Article

2011-05-24 Africa North

Brit attack helicopters to be deployed to Libya

Archived material is restricted to Rantburg regulars and members. If you need access email fred.pruitt=at=gmail.com with your nick to be added to the members list. There is no charge to join Rantburg as a member.

Posted by Steve White 2011-05-24 00:00|| || Front Page|| [4 views ] Top

#1 A helicopter carrier and it has THREE copters? Sheesh...
At first blush,'Sheesh' seems about right, but please remember that over the past couple of years Britian has repeatedly cut their military forces' hardware, parking all the Harriers, serious talks on-going about reducing the size of the F-35 buy, the EADS A400M transport is on life support, so having only 3 helos available is probably just enough to keep the aircrew current, or perhaps provide minimal SAR coverage.
If any of our British cousins can shed more light, please chime in.

Posted by USN,Ret. 2011-05-24 00:09|| 2011-05-24 00:09|| Front Page Top

#2 Most of an LPH helicopters would be for transport. A dozen transport and 4 attack helos would be a good complement for a small LPH.

Posted by Zebulon Thranter9685 2011-05-24 01:53|| 2011-05-24 01:53|| Front Page Top

#3 And the 'endgame' is.............?

Posted by Besoeker 2011-05-24 03:21|| 2011-05-24 03:21|| Front Page Top

#4 Military experts said deploying helicopters will make the Nato campaign more effective, but not without risks.

Risks!?! Gee...do ya think? Do you really think the Q-Team didn't anticipate this platform and might have a stash of Hot-Shots? Hows bout just a simple Heavy cal. sniper fired at a static target. And if ya'll think that golden-pellet RPG in close proximity thing is just in the movies - it ain't. There are enormous risks to this sort of engagement even when there's a clearly defined 'Military' mission. But there's a good chance that this muddlefuck inchoate strategy of half-measures and symbolic gestures is gonna get the NATO boys kilt while some Diploshit tries to get the AU or some other dysfunctional organization to broker a deal.

Welcome to "Strategic Leadership of the 21st Century".

Posted by DepotGuy 2011-05-24 10:31|| 2011-05-24 10:31|| Front Page Top

#5 Attack helicopters can go lower and slower than fighter bombers

Yes, but is that the good news or the bad news?

Posted by Matt 2011-05-24 10:58|| 2011-05-24 10:58|| Front Page Top

#6 Yes, but is that the good news or the bad news?

Yes.

A chopper can be booking it at 160 knots doing a NAP of the earth (Near As Possible) and by the time you hear it and look up, it has passed you. The downside is, if the pilot blinks, he is dead if he does it in a canyon.
I was in the 101st and I trust the rotory aircraft to get in, hit the target and vanish without being seen more than sending fixed wing aircraft to do the job. There are risks, but they can be well managed with a trained crew.

Posted by DarthVader 2011-05-24 11:43|| 2011-05-24 11:43|| Front Page Top

#7 Geez, a NATO clusterfuck a couple months in, and they start rolling out the *promise* of Apaches. This feels more and more like the '99 Kosovo war, take two.

This is going to end with Russian peacekeepers occupying the oil terminals, isn't it?

Posted by Mitch H. 2011-05-24 12:02|| http://blogfonte.blogspot.com/ 2011-05-24 12:02|| Front Page Top

#8 http://royalnavy.mod.uk/operations-and-support/surface-fleet/assault-ships/hms-ocean/photo-gallery/index.htm

Actually as fairly impressive ship, but the only one of its kind in the RN.

Posted by NoMoreBS 2011-05-24 12:51|| 2011-05-24 12:51|| Front Page Top

#9 And the 'endgame' is.............?

Good (if rhetorical) question.

Officially it'd be whatever objective listed in the UN resolution is. Considering that they tend to be more elastic than a Russian gymnnast, it could be Lebanon all over again.

Posted by Pappy 2011-05-24 13:05|| 2011-05-24 13:05|| Front Page Top

#10 And what is the ideology of the parties who the UK, etc seeks to defend? Remember what happened when Jimmah and Andrew Young thought it was smart to support mobs in iran? Onetime democracy is really dictatorship. Jimmah never learned that.

Posted by Flesing the Bald9034 2011-05-24 15:19|| 2011-05-24 15:19|| Front Page Top

#11 no matter who wins we will have too kill the fuckers off in the nd game.. At least we KNEW Qaddify was a quack and more than likely knew when he was gonna do his dirty work unlike the Lockerbie bombing.But anyway thank the Daily for letting everyone in Lybia including the targets that the apaches are coming.

Posted by chris 2011-05-24 20:34|| 2011-05-24 20:34|| Front Page Top

#12 no matter who wins we will have too kill the fuckers off in the nd game.. At least we KNEW Qaddify was a quack and more than likely knew when he was gonna do his dirty work unlike the Lockerbie bombing.But anyway thank the Daily for letting everyone in Lybia including the targets that the apaches are coming.

Posted by chris 2011-05-24 20:35|| 2011-05-24 20:35|| Front Page Top

#13 Collateral damage?

Chirping crickets? Strange is it not, the silence?

After all, this is not GAZA!!! We are HELPING our Mooslim friends. How can collateral damage be an issue against the enemies of Islam. Allen says they deserve death, right?

Posted by Besoeker 2011-05-24 20:41|| 2011-05-24 20:41|| Front Page Top

23:52 JosephMendiola
23:47 JosephMendiola
23:41 JosephMendiola
23:22 gorb
23:04 JosephMendiola
23:00 JosephMendiola
22:43 SteveS
22:36 tu3031
22:34 CrazyFool
22:32 tu3031
22:31 tu3031
22:30 CrazyFool
22:19 JosephMendiola
22:15 JosephMendiola
22:14 JosephMendiola
22:07 JosephMendiola
21:53 JosephMendiola
21:42 JosephMendiola
21:36 JosephMendiola
21:27 JohnQC
21:24 aidincguy
21:23 CincinnatusChili
21:21 JohnQC
21:17 Barbara Skolaut