RAF Tornados flew out from RAF Marham, in Norfolk, to carry out their bombing mission.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
UK hails Libya action 'success'
The UK Ministry of Defence has said it is "entirely comfortable" with the outcome of the airstrikes on Libya.
RAF Tornados flew from Norfolk to carry out a bombing mission which concentrated on targets around Tripoli.
France, the US, Canada and Italy have also joined the UN-backed operation to protect civilians from attacks by Col Gaddafi's forces.
The planes hit an "integrated air defence system", but it was too early to judge the effects, said the MoD.
The Chief of Defence Staff's strategic communications officer Maj Gen John Lorimer said the targets had been carefully selected and they were "entirely comfortable" with what had been achieved.
He explained that the UK forces were under the command of the US, as were all the other participants.
He would not confirm if the Libyan air force had been destroyed but said: "It's fair to say that there is a threat, we always have to be aware that there may remain a threat."
Earlier, Defence Secretary Liam Fox said the Tornados' flights out of RAF Marham had been "the longest range bombing mission conducted by the RAF since the Falklands conflict".
The operation was supported by VC10 and Tristar air-to-air refuelling aircraft as well as E3D Sentry and Sentinel surveillance aircraft, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said.
HMS Westminster is off the coast of Libya and HMS Cumberland is in the region ready to support operations.
Dr Fox said: "This action has provided a strong signal - the international community will not stand by while the Libyan people suffer under the Gaddafi regime."
Libyan state TV reported that what it called the "crusader enemy" had bombed civilian areas of Tripoli, as well as fuel storage tanks supplying the western city of Misrata.
Analysis
Col Gaddafi and his forces should already be feeling the initial effects of the coalition's military action.
French jets began the bombing, targeting his forces' tanks and jeeps. The first British strikes were not from the air but from the sea, firing Tomahawk missiles - in co-ordination with the US - aimed at Libya's air defences.
Those strikes should remove at least some of the potential threat to British fighter jets now ready for action. RAF Tornados are a key part of this international coalition, and will be used to strike targets on the ground such as tanks threatening civilians or Col Gaddafi's command and control capability.
The international coalition is pulling together a huge range of military assets from many different nations - with jets arriving by the hour at the bases they'll fly from.
All this has to be commanded with extreme care. Commanders are all too aware of the many risks, not least of civilian casualties and hurting the very people the mission is supposed to help.
The coalition's hope is that by striking hard and fast now, forces still loyal to Col Gaddafi will think again - along with, perhaps, the colonel himself.
Calculated gamble of Libya assaultA Libyan government spokesman described the coalition attacks as "aggression without excuse" and claimed Col Gaddafi had accepted the UN resolution and declared a ceasefire.
He claimed many civilians had been hurt and said ambulance crews had been "doing their best to save as many lives as possible".
After hosting a meeting of the government's emergency management committee Cobra in Downing Street, Mr Cameron said: "British forces are in action over Libya. They are part of an international coalition to enforce the will of the United Nations.
"We have all seen the appalling brutality meted out by Col Gaddafi against his own people."
It was a "just cause" and in "Britain's best interests", he added.
Labour shadow defence secretary Jim Murphy said: "We are trying to achieve something relatively precise, which is to stop Gaddafi, his military, his heavy artillery, his tanks, his aeroplanes, from being able to make attacks upon civilian centres.
"And I think that can be done in the way in which the UN's outlined. It won't happen immediately, but I think it can be done."
Tomahawk missileLong-range weapon designed to hit strategic targets with the minimum of collateral damageAble to deliver 1,000lb (450kg) warhead to a range of about 1,000 miles (1,600km)Can fly at low or high altitude
Source: Ministry of Defence
Guide to aircraft involvedThe former British ambassador to Libya, Oliver Miles, told the BBC it was clear the long-term aim of the military action was to overthrow Col Gaddafi.
Conservative MP Col Bob Stewart, who was a UN commander in Bosnia, predicted that Col Gaddafi's forces would desert their leader.
"Col Gaddafi is one man, and he has to rely on an organisation - he can't do everything. And that organisation will rapidly shrink away from him once those people around him realise the game is up. And that's what it is - the game should be up.
"And Gaddafi was given enough warning about this, and he ignored it."
A British journalist was being held by Libyan authorities in the capital Tripoli, Arab television station Al Jazeera revealed on Saturday night.
A British Trafalgar class submarine of the type in action in Libya, pictured recently Cameraman Kamel Atalua was detained with a fellow cameraman and two correspondents, after the team had been reporting from Libya for several days.
The military action follows the passing of a UN resolution imposing a ban on all flights in Libyan airspace, excluding aid flights, and authorises member states to "take all necessary measures" to "protect civilians and civilian populated areas under threat of attack".
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RAF Tornados flew out from RAF Marham, in Norfolk, to carry out their bombing mission.
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Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/uk-12799493
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