So, the action has started against Libya, with over 110 Tomahawk cruise missiles fired and strike aircraft on the wing:
http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2011/03/19/354555/pictures-coalition-launches-first-strikes-against-libya.html
How do we think this one is going to play out?
Hey Sprucemoose,
A lot of people will get killed, I am sure that the civilian population will not escape the faith 100%, collateral damage is always there.. Gadaffi will do what Saddam Hussein did in Kuwait creating a ecological disaster by lighting up his oil refineries and polluting the whole area. The armament industry will post fat profits next year and if you ask a Libyan man on the street in 5 years what good the removal of Gadaffi did for him, you might be surprised by his answer.
A cruise missile is apparently $ 1million each. Lots of money spent in less than one hour.
Would like similar action to take place in Zimbabwe and North Korea.
Flyvertosset
Gravity always wins!
Can't argue with any of that - let's just hope that many fewer civilians lose their lives this way than had the international community sat back and watched. Makes me wonder why the stance is markedly different towards the unrest in Bahrain, but I'm just a lowly hack!
Fly safe out there, coalition mates.
Just reminds me of everything that happened with the first Gulf War and the Balkans. Gaddafi, like Saddam, Milosevic etc, will never listen to the international calls for a peaceful solution.
I hope this all ends soon, but get the feeling it won't.
I join you Sprucemoose with safe flights to our coalition forces. Godspeed.
I see the missle count has been updated to 114 and it has now been repported that three B-2's have dropped 40 bombs on Libyan air force targets. It is just an ugly situation over there.
Libyan authorities have reportedly closed civilian airports, including Tripoli International Airport, after the United Nations Security Council approved a resolution to impose a no-fly zone on Libya, according to Eurocontrol. "The latest information from Malta indicates that Tripoli Area Control Center (ACC) does not accept traffic until further notice,"
Libya has more than 20 notable civilian airports and some such as Benina International Airport have been heavily damaged by the ongoing conflict,
Earlier this month, Eurocontrol said only three civilian airports were still operating while massive anti-government protests plunged the nation into chaos. These airports were Tripoli International Airport, Gardabya Airport in the country's southwest and Sabha Airport in the north.
Afriqiyah Airways and Libyan Airlines websites are both working and I booked a ticket on Libyan Airlines for March 23, 2011 Malta-Benina it worked all the way, but I jumped out before paying :-)). Afriqiyah Airways bookings seem to have a server problem with "Sabresonic" trying to book a ticket you get this message "The travel web site you have requested is not configured on this server!".
http://www.libyanairlines.aero/
http://www.afriqiyah.aero/
Here's my new wrap-up article summarising the detail of the opening salvoes: highlights included three USAF B-2s fkying 25h+ sorties and the RAF's first combat use of Storm Shadow cruise missiles since the Iraq campaign of 2003.
http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2011/03/20/354558/pictures-allies-detail-early-action-against-libya.html
Expect more detailed coverage on flightglobal.com throughout the working week!
Good article but I missed the information about 4 RDAF F-16 on a 5 hour mission over Libya today?
Yeah I know, RDAF is my former employee and I am sentimental about my roots!. :-))
All this bring back memories, like it does evrything we go into harms way. Counting 80 bullet holes in my faithful DC-3 after a night visit to an African country, but that is another story. Let them all return safely to base.
Hey Flyvertosset,
As much as I'd like to see regime change in North Korea, it's a very different situation. The first response to any true hostilities on the Korean peninsula would be the destruction of Seoul by North Korean artillery fire. The death toll could well be in the millions especially when you consider the North has nuclear weapons.
Hunter
Hey Hunter32,
I agree with you and should have used another country as an example with similar conditions as in Libya.. if there is any.
What about Bahrain?
Flyvertosset,
Bahrain? Now we're talking realpolitik. Shia majority being ruled by a Sunni minority. Unfortunately for the Bahrainians, their uprising is seen as being fomented by Iran and as they are so close to Saudi Arabia the Saudis and other Gulf powers will do WHATEVER it takes to prevent it. We'll never get involved other than behind the scenes pressure to make changes.
This is all going to cost a lot of money.
I cant see that even with the loosely drafted resoulution that this action will achieve anything of tangible benefit
Whats in it for the Coalition and their economies?
Suez 2?
Ebeneezer,
I think one of the motivations for the Mediterranian countries is a fear of increased immigration. If a humanitarian disaster occurs we could well see boat loads of immigrants headed to Italy and other nearby countries. The other problem for the coalition is Qhadaffi practically anounced that he was going to slaughter everybody when he retook rebel towns.
I don't think we're at Suez 2 since there is a supporting UN resolution(with both Arab and US support) and there aren't any plans for ground forces.
As for " no plans for ground forces" and claims of “no boots on the ground,” there is little doubt that American, British, Canadian and other special forces operatives and intelligence agents are already in action inside Libya, helping direct fire at critical targets, particularly the Libyan political leadership and the field commanders of the Libyan army. Somebody whispers in my ear that the Canadian Joint Task Force 2 (JTF 2) is "out of town".
Now we can ask what constitutes "boots on the ground" ? would it be one boot or 100 boots or 10000 boots?
I don't know why but it looks more and more to me like Afghanistan, remember the Northern Alliance (with special forces assisting them) versus the Taliban.
Maybe we have Afghanistan 2 ?
Good point about the special forces although I'm not so sure they're actually there. The risk of potential capture is pretty high and the only way to get them out would be to insert even more. We're flying drones which can certainly do the kind of surveillance and target designation that used to be the purview of the special forces.
The Afghanistan analogy is a good one though as long as we leave after a quick victory. Who knows what the opposition is going to do. They could be even worse than Quadaffi.
Hey Hunter,
What drones and where are they launched from? Are you talking about Global Hawk which can launch anywhere and fly to Libya, or smaller Predator types that has to be launched close to Libya from a ship or from the ground?. The Predator can fly up to 400 nautical miles (740 km) to a target, loiter overhead for 14 hours, then return to its base. If a Predator was launched from Malta that is about 770 miles from Tripoli, so that would be outside the range or would it mean less loitering time over target.
Your point about the opposition is well taken, and seeing Libya has been without any democratic structure for many years, this creates a big vacuum. The opposition could be Al-Qaeda in disguise? :-))
I'm not sure where drones are flying from or even which types but it has been reported they are in use. I looked up the distance from Tripoli to Malta and it's only 220 miles so I suspect both types are in use plus many others as well.
Hey Goose,
Do you know who destroyed the aircraft ? Was it Gadaffi , coaltion or the anti Gadaffi forces? Also, have you heard or seen anything about the Libyan Airlines VIP Falcon 900 (5A-DCN ) recently?. Could it be at Mitiga International Airport?, (the old Wheelus Air Base).
Apologies of course to our many Danish friends, Flyvertosset, and the RDAF's contribution is to be warmly welcomed by the coalition! I've had to do a fairly limited coverage of the campaign so far for flightglobal, but will try to come up with an overall air package list for the next issue of Flight International, where we'll be analysing the effort so far.
Thank you, I understand the time pressure you are under and things are happening very fast in Libya. I must stress that I am ex-Danish and now a Canadian. Canada has 6 F-18 Hornet participating from Sicily. Do not know if they have been in action yet.
A question for you, what is "mini war" costing per day?
President Clinton many years ago pointed out that mass migration was one of the major challenges facing the G20 in the 21st Century, particularly for southern EU member states. There seems however to be reluctance by these states, other than the provision of facilities to get involved further.
Yesterday the United States announced its intention to hand over the operation to Britain and France.
A smart move,as there is no strategic interest served by continuing to participate (and indeed never has been) .
This morning Italy has announced that it may withdraw its offer of bases, and as you are aware the Arab League is now wavering
While I haven’t read the UN Resolution I understand that regime change is excluded from it.
After Sarajevo I understand the motivations behind this operation but there does not appear to be any coherent strategy, underpinning this operation, and it appears that this operation is going to leave the UK and France at least publicly ( and that’s what counts) isolated
Hence Suez 2
You're right to be apprehensive but the US isn't just waving goodbye on the way out. Our intention is to hand over Command and control of the operation but to continue as a member of the coalition. France and the UK will be the most visible participants providing most of the fighters that will be on sweeps over Libya but the US will still be providing fighter coverage, satellite recon, signal intelligence, tanker support, logistic support, drones and F-18 Growlers for jamming. And God forbid if anyone's plane goes down, I'm sure our CSAR units will be in the thick of any rescue operations.
I share your concern about the lack of a coherent stategy or even an idea of what the end game will be. However, if we stick to our stated goal of not sending in ground troops it will be a lot easier to leave when we decide to.
"God forbid if anyone's plane goes down" - just being reported on BBC that US African Command have confirmed a F-15E has been lost over Libya. One crew member has been recovered, the 2nd crew member currently being recovered.