UK sends more Tornado jets to Libya

David Cameron announces four more strike aircraft to target Gaddafi forces as US moves out of frontline operations David Cameron has announced an increase in the number of Tornado strike aircraft to be deployed to hit Muammar Gaddafi’s forces. The prime minister made the announcement during a two-hour visit to the Gioia del Colle air base in southern Italy where he thanked British air crews policing the Libyan no-fly zone. The increase came on the day the defence ministry announced the first round of armed forces redundancies , and the Air Chief Marshall, Sir Stephen Dalton, warned of overstretch and called for more money. The prime minister said the number of Tornado ground attack jets deployed to the base would rise from eight to 12, to beef up British strike capability. Sourced from RAF Marham in Norfolk, the jets will arrive in the next few days. The increase is partly due to the US moving out of Libyan frontline operations towards logistical and intelligence support, placing pressure on other countries to come forward. It is also intended as a signal to other Nato member countries to increase their contribution. Cameron praised the British pilots, telling reporters: “I want to say ‘well done’ and give a heartfelt thanks from the British public to the brave Tornado pilots and their crews who have done an incredible job in a short period of time to save, I think, thousands of lives in Benghazi and elsewhere. “The whole country should be proud of what they have done. They have responded incredibly quickly. They have flown many sorties and they have been extremely successful in holding back Gaddafi’s forces.” During the visit Cameron talked to 600 RAF crew, led by Group Captain Martin Sampson, and was briefed on the scale of the damage British fighters were inflicting on Gaddafi’s army. This has included the destruction of 10 armoured vehicles and three tanks at the weekend around the beseiged town of Sirte. Apart from the Tornado jets, Britain has 10 Typhoons engaged in its operations against Libya. Cameron said that, on the basis of briefings over the past 24 hours, he believed the Gaddafi regime was showing signs of stress and looking for a way out. But the government remains sceptical of the Libyan offers of ceasefires and will stick with previous statements made by the US president, Barack Obama, and his French counterpart, Nicolas Sarkozy, that no ceasefire offer will be taken seriously unless it includes a verifiable withdrawal of forces from rebel-held coastal towns. Shadow Defence secretary Jim Murphy said: “I am glad that the Prime Minister is rightly meeting our forces in Italy but there will be real anger amongst forces families that at the same time back home his ministers have announced the redundancy of many service personnel.” Speaking over the roar of two Tornado jets returning from a seven-hour mission over Libya, Wing Commander Andy Turk said: “We will be here for as long as it takes and we are well on the road to that”. Asked about the increase in Tornado fighter jets coming to the base he said: “We are rebalancing the number of offensive assets. We have control of the air and we are now refocusing on control of the ground. It is routine as an operation progress – it is all about protecting civilians.” Turk was the navigator on the first bombing flight out of RAF Marsham at the start of the Libyan operation. Cameron also spoke to Typhoon crew that had returned to base 10 minutes earlier. Cameron told the pilots “You are having an enormous impact. I know we have got to keep the pressure up. We are rightly saying no ground troops, no occupation, so it is less easy to know how the end game will work. “But the pressure you are putting on is giving every chance of some sort of Gaddafi-free future in Libya.” Libya Military Defence policy Arab and Middle East unrest Middle East Patrick Wintour guardian.co.uk

Posted by on April 4, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.