Zephyr Net

Well it looks like that No-fly zone over Libya is being enforced at this very moment. A Mig-23 was shot down earlier over Benghazi (not sure by whom yet.)
French Rafales have carried out operations against Libyan tanks and Mirage 2000s are also confirmed to being active. Also heard a report of Italian Tornado's being involved.

First wave of allied assault: 112 cruise missiles

WASHINGTON – U.S. and British ships and submarines launched the first phase of a missile assault on Libyan air defenses Saturday and a senior American defense official said it was believed substantial damage was inflicted.

In the strikes, 112 Tomahawk cruise missiles were fired at more than 20 coastal targets to clear the way for air patrols to ground Libya's air force.

While U.S. defense officials cautioned that it was too early to fully gauge the impact of the onslaught, the official said that given the precision targeting of the Navy's cruise missiles, they felt that Libya's air defenses suffered a good deal of damage.

The official spoke on grounds of anonymity because the ongoing mission.

In announcing the mission during a visit to Brazil, President Barack Obama said he was reluctant to resort to force but was convinced it was necessary to save the lives of civilians. He reiterated that he would not send American ground troops to Libya.

"We cannot stand idly by when a tyrant tells his people there will be no mercy," he said in Brasilia.

While U.S. defense officials said it was too early to gauge the impact of the onslaught, one senior official said that given the precision targeting of the Navy's cruise missiles, they believe Libya's air defenses suffered a good deal of damage.

It was clear the U.S. intended to limit its role in the Libya intervention, focusing first on disabling or otherwise silencing Libyan air defenses, and then leaving it to European and perhaps Arab countries to enforce a no-fly zone over the North African nation.

Navy Vice Adm. William E. Gortney, director of the Pentagon's Joint Staff, told reporters the cruise missile assault was the "leading edge" of a coalition campaign dubbed Operation Odyssey Dawn. Its aim: prevent Moammar Gadhafi's forces from inflicting more violence on civilians -- particularly in and around the rebel stronghold of Benghazi -- and degrading the Libyan military's ability to contest a no-fly zone.

""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. "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."

A chief target of Saturday's cruise missile attack was Libya's SA-5 surface-to-air missiles, which are considered a moderate threat to some allied aircraft. Libya's overall air defenses are based on older Soviet technology but Gortney called them capable and a potential threat to allied aircraft.

Also targeted: early warning radars and unspecified communications facilities, Gortney said. The U.S. military has extensive recent experience in such combat missions; U.S. Air Force and Navy aircraft repeatedly attacked Iraq's air defenses during the 1990s while enforcing a no-fly zone over Iraq's Kurdish north.

Cruise missiles are the weapon of first choice in such campaigns; they do not put pilots at risk, and they use navigational technologies that provide good precision.

The first Tomahawk cruise missiles struck at 3 p.m. EDT, Gortney said, after a one-hour flight from the U.S. and British vessels on station in the Mediterranean.

They were fired from five U.S. ships — the guided-missile destroyers USS Stout and USS Barry, and three submarines, USS Providence, USS Scranton and USS Florida.

The U.S. has at least 11 naval vessels in the Mediterranean, including three submarines, two destroyers, two amphibious warfare ships and the USS Mount Whitney, a command-and-control vessel that is the flagship of the Navy's 6th Fleet. Also in the area are Navy P-3 and EP-3 surveillance aircraft, officials said.

Gortney initially had said that it could take as long as 12 hours to assess the effectiveness of Saturday's strikes. Then a high-altitude Global Hawk unmanned surveillance plane would overfly the target areas to get a more precise view, the admiral said. He would not say how long the attacks on Libyan air defenses would last, but he stressed that Saturday's assault with cruise missiles was the first phase of a multi-stage mission.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who was scheduled to fly to Russia on Saturday afternoon to begin a week-long overseas trip, postponed his departure for 24 hours. Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said Gates decided he should remain in Washington to monitor developments in Libya at the outset of U.S. strikes.

Gates had been skeptical of getting involved in Libya's civil war, telling Congress earlier this month that taking out Libya's air defenses was tantamount to war. Others have worried that the mission could put the U.S. on a slippery slope to deeper involvement in yet another Muslim country — on top of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Hours after Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton attended an international conference in Paris that endorsed military action against Gadhafi, the U.S. and Britain kicked off their attacks.

At a news conference in Paris, Clinton said Gadhafi had left the world no choice but to intervene urgently and forcefully to protect further loss of civilian life.

"We have every reason to fear that, left unchecked, Gadhafi would commit unspeakable atrocities," she told reporters.

Clinton said there was no evidence that Gadhafi's forces were respecting an alleged cease-fire they proclaimed and the time for action was now.

"Our assessment is that the aggressive action by Gadhafi's forces continues in many parts of the country," she said. "We have seen no real effort on the part of the Gadhafi forces to abide by a cease-fire."

In addition to the three submarines and two destroyers, the U.S. Navy ships in the Mediterranean include two amphibious warships, the USS Kearsarge and USS Ponce, and a command-and-control ship, the USS Mount Whitney.

Fighter jet shot down over Benghazi
13 hours ago - Reuters 1:26 | 96299 views
A fighter jet falls from the sky in a ball of flames after appearing to be shot down over Benghazi city, while amateur footage of violence in Misrata alleges government ceasefire a sham.

http://news.yahoo.com/video/world-15749633/24580987

'Significant Success' in the Early Stages of Enforcing U.N.-Sanctioned No-Fly Zone

The U.S. and allied forces claimed significant success in the early stages of enforcing a U.N.-sanctioned no-fly zone in Libya, said a military official at the Pentagon.

At the time of the press conference, the U.S. fired 124 Tomahawk missiles onto strategic air defense systems across Libya. There were no reports of any allied planes being lost and no reports of civilian injury, said Vice Adm. Bill Gortney, the director of the Joint Staff.

The array of Tomahawk cruise missiles lit the night sky and were fired from a British submarine and a number of American destroyers and subs.

“I’m not ruling out further such missile strikes against valid targets if and when the need arises,” he said.

The White House also sounded optimistic about the action, which it called "a very good first day."

A total of 15 U.S. Air Force and Marine Corps aircraft engaged Libya, including three B2 bombers. The bombers targeted pro-Qaddafi ground forces, he said.

The U.S.-led mission had a support cast of British and French fighters. Other countries will likely join the fray once the no-fly zone becomes more established. At that point, the U.S. will also likely give way to France or Britain to take the lead.

Planes also blasted a line of tanks that had been moving on the rebel capital Benghazi, in the opposition-held eastern half of the country, reported the Associated Press. On Sunday, at least seven demolished tanks smoldered in a field 12 miles south of Benghazi, many of them with their turrets and treads blown off, alongside charred armored personnel carriers, jeeps and SUVs of the kind used by Gadhafi fighters.

"I feel like in two days max we will destroy Gadhafi," said Ezzeldin Helwani, 35, a rebel standing next to the smoldering wreckage of an armored personnel carrier, the air thick with smoke and the pungent smell of burning rubber. In a grisly sort of battle trophy, celebrating fighters hung a severed goat's head with a cigarette in its mouth from the turret of one of the gutted tanks.

Gortney made clear the intention of these strikes were to protect the Libyan people from their embattled leader Muammar al-Qaddafi.

“We are not going after Qaddafi,” said Gortney.

Gortney said the no-fly zone will likely encompass the stretch of land from Benghazi to Tripoli, the top third of the country. Rebels occupy Benghazi while Qaddafi forces remain in Tripoli.

Pentagon officials Sunday were poring over satellite images to ascertain the damage of Saturday's military strikes.

Anti-aircraft fire erupted in the Libyan capital on Sunday night, with volleys of tracer fire arching into the air, marking the start of a second night of allied strikes on the country. The U.S. and its allies continued to fight against targets of Libyan leader Muammar al-Qaddafi, who on Libyan state radio said the raids were "acts of terrorism".

Qaddafi added that all of the country's people were now carrying weapons to defend the nation.

"We promise you a long war," he said in the address.

Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said U.S. and allied forces have effectively established a no-fly zone over Libya in an interview on "Fox News Sunday."

"We've had a pretty significant impact in this first 24 hours ... I would say the no-fly zone we were tasked to put in place is now in place," Mullen said.

His Highness El-Sayyid Idris Abdullah Al-Senussi, nephew of His Majesty King Idris of Libya and the son of His Highness El-Sayyid Abdallah Abed Al-Senussi, made a statement exclusively obtained by Fox supporting military action against Qaddafi.

"I strongly support the military actions taken by coalition forces against Muammar al-Qaddafi," Al Senussi said. "I wish to commend the French forces along with the other coalition nations participating in Operation Odyssey Dawn. I also wish to commend the Arab League for their historic resolution condemning Muammar al-Qaddafi and calling for a no-fly zone in Libya that lead to the U.N. adopting resolution 1973."

Large explosions were heard in Tripoli, possibly a cruise missile targeting a command and control center, Fox News' Steve Harrigan reported. Anti-aircraft tracer fire from pro-Qaddafi forces was seen in the night sky after an explosion was heard 2 miles from the compound housing the Libyan strongman.