Thread: Military Assets In Play In Operation "Odyssey Dawn

Summary Of The Military Assets In Play In Operation "Odyssey Dawn"

by Tyler Durden
03/19/2011 17:24 -0400

88 comments

Allied warplanes in a coalition led by France and backed by Arab nations have gone into action to stop Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's forces attacking the rebel-held city of Benghazi .

U.S. and British ships and submarines fired more than 110 Tomahawk cruise missiles at Libyan targets to take out their air defences, although no U.S. aircraft were flying over Libya.

Following are assets that are being used, or could be used, in action against Muammar Gaddafi's troops and those belonging to his military:

FRANCE

France has some 20 fighter jets deployed in an initial operation in Libya, including Rafale multirole war planes, Mirage fighter jets and at least one AWACS surveillance aircraft. The target area involved is a area 62 by 93 miles (100 km by 150 km) around the rebel-controlled city of Benghazi.

The French operation is being run out of the Solenzara air base in the Mediterranean island of Corsica, around an hour's flight from Libya in a fighter jet.

France's Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier is on the French Mediterranean coast and will head to Libya around midday on Sunday. It could reach the Libyan coast by late Monday carrying 15 fighter jets. Its battle group includes three frigates, a fuel-supply ship and an attack submarine.

France also has air forces bases near the Mediterranean towns of Marseille and Istres, about an hour and a half from Libya. Airborne refuelling tanker aircraft were ready on Friday to deploy from Istres.

France rejoined NATO's military command in 2009, reversing four decades of self-imposed exile

BRITAIN

Britain deployed its air forces later on Saturday, likely to be Typhoon patrol jets and all-weather Tornado attack aircraft normally based at Royal Air Force bases in Scotland and the eastern county of Norfolk, as well as air-to-air refuelling and surveillance aircraft.

Britain has two frigates off the Libyan coast: HMS Cumberland and HMS Westminster. The Ministry of Defence said it was not clear if they would be used in any operation and added that destroyers could also be deployed.

UNITED STATES

The United States started a "limited military action" in Libya several hours after France that included launching strikes along the Libyan coast that would target Libyan air defences.

The U.S. military deployed planes, cruise missiles and electronic attacks, the Pentagon said.

A defence official said the U.S. Navy has three submarines outfitted with Tomahawk missiles in the Mediterranean ready to participate, including attack submarines Newport News and the Providence. They were were joined by two Navy ships.

Tomahawk missiles can cripple aircraft of anti-aircraft defences in a no-fly operation.

In all, the U.S. Navy has five combat ships in the Mediterranean, including at least one guided missile destroyer, but there are no U.S. aircraft carriers close to Libya.

The USS Enterprise, which was recently stationed in the Red Sea, has been moved eastwards, away from Libya, to join the USS Carl Vinson,in the Arabian Sea to support Afghanistan operations.

Aviano, south of the Alps in Italy, is the region's only U.S. air base with aircraft assigned to it -- 42 F-16s. The Pentagon has not discussed the positioning of other planes in the region. The United States has a range of Mediterranean military bases and installations in Italy, Greece, Spain and Turkey.

CANADA

Canada's HMCS Charlottetown warship has joined naval actions, including a naval blockade, taking place off Libya, Prime Minister Stephen Harper told reporters.

Canadian fighter jets have reached the region but need another day or two of preparation before they can join the mission, a Canadian government spokesman said.

ITALY

Italy has deployed dozens of combat aircraft at its base at Trapani, in western Sicily in readiness for possible involvement in airstrikes on Libya.

Tornado fighters that can be used to destroying enemy air defences and radar as well as F-16s and Eurofighters used for air-to-air defence have been moved to Trapani from bases in Piacenza in northern Italy, Gioia del Colle in Apulia.

Italy has also offered the use of a NATO base near the city of Naples for joint command centre for the joint operation, and could participate later on in military activities, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said.

Defence Minister Ignazio La Russa said in all seven bases in Italy -- at Amendola, Gioia del Colle, Sigonella, Aviano, Trapani, Decimomannu and Pantelleria -- were available and some allies had already asked to use them.

Five of them are on the southern mainland or Sicily, making them some of the closest available bases to Libya.

Source: Reuters

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/summar ... yssey-dawn

US Unleashes "Operation Odyssey Dawn", Launches First Missile Attack Against Libyan Air Defenses

by Tyler Durden
03/19/2011 15:42 -0400
225 comments
Video at the link:

Update: The Libya invasion has just been named Operation Oddysey Dawn, supposedly by the same guy who names hedge funds.

According to NBC, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/?ocid=twitter the US has just launched its first attack in the Libyan Offensive whose name is still up for grabs (Operation Wealth Effect? Operation Nobel War Price? - you decide), by firing missiles at Libyan air defenses, which we assume means radar installations. We expect night vision videos of missiles hitting their targets ala Operation Desert Storm to soon push March Madness out from most watched prime time TV post. ABC News is covering this live for those who can't wait to see stuff blowing up in shades of green.

From CNN: http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/03/19/li ... -butt-out/

A U.S. defense official said the United States is poised to launch cruise missiles from warships in the Mediterranean Sea, and that these strikes would target Moammar Gadhafi's air defenses. The United States is prepared to "defend its allies flying over Libyan airspace and enforce the no-fly zone," the official said.

Obama talking again:

Video at the link: http://www.zerohedge.com/article/us-get ... r-defences

Update from AP: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/L/ ... 9-16-30-08

President Barack Obama authorized limited military action against Libya Saturday, saying Moammar Gadhafi's continued assault on his own people left the U.S. and its international partners with no other choice. The Pentagon said 112 cruise missiles were launched from US and UK ships and subs, hitting 20 targets.

Obama said military action was not his first choice.

"This is not an outcome the U.S. or any of our partners sought," Obama said from Brazil, where he is starting a five-day visit to Latin America. "We cannot stand idly by when a tyrant tells his people there will be no mercy."

A senior military official said the U.S. launched air defenses Saturday with strikes along the Libyan coast that were launched by Navy vessels in the Mediterranean. The official said the assault would unfold in stages and target air defense installations around Tripoli, the capital, and a coastal area south of Benghazi, the rebel stronghold.

Obama declared once again that the United States would not send ground forces to Libya, though he said he is "deeply aware" of the risks of taking any military action.

Earlier in the day, Obama warned that the international community was prepared to act with urgency.

"Our consensus was strong, and our resolve is clear. The people of Libya must be protected, and in the absence of an immediate end to the violence against civilians our coalition is prepared to act, and to act with urgency," Obama said.

Top officials from the U.S., Europe and the Arab world meeting in Paris, where they announced Saturday immediate military action to protect civilians caught in combat between Gadhafi's forces and rebel fighters. American ships and aircraft were poised for action but weren't participating in the initial French air missions.

As the military action was announced, French fighter jets swooped over Benghazi, the opposition stronghold that was stormed by Libyan government forces earlier Saturday, in defiance of a proclaimed ceasefire.

France, Britain and the United States had warned Gadhafi Friday that they would resort to military means if he ignored the U.N. resolution demanding a cease-fire.

The United States has a host of forces and ships in the area, including submarines, destroyers, amphibious assault and landing ships.

The U.S. intended to limit its involvement - at least in the initial stages - to helping protect French and other air missions by taking out Libyan air defenses, but depending on the response could launch additional attacks in support of allied forces, a U.S. official said. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of military operations.

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/us-get ... r-defences

Video Of Jet Shot Down Over Benghazi, Unclear Whose As Gaddafi Claims He Is Holding To Ceasefire Terms

by Tyler Durden
03/19/2011 14:50 -0400
121 comments

A dramatic video of a Libyan jet being shut down over Libya has been captured and is making the rounds in the YouTube-sphere. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 46567.html As the Independent observes, "A warplane was today shot down outside the opposition stronghold of Benghazi, as international leaders including David Cameron gathered in Paris to make final preparations to impose a no-fly zone over Libya. The jet was observed over the city for some time before reportedly going down in flames, amid the sound of artillery and gunfire. " Yet what is surprisingly and potentially surreal is the stiff insistence by the Libyan government that they continue to preserve the terms of the ceasefire announced yesterday: "Libyan authorities insisted that their forces were holding to a ceasefire announced yesterday and repeated an invitation for international observers to enter the country today to monitor it. Deputy foreign minister Khaled Kaim told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "The ceasefire is real, credible and solid. We are willing to receive observers as soon as possible, even today." Rebel sources claim that military assaults by forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi on cities including Benghazi, Misrata and Ajdabiya continued even after the ceasefire announcement." Which begs the question: is Gaddafi really an idiot, or are these merely false flag provocations by the rebel alliance (with or without the assistance of France) to encourage an escalation? The answer should be promptly revealed once it is determined just who was flying the downed jet. We are confident the media will first investigate such an answer before jumping to conclusions.

And false flag or not, the French waste no time to confirm that by No Fly Zone, the UN also means a land-based intervention as well. http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article ... um=twitter

French war planes destroyed four Libyan tanks in air strikes to the south west of the Libyan city of Benghazi on Saturday, Al Jazeera television reported, quoting sources.

Earlier, the first shot in a UN-mandated intervention in Libya was fired by a French aircraft and destroyed a military vehicle at around 1645 GMT, French defense ministry and army officials said.

"A first target was engaged and destroyed," ministry spokesman Laurent Teisseire told reporters.

An armed forces spokesman told the same briefing that the operation to halt Muammar Gaddafi's advance on rebel forces involved around 20 planes and an area 100 km by 150 km (60 by 100 miles) around the eastern rebel stronghold of Benghazi.

France's Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier will leave France for Libya on Sunday, the spokesman added. A central command center for the operation was still being set up.

Earlier Saturday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced that Western air forces, with Arab League approval, had gone into action over Libya and were preventing Gaddafi's forces from attacking Benghazi.

We are confident that Sarkozy at el will also waste no time in also ensuring complete air and land dominance over the Ivory Coast next, where the regime of deranged dictator Gbagbo continues to kill citizens http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/ ... 8120110318 left and right in what some claim is a manifestation of a far more violent civil war than Libya.

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/video- ... fire-terms