Canada to send six CF-18s for Libya 'no-fly' mission

[Expat]

It seems the table has turned, as after the cease fire, we are powerless to monitor it, without boots on the ground, which was rejected at the SC.
Now what?

[bizjets101]

Ceasefire statement was a ruse - probably meant to buy time. Gaddafi's troops are currently attacking Benghazi.

Here is a BBC video clearly showing an Libyan Air Force Mig 23 Flogger shot down this morning,
March 19 - over Benghazi. Click Here for video.



March 19 2011 Benghazi Libya

[bizjets101]

These Canadian Armed Forces passed thru Prestwick Airport in Scotland late Friday night.
Note 7 F-18's not 6.

15004 CC150 Canadian AF CFC3815
734 F18 Canadian AF
756 F18 Canadian AF
759 F18 Canadian AF
769 F18 Canadian AF
15005 CC150 Canadian AF CFC3816
739 F18 Canadian AF
752 F18 Canadian AF
760 F18 Canadian AF
140101? CP140 Canadian AF

[Hedley]

Note 7 F-18's not 6

A wise move to bring a spare, when you're operating 30 year old airframes!

One has to wonder if the opposition parties, in their enthusiasm for Gaddafi's rule, will form another Stephanie Dion-style coalition and bring down the government with a non-confidence vote because of this prudent move?

[Lowjack]

These Canadian Armed Forces passed thru Prestwick Airport in Scotland late Friday night.
Note 7 F-18's not 6.

15004 CC150 Canadian AF CFC3815
734 F18 Canadian AF
756 F18 Canadian AF
759 F18 Canadian AF
769 F18 Canadian AF
15005 CC150 Canadian AF CFC3816
739 F18 Canadian AF
752 F18 Canadian AF
760 F18 Canadian AF
140101? CP140 Canadian AF

I also believe one of our C-17's was with them.

From twitter (@FMCNL):

Arrived at Prestwick Intl UK #EGPK Canadian Air Force CFC 3815, CFC3816 both CC-150, 7x Hornets CF-18, 1 P3 and 1 C-17

[2R]

How effective are the old soviet sam sites he used to bring down the F-111.How effective would they be against a thirty year old fighter from the same generation ?
Perhaps we will be getting some new fighters sooner than we expect ?
Especially if those anti-aircraft weapons have been upgraded since the 1986 use against the F-111's that made Ronald Reagan think twice about attacking Ghadaffi again.

[co-joe]

Out of curiosity, does anyone know which totalitarian dictatorship has let us use their country's air base to bomb Libya from?

[bizjets101]

USA at Aviano and Canada at Trapani both in Italy.

C-17 '703' arrived in the morning, Canadians departed to Trapani Airport, Italy

Click Here.

CC-130J 130604 was in Malta.

Seems France has taken the lead.

French Media and Al-Jazeera both reporting French military planes over flying Benghazi.
Three French C135FR's (B707) tankers over flying Italy - and as many as 25 French Rafale's and Mirage's have been sent. Also French aircraft carrier departing Sunday.

Mig 23 that was shot down this morning;

[TheCheez]

Amazing that these days an intelligence section can do better scouring the internet than getting out into the field themselves!

[Dash-Ate]

I'll bet the locals can't wait for the bombs to drop! Wake up, we part of a death cult.

Minerals, oil, this is that plan


U.S. Kills as many as 80 people in Pakistan

By Xinhua

March 18, 2011 "Xinhua" -- The death toll has kept rising as more information came in from the remote area with inadequate communication facilities. Some local media reports said the target of the U.S. drones is a house at a village in the Datta Khel area in which a meeting was being held by local Taliban militants while others reported that the target was actually a tribal "jirga" or council of elders to resolve dispute over the ownership of minerals in the mountains in North Waziristan tribal region.

According to a tribal elder who asked to remain anonymous in a telephone interview from Miranshah, center of North Waziristan, the tribesmen from Madda Khel tribe were holding a meeting at Nawai Adda area, some 25 kilometers from Miranshah, when two U.S. drones fired four missiles at the participants of the tribal council at 11:30 am (local time)

The elder said that the strike killed 41 people including six tribal elders and some children.

The injured were later transferred to the hospital in Miranshah and some of them were in critical condition, said hospital sources.

The tribal elder rejected the reports that the target was a meeting held by militants. He said that all were local tribesmen. He said that the Madda Khel tribe had sold a chromite mine on 8.8 million rupees (slightly over 100,000 US dollars) to a man and both parties later disagreed over the payment method and the jirga was called to settle the dispute.

Member of National Assembly from the region, Kamran Khan, condemned the drone strike and said that mostly innocent people were killed and injured in the Thursday's strike.


Pakistan Army Chief Condemns US Drone Strike That Killed 40 Civilians

By BNO News

March 18, 2011 "New Karla" -- RAWALPINDI, PAKISTAN : Pakistan's army chief on Thursday condemned the latest strikes by U.S. unmanned drones that killed at least 40 people and wounded 15 others in North Waziristan, the Associated Press of Pakistan reported.

"Pakistan Army has already launched a protest in the strongest possible terms. It has been highlighted clearly that such aggression against people of Pakistan is unjustified and intolerable under any circumstances," Chief of Army Staff, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, said.

Initial reports indicated that the U.S. unmanned aircraft launched six missile strikes targeting Taliban fighters in the Datta Khel area of the region, around 40 kilometers (24.8 miles) west of Miranshah and near the Afghan border. Later, media reports, including those from NBC News, said a residential area was hit where local elders were meeting.

The army chief said in a press release that it is highly regrettable that a jirga, or open-air meeting, of peaceful citizens including elders of the area was carelessly and callously targeted with complete disregard to human life, according to the Associated Press of Pakistan.

He added "in complete violation of human rights, such acts of violence take us away from our objective of elimination of terrorism. It is imperative to understand that this critical objective cannot be sacrificed for temporary tactical gains. Security of people of Pakistan, in any case, stands above all."

[iflyforpie]

Out of curiosity, does anyone know which totalitarian dictatorship has let us use their country's air base to bomb Libya from?

Greece, Spain, Italy, and Cyprus haven't been under totalitarian rule for many years now...

['India-Mike]

Your guys at Prestwick ......





Impressive to see a country that actually still has an air force

[Expat]

Latest news are that the MIG was flown by rebels, and shot down by government forces...

[GottaFly]

126818.jpg (534.29 KiB) Viewed 1575 times

Photo taken 2011/03/19 in Prestwick, Scotland. In the background you can see one of the CC-150s.

[midwingcrisis]

One other report stated Rebel flown shot down by accident by Rebel fighters. I wonder if there is a better side?!!

[20DMEYYZ]

maybe our 6 hornet's will fly alongside dutch f-16's to provide effective CAP as they are reporting the French have approx 20-25 acft in theatre and i believe the BBC reported the dutch were tasking asset's so i hope we get to fly with them again ! good luck to all the UN1973 personnel .

[C-GOYR]

As with the previous two countries that ousted their leader since this so called revolution has started; dictatorship has been replaced with chaos. With no leader and a plan for the future I find it hard to believe this is what the people envisioned when they started protesting. As with any tyrant, the citizens will welcome the west to free them from the wrath and when the aforementioned is accomplished; the west is still viewed as the imperial power trying to fight Islam. Let’s not kid ourselves, in Libya they are asking where is the west when they need help and to the men and women who will be administering that help, I wish you a safe return. In my opinion I think both the rebel army and the Libyan armed forces should have been covered in the SC discussions. Targeting Gaddafi’s troops is opening the back door for the rebels to take over. What do we do after that happens? It seems as though this resolution isn’t only to stop the army but to lend a hand in the removal of Gaddafi as well. By doing this are “we” facilitating the growing terroristic sentiments towards the west by going there? Will the SC be as eager to pass a resolution if this were to happen in Saudia Arabia? I guess it's a waiting game now.

Let’s hope your work there isn’t fruitless and the people show just a little appreciation. Hypothetically speaking, since we’re there to help the people, I wonder if “we” will have to return in the future to help if another repressive leader takes the reins. Let’s hope the ones we help today aren’t going to turn around and give us the ole screw job.

[Expat]

Interesting article about this very point: helping the Saudis...

http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/fe ... 88238.html



America's Saudi air war

A plan to train Saudi air force pilots in Idaho is turning former allies into bitter enemies.


Last December, amid the holiday rush, the US air force quietly announced that it had selected Mountain Home Air Force Base as the preferred location for the long-term training of a contingent of pilots and flight crews from the Saudi Royal Air Force as part of a $60bn arms deal between the US and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia announced that autumn.

Under the mammoth military package, Saudi Arabia is set to receive 84 new F-15E Strike Eagles - advanced fighter aircraft designed for air-to-air and air-to-ground combat missions. Capable of flying day or night in all weather conditions and reaching speeds in excess of twice the speed of sound, each F-15, packing missiles, bombs and a 20mm cannon, is a formidable weapon.

Under the air force's proposal, Saudi pilots will learn how to fly the advanced fighters at Mountain Home Air Force Base for five years, from 2014 to 2019, with the possibility of a longer commitment left open.

Money talks...

[MrWings]

One has to wonder if the opposition parties, in their enthusiasm for Gaddafi's rule, will form another Stephanie Dion-style coalition and bring down the government with a non-confidence vote because of this prudent move?

One doesn't have to wonder very long. All three opposition parties support the deployment.

Doesn't this 2008 Canadian Oil and Gas Trade Mission to Libya put the Harper government in the Gaddafi buddy category?

As for other things that might bring down the government, the contempt charge or the budget might do that.

[winds_in_flight_wtf]

UN just went full-out on Libya ...... jeeeez

[TG]

Interesting article about this very point: helping the Saudis...

http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/fe ... 88238.html

ah yes Expat! But I read this funny thing on PPrune:

I recall having a chat with an F-15 instructor a few years ago. He had just met the parents of his Saudi student who had just graduated the RTU course. "He taught me everything I know", the student said to his father.

"That's true", the instructor told me. "I taught him everything he knows. But he has no idea about everything I know."

[Romantic Lung]

-Putting politics aside.

Having the name Teacher, and the writing skill of a child with a learning disability seems ironic.
I don't know if your writing "style" is supposed to be a joke. If so, very funny.

-Back to the politics.

"If the US reinstated slavery".
Don't worry about that happening. Some more literate types would stand to loose A LOT of added value.
The Second American Revolution (Civil War), was not about morals.

And the civil-war unfolding in Libya, which has come about by entirely different circumstances, is not completely about morals. Recently there have been millions of people in the Arab world, who have fought intransigently for more democratic rights. Ousting 2 presidents in less than a month.

So the heirs of that Second American Revolution (the US) are vying to play an even greater role in the region, against their primary competitors on the other side of the Mediterranean. Who gets to make the first deal, with whatever type of government(s) develop in Libya, Egypt, Tunisia? Bahrain? Saudi Arabia??!!

And what Junior partner wants a piece of the action. Here's a hint. They're not a fan of Beef blockades nor softwood lumber blockades.

---------

Anyone know what happened to that downed fighter jet pilot? After-all, isn't this an aviation blog.

[Romantic Lung]

unique capabilities, allies, partners

so much food for thought:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQTKFBG3 ... ture=feedu

[Expat]

Planes taking part:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12785746

Shopping list???


Canada makes war planes...

[teacher]

Having the name Teacher, and the writing skill of a child with a learning disability seems ironic.
I don't know if your writing "style" is supposed to be a joke. If so, very funny.

I don't respond to childish adults with a lack of decency. Oops, I guess I just did.