U.S. warships launch airstrikes on Libya

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U.S. and British warships launch more than 110 Tomahawk missiles at defense facilities on the Libyan coast, a naval commander at the Pentagon says. The strikes are intended to help an international coalition establish a no-fly zone in Libya.

March 19, 2011

By Brian Bennett, Tribune Washington Bureau

Los Angeles Times

Reporting from Washington— U.S. warships launched airstrikes at targets along Libya's coast on Saturday in an opening attack to degrade Moammar Kadafi's air defense systems and allow international allies to establish a no-fly zone aimed at protecting civilians.

The U.S. and Britain launched more than 110 Tomahawk missiles at more than 20 targets. The strikes targeted specifically surface-to-air missile sites and radar detectors that are part of the Libyan military's air defense infrastructure, said Vice Admiral William E. Gortney, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command.

The U.S. had identified sites along the coast of Libya, including around the capital of Tripoli and the city of Misratah, the Pentagon confirmed.

While President Obama has emphasized that American forces would play a subordinate role in enforcing the no-fly zone over Libya, the Pentagon said the U.S. had to lead the operation in its early days because it has the greatest capability to destroy Kadafi's air defenses, a key prerequisite to taking control of Libya's airspace.

Once that portion of the mission is accomplished, international partners led by France, the United Kingdom and Arab partners will enforce the no-fly zone, U.S. officials said.

The U.S. is on the "leading edge" of the coalition military action that is designed to prevent further attacks against Libyan citizens, especially around the city of Benghazi, the main stronghold of rebels seeking to overthrow Kadafi's regime. The U.S. strikes are intended to defeat the Libyan government's ability to resist the implementation of a no-fly zone, said a senior U.S. military official.

The U.S. moved ahead Saturday with a three-pronged approach in what has been code named Operation Odyssey Dawn: launch targeted cruise missiles against Libyan air defenses, jam communications of Kadafi's forces and establish the central command and control for the operations.

U.S. military assets are being joined by ships and aircraft from the U.K., France, Italy and Canada, as well as Arab partners. The Pentagon said those partners would announce their level of participation separately.

The U.S. effort is being run by General Carter Ham, commander of U.S. Africa Command based in Stuttgart, Germany. Admiral Samuel Locklear, chief of U.S. Navy forces in Europe and Africa, has on-the-scene command and control from aboard the Mount Whitney in the Mediterranean Sea.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Michael Mullen was in the Pentagon on Saturday in preparation for the start of operations in Libya.

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates postponed a planned trip to Russia in order to stay in Washington and monitor developments in Libya.

A U.S. defense official declined to give an assessment of Libyan air defenses, but Air Force Gen. Norton Schwartz told the Senate Armed Services Committee in a hearing on Thursday that establishing a no-fly zone over Libya would take "upwards of a week."

The Libyan air force has "multiple tens" of combat aircraft that are capable of flying, said Schwartz, and in recent weeks have been completing roughly 10 sorties per day, he said.