[cpdiii]

From Sigonella Naval Air in Sicily it is 471.3 miles from the departure end of runway L 10. F16s or F18s could have been over our consulate in about slightly less than an hour using economy cruise speed. With afterburner it would be even quicker but you would then have a refueling problem.

The following is what “I think” the military air assets we have at Sigonella:
1. F16s less one hour to target
2. F18s less than one hour to target
3. AC-135 Gun Ships (Specter) About 1hr 20 minutes to target
4. Apache Helicopters. They could have been on target in a little over two hours. They would have to be refueled on board a Carrier in the Med if we had one available.

If we have a military man on this thread that knows for sure what assets we had available in Sigonella and aboard ships in the Med please join in and comment.

[cll]

I believe the maximum endurance for a AH-64 is about 2.5 hours, which yes, would have required refueling and they don’t have air-to-air refueling capability that I know of (I retired 7 years ago).

An armed MH-60, on the other hand, has air-to-air capability. IMHO, if SFOD-D was in the region, MH-60s wouldn’t be beyond their reach.

[alrea]

AC-135 Gun Ships (Specter) About 1hr 20 minutes to target

4 days for Obama and Clinton to get UN Aprovals.