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.

U.S. Tried Halting Pakistan Nuclear Drive: Documents

WASHINGTON - The United States waged a secret diplomatic campaign in the 1970s to prevent Pakistan from developing nuclear weapons by pressing countries to control exports, declassified documents said.

In remarks with striking parallels to current U.S. debates, officials in President Jimmy Carter's administration voiced fear about Pakistan's trajectory and tried both pressure and aid incentives to seek a change in its behavior.

In a secret November 1978 memo, then-Secretary of State Cyrus Vance instructed U.S. diplomats in Western Europe, Australia, Canada and Japan to warn governments that Pakistan or its covert agents were seeking nuclear material.

Vance acknowledged that Pakistan was motivated by concerns over historic rival India. But he voiced alarm that Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, before being deposed as prime minister in a coup, said that Pakistan would share nuclear weapons around the Islamic world.

"We believe it is critical to stability in the region and to our non-proliferation objectives to inhibit Pakistan from moving closer to the threshold of nuclear explosive capability," Vance wrote, the year before the overthrow of Iran's pro-Western shah and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

Britain was waging a parallel campaign, Vance said. Britain banned the export of inverters - which can be used in centrifuges that produce highly enriched uranium - and urged other countries to follow suit, Vance said.

Most countries sounded sympathetic, though West Germany - a major industrial exporter - insisted it already had adequate safeguards, memos said.

Pakistan nonetheless pursued nuclear weapons and detonated a bomb in 1998 in response to a test by India. The Pakistani scientist who built the bomb, Abdul Qadeer Khan, had access to sensitive technology in the Netherlands.

Khan admitted in 2004 that he ran a nuclear black-market, selling secrets to Iran, Libya and North Korea. Khan, who is considered a hero by many Pakistanis, later retracted his remarks and in 2009 was freed from house arrest.

The declassified documents were released after requests by the National Security Archive at George Washington University and the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars.

William Burr, a scholar at the National Security Archive, said that a U.S. report from 1978 that could shed light on Khan's activities was missing and that he feared it had been destroyed.

The released documents said Pakistan wanted to maintain work on a reprocessing plant. France initially supported the project but backed out in 1978 due to fears that it would be used to produce weapons.

Then-Deputy Secretary of State Warren Christopher in a secret memo urged a "low profile" on France's decision, saying it would "severely embarrass" France's then-President Valery Giscard d'Estaing and impede future cooperation if it appeared he was responding to U.S. pressure.

Christopher also said he was urging the U.S. Congress to consider economic assistance and military sales to Pakistan, which was considered a U.S. ally in the Cold War when India tilted toward the Soviet Union.

Assistance to Pakistan can "perhaps relieve some of the tension and sense of isolation which give Pakistan greater incentive to move covertly in the nuclear field," wrote Christopher, who later served as secretary of state.

The United States eventually pursued a major assistance package for Pakistan as part of a partnership against the Soviets in Afghanistan. The United States later cut aid due to nuclear concerns - only to resume it again as it sought Pakistan's cooperation in Afghanistan following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

President Barack Obama's administration recently suspended about one-third of its $2.7 billion annual defense aid to Pakistan to put pressure for more action against Islamic militants.

U.S. Navy: Tests Show Fire Scout Improvements

More than a thousand hours of flight time carried out this year by deployed Fire Scout unmanned helicopters is evidence that the system is working through its developmental problems and showing itself able to deliver a reliable reconnaissance and surveillance capability, the program's U.S. Navy managers said.

Three Fire Scout unmanned helicopters sit ready for shipment from Maryland to Afghanistan on April 13. Fire Scouts have performed better on deployment than in tests, program managers claim. (Kelly Schindler / U.S. Navy)

"Since May 21, we've got over 718 hours of flight time in Afghanistan," said Capt. Patrick Smith, the Navy's Fire Scout program manager at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. "We have a monthly goal of 300 hours, and in June we hit 307. In July, we're tracking toward 375 hours. Our reports back from our U.S. and allied customers have been very, very favorable. And this is why I would call all the work done in early 2011 a success. The proof is in the pudding with what we're doing in Afghanistan."

Two Fire Scout systems, including six aircraft and their control units, were sent to Afghanistan in April and May at the request of combatant commanders. Another system with two aircraft has been deployed to the Mediterranean Sea and Horn of Africa region aboard the frigate Halyburton.
"We've put over 435 hours of flight time from USS Halyburton," Smith said, despite the June 21 loss of one of the aircraft over Libya. A replacement aircraft was soon sent out to the frigate, he added.
The reliability of the MQ-8B Fire Scout was recently called into question by an "early fielding report" prepared by the Pentagon's Office of the Director, Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E). The report, which relied on data and observations completed this spring, claimed the control data link between airborne drones and their ground-based controllers was "fragile," and that the Navy's test program was not realistic or complete.
The Navy plans to buy up to 168 Fire Scouts from Northrop Grumman to operate from ships at sea. The program is still in its test phases, and is not expected to be declared operationally effective until 2013.
The DOT&E report chided the program for an inability to provide a "time-sensitive" asset, and claimed that half the missions flying from the Halyburton were unsuccessful.
"The deployment had two purposes," Smith said. "Integration with the ship to support anti-piracy and maritime operations, and as a proof of concept with our special operations forces in supporting sea-based intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations.
"We've had some fantastic collection of data," Smith said. "We've had very good reports from the customers."
Smith did not dispute the DOT&E report's findings that the early spring tests at Webster Field in southern Maryland were difficult.
"We were surging to meet the Afghan deployment," he said. "We were able to prove out all the hot weather changes that were incorporated. All the payload issues. And train the crews.
"We were not able to execute a major scenario that would truly simulate what they would see in Afghanistan. We were able to do it in parts, but not altogether."
Among the problems, he said, were range limitations, scheduling issues, and the availability of aircraft and people.
"We were also packing up the systems to ship them to Afghanistan," said Cmdr. Manny Picon, the program's military lead.
"We have a bit more hindsight now than was available then they wrote the report," Smith said. "The big thing we're tying to get out is we understand the issues. We've had issues with the data link as reported in the early fielding reports. We look at the flight hours as more of an indicator as to how we've been able to produce."
A well-publicized event last year when a Fire Scout headed for Washington after its data link was lost was due to a software problem that's been fixed, Smith said. Reliability has not been a significant factor on the deployed systems.
"With Halyburton and in Afghanistan, we've not seen similar behavior, losing the links, that we saw at Webster," Smith said, nor have there been major problems in restoring lost links. "Yes, they've had dropped links, but it has not impacted missions. It's been restored and missions have continued. I would classify them as minor interruptions, as you'd have with any radio system. Our datalink reliability is in the high 90 percentages."

Libyan Rebels Meet Sarkozy, Ask for Weapons

PARIS - Military leaders from the rebel-held Libyan city of Misrata asked French President Nicolas Sarkozy on July 20 for extra aid to defeat ruler Moammar Gadhafi, a member of their delegation said.
"Insurgent commanders came to explain to the head of state that the keys to Tripoli are in Misrata because Misrata's fighters are disciplined, battle hardened and they have a key asset: a military victory already won" against forces loyal to Gadhafi, Bernard-Henri Levy told AFP after the meeting.

French writer Levy has been an ardent supporter of the Libyan revolt and attended the talks at Sarkozy's Elysee palace alongside rebel General Ramadan Zarmuh, Col. Ahmed Hashem and Col. Brahim Betal Mal.
France is taking part in NATO-coordinated strikes against Gadhafi's military assets and was the first outside state to formally recognize the rebels' Transitional National Council.
Sarkozy's main military advisor, Gen. Benoit Puga, took part in the talks, and a source close to the delegation said discussions between Libyan rebel leaders and French military top brass were ongoing July 20.
Misrata insurgents hope that France will provide similar support to that given to the rebel enclave in the Nafusa Mountains, southwest of Tripoli, the source said.
France in June said that it had delivered weapons to rebels there to help defend themselves against Gadhafi's forces.
Misrata, around 125 miles east of Tripoli, has been controlled by rebels since mid-May, after a two-month siege by Gadhafi forces.

Mullen Asks for China Help on North Korea

BEIJING - America's top military officer on July 10 urged Beijing to use its relationship with Pyongyang to ensure regional stability, while warning North Korea against further dangerous provocations.

Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, attends the Cooperative Security and Regional Stability in Asia meeting at Renmin University in Beijing on July 10. (STR / AFP via Getty Images)

Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, stressed that Washington was in no way seeking to contain China's dramatic rise, but that the U.S. would remain active in the Asia Pacific region for a long time.

"North Korea and the leadership of North Korea is only predictable in one sense and that is - if you base it historically - they will continue to provocate," Mullen told reporters after arriving in Beijing.
"The provocations I think now are potentially more dangerous than they have been in the past."
Tensions in Northeast Asia have risen sharply since South Korea accused the North of torpedoing a warship in March 2010, killing 46 sailors.
Pyongyang angrily denied the charge but went on to shell a border island in November, killing four South Koreans including two civilians.
Six-party nuclear disarmament talks, grouping the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States, have been stalled since the North abandoned them in April 2009. It staged its second nuclear test a month later.
"All of us are focused on a stable outcome here of what is increasingly a difficult challenge with respect to the leadership in North Korea and what it might do," Mullen said.
"The Chinese leadership, they have a strong relationship with the leadership in Pyongyang and they exercise that routinely ... continuing to do that as they have done in the past is really important."
On a four-day trip to China, Mullen said he would discuss that and other issues in talks with his counterpart Gen. Chen Bingde and while visiting military bases as the two nations seek to bolster their security cooperation.
"The United States is deepening its commitment to this region and the alliances and partnerships that define our presence there," Mullen said in a speech at Beijing's Renmin University.
"We are, and will remain, a Pacific power, just as China is a Pacific power."
To help build trust with China, the U.S. will conduct anti-piracy drills with China in the Gulf of Aden this year, host medical aid exercises and participate in joint disaster relief exercises next year, he said.
"This region and the global challenges that we face together are just too vital and too vast for us to continue to find obstacles to a better understanding of each other," Mullen told reporters.
The trip coincided with a joint naval exercise that began July 9 with the U.S., Japanese and Australian navies in the South China Sea, where recent Chinese assertiveness over territorial claims has raised tensions.
During his trip, the first to China by a U.S. chairman of the joint chiefs since 2007, Mullen said he would also discuss the Taiwan issue, stability in the South China Sea and confidence-building measures between the two nations.
"Containing China is not the case ... we would like to see China in the long run to be a strong partner with the United States to resolve some of the issues that we have got both regionally and globally," Mullen said.
As tensions in the South China Sea mount, China-U.S. military exchanges have also picked up, with the former US Defense Secretary Robert Gates meeting Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guanglie in Singapore in June.
Gates also visited Beijing in January.
Gates warned last month that clashes could erupt in the South China Sea unless nations adopt a mechanism to settle their territorial disputes peacefully.
Mullen dismissed suggestions that wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya had left the U.S. military unable to play a strong role in the Pacific, describing the idea of America in decline as "just dead wrong."

Sweden Continues Investment in Gripen for 2011

HELSINKI - The Swedish government has opted to continue state funding for further development and maintenance work on the Gripen fighter aircraft program, approving $163 million in spending this year.
The tasks covered by the funding include technical support, product maintenance, flight testing and flight simulator operation to ensure the Gripen's operational capability.

Under this latest contract-specific funding scheme run by state defense material development and procurement agency FMV, aircraft maker Saab will develop continual maintenance and updates for the Gripen C/D in compliance with the Swedish Armed Forces' long-term plan for the aircraft.
Moreover, the funding covers research work to further develop the Gripen's capability. This work includes renewed testing and verification of the Gripen system with the aim of strengthening the Gripen C/D's operational capability.
The $163 million is the latest capital investment by the Swedish government in the Gripen's development. In June, the FMV awarded Saab a $24 million contract covering advanced development of the Gripen C/D, to include delivering an enhanced function of the multirole aircraft navigation system by 2013.
Saab has obtained a number of other Gripen development projects, with a combined value of more than $50 million, from the FMV since January. These range from upgrade tasks to modification of materials used in the Gripen C/D's sub-systems.
Sweden's move to continue state investment in the Gripen comes as the government strives to increase the aircraft's international sales potential by highlighting Gripen's in-theater operational capabilities, demonstrated during Operation Unified Protector in Libya.
The Gripen has clocked more than 160,000 flight hours with the Swedish Air Force eight-fighter squadron in Libya since the end of March, with operations mainly centered on daily reconnaissance and air supremacy missions.
Upgrades to the existing Gripen C/D fleet include integration of two new weapons. In May, South African company Denel Dynamics completed the integration of the A-Darter fifth generation air-to-air missile on Gripen. Saab is integrating Small Diameter Bombs on the aircraf at the Swedish Air Force's test range in Vidsel, Sweden.

Italy Removes Aircraft Carrier from Libya Campaign

ROME - Italy is withdrawing its aircraft carrier the Garibaldi from NATO's operation in Libya to cut 80 million euros ($114 million) in costs, a minister announced July 6.
They also planned to pull out another ship from the mission.

"We have cut back costs in Libya, from 142 million euros forecast in the first half of the year to less than 60 million for the second half," Defense Minister Ignazio La Russa said after a government meeting.
The news came after Italy's Cabinet moved to cut spending military spending.
The plan had been drawn up to pull the Garibaldi, its three fighter jets and 1,000 personnel out of the mission as they were "no longer necessary", La Russa said.
The Garibaldi would be replaced by a smaller boat and other planes from military bases would be used, he added.
Another ship would also be withdrawn from the mission as well, he added without elaborating.
Italy has several ships and eight planes deployed in NATO's mission against Libya's Col. Moammar Gadhafi. Seven of its air bases are also used by other members of the coalition.
With Italy grappling a financial crisis that has forced it to pass a series of austerity cuts, the government on July 6 said it had decided to gradually reduce its military operations abroad.
Italy has troops deployed in Afghanistan, Lebanon and Kosovo and is involved in NATO's military operations in Libya, despite the objections of the anti-immigrant Northern League party, Berlusconi's coalition ally.
The League, lead by populist Umberto Bossi, has called for a dramatic reduction in Italy's military presence abroad to free up public funds.
Some 7,200 Italian troops were deployed in 28 countries as of June 30, according to the defense ministry website: 4,200 troops in Afghanistan, 1,700 in Lebanon and 650 in the Balkans.
The finance ministry said July 6 it aimed to save 40 billion euros ($57.1 billion) over the next four years.

Russia, NATO Remain At Odds Over Libya Campaign

SOCHI, Russia - Russia and NATO on July 4 said they were still at odds over the air campaign in Libya after talks between Russian leaders and NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, third from left, speaks with NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen, fifth from left, during the Russia-NATO Council meeting July 4 in Sochi, Russia. (Mikhail Mordasov / Agence France-Presse)

"So far, there is no common understanding over how the resolution is being implemented," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, referring to the U.N. Security Council resolution that paved the way for the air campaign.

Lavrov and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev earlier held talks with Rasmussen in this Black Sea city in a bid to overcome their differences and find a peaceful solution to the Libya crisis.
Lavrov said they were also joined by South African President Jacob Zuma, who earlier had a bilateral meeting with Medvedev and like Russia wants a peaceful solution to the conflict.
Russia abstained in the resolution vote at the Security Council but has since expressed growing anger over the duration and intensity of the NATO-led air strikes against targets of Moammar Gadhafi's Libyan regime.
Last week Russia was particularly angered by a direct French arms drop to rebels fighting Gadhafi's forces and the two sides made no attempt to hide their differences after the Sochi talks.
"We consider the arms embargo [under the U.N. Security Council resolution] to be unambiguous," Lavrov said. "Any weapons deliveries are a violation of the resolution," he added.
"They [NATO] have a different opinion - that the resolution can let anyone do anything."
Rasmussen vehemently defended the arms drop and said it was in line with the resolution.
"The delivery of weapons has taken place as part of protection of civilians and the ability to protect themselves against attacks," he said.
"So far we have successfully implemented the resolution."

Libya Rebels To Meet NATO, EU Chiefs Next Week

BRUSSELS - Libyan rebels will hold meetings with NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen and European Union president Herman Van Rompuy in Brussels next week, NATO and EU diplomats told AFP on July 5.
Rasmussen has invited the rebel representatives for a meeting at alliance headquarters for the first time on July 13, a NATO diplomat said. The gathering was agreed by ambassadors of the 28-nation alliance.

"NATO countries agreed to invite the rebels because there is no NATO representation in Benghazi yet," the diplomat said on condition of anonymity, referring to the rebel bastion in eastern Libya.
Separately, a European diplomat said a member of the National Transitional Council (NTC) will meet Van Rompuy next week. The NTC official may also meet European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso in the middle of next week.
Although the 27-nation EU has opened a mission in Benghazi, NATO does not have an office there.
NATO officials declined to confirm whether Rasmussen had invited the rebels but noted he has met NTC officials at overseas meetings of the international contact group on Libya.
"NATO has had contacts with the (NTC) as part of the broad international efforts to find a solution to the Libya crisis," a NATO official said.
"For instance the secretary general has met representatives of the (NTC) in the context of the contact group. Such meetings have taken place and will continue to take place," the official said.
Several NATO nations, including the United States, Britain and France, have recognized the NTC as the legitimate representative of the Libyan people.
Turkey became the latest alliance member to recognize them on July 4.

France Denies Giving Libya Rebels Anti-Tank Missiles

PARIS - The French military on June 30 denied supplying anti-tank missiles to rebels fighting Libyan Moammar Gadhafi's regime, though it admitted parachuting light arms to them.

"No Milan anti-tank missiles have been parachuted into Jebel Nafusa," a region southeast of Tripoli, France's top military spokesman Thierry Burkhard said, referring to earlier reports.

Le Figaro newspaper and a well-placed non-government source said France dropped several tons of arms including Milan anti-tank missiles and light armored vehicles.

Burkhard said France had only supplied "light arms" including machine guns and rocket launchers.

He had said on June 29 that French officials had delivered small arms while carrying out humanitarian aid operations to help local populations under threat from Gadhafi's troops.

"It appeared that in certain zones the security situation was extremely tense for these undefended populations," so France gave them "the means to defend themselves, light arms and ammunition," he added June 30.

France's ambassador to the United Nations said June 29 the delivery of arms to rebels did not breach the U.N. resolution that mandated intervention to protect civilians, which also established an embargo on arms to Libya.

Article 4 of Resolution 1973 specified that allowances to the arms embargo can be allowed if in the interest of protecting civilians.

Panetta Takes Reins as Pentagon Chief

WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Leon Panetta vowed July 1 to keep the U.S. military the "best" in the world despite mounting budget pressures, after being sworn in as the new Pentagon chief.
"As your leader, I will ensure that our nation continues to have the best-trained, best-equipped, and strongest military in the world - a force prepared to confront the challenges that face us," Panetta wrote in his first message to troops after taking the oath of office at the Defense Department. "Even as the United States addresses fiscal challenges at home, there will be no hollow force on my watch."

Panetta succeeds Robert Gates, who won praise from Republicans and Democrats during his 4½ years on the job.
Panetta assumes office amid growing calls to rein in government spending, with an increasing number of lawmakers saying the massive defense budget can no longer be excluded from cutbacks.
Acknowledging "tough budget choices" on the horizon, Panetta said: "We must preserve the excellence and superiority of our military while looking for ways to identify savings."
The proposed defense budget for 2012 is about $671 billion, including $118 billion for the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
With a gradual transfer to Afghan forces due to begin this year, Panetta said the U.S. "must remain committed to working closely with our Afghan and international partners to ensure that it never again becomes a safe haven for al-Qaida and its militant allies."
On Iraq, he said the U.S. will need "to reinforce that responsibility, for the future security of Iraq must belong to the Iraqis themselves."
Panetta, however, made no mention of NATO-led air operations in Libya launched in March.
Some lawmakers have accused President Barack Obama of overstepping his legal authority in the Libya conflict, which has proved unpopular with Americans. But the Obama administration has argued the U.S. is playing a limited, supporting role in the operation.
At his swearing-in ceremony, Panetta also pledged to "protect" U.S. troops, according to military spokesman Marine Col. Dave Lapan.
Panetta was quoted as saying there was "no higher responsibility for a secretary of defense than to protect those who are protecting America."
Panetta, 73, is the oldest incoming U.S. secretary of defense and the first Democrat to hold the job since William Perry in 1997. He stepped down as head of the CIA to take the Pentagon job

Gates: NATO Allies Must Pool Funds or Face Decline

WASHINGTON - European members of NATO need to pool their defense funds to bolster their declining military power, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates says.
The Libya air war has exposed serious shortcomings among NATO allies and European governments will have to agree on joint defense budget priorities to rectify the problem, Gates told AFP in an interview.

The Pentagon chief, who is due to retire this week after more than four years in the post, reiterated views he expressed in a blunt speech in Brussels earlier this month, in which he warned the alliance faced a potentially "dismal" future.
"The truth is, as I said in Brussels, there is a lot of military capability and a lot of money being spent in Europe," Gates said on Thursday.
"The problem is, is how it's being spent, and not a sufficient acknowledgement that every nation in NATO can't have a full spectrum capability militarily," he said.
European allies are spending more than $300 billion on defense, but often in an uncoordinated manner, he said.
"So at one point do countries begin to pool their resources, begin to pool their capabilities and say, together they can do this?" he said.
Gates added there are "several countries, and I'm not going to name any names, that can't afford F-16s (fighter jets), but they can pool their resources as they have on the C-17s, the cargo planes, then they have a real capability."
He said he was urging "greater integration within NATO."
In his Brussels speech on June 10, Gates said that many NATO members did not have the military resources to participate in the Libya air campaign and that failure to coordinate defense spending over the years had "short changed" operations.
He also warned that failing to pool funds and coordinate training and other efforts "bodes ill for ensuring NATO has the key common alliance capabilities of the future."
Gates' critique of NATO prompted a sharp response from French President Nicolas Sarkozy last week, who said the American defense secretary's comments reflected the "bitterness" of a future retiree.
"Mr. Gates was heading towards retirement and it gave him pleasure" to criticize the alliance, Sarkozy told a news conference Friday after a summit of European Union leaders in Brussels.
"You can't blame someone who's retiring for showing bitterness," he said, adding that what Gates said was "completely false."
The Pentagon chief's press secretary, Geoff Morrell, has declined to comment on Sarkozy's remarks.
In his Brussels address, Gates rebuked allies for what he called chronic underinvestment in defense, saying NATO members in the Libya campaign are running out of munitions and lacking surveillance aircraft and specialists to identify targets.
Senior British officers have warned that the Libya campaign is putting an increasing strain on the country's armed forces.

Sarkozy defends Libya Campaign

BRUSSELS - President Nicolas Sarkozy shrugged off criticism of the NATO-led campaign in Libya on June 24, saying the Western alliance should stay put until Moammar Gadhafi departs.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy addresses a press conference June 24 at a summit of the EU heads of state in Brussels. (Eric Feferberg / AFP via Getty Images)

As some alliance members pull out due to lack of assets, and NATO faces flak over the first civilian casualties in its three-month campaign, Sarkozy instead said at the close of a European Union summit that the campaign was making steady progress.

While skeptics had feared the campaign would get bogged down in the face of a counter-offensive by Gadhafi loyalists, "everyone can see Gadhafi's forces are retreating everywhere," he told a news conference.
"There is a general uprising of the population," he added. "There is progress."
"We will continue until Gadhafi's departure."
Meanwhile Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, whose foreign minister urged a halt in hostilities after NATO strikes last weekend claimed civilian lives, echoed that the campaign was squeezing Gadhafi's grip on power.
"Gadhafi is increasingly isolated," Berlusconi said. "He has been abandoned. No one can risk a forecast as to when he will leave power."
Amid mounting questions as to how the campaign will last and how much it might cost, Sarkozy said "the reason we're not moving faster is that we don't want mistakes."

U.S. Navy UAV Crashes In Recon Mission Over Libya

A U.S. Navy unmanned helicopter crashed while flying a reconnaissance mission over Libya on June 21, Navy and NATO officials said.
At 7:20 a.m. local time, the MQ-8B Fire Scout, which was flying over Libya's central coast, lost contact with a command center and crashed.

It is unclear exactly from where the unmanned helicopter was being controlled, where it was attached, or where it flew from. The Navy referred inquiries to NATO. NATO would not provide details about the aircraft's origin or operators. NATO, for its part, would only say that it was an unmanned aircraft that crashed on the coast and that an investigation is underway.
NATO has been using such craft to build up a "knowledge base," according to an Operation Unified Protector spokesman. NATO has used "a number of intelligence, surveillance, [and] reconnaissance platforms ranging from the whole spectrum available" including drones, since the organization began leading operations March 31, Royal Air Force Wing Commander Mike Bracken said at a news briefing in Naples, Italy.
The crash marked the first military hardware loss since NATO took over operations, and it was the second time the U.S. lost an aircraft in Libya. A U.S. Air Force F-15 Strike Eagle crashed on March 21, when the campaign was led by American, British and French forces. Crew members safely ejected and were rescued.
There have been previous control problems with Northrop Grumman's Fire Scout. During an Aug. 2 test flight from Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. operators lost their communication link to the aircraft. The unmanned helicopter flew for around 30 minutes toward Washington before entering restricted airspace. While the aircraft was around 40 miles outside the district, operators switched control to another ground station and regained command of the aircraft before directing it to Webster Field in southern Maryland. Navy officials blamed a software problem but said they developed a fix.

RQ-4B Variant Makes Combat Debut Early

PARIS - For the second year in a row, Northrop Grumman officials found themselves at a global air show explaining why the Global Hawk UAV wasn't performing up to Pentagon expectations.

ARTIST'S CONCEPTION OF autonomous aerial refueling between RQ-4 Global Hawks planned for late summer or fall. (Northrop Grumman)

In the wake of a DoD test report that noted deficiencies in nine areas, Northrop's top Global Hawk salesman, Edward Walby, took to a chalet podium at Paris Air Show 2011 to give the company's side of the story.

"When you have a system designed by engineers, made by a manufacturer, tested by evaluators, and certified by administrators, then you put it in the hands of troops, you get an entirely different picture," Walby said.

He was referring to the Global Hawk's unexpected deployments in March - to Japan to support the post-tsunami relief efforts, and to Libya to help U.S. and NATO operations against government troops. The operations catapulted the latest RQ-4B model, the Block 30, into real-world operations, where the aircraft produced performances that looked much better than the IOT&E report, Walby said.

For example, the testers watched the RQ-4 fly 19 sorties over 41 days, with mission effectiveness of 57 percent. But in "March Madness," as Northrop dubbed the intense first month of Libya/Japan ops, the UAVs flew 114 sorties in 45 days with a 92.1 percent mission effectiveness, Walby said. (See Northrop's Global Hawk briefing slides.)

That's a level of performance far beyond the expected for an aircraft that hasn't reached its formal acceptance into service.

"We're not supposed to be doing that yet," he said.

What made the difference? One major thing was simply the passage of time, Walby said. The IOT&E testers looked at aircraft with the mid-2010 equipment and software builds. Since then, Northrop has fixed a leaky oil pump and improved the software in various ways.

One Block 10 aircraft was aloft a total of 379 hours in March - more than half of the hours in the month. Over Japan, two Global Hawks passed in the air, demonstrating the first on-station swap. The post-tsunami ops also saw the operation debut of the Block 30 Global Hawk, whose 3,000-pound payload includes electro-optical/infrared cameras, radar, moving-target indicators, and signals intelligence gear.

Next up for the suddenly hyperactive Global Hawk?

■ Block 30 is slated to be declared initially operational in July.

■ The first Euro Hawk, now finishing up testing at Edwards AFP, Calif., is slated to fly over to Germany later this summer.

■ Two Global Hawks are to attempt the world's first autonomous aerial refueling between UAVs in late summer or early autumn.

Italy May Consider Final Date of Libya Mission: Minister

ROME - Italy may begin thinking about a date for the end of its active duty in Libya after the three-month period of its commitment in the conflict is over, its defense minister said in an interview June 18.
"What I'm saying is that thinking about a final date for our active participation could lead our British, French and U.S. allies to look for a diplomatic solution to the crisis," Ignazio La Russa told the Corriere della Sera newspaper.

La Russa said that both Italy's government and parliament should be involved in the process.
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's center-right coalition government is riven by tensions after the small but influential anti-immigration Northern League called for a halt to Italy's participation in NATO air raids in Libya.
La Russa said that whatever Italy's position after the three-month period Rome would continue to make its military bases available for allied operations.
He also denied assertions by the Northern League that Italy's participation in the Libya campaign had caused an influx of refugees from North Africa across the Mediterranean Sea, which he said would have happened anyway.
The overwhelming majority of the estimated 11,000 Africans who have arrived in Italy from Libya are protected by the Geneva Convention and cannot be repatriated.
According to figures released June 17, only 60 of the 11,000 were Libyan.
Very few of the estimated 900,000 people who have fled fighting between the NATO-backed rebellion and forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi have ended up in Europe, Antonio Guterres, the head of the U.N. refugee agency, said Wednesday.
The Libyan regime and the country's former colonial ruler Italy signed a pact in August 2008 on tackling illegal migration which have seen the number of clandestine arrivals decline by 94 percent.
Under-pressure Gadhafi has threatened to spark a migration invasion of Europe.

Powers Unlock $1 Billion For Libya Rebels

TRIPOLI, Libya - Key powers have vowed to unlock a billion dollars for hard-pressed Libyan rebels in talks to map out a "post-Gadhafi Libya" as a fresh volley of NATO air strikes rocked the capital on June 10.
Mikhail Margelov, the special envoy of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, meanwhile said he was preparing to visit Tripoli to find a solution to the Libya conflict after meeting the opposition in their Benghazi stronghold.

Libya's former foreign minister, Abdurrahman Shalgam, said the rebel National Transitional Council needed at least $3 billion over the next four months to pay its expenses as it battles to oust Moammar Gadhafi.
In a boost to the opposition, the United States joined Australia and Spain in recognizing the NTC as the legitimate representative of the Libyan people, with pressure mounting on the veteran leader to step down.
"Gadhafi's days are numbered. We are working with our international partners through the UN to plan for the inevitable: a post-Gadhafi Libya," U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told talks in Abu Dhabi on June 9.
"Time is on our side," the chief U.S. diplomat said, adding international military, economic and political pressure was mounting on the Libyan colonel to abandon his four decades in power at the helm of the north African nation.
Clinton was meeting counterparts from NATO and other countries participating in the air strikes against Gadhafi's forces for a third round of Libya talks.
The chief U.S. diplomat said later that "people close to Gadhafi" have been making continuous contacts with many different interlocutors about the "potential for a transition" to a new regime.
"There is not a clear way forward yet," she told a news conference, also referring to the NTC as "the legitimate interlocutor" of the Libyan people.
Clinton offered no direct U.S. financial contribution to the rebels, pledging instead another "$26.5 million to help all the victims of this conflict, including Libyan refugees."
Such money will likely be distributed through relief agencies.
But Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said Rome would provide the rebel council with loans and fuel products worth 300 to 400 million euros ($438 million to $584 million). And his French counterpart, Alain Juppe, said Paris would release 290 million euros ($420.9 million) of frozen Libyan funds for the NTC.
In a sign of the continued pressure on the Gadhafi regime, a fresh wave of NATO air strikes hit the Libyan capital very early June 10, with three strong explosions shaking central Tripoli at around midnight. Other more distant explosions followed.
In the past two days, Tripoli has been targeted by the most intense NATO air raids since the international military campaign began on March 19.
The nominee to be the next U.S. defense secretary, Leon Panetta, said the sustained economic, diplomatic and military pressure would likely lead Gadhafi to step down.
"I think there are some signs that - if we continue the pressure, if we stick with it - that ultimately Gadhafi will step down," Panetta told U.S. lawmakers.
"Frankly, I think there are gains that have been made. We have seen the regime weakened significantly. We have seen the opposition make gains, both in the east and the west."
Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade urged Gadhafi to step down as he became the first head of state to visit the rebels' bastion of Benghazi in eastern Libya.
"I look at you in the eyes... the sooner you go, the better," Wade said.
A member of the NTC said on the sidelines of the Abu Dhabi meeting that an international fund aimed at helping Libya's rebels had "become operational" from Thursday.
A State Department official later told reporters "we have got commitments of something about $300 million that came out of today's meeting," including $180 million from Kuwait and $100 million from Qatar.
In Moscow, envoy Margelov called on Gadhafi to step down, saying the Libyan leader needs to take a "responsible, courageous decision about his future."
"I am now involved in preparations for a Tripoli trip," he told reporters after returning from his visit to rebel-held eastern Libya and Egypt.
Margelov said Medvedev had not ordered him to meet Gadhafi and instead planned to hold talks with the Libyan prime minister and foreign minister. He did not give any details on when the trip would take place but said the Russian side was waiting for NATO to arrange a transport corridor so that the visit could go ahead in full security.

Gates Laments NATO's Military, Political Flaws

BRUSSELS - In his last official policy speech at the end of an 11-day tour, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates lambasted NATO for its shortcomings in terms of military capabilities and political will in Afghanistan.
In a speech at a high-level Security and Defence Agenda think-tank event in Brussels, Gates cited helicopters, transport aircraft, surveillance and reconnaissance, and intelligence as areas where NATO has struggled. Gates added that "similar shortcomings in capability and political will had the potential to jeopardize the NATO air and sea campaign in Libya."

Although NATO has achieved its initial objectives of grounding Libya's air force and reducing Moammar Gadhafi's ability to attack civilian populations, Gates said fewer than one-third of NATO allies had taken part in airstrike missions. "In the Libya operation, many allies are running short of munitions, requiring the U.S. to make up the deficit," he added.
Gates also said the emergence of a "two-tier alliance" of peacekeepers and those doing the hard combat missions is unacceptable.
Describing himself as the last senior leader to be a product of the Cold War, Gates issued a stark warning to European leaders: "The emotional and historical attachment U.S. leaders had with allies is ageing out. Decisions and choices [in the future] will be made more on what is in the best interests of the U.S. The drift of the last 20 years can't continue if we want a strong trans-Atlantic relationship."
Gates also noted that only five of the 28 NATO allies currently exceeded the agreed NATO benchmark of spending 2 percent of GDP on defense. "Regrettably, the situation is highly unlikely to change. The question is how these dwindling resources are allocated," he said.
NATO should do more to pool and share resources, he added. "We should be alert to areas for trans-Atlantic cooperation, but there is a rich agenda for pooling in Europe that should get attention first," he said.
Both NATO and the European Defence Agency are currently working on potential areas for pooling and sharing. Gates cited NATO's Strategic Airlift Initiative and its Allied Ground Surveillance System as good examples of cooperation.
He said the U.S. has no problem with Europe's efforts to build up its own equipment defense market and that a robust industrial capability between the U.S. and its allies is very important.
Gates also said the U.S. government was looking at dramatic cuts in a wide range of programs. "Defense will have to bear some of that burden," he said.
Introducing Gates to the audience, former NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer called for solidarity from NATO countries. He lamented the "uncoordinated budget cuts we're witnessing in NATO and the EU" and the lack of balance in burden-sharing between the U.S. and European allies.

Danish Planes in Libya Running Out of Bombs: Report

COPENHAGEN - The Danish military forces operating in Libya are running out of bombs for their F-16 fighter jets and have asked the Netherlands to help replenish their stock, a report said June 9.
"The Danish F-16s are about to run out of bombs to continue to attack Libya," the Politiken daily said, citing unnamed defense sources.

"The Danish military has therefore asked Holland for help," it added.
A spokesman for the Danish military's logistics division did not confirm the report but said his department was speaking to other coalition partners about supplies.
"It is our job to always support operations in the short, medium and long-term and we always have a close cooperation with our F-16 partnership countries, in particular Norway and the Netherlands," Anders Paaskesen of the Danish Defence Acquisition and Logistics Organisation told AFP.
Denmark was one of the first countries to offer air assets for the international air campaign to protect Libyan civilians from Moammar Gadhafi's forces.
Its fighter jets have been participating in the mission since March 20.
Denmark has six F-16 jets stationed at the Signonella base of the Italian island of Sicily, four of which are operational at any given time.
Since operations began, the Danish jets have carried out 274 sorties and dropped 494 precision bombs, Inge Borggaard of the Air Force Tactical Command told AFP.

NATO Pressures Allies To Boost Libya Mission

BRUSSELS - NATO's leadership pressed allies Wednesday to step up their contributions to the Libyan air war to finally dislodge Moammar Gadhafi and begin planning for the day after his downfall.
After three months of air strikes, defense ministers meeting in Brussels said time was working against Gadhafi and urged the defiant colonel to finally step down.

"All ministers agreed we will keep up the pressure for as long as it takes to bring this to an early conclusion," NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told a news conference.
The ministers issued a joint statement pledging their determination to continue the mission "for as long as necessary."
They also said they were "committed to providing the necessary means and maximum operational flexibility within our mandate to sustain these efforts and welcome additional contributions to our common efforts."
With only half of 28 NATO allies taking part in the mission, Rasmussen and British Defence Secretary Liam Fox called on members to step up their participation.
"We want to see increased urgency in some quarters in terms of Libya," Fox said.
Only nine nations are conducting air strikes, with France and Britain carrying out the bulk of the attacks, including with helicopter gunships.
After NATO extended the mission by 90 days through September, Rasmussen said he had encouraged other allies "to broaden" their support of the mission to ensure the "sustainability" of the operation.
A senior U.S. official said this week he did not see any "danger" of the mission losing steam yet but that air crews were beginning to show signs of fatigue.
Spanish Defence Minister Carme Chacon, whose country is participating in the operation but not in air raids, said no other nations came forward with new contributions.
Sweden, a non-NATO nation taking part in the operation, decided to cut the number of fighter jets enforcing a no-fly zone from eight to five, although it lifted restrictions on what type of surveillance mission they can carry out.
Norway, among only eight NATO members conducting air strikes, has said that it would reduce its role if the mission goes past June.
As the ministers met, a wave of air strikes battered Tripoli again early June 8, piling pressure on Gadhafi, who in an audio broadcast said he was "near" the bombing but vowed never to surrender. The Libyan regime said 31 people were killed on Tuesday but NATO said it had no way to verify the claim.
"Time is working against Gadhafi, who has clearly lost all legitimacy and therefore needs to step down," the ministers said. "There is no future for a regime that has systematically threatened and attacked its own population."
NATO said it stood ready to play a role, if requested and necessary, once Gadhafi steps down but that such an effort should be initiated by the United Nations and the international contact group on Libya.
"The time has come to plan for the day after the conflict," Rasmussen said.
The alliance chief said he did not foresee "a leading role" for NATO and ruled out alliance ground forces in a post-Kadhafi Libya.
"We see the United Nations playing the lead role in the post-Kadhafi, post-conflict scenario," said Rasmussen, who has suggested that NATO could focus on helping reform Libya's defence and security institutions.
U.S. Adm. Samuel Locklear, a senior NATO commander, suggested last week that a small ground force might be necessary after Gadhafi leaves power. The troops, he added, could be provided by the U.N., the European Union or NATO.