Showing posts with label Belgium. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Belgium. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Romania Ratifies U.S. Missile Shield Agreement


BUCHAREST, Romania- The Romanian parliament ratified an accord to host U.S. missile interceptors on its soil on Dec. 6, a day before a meeting of the 28 NATO members in Brussels.
The Senate unanimously adopted the draft law ratifying the Romania-U.S. agreement signed in September that would allow the establishment and operation of a U.S. land-based ballistic missile defense system in Romania as part of NATO's efforts to build a continental missile shield.
"The location of some elements of the U.S. missile shield represents a very important contribution to the security of Romania, the U.S. and the entire alliance," Foreign Minister Teodor Baconschi told senators, according to Mediafax news agency.
The draft law was adopted by the lower house in November and is now set to be promulgated by President Traian Basescu.
The deployment of the missile interceptors is expected to take place in 2015 at a former airbase in southern Romania.
The missile shield, which is based on U.S. technology, is one of the transatlantic alliance's main development axes for the coming years, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has said.
Along with Romania, Turkey, Poland and Spain have also agreed to take part in the project.

Friday, December 2, 2011

EU May Use Brussels HQ for Horn of Africa Ops


BRUSSELS - EU foreign affairs ministers are considering using a civil-military headquarters in Brussels for small-scale operations off the Horn of Africa.
In conclusions to their meeting here Dec. 1, they say they have agreed "to accelerate planning for the activation of an EU Civil-Military Operations Centre for Horn of Africa operations, at the latest by the next Foreign Affairs Council."
The next EU affairs meeting is scheduled for late January. Currently EU operations have their HQs in individual member states.
According to an EU ministers statement, "When the nature of the operation does not require a national HQ, the Council stands ready to activate on an ad-hoc basis the Operations Centre in accordance with its terms of reference for a specific Common and Security Defence Policy [CSDP] Operation."
The decision appears to signal a U-turn in the U.K.'s stance on the issue. Back in the summer, Catherine Ashton, the EU's high representative for foreign and security policy, proposed an EU HQ for planning and carrying out EU military and civil missions abroad. In July, U.K. Foreign Affairs Minister William Hague said, "the U.K. will block any such move now and in the future."
The EU is currently running two operations in the Horn of Africa - the Atalanta counterpiracy mission and the EU training mission in Somalia. The Brussels' operations center may be used for any new, small-scale contributions to the Horn of Africa, such as building regional maritime capacity, said an official from the EU's Military Staff.
Where the EU has an existing command structure, such as Atalanta at the Northwood HQ in the U.K., an official from the EU Military Staff said "there is no intention of changing a working system on conduct.
"For Atalanta in particular, they are extremely well-placed in Northwood - allowing synergies with the NATO counterpiracy operation - and the scale of the command is far outside of the capacity of the Brussels' operations center," he added.
"We need to help regions [off the Horn of Africa] conduct counterpiracy themselves," Lt. Gen. Ton Van Osch, director-general of the European Union Military Staff, told Defense News in an interview. "A new line of EU action is to help countries develop their own coast guards and navies. Here, the EU military could do the training as part of a civilian mission if the political and security committee decided on a mission."
In the interview, Van Osch gives his views on various issues, including pooling and sharing proposals relating to air-to-air refueling and smart munitions.
On pooling and sharing, ministers recalled "the need to develop cooperation on military capabilities on a longer term and more systematic basis," and stressed the need "to further examine the impact of reduced defense spending on capabilities, including its possible impact on key industrial and technological capacities to be maintained and developed in Europe."
The ministers also encouraged further coordination between the European Defence Agency and the European Commission, "in particular in the field of Research and Technology, in particular regarding the new European Framework Programme for Research and Technology (Horizon 2020)."
They also recalled the commitment of the EU defense chiefs to establish or widen collaborative pooling and sharing projects by mid-2012, urged member states to take on the role of lead nation for concrete projects, and "will assess the progress made in April 2012."
They also stressed "the need to further analyze and address the constraints related to the availability, usability and deployability of existing military capabilities in CSDP operations and missions."
In addition, they bemoaned the fact that, in the first semester of 2012, "only one [EU] battlegroup will be on stand-by" and called for "efforts in order to remedy such shortfalls in the future."

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

EDA To Set Up Pilot European Satellite Procurement Cell


BRUSSELS - National defense ministers from 26 of the European Union's 27 member states (Denmark has an opt-out) have granted the European Defence Agency (EDA) a budget of 30.5 million euros ($40.7 million) in 2012 and agreed the agency should set up a pilot European satellite communication procurement cell.
Despite a considerable amount of talk about the importance of EU member states pooling and sharing more military capabilities and the ongoing financial crisis, there was precious little agreement on concrete initiatives with specific timelines.
At a news conference Nov. 30, EDA Chief Executive Claude-France Arnould described satellite communications as a "key enabler of any operation," allowing "soldiers to communicate, ships to navigate, HQ to operate in theater."
The new procurement cell will involve six to eight member states including the U.K., said Arnould.
It will be up and running straight away. Currently, member states spend about 3 million to 5 million euros per year to acquire satellite communications bandwidth. Demand is growing, particularly with the widespread use of UAVs on the battlefield, which require substantial communications capacity to control and transmit data from sensors.
The pilot program is designed to prove that pooling demand will reduce both costs (10 percent estimate) and ensure better availability (security of supply and rapid access). Astrium has been selected as the broker for this activity following an open competition.
Arnould said air-to-air refueling was a "major capability shortfall, as shown again in Libya," and that the aim "is to improve operational output and cost effectiveness and to address the dependency on the U.S. of European air forces."
Speaking privately, an EU official said that a medium- and long-term aim is to convince EU member states to reduce the current nine refueling fleets down to four (A400M, C130J, Airbus 330 and B767) and not to buy outside those aircraft types.
Another option Arnould noted is for those member states that are not buying A400Ms to instead purchase kits or pods allowing them to refuel from the A400M.
She stressed that there were "no proposals on the table for common procurement of new equipment" and that "capability is not just about acquisition." Training helicopter pilots is one example of a capability that the EDA has been working on since 2009.
The other eight areas for further consideration include maritime surveillance networking (currently covering EU borders only but might be extended for expeditionary tactical operations such as the Atalanta counter-piracy operation); medical field hospitals; future military satellite communications; ISR; pilot training; European transport hubs; smart munitions (the Libya operation showed that EU member state stockpiles were insufficient and that there was an overdependence on the U.S.); and naval logistics and training (capabilities such as aircraft carriers could be made available at all times by synchronizing maintenance schedules on a multinational basis).
Arnould also stressed that the EDA is working to coordinate with NATO as "cooperation is not a beauty contest between NATO and the EDA." She said the EDA would continue work on pooling and sharing, with a more comprehensive agenda coming out in the spring, just before NATO unveils its so-called smart defense proposals at its Chicago summit.
The key question is whether EU member states will follow up with concrete proposals in the 10 pooling and sharing areas other than the satellite communications cell. Regardless of how many proposals the EDA comes up with, that appears to be in doubt.
Arnould said there was "clear momentum for moving forward" and "an important window of opportunity to improve European defense capabilities" but conceded that "cooperation is not a natural reflex" and that "there are concerns, in particular about sovereignty and autonomy."
EU defense ministers also approved an administrative cooperation agreement between the EDA and Switzerland, under which the two parties can work together on research and technology, and armaments cooperation. The framework agreement sets out procedures for mutual consultation as well as for Swiss participation in ad hoc EDA programs and projects.

Friday, November 4, 2011

EU, U.S. Conduct Cyber Attack Exercise

BRUSSELS - The EU and U.S. carried out their first joint exercise to test responses to cyber incidents, including cyber attacks, here Nov. 3 as experts simulated how authorities on both sides of the Atlantic would cooperate in response to attacks.
Sony PlayStation, the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, European Commission and European External Action Service have all been subject to cyber attacks in recent months.
Two hypothetical scenarios were tested during "Cyber Atlantic 2011": an attack that attempts to extract and publish sensitive online information from the EU's national cybersecurity agencies, and an attack on supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems in EU power-generation equipment.
Cyber Atlantic 2011 grew out of an EU-U.S. Working Group on Cybersecurity and Cyber Crime, which was established in November 2010 to tackle new threats to global networks. The initial findings of the exercise will be taken into account in the working group's report, which will be presented to the EU-U.S. summit later this year.
EU and U.S. leaders agreed to set up the working group at their summit in Lisbon, Portugal, last November. Four expert subgroups have been established to deal with four different subject areas: cyber incident management; public-private partnerships; awareness raising; and cyber crime.
"Recent high-profile cyber attacks show that global threats need global action. Today's exercise provides valuable lessons for specialists on both sides of the Atlantic," EU Commissioner Neelie Kroes said in a Nov. 3 press release

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

NATO Asks More Troops for Kosovo


PRISTINA, Kosovo - NATO has asked for troop reinforcements for Kosovo, a spokesman said Aug. 2, while denying the demand was linked to the recent unrest in the volatile north.
"We can control the situation [in the north], we have enough troops. It is not because of our inability to control the situation. Our soldiers deployed on the ground will need some relief ... and we need [new troops] to back up the soldiers," as reserves, Kosovo Force (KFOR) spokesman Hans Dieter Wichter told Agence France-Presse.
NATO's KFOR mission currently has more than 5,900 soldiers on the ground and Wichter said they asked for a reinforcement of a battalion, usually around 500 troops.
A NATO official in Brussels confirmed to AFP that it had issued "the activation order for the KFOR operational reserve" of a battalion-size unit of several hundred soldiers.
"The deployment will take place over the course of the coming days," the official said. The source would not say where the additional troops were coming from.
Unrest flared in Kosovo last week when the ethnic Albanian Kosovo government ordered police to seize control of two border crossings in northern Kosovo.
Kosovo officials said this was needed to enforce a ban on imports from Serbia that was not being respected by ethnic Serb members of Kosovo's border police on the border with Serbia. In the resulting clashes one ethnic Albanian police officer was killed.
NATO troops stepped in when a border post in Kosovo was set on fire and bulldozed, apparently by ethnic Serbs.
Angry Kosovo Serbs have been blocking the roads leading to the crossing for several days and vowed to remain at the barricades until a solution was found.
Kosovo banned imports from Serbia in response to the same move by Belgrade in 2008, the date the ethnic Albanian majority unilaterally proclaimed its independence from Serbia.
European Union U envoy Robert Cooper met with Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci in Pristina on Aug. 2, diplomatic sources told AFP. Cooper was sent from Brussels to mediate between the Kosovo and Serbian authorities following the recent unrest.
On Aug. 1, Cooper met Serbia's top negotiator Borko Stefanovic and minister for Kosovo Goran Bogdanovic.
Stefanovic said the Aug. 1 with Cooper were "difficult and complicated" adding that the Serbian side "expressed the legitimate demands of [Serb] citizens to restore things back to the situation before the crisis," Beta news agency reported.
"We want to enable free movement of people and get back to dialogue ... but the crisis has to be solved in the way we demanded," Beta quoted Stefanovic as saying while addressing Serbs on a barricade in northern Kosovo.
The disputed border crossings are seen as vital by many Kosovo Serbs as they provide a link with Serbia on which northern Kosovo almost exclusively relies for supplies of food and medicine. Over the weekend the first reports emerged of food shortages in some northern Kosovo towns.

Norway Withdraws Jets from Libya Ops: Military

OSLO - Norway on Aug. 1 withdrew as planned its final four F-16 fighter jets that have been taking part in the NATO-led mission over Libya, the Norwegian military said.
The Norwegian planes, which landed at their bases in Bodoe in the north of Norway and in Oerland in the central west of the country, carried out 583 missions, out of a total of 6,493 flown by NATO since March 31, and dropped 569 bombs, military spokesman Petter Lindqvist told AFP.
On June 10, the center-left government, split over Norway's prolonged participation in the bombing, announced it would gradually withdraw its six F-16 fighter jets stationed at the Souda base on the Greek island of Crete.
The government explained that its small air force could not sustain a large air contribution for a long period of time.
Only eight of NATO's 28 member states have flown bombing missions since the alliance took command of the operation on March 31: Norway, Britain, France, Canada, Belgium, Denmark, Italy and the United States.
London has increased its contribution by adding four Tornado jets, effectively making up for the loss of the Norwegian planes.
NATO officials say Norway's departure will not affect the tempo of air operations, which have averaged more than 100 sorties per day including around 50 missions aimed at hitting targets.
The Scandinavian country, shocked by a bombing and shooting spree committed by a far-right extremist, will continue its involvement in the operation with 10 officers posted at the Libya air command centre based in Italy.

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Canada Ends Combat Mission in Afghanistan

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Canada ended its nine-year combat mission in Afghanistan on July 7, closing the curtain after the deaths of 157 troops and signaling the start of further American and NATO withdrawals later this year.
The departure of nearly 3,000 soldiers, who took on some of the heaviest fighting in the southern province of Kandahar, comes as Western forces begin to announce gradual drawdowns of troops ahead of a full withdrawal in 2014.
After Canada spent more than $11 billion on the increasingly unpopular war, most of the Canadian soldiers have packed up and gone home.
A change of command ceremony was held at Kandahar airfield to mark the formal end of combat operations, although hundreds of other troops are being sent to work in a training role in the Afghan capital.
Afghan, Canadian and American national anthems were played to a small group of soldiers from each country, before commanders addressed the crowd and formally handed control of the mission to the United States.
"Over the years Canadians, both military and civilian, have made the ultimate sacrifice," Brigadier Gen. Dean Milner, head of the Canadian combat mission, said in his speech to the assembled troops. "Although there is still work to do, (we) are extremely proud of what has been accomplished."
Canadian soldiers first deployed to Afghanistan in early 2002, several months after a U.S.-led invasion of the country to oust the Taliban in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks.
They arrived in Kandahar - the spiritual birthplace of the Taliban - in 2006 and have faced a tough fight to overcome a trenchant insurgency in the farming districts north and west of the main provincial city.
"The Canadians had a lot of challenges in Kandahar, not the least was the deep entrenchment of the Taliban insurgents in places like Arghandab, Panjwayi and Maywand (districts)," said Kabul-based analyst Candace Rondeaux of the International Crisis Group. "At the same time, they certainly were able to stabilize different areas of the province at different points of their engagement and were noted for their high level of civilian engagement which set them apart from other NATO forces."
The handover comes a day after British Prime Minister David Cameron announced that 500 troops would go home in 2012, and a fortnight after U.S. President Barack Obama said 33,000 "surge" troops would return by next summer.
France and Belgium have also recently announced modest troop reductions as the Western coalition eyes the end of the 10-year war.
"The picture's very mixed as exit builds," added Rondeaux. "It's difficult to say anyone accomplished the mission perfectly."
In recent weeks Canadian troops have been completing their final patrols, packing up dusty outposts and gathering at the giant Kandahar airfield military base to debrief before starting to catch their flights home.
On July 5, Canada handed control of their last district to U.S. forces in a flag-lowering ceremony, a key symbolic step in the drawdown process, although the Americans had been in place for weeks.
Public opposition to the war in Canada has grown, with a poll earlier this year by Vision Critical/Angus Reid indicating 63 percent of Canadians were against it, compared to 47 percent in 2010.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper pledged in 2008 that troops would leave this year.
After U.S. forces killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in May, Harper said he believed Afghanistan was "no longer a source of global terrorism."
A separate Canadian training mission involving 950 troops will work in Kabul with Afghan security forces.
Canada will also continue to give aid to Afghanistan, with its overall involvement between now and the end of 2014 expected to cost about US$700 million a year.

Saturday, May 7, 2011

A400M Engine Wins Safety Certification

LONDON - The turboprop engine powering the Airbus A400M airlifter has been certified by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).
Europrop International (EPI), the four-company consortium responsible for developing and building the TP400-D6 engine, said the milestone came after a test campaign that included more than 8,000 flight hours and more than 4,000 hours of ground testing.
The May 6 announcement came just days after EPI said it had signed an amended contract with Airbus Military settling outstanding issues related to the much-delayed and over-budget transport plane.
EPI involves partner companies Rolls-Royce, Snecma, MTU Aero Engines and Industria de Turbo Propulsores.
In a statement, EPI said the TP400 is the first large turboprop certified by EASA and the first military engine to be cleared by the agency to civil standards from the outset. At 11,000 shaft horsepower in a three-shaft configuration, the TP400 will be the most powerful turboshaft engine to enter service in the West.
Military certification is expected next year ahead of A400M deliveries getting underway to lead customer France around the turn of the year.
Airbus Military has orders from seven European countries for 170 aircraft, with an additional four being destined for export customer Malaysia.
The seven partner nations in the program are Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain and Turkey.

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Swedish Parliament OKs 8 Jets for Libya Operation

STOCKHOLM - The Swedish parliament on April 1 voted in favor of sending eight Swedish fighter jets to contribute to the international mission to enforce a no-fly zone over Libya.
The vote clears the way for the Swedish air force's first international deployment in 48 years.
Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said March 29 he would put to parliament the proposal of sending eight Swedish-built fighter jets, a transport plane and a reconnaissance plane to Libya, stressing Swedish jets would not be involved in ground strikes.
Sweden's participation in the mission had received broad political support and the proposal was widely expected to pass.
The Nordic country is not a member of NATO, although it has been in NATO's Partnership for Peace program since 1994 and participates in the alliance's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) force in Afghanistan with some 500 troops.
The country's air force has not been involved in action since 1963, in a U.N.-mandated operation in the former Belgian Congo.

NATO Now in Full Control of Libya Mission

BRUSSELS - NATO on March 31 warned Libyan forces they would be "ill-advised" to kill civilians as the alliance took sole command of air strikes that were under U.S. leadership.
Libyan rebels drive toward the city of Brega on March 31, en route to a battle with forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. (Mahmud Hams / Agence France-Presse)
An armada of ships and warplanes from the United States, France, Britain, Canada and other coalition nations came under NATO control after the 28-nation military organization overcame internal divisions to take over the mission.
U.S., British, French, Canadian, Danish and Belgian jets have attacked Moammar Gadhafi's ground forces since March 19 under a U.N. mandate to use "all necessary measures" to protect civilians.
Canadian Lt. Gen. Charles Bouchard, commander of Operation Unified Protector, said NATO aircraft had flown 90 missions since the alliance took charge at 0600 GMT March 31.
"Those who are acting against the civilian population and civilian centers, you would be ill-advised to continue such activities, I recommend that you cease these activities," Bouchard told reporters via video link from his headquarters in Naples, Italy, stressing that NATO would remain "impartial."
The United States, already stretched after a decade of combat in Afghanistan and a fragile situation in Iraq, had been eager to hand over control of the operations to someone else.
NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the alliance will be able to declare "mission accomplished" when "the civilian population in Libya is not under threat any longer."
But he acknowledged it was impossible to know when this would happen, and he stressed that a political solution, not just military means, was needed to resolve the conflict.
"I urge all parties to seek a political decision sooner rather than later and ensure a political transition to democracy. But I'm not able to lay out a timetable," he said at a conference in Stockholm.
The alliance stressed it would stick to the U.N. mandate to shield civilians, as Rasmussen reiterated his opposition to arming the rebels.
The head of NATO's military committee, Italian Adm. Giampaolo Di Paola, said there was no discussion about deploying troops. He also denied that NATO was coordinating its operations with the rebels.
Asked about reports that the CIA was on the ground in Libya, Di Paola said NATO does not question the source of intelligence it receives from allies.
Di Paola said he expected some 20 NATO allies to provide assets for one or all three operations under alliance control - the strikes on ground forces threatening civilians, a no-fly zone, and an arms embargo.
But key NATO members have voiced unease about the bombing missions.
Bouchard vowed that NATO pilots would conduct their missions "with care and precision" in order to "avoid harming the people of Libya."
The general launched a probe into allegations made by a Tripoli-based Italian bishop that dozens of civilians were killed during coalition bombings.
No date was given for the incident, which could not be independently verified.
Turkey, NATO's sole Muslim member, criticized the scope of the coalition strikes and has made clear its planes would not take part in any airstrikes.
Another major NATO member, Germany, refused to vote for the U.N. Security Council resolution that authorized the use of force and will stay out of the offensive operations.
The Netherlands has contributed planes but they will only participate in maintaining a no-fly zone to prevent hostile jets from flying, not the strikes against other targets.
NATO wants to bring outside partners into the mission, especially Arab nations. Qatar and the United Arab Emirates are the only Middle Eastern nations to have provided jets.
Sweden, a NATO partner but not member, offered fighter jets but said it would not conduct ground strikes.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

NATO Starts Taking Control of Libya Operations

BRUSSELS - NATO on March 30 began to take command of Libyan air bombing operations from a U.S.-led coalition, as warplanes and other assets from several allies came under the military organization's control.
French Air Force Rafale jets, right and center, and a French Air Force Mirage 2000 fighter jet are shown March 30 over the Mediterranean Sea. The jets are taking part in the military Libya operations, soon to be led by NATO. (Gerard Julien / Agence France-Presse)
"NATO aircraft are flying under NATO command in the Libyan sky," NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said.
"This is a phased process, which will be completed as soon as all allies and partners have transferred authority for their assets."
The 28-member alliance is gradually replacing the United States at the helm of aerial missions that have been conducted by U.S., French, British and other coalition planes since March 19 to protect civilians from Moammar Gadhafi's ground forces.
Britain, Canada, Belgium, Denmark, Spain and the Netherlands placed all or part of their military assets under NATO's authority on March 30, an alliance official said on condition of anonymity.
NATO's combined air operations centre in Poggio Renatico, northern Italy, transmitted flight plans to units involved in the aerial campaign, the official said.
A NATO diplomat has said that the alliance would effectively be in full command of the operations on March 31.
NATO has enforced an arms embargo off Libya's coast since last week and also is policing Libya's skies to prevent hostile jets from flying.
NATO agreed to take on the broader mission - strikes against forces threatening civilians - on March 27 after overcoming Turkish concerns about the air strikes and French reluctance to hand the lead to the alliance.

Monday, March 21, 2011

Coalition Against Gadhafi Growing

Overall direction of the extended, multi-national effort to enforce a United Nations-mandated no-fly zone over Libya is not yet clear. While the U.S. is leading military operations, several key NATO partners are also involved in combat operations which began March 19.
One of about 110 Tomahawk cruise missiles launched by coalition forces against Libyan government targets March 19 rises from the U.S. destroyer Barry. (Interior Communications Electrician Fireman Roderick Eubanks / U.S. Navy)
"The U.S. is militarily in the lead," Vice Adm. Bill Gortney, director of the U.S. Joint Staff, said at a March 20 Pentagon briefing, but the goal is to shift to a coalition-led leadership structure.
"We do not know when we'll be ready to do that and we don't yet know what that structure will be," he told reporters.
The immediate goal of the combat operations is not to oust Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, but to protect civilians with the establishment of a no-fly zone over Libya's northern regions, Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said while making the rounds of Sunday-morning talk shows,
U.S. forces gathered to conduct military operations against Libya are organized under U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), commanded by Army Gen. Carter Ham from his headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany. Adm. Samuel Locklear is in tactical command of Joint Task Force Odyssey Dawn aboard the flagship Mount Whitney in the Mediterranean. Locklear is triple-hatted as commander of U.S. Naval Forces Europe, U.S. Naval Forces Africa and of the Allied Joint Force Command, headquartered in Naples, Italy.
British Major Gen. John Lorimer described the command structure at a morning briefing March 20. "This operation is currently under U.S. command, supported closely by French and U.K. armed forces. AFRICOM is the supported Combatant Command, and U.K. has liaison officers and staff embedded at every level," Lorimer said.
A French defense ministry source told Agence France-Presse March 20 that coalition members conducting air strikes on Libyan targets are coordinating their actions but there is no central command organizing the attacks.
"There is no centralized headquarters and at this stage everyone is using their own headquarters in a coordinated manner," the French source said.
The French are operating out of Mont Verdun, near Lyon in the east of the country, where the air force has its chief air defense control center. The British headquarters are at Northwood, in the suburbs of London, and those of the United States at Ramstein in southwest Germany. The American HQ has the "greater planning capacity," the French source said.
He added that there were "exchanges of staff between the three HQs," in particular between Mont Verdun and Ramstein, and a "definition of command structures as the deployment takes place."
The purpose of Operation Odyssey Dawn, according to AFRICOM, "is to enforce U.N. Security Council Resolution 1973, which is centered on protecting Libyan citizens from any further harm from Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's regime."
First Strikes 'Effective'
Forces from the U.S., France, Italy, Canada and the United Kingdom were involved in the initial operations and strikes on Libya on March 19, which included the launch of at least 110 Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles from U.S. surface ships and submarines and one British submarine.
Gortney said on March 20 that more Tomahawks had been launched since then, bringing the total to 124.
Combat aircraft from the U.S., U.K., and France took part in the first strikes on Libyan targets. Many of the aircraft are operating from at least seven air bases in southern Italy.
The first strikes were aimed at Libya's air defense systems, including SA-2, SA-3 and SA-5 surface-to-air guided missiles, and their guidance radars.
"We judge these strikes to have been very effective in degrading their systems," Gortney said. "There has been no new air activity by the regime," he said. "The fixed missiles, SA-2, 3 and 5, and early warning radars have been taken down and we do not see them emitting."
Further strikes were conducted March 20 against Libyan government forces about 10 miles south of Benghazi, Gortney said. While battle reports are still coming in, "we judge those strikes at having been quite successful at halting ground movement."
"Benghazi is certainly not safe from attack but is certainly safer than yesterday," he added.
The attacks were carried out by U.S., British and French strike aircraft, Gortney said, supported by U.S. Navy EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft flying from land bases.
Strikes were also conducted against the Ghadrabiya air base, a joint military and civilian facility, Gortney said. U.S. Air Force B-2 Spirit stealth bombers using joint direct attack munitions (JDAMs) took on the mission, flown from their base at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, he added. A number of military targets at the base were destroyed, he said.
There were no indications of civilian casualties, Gortney said.
The Libyan government has claimed that at least 48 people have died in the assaults.
Libyan leader Gadhafi is not a target.
"At this point I can guarantee that he is not on a targeting list," Gortney said.
No coalition aircraft have been lost, he noted.
Coalition forces are not now targeting mobile anti-aircraft sites, Gortney, said, including SA-6 and SA-8 mobile missile launchers or the many hand-held SA-7 missile launchers, nor are anti-aircraft guns being directly targeted.
"There are so many mobile guns that it's better to avoid them," he explained.
Gortney would not answer questions about specific nations allowing coalition aircraft to operate from their bases or about overflight issues.
Gadhafi's call for a cease fire garnered little respect from Gortney.
"I question anything that Gadhafi calls for," Gortney said. "He moved troops into Benghazi after he called for a cease fire."
Gortney noted growing support for the coalition operations.
"Shortly before I came, in here the Arab League endorsed our enforcement of the no-fly zone," he said.
Coalition Growing
The coalition supporting the no-fly zone against Libya is growing, Gortney said, and is not limited.
"We'll take as many coalition partners as will commit to do this with us," he said. "We have many nations that are waiting to announce themselves."
More forces from the first five countries are en route to the region, and several other nations have joined the coalition or appear about to join.
Here is a country-by-country breakdown of the forces as of March 20:
UNITED STATES
· Submarines Providence, Scranton and Florida launching Tomahawks.
· Destroyers Barry and Stout launching Tomahawks.
· Amphibious assault ships Kearsarge and Ponce, carrying Marines of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU).
· Command ship Mount Whitney.
· Support ships Lewis and Clark, Robert E. Peary and Kanawha.
· U.S. Navy aircraft include EA-18G Growler electronic air warfare aircraft, at least four P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft and one EP-3E Aries electronic surveillance aircraft, all flying from land bases in the Mediterranean. Marine Corps AV-8B Harrier jets are operating from the Kearsarge.
· Air Force aircraft include B-2 stealth bombers flying from Missouri and F-15 and F-16 fighters from unspecified bases.
· The Bataan Amphibious Ready Group will deploy from Norfolk,Va., on March 23 ahead of schedule to support Odyssey Dawn operations. The group includes the amphibious ships Bataan, Mesa Verde and Whidbey Island carrying the 22nd MEU.
FRANCE
· Aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle left its base at Toulon March 20 en route to waters off Libya. De Gaulle is carrying 20 aircraft, including Rafale and Super Etendard strike fighters, and is escorted by the destroyers Dupleix and Forbin, frigate Aconit, oiler La Meuse, and an unnamed nuclear attack submarine.
· Destroyer Jean Bart already on the scene.
· French land-based strike aircraft spearheaded the March 19 attacks on Libya.
ITALY
· Destroyer Andrea Doria Frigate Euro Support ship Etna As of early March 20, more ships were to be en route from Italy: Destroyer Francesco Mimbelli; frigate Fenice; patrol ships Libra and Sirio; amphibious ships San Giorgio and San Marco.
· At least 4 Tornado strike aircraft and 4 other combat aircraft are available.
CANADA
· Frigate Charlottetown Six CF-18 Hornet strike fighters Canada's forces are operating as part of Operation Mobile.
UNITED KINGDOM
· Unnamed Trafalgar-class nuclear attack submarine launching Tomahawks.
· Frigates Westminster and Cumberland.
· Typhoon and Tornado strike aircraft operating from Gioia del Colle air base in southern Italy. Tornado GR4s with Storm Shadow cruise missiles took place in the initial strikes on March 19, flying from the Royal Air Force (RAF) base at Marham in Norfolk, eastern England. Agence France-Presse reported the aircraft conducted four mid-air refueling operations during the 3,000-mile, eight-hour mission, the longest Royal Air Force bombing mission since the 1982 Falklands war. The British effort against Libya is dubbed Operation Ellamy.
· Additionally, E3-D Sentry, Sentinel and Tristar surveillance aircraft and VC-10 aerial tankers are operating.
BELGIUM
· Six F-16 fighters to be ready for operations March 21.
DENMARK
· Six F-16 fighters and a transport are operating from Sigonella air base on Sicily.
QATAR
· Four combat aircraft reportedly are in operation by March 20.
SPAIN
· Four F-18 strike fighters are operating from Decimomannu air base on the Italian island of Sardinia.
· One aerial tanker and one CN-235 maritime surveillance plane.
· A submarine and frigate are to deploy this week pending parliamentary approval, according to Deutsche Presse-Agentur.
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
· Strike aircraft are reported en route to Decimomannu air base.
The U.S. aircraft carrier Enterprise, which recently passed through the Mediterranean, is now in the Arabian Sea conducting air operations over Afghanistan for Operation Enduring Freedom.
Compiled from reports from U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Africa Command, U.S. Navy, British Ministry of Defence, Canadian Forces, Agence France-Presse and Deutsche Presse-Agentur

Western, Arab Warplanes Converge on Italy for Libya Mission

ROME - Western and Arab warplanes were converging on Italy's air bases March 20 to join the international campaign to cripple the ability of Moammar Gadhafi's forces to attack Libyan civilians.
France, which spearheaded the U.N.-mandated Operation "Odyssey Dawn" with air strikes on Libya on March 19, also sent its aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle to join the campaign on March 20.
The French Navy's flagship set off from the southern French naval port of Toulon at about 1:10 p.m. and was expected to reach the Libyan coast within 48 hours.
Meanwhile aircraft from the United Arab Emirates were due to arrive March 20 at the Decimomannu air force base on the Italian island of Sardinia, which is already hosting four Spanish F-18 fighter jets that arrived on March 19.
The UAE, along with Jordan, Morocco and Qatar, was among Arab nations that took part in a summit in Paris on March 19 on the Libyan crisis.
The Italian air bases are a key staging point for strikes by Western-led coalition forces to destroy Libya's air defenses and impose a no-fly zone to prevent Gadhafi's forces from crushing a popular uprising.
Italian Defence Minister Ignazio La Russa said Rome also assigned eight combat aircraft, including four Tornado jets, for the operation and they can be used "at any time".
And British Defence Secretary Liam Fox said Typhoon and Tornado jets would fly this weekend to the Gioia del Colle air base in southern Italy, where they will be ready to deploy as part of the mission dubbed "Operation Ellamy".
Six Danish F-16 fighters were also ready to take off from Italy's Sigonella air base March 20 to join Odyssey Dawn which saw U.S., British and French forces hammer Libyan forces from the air and sea.
In the West's biggest intervention in the Arab world since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, mounted exactly eight years earlier, U.S. warships and a British submarine fired more than 120 Tomahawk cruise missiles into Libya on March 19.
This prompted Gadhafi to warn March 20 of a long war in the Mediterranean "battlefield" as Tripoli reported dozens of deaths.
Belgium said March 20 six of its F-16 fighter-bombers would be operational Monday for the Libya mission.
"We will be able to take part in operations under the command of the coalition from tomorrow," said Defense Minister Pieter de Crem, who added that 250 people would be assigned to support the six aircraft and their pilots.
In addition to its four F-18 fighter jets, Spain sent a refueling aircraft to Italy and said it would also deploy an F-100 frigate, an S-74 submarine and a CN-235 maritime surveillance plane to help enforce an arms embargo on Libya, once parliamentary approval has been received.
Spain had already announced on March 18 it would allow NATO to use two military bases, at Rota and at Moron de la Frontera in the south of the country, for the operation over Libya.
The U.N. Security Council last week passed a resolution approving "all necessary measures" to impose a no-fly zone in Libya, protect civilian areas and pressure Gadhafi into accepting a ceasefire.
The Security Council last month also ordered an arms embargo against Libya and other sanctions against Gadhafi's family.

Saturday, March 19, 2011

West Mobilizes For Libya Air Strikes

BRUSSELS, Belgium - A coalition of Western nations mobilized Friday to launch quick air strikes against Libya after the United Nations approved military action to prevent Moammar Gadhafi from crushing insurgents.
The United States, Britain and France were expected to scramble fighter jets against Gadhafi's forces after they secured the UN Security Council's blessing.
Paris warned military action was imminent.
The strikes will come "rapidly ... within a few hours," French government spokesman Francois Baroin said after the UN Security Council approved "all necessary measures" to impose a no-fly zone on Libya.
The goal of the operation would be to "protect the Libyan people and to allow them to go all the way in their drive for freedom, which means bringing down the Gadhafi regime," Baroin told RTL radio.
The three military powers could be joined by Canada, which according to Canadian media planned to deploy six CF-18 fighter jets.
Norway said it would take part in the operation and Denmark awaited parliamentary approval before joining the action with F-16 warplanes. Poland offered logistical support but no role in a military strike force.
NATO was holding a meeting to decide what, if any, role it may take.
The West could be joined by Arab nations in the endeavor after the Arab League pressed for the international community to impose a no-fly zone against Gadhafi's forces.
Qatar's foreign ministry said the Gulf state would "contribute in the efforts aiming at stopping bloodshed and protecting civilians in Libya" and urged quick action to impose the no-fly zone, the state news agency said.
The UN's approval of the measures sparked celebrations in the rebel bastion of Benghazi in eastern Libya where the opposition had urged the international community to act quickly.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague said the UN measures were needed to "avoid greater bloodshed" and stop Gadhafi from attacking his own people.
"This places a responsibility on the members of the UN and that is a responsibility to which the United Kingdom will now respond," Hague said.
Britain's Royal Air Force is expected to send Tornado attack aircraft equipped with precise weapons from their bases in Marham, east England, and Lossiemouth in Scotland.
NATO convened a meeting to debate whether the 28-nation military alliance would take part of the international effort.
"For any NATO operation, there needs to be a demonstrable need for the alliance to act, firm regional support and a clear legal basis," said NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu.
"Under those three conditions, NATO stands ready to act as part of the broad international effort," she said.
NATO allies have been divided about intervening in Libya, with Germany and Turkey voicing opposition to a military intervention.
Germany was among five nations, alongside China and Russia, that abstained from voting for the UN resolution, which passed 10-0 late Thursday.
Warning of "considerable risks and dangers," German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle insisted no German troops would participate in military intervention.
"We remain eminently skeptical on the option of military intervention ... anticipated in this resolution. We see in it considerable risks and dangers. That is why we could not approve this part of the text," a statement said.
Russia also ruled out taking part in the operation.
The UN Security Council also agreed to protect civilian areas and impose a ceasefire on Gadhafi's military, but ruled out sending ground troops.

Monday, February 21, 2011

Belgium Probes Arms Sales to Kadhafi Regime

BRUSSELS - Belgium's regional government of Wallonia came under fire Feb. 21 for authorizing the sale of weapons to Libya in 2009, prompting a probe into whether the arms were used against protesters.
The governments of the French-speaking region asked the Belgian ambassador in Tripoli to ask Libyan authorities how the weapons have been used, said Christopher Barzal, spokesman for Wallonia's regional leader Rudy Demotte.
Wallonia gave an export license to Liege-based FN Herstal for the sale of 367 F2000 assault rifles, 367 P90 submachine guns, 367 Five-Seven handguns, 20 Minimi light machine guns, 22,000 rifle grenades and 1.134 million rounds of ammunition for these weapons, for a total value of 6.9 million euros.
The license also authorized the sale of 2,000 FN 303, a compressed-air gun that fires projectiles which, according to the firm's website, can be used to stop a "hostile but unarmed individual or group" among other things.
The sale of these so-called "less-lethal" weapons was valued at 5.3 million euros.
The final use certificate states that the weapons are for the exclusive use of the Libyan army's 32nd elite forces battalion for a mission to protect "humanitarian aid convoys to Darfur", Barzal said.
The Belgian Human Rights League expressed fears that the weapons could have been used by the regime of Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi to repress anti-government protests, but it admitted it had no proof.
"The probability is very low, but we have asked the ambassador to verify urgently," Barzal said.
The European Union lifted an arms embargo on Libya in 2004.
In Belgium's decentralized political system, the regions are responsible for approving licenses for arm exports.