dinner treat. :)

These kind of attacks have been going on forever and I don't see any reason for them to stop in the future.

[Charlie Workman]

The Swede, Count Von Rosen did the same during the Biafran civil war in 69. He outfitted some very light Swedish planes with rocket pods and extra fuel tanks. They'd fly in low and quiet on their targets, blow the living shit out of them, and scoot off at treetop level. Worked for a while.

[sdjsdj]

All it really achieves (after the initial surprise) is the inconvenience of of having to position a portable SAM around strategic targets.

Still, air support always comes in handy (particularly in the terrain the Tamils operate around) and the psychological benefit is obtained of being able to strike unpredictably on a wide range of soft targets.

[Gerbil]

The main problem is having a supply of aircraft and pilots. For a small paramilitary setup, resources could be better spent on expendable human payload carriers :D .

A new microlight is going to cost something in the region of £10-20,000 and they can carry a very small payload. An actual light aircraft is a better option, but they're far more expensive. Of course, you could always attack an airfield and steal them...

There might be some application in using microlights to disperse chemical and biological weaponry.