Libya - UN no-fly zone - Operations

[SquAdmin]

Aviano perhaps? they have been there before afterall.

Maybe they have been there during exercises, but the KLu has used Villafranca and Amendola for operations over former-Yugoslavia.

[Thermal]

Yeah you're right. Confused Villafranca with Aviano. I'm getting old

[Stratofreighter]

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/20 ... libya.html

DATE:23/03/11
SOURCE:Flightglobal.com

Danish F-16s drop their first bombs on Libya
By Craig Hoyle

Lockheed Martin F-16s from the Royal Danish Air Force have for the first time dropped weapons on Libya, the service has confirmed.

[joost]

Nu.nl reports FAF have shot down a Lybian AF Jet see here

[Sjoerd]

First A/A kill.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/war ... d=13210685

[RobertMB]

First A/A kill.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/war ... d=13210685

Aircraft was a Soko G-2A-E "Galeb"

[Thermal]

First A-A kill for the Rafale?

[SquAdmin]

First A-A kill for the Rafale?

Very likely, although the article doesn't mention the aircraft type that shot down the bogey. What surprises me is that the Galeb got airborne in the first place... it would be likely that the coalition forces have bombed all military runways by now, right?

[ehusmann]

it would be likely that the coalition forces have bombed all military runways by now, right?

Seems likely, but some might be repaired already. Or they can use taxiways or highway strips maybe?

Erwin

[Stratofreighter]

First A-A kill for the Rafale?

Very likely, although the article doesn't mention the aircraft type that shot down the bogey. What surprises me is that the Galeb got airborne in the first place... it would be likely that the coalition forces have bombed all military runways by now, right?

Apparently the Soko Galeb design had as an original requirement that it should be able to operate from unprepared runways. Hence the undercarriage was designed to be very strong.

[Optimus]

First A-A kill for the Rafale?

Hence the undercarriage was designed to be very strong.

So hopefully for them the undercarriage withstood the firepower of the Rafale

[Richard from Rotterdam]

The Dutch AF claimed their first kill of the Libya operations today! A KDC-10 took out a bird during take off...


http://www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/5444/VK- ... ogel.dhtml

[IrishAirPics]

According to the BBC the Galeb had just landed when it was destroyed

The plane, a smaller trainer aircraft, had just landed in the besieged city of Misrata when it was attacked

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12850975

And as for where it took off from, I don't know where but I recall seeing a still picture from a Pentagon briefing during the week showing an aerial view of a civil / military airfield in Libya that was attacked, and if memory serves me correct the runway was left untouched because it was civilian while the HAS complexes were taken out. I can't find the link again though.

EDIT - had a trawl through my browsing history and found it: http://www.defense.gov/dodcmsshare/home ... 3-001c.jpg

Airfield is called Ghardabiya, dual use airfield. The Galeb could have departed from there or some other dual use airfield.

[Arjan]

The Qatar AF Mirages have flown their first missions over Libya today!

[Wildpicture]

Airfield is called Ghardabiya, dual use airfield. The Galeb could have departed from there or some other dual use airfield.

That is the airfield/airbase just south of Sirte. Libya has quite a lot of airfields wirh hardened shelters (HAS) and many of these bases have smaller dispersal strips closeby. Most dispersal strips have limited facilities but they do have a concrete airstrip.

If the Libyan air force is smart, they have dispersed their assets over these bases. It will be hard to take them all out. Runways are easy to damage but also easy to repair. So planes and shelters have to be taken out individually, which requires an enormous amount of air strikes and therefore time. Remember the air strikes in the first Gulf war lasted for three months. In Libya we are only at week one.