Former USAF Chief of Staff and 6000 hour fighter pilot General Merrill McPeak on the problems of a Libyan No-Fly Zone, as quoted in The New York Times:
“I can’t imagine an easier military problem. If we can’t impose a no-fly zone over a not even third-rate military power like Libya, then we ought to take a hell of a lot of our military budget and spend it on something usable. Just flying a few jets across the top of the friendlies would probably be enough to ground the Libyan Air Force, which is the objective.”
2 thoughts on “The No-Fly Problem.”
@SK: France alone has 306 Dassault fighters, without counting the assets of the Aéronavale. Libya has 1 Dassault Mirage and about 130 Mig-21 and 23 trainer/interceptors, most of which are rumoured to be grounded. The EU definitely has the capability.
[Figures from Wikipedia, which can usually be trusted on things like this. Military aircraft heads are like trainspotters, except with added explosions]
It’s not a military problem, it’s a political one. Obama wasn’t elected to get the US involved in a 3rd Middle Eastern country in 10 years. And the Europeans won’t go without their involvement (they probably don’t have the capability anyway).
@SK: France alone has 306 Dassault fighters, without counting the assets of the Aéronavale. Libya has 1 Dassault Mirage and about 130 Mig-21 and 23 trainer/interceptors, most of which are rumoured to be grounded. The EU definitely has the capability.
[Figures from Wikipedia, which can usually be trusted on things like this. Military aircraft heads are like trainspotters, except with added explosions]
It’s not a military problem, it’s a political one. Obama wasn’t elected to get the US involved in a 3rd Middle Eastern country in 10 years. And the Europeans won’t go without their involvement (they probably don’t have the capability anyway).