U.K. Prepares Cruise Missile Replenishment
LONDON — Even as the U.K. looks to be entering a new phase of Libyan operations with a heavier emphasis on direct attack rather than standoff weapons, the country is preparing for the possibility of having to quickly replenish some of its cruise missile inventory.
The U.S. and U.K. have combined to fire more than 120 Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles since the start of operations on March 19. The U.K.’s launches have come from a Trafalgar-class submarine.
Although the U.K. remains “fully prepared” to continue long-range strikes, Royal Navy Capt. Karl Evans, the head of operations on the naval staff, says the service is “investigating options for resupply should that become necessary.”
The move comes as the U.K. also is working to forward-base its aircraft, with Eurofighter Typhoons already having arrived at Gioia del Colle in southern Italy to operate as part of 906 Expeditionary Air Wing. The Typhoons will be used for air-to-air missions. The Royal Air Force (RAF) also is preparing to deploy Tornado GR4s there. They have so far been used from RAF Marham to fire Storm Shadow cruise missiles, although one of the latest raids was called off at the last minute because civilians were in the target area.
Air Vice Marshal Phil Osbor of the Air Officer Commanding 2 Group says the focus will now shift to employing other weapons, such as the Paveway IV laser/GPS-guided bomb, dual-mode Brimstone and guns, although Storm Shadows will remain available for potential employment.
The fighter force is backed up by intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets based at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus. They include the Sentinel R1 ground surveillance aircraft, E-3D Awacs for air and sea control and Nimrod R1 signals intelligence aircraft.
The British moves come as other European countries announce their contribution to the effort to enforce United Nations Resolution 1973. They include Denmark’s participation with four F-16s (plus two spares), six Norwegian F-16s and four Spanish EF-18s. Canada’s CF-18 contribution has now also arrived in Europe.
Military officials say they are still working on initial bomb damage assessment. The RAF will be using Tornado GR4s with their Raptor reconnaissance pod for that role. Moreover, U.S. officials says Global Hawks based at Sigonella air base in Sicily will be used for the role once air defenses are deemed sufficiently degraded.
U.S. Navy Vice Adm. Bill Gortney says that after the early attacks, “we have detected no radar emission from any of the air defense sites targeted and there has been a significant decrease in the use of all Libyan air surveillance radars.”
Nevertheless, the Navy has been operating EA-18G Growlers to provide jamming support, also in case mobile surface-to-air missile systems such as SA-6s and SA-8s come online.
Photo credit: U.S. Navy
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