With a conflict under way in Libya that may last for months, two tactical trends are emerging. The action is being conducted primarily by U.S., French and British forces with specialties in ground interdiction, strategic strike, information warfare and electronic attack.
As the core partners in the campaign shift their focus to the second wave of attacks, the unusual coalition of actors continues to evolve. After Qatar and the United Arab Emirates signed on, the Swedish government last week also gave the go-ahead for the first operational deployment of Saab JAS 39 Gripen fighters. The non-U.S. coalition elements also are starting to shoulder the operations burden; last week they carried out the majority of strike operations.
One trend is kinetic—the airborne strangulation of government reinforcements, supply lines and communications links. “If they are at the forward end of the fight [nearest the rebels and farthest from Tripoli] and you cut off their ability to sustain that fight, you’ve significantly impacted not only their ability but the will to fight,” says Vice Adm. William Gortney, director of the Pentagon’s Joint Staff.
The other trend is non-kinetic—undermining the enthusiasm of Tripoli’s leadership for the fight. Inducements include the equivalent of a “get-out-of-jail-free card” for defection. The goal is to create confusion between leadership and the field forces.
“You can do it kinetically [with bombs] and you can do it with electronic measures, and we’re using every tool in our toolbox,” Gortney says. “Whether it’s confusion, whether it’s their supply lines being over-extended, we saw a pretty significant shift” of the government front lines westward toward Sirte, regime leader Col. Moammar Gadhafi’s hometown.
Rather than plunging into house-to-house fighting, Libyan rebels are fixing the government forces in place with skirmishes on the peripheries of towns. Meanwhile, coalition aircraft attack the traffic coming into those towns carrying supplies, food, weaponry and reinforcements. The rebels save their combat strength by not attacking built-up urban centers.
“Identifying friend from foe anywhere is always a difficult challenge,” Gortney says. “Inside an urban environment it is magnified significantly.”
A move that might aid targeting near or in urban areas is introduction of high-accuracy A-10Cs and AC-130U gunships. “Both . . . expend precision munitions,” Gortney says.
The U.K. has been relying heavily on Tornado GR4s with dual-mode Brimstone missiles to interdict ground targets. Misratah, one center of fighting, has sustained fire on artillery and armored fighting vehicles. Coalition forces A-10s attacked Libyan coast guard ships that were firing on commercial shipping. The U.S. Air Force supplied B-1B bombers from Ellsworth AFB, S.D.
The effects of the campaign are somewhat mixed; signs indicate that elements of support for the regime are weakening, but weaknesses are also emerging in the rebel force.
“We have a lot of evidence that people around Gadhafi,” are reaching out, says U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. “We have a lot of diplomats and military leaders in Libya who are flipping, changing sides, defecting because they see the handwriting on the wall. We have an ongoing political effort that is really just picking up steam to see if we can persuade [them].” A mass shifting of allegiance so far has eluded the alliance, although foreign minister Moussa Koussa last week fled to London.
Also, the rebels, bolstered by air strikes, made early inroads last week. After government forces outside Benghazi had their armor and self-propelled artillery destroyed by coalition airpower, the surviving forces withdrew to defensive positions in towns to the west nearer the capital of Tripoli. French military officials report carrying out several air strikes near the capital.
“The situation on the ground is complex and fluid,” says Italian Adm. Giampaolo Di Paola, chairman of the NATO Military Committee. NATO, on March 31, took full control of the operation for an initial mandate of 90 days.
One of the issues that needs to be addressed is the lack of organization that has made the rebel forces vulnerable to coordinated counterattacks by Gadhafi backers. The rebels advanced, but were again stalled near Sirte by mid-week.
That situation has spurred debate over whether to supply arms to rebel forces. British officials indicate that U.N. Resolution 1973 could permit such action, although that view is not uniformly accepted.
The Pentagon notes that the rebel force is not robust, so any territorial gain is tenuous. And while there is no military-to-military contact between coalition and rebel forces, “clearly they’re achieving a benefit from the actions we’re taking,” Gortney says.
The coalition force also is recognizing that Libyan government forces have started to learn from the air attacks. Rather than massing forces, they are using lighter, more dispersed mobile groups instead of deploying road-bound forces of heavy armor. Also, there are indications that the government forces may be drawing on foreign troops—from Chad, for instance—to aid its campaign.
Coalition members are considering working more closely with rebels to better integrate air operations with ground attacks. This could involve putting U.S. and U.K. personnel on the ground to aid targeting. In effect, the approach would mirror coordination seen during the Kosovo air war against Yugoslavia when NATO forces worked hand-in-glove with the Kosovar rebels. Di Paolo would only say that any troops on the ground are technically not NATO forces.
Despite the shift in the types of attack, additional cruise missile strikes (U.S. Tomahawks and U.K. Storm Shadows) struck a range of targets, including Scud tactical battlefield ballistic missile garrisons in Tripoli. Scuds could carry biological and chemical weapons, but are more likely to have a conventional high-explosive warhead.
Meanwhile, suppression of enemy air defense missions continues with attacks on integrated systems. Many of the mobile SA-6, SA-8 and SA-24 surface-to-air missiles are still unaccounted for. French forces have undertaken direct-attack strikes on air-defense sites.
“They still have tactical, mobile, surface-to-air missiles, which still are a threat,” Gortney confirms. Early last week, coalition pilots reported the possible launch of an SA-2 or SA-3 medium-range air-defense missile, the first reported in the conflict. “That’s the only one I know of [but there is a] significant number, in the thousands, of [man-portable, air-defense missiles]. Those are threats and they’re looking for them. You have to assume they’re coming out [to the battlefield]. We did take out an SA-6 mobile surface-to-air missile site in Tripoli.”
There is a suggestion that more surveillance aircraft are on the way to Libyan skies. “I think as we bring in more surveillance aircraft, and we get a better picture of the ground order of battle, our ability to go after Gadaffi’s forces in the field will improve,” Gortney says.
The segue between kinetic and non-kinetic power is provided by unique aircraft operated by the U.S. and Britain. They include five, land-based, U.S. Navy EA-18G Growler electronic-attack aircraft that also are armed with high-speed anti-radiation missiles, Air Force RC-135 Rivet Joint signals intelligence and EC-130 Compass Call standoff electronic-attack aircraft.
The Navy also provides “variants of those P-3 [patrol aircraft, meaning EP-3E Aries] that give us better [awareness of Libyan government] electronic emissions . . . that allow us to get a better understanding of the electronic order of battle,” Gortney says. Air Force “Compass Call and Commando Solo [aircraft] are helping us provide the messaging techniques that are out there [by providing] the message both in Arabic [and] English.”
Even with NATO now in charge, and the U.S. seeking a lower level of activity, Di Paolo notes that the Pentagon will continue to provide some unique capabilities.
As operations have evolved, NATO also is working with non-alliance members who are integrated into the fighting. Qatari air force Mirage 2000-5s are now flying regular air patrols over Libya. The UAE’s six F-16 Block 60s (based in Sardinia) and six Mirage 2000-9s—both types marking their combat debut—also are now in the region.
The Swedish deployment would involve up to eight Gripens. The aircraft could be sent within three days if the country’s parliament gives the OK. Crete or Sicily will likely serve as the base.
Italy also has used the campaign to mark the combat debut for its KC-130Js, serving as tankers and augmenting the air force’s Tornado IDS combat aircraft used as buddy-buddy tactical tankers, expanding combat air-patrol time. Service officials indicate they would like to operate with the new KC-767s, but it has not been cleared for operational duty, yet.
miamiair wrote:five, land-based, U.S. Navy EA-18G Growler electronic-attack aircraft that also are armed with high-speed anti-radiation missiles
