Posted on 03/20/2011 10:52:43 PM PDT by smokingfrog
Coalition nations involved in the first phase of UN-sanctioned operations against the regime of Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi have provided details of their offensive activities mounted during the opening hours of hostilities.
Spearheading the campaign under the banner Operation “Odyssey Dawn” were assets from the US Air Force and US Navy. The former deployed Northrop Grumman B-2 stealth bombers, Boeing F-15Es and Lockheed Martin F-16CJs to participate in air strikes staged in the early hours of 20 March local time
“Three B-2 Spirit aircraft from Whiteman AFB, Missouri, led strikes on a variety of strategic targets over Libya,” the air force says, with their non-stop mission having lasted more than 25h. “US fighter aircraft created airspace where no enemy forces could advance on Libyan opposition troops.”
The navy flew missions with land-based Boeing EA-18G Growler electronic attack aircraft, while US Marine Corps Boeing AV-8B Harrier IIs mounted strikes against Libya’s air defence infrastructure and ground forces loyal to Gaddafi. Navy submarines and surface ships also launched more than 100 Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles against high value targets.
Activities mounted by the UK also included the deployment of submarine-launched Tomahawks, plus the longest-range bombing mission mounted by the Royal Air Force since the Falklands War of 1982.
The Ministry of Defence says several Panavia Tornado GR4 strike aircraft returned to their Marham base in Norfolk on 20 March after completing a 2,600nm (4,830km) mission to strike air defence targets using MBDA Storm Shadow cruise missiles.
“Key elements of the Libyan integrated air defence system were targeted as a necessary step in shaping for the establishment of the no-fly zone, as part of the coordinated coalition plan to enforce the UN security council resolution [1973] and protect Libyan civilians,” the MoD says.
(Excerpt) Read more at flightglobal.com ...
Shak’em and bake’em.
Awesome.
I can’t wait for the part where, after 0baCoalition forces have pinned Gaddafi’s forces down, the rebels go in and, in true Bedouin fashion, shred everything that even looks like it sides with Gaddafi. It should be one of the wildest blood baths since the Middle Ages.
We need to stop this madness now.
We have no idea who or what we will end up with.
With no alliances or even the slightest hint of a central group who we approve of, as being better than Mo, this can’t end well.
If we don’t know our outcome why are we doing this?
We are going end up with a regime more brutal than the one we are displacing. That’s “Displacing”, very different from replacing.
Mo and Mubarak might be bad but, there are a lot of bad despots in the world. How id it we are now so holy or high an mighty for the Libyans?
WTF should we care? We aren’t helping the people of Darfur, Tunisia or Bahrain.
We didn’t help or support the Iranians. Hell we even let it slide when the Saudi military rode across Bahrain to quell any uprising.
This is crazy and in a few years we will be in some military agitation again.
Yep....agree.
We be in bizarre waters now, Toto! No Kansas anywhere in sight.
France my *ss conducted airstrikes. It was our assets once again and our tresure being wasted to shore up a failing Moslem Islamic Sharia Law nation. Democracy my 8ss! There will be no Frenchmen fighting, nor Democracy established by the Moslem Brotherhood. We will also never be welcome in Libya regardless how much we spend to defend this little cowardly losers.
Two good things can come of this. Gadaffy Duck is dead.....an Erkle Mugabe impeached.
But then I woke up...
LOL :^)
So long as he followed France into battle after getting the UN’s approval, then all is good
I’m also glad to see he took the taking of human life seriously... By going on vacation after ordering the strikes.
The people killed are nothing to him... No matter which side loses people.
Now you understand why his half brother still lives on $20/year and Barry is a millionaire (billionaire yet? All that graft has to pay off sometime)
Yeah I know what I’d like to see yet never know what the future holds these days.....:o)
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