You do realize that CIA has JTACs embedded with the rebels? CIA did the same thing when the Northern Alliance chased the Taliban out of Afghanistan in 2003, except USAF responded in a timely manner with JDAMs dropped from B-52s.

Well yeah, I kind of hinted before that there is a majority special forces on the ground in Libya, or I should say, theres likely to be such on the ground – I don’t want to sound like I’m officially confirming it. It was “confirmed(ish)” when the RAF went deep into Libya to destroy a particular target(s) only to be informed by the SAS that the mission must be aborted. Thats what more or less was reported.

The situation in Afghanistan 2003 – present (and WWII) is a totally different thing, for one theres a bucket load of our troops able to do this kind of work, FAC. A lot more trained professionals to do the job and not a small number of SAS, CIA chaps & to make things more risky, the cities/towns in Libya are a hell of a lot more built up than they are in Afghanistan. Theres a lot more civilians bunched up in areas, the Rebel groups are full of & riddled with Gaddafi’s goons and they’re posing as civilians and Rebels themselves, so when an air-strike is due, these things have to be taken into consideration.

A Rebel tank position has been reported to have been destroyed by Coalition aircraft, 13 killed & many more injured. And this is the thing you see, its not as easy as one thinks, theres a lot to think about. Of course, they can tell if its a tank position or not, the tricky bit is is figureing out if they’re Rebels are Gaddafi’s.

Also been reported that the British plan to send the Rebels communications equipment, a very good idea but even this has its potential problems. As mentioned before, the Rebels are riddled with Gaddafi’s troops and if these communication systems get into their hands, well. I’ll let you think of what might happen.

Are you serious?

A late airstrike is the same as no airstrike.

The target set isn’t an immobile city like Hamburg in 1944 where Bomber Command can take its sweet time. After all, Hamburg would still be in the same location next week, next month or next year.

The target set in Libya is Qadaffi’s mobile infantry, artillery, rocket launchers and tanks. They will move to a new location before NATO can complete the kill chain and drop bombs on empty desert.

Eh? Which is why you need trained personell on the ground if you want particular mobile targets to be taken care of. The Rebels aren’t capable of doing this type of thing, most of them can’t aim an AK-47 let alone operate the equipment needed for FAC work. Because of that, the coalition are quite limited – if you like – to do this type of A/G without adequate FACs on the ground.

“A late air-strike is the same as no air-strike”.

Is that the same as being late for a worl…No, nevermind. 😀

My local Swedish newspaper says that the Gripens at Sigonella cannot fly at the moment because the correct fuel is not available. This reflects badly on the Swedish Air Force planners, to say the least!
My personal opinion is that Sweden should not have contributed these aircraft anyway, being a waste of my tax money. In fact I have been against the whole no fly concept from the start, and believe that the countries involved have opened a can of worms that will prove to be a damned nuisance for years to come.
No doubt I will get some flak for saying so, but as a Swedish taxpayer I feel entitled to voice my opinion.

You’re entitled to voice your opinion just as the rest of us are. You’ve said nothing to cause flak over.

The fuel thing is a bit, whoopsy-daisey, and might cause a few red faces for the planners of the Swedish Air Force & you might feel a bit cross that they’re being sent out to Libya of which, you think is a waste of money and in a way, still in two minds about, I kinda feel the same, especially now that the Rebels are a bit miffed off with NATO & Co but I’ll explain why in a moment, but, such as you and myself & many others, our voices aren’t heard to our governments so really the best we can do at the very least, is just keep our fingers crossed for our lads & lasses out there & hope they’re doing fine & keeping safe. At the end of the day, they don’t choose to go to these places, whether they like it or not.

About the Rebels complaining about the air-strikes. I see where they’re coming from but on the other hand, what more do they want? They requested air-strikes, they were late coming but they came, they requested they didn’t want or need foreign troops on the ground, fair enough we’re all happy with that – but I’ll bet any money that they’re getting some kind of help from a small majority of special forces such as the SAS on the ground, this has already been “hinted” when on one occasion a number of RAF Tornados had to aport a mission while operating from RAF Marham. The Rebels have been given a hell of a life line and if it weren’t for the coaltition air-strikes they’d be in so much sh*te if not dead already.

The coalitition have/are doing their part, they ought to do their part rather than fireing AK-47 rounds into the air like trigger happy muppets. They can’t expect CAS to be there when the say NOW because they don’t have the equipement to do so, and even if they did have such tech they wouldn’t know what to do with it because they’re not trained to operate the effin things let alone call in a complicated air-strike.

My uncle was trained/taught in the RM as a FAC later in his career and he reckoned it was a very complicated process, mentally, there is so much going on in your head and once you call the shots, you’ve got one hell of a responsibility, especially if you f**ck up!

So, give a guy that thinks its a good idea to hold a mortar under his arms while his mate attempts to load a round into it a chance to be a FAC? Would you trust him?…Hmmm…

A agree theres a majority of Rebels that know what they’re doing, but they come in small numbers.

Now, now play nice…LOL…Can’t say that, we’re partners now & we have to share things such as Aircraft Carriers…Oh dear…The punch ups are going to be unreal on those! Wonder how long it takes within 50 years before someone in RN decides to put a white flag up when its Frances turn to take the lead in commanding it for six months. 😀

Friendly banter, no harm intended. 😀

On a serious note: Speaking of the Tonka and Mirage, I’ve always believed these two would make the perfect combo; Tonka GR4s for A/G and Mirage for top cover.

Was reading in Air Forces Monthly today about the Tornado GR4 from Qinetiq, very, very little was mentioned of what they were up to as nobody knows, but they showed a picture of a Tornado GR4 with, what looked like,a 1500 litre “tank/pod” with a “lense” of some sort on the bottom of it. It looked like a recce pod but it didn’t say. Could have been anything.