RAF bombs Libyan frigate
RAF jets successfully bombed a Libyan frigate in Tripoli harbour this week, along with various other key targets of forces loyal to Colonel Gaddafi.
In the early hours of Monday morning, RAF Tornado and Typhoon aircraft conducted precision strikes on an ammunition and vehicle depot, and a military communications facility, both near Zlitan.
An armed reconnaissance patrol over Brega, in the east of the country, identified and destroyed two armed pick-up trucks.
Overnight on 8-9 August, RAF jets successfully bombed a Libyan frigate in Tripoli harbour. The ship had been damaged previously by NATO air strikes, but careful battle damage assessment indicated that the ship retained an offensive capability.
The RAF strike inflicted further serious damage and left the vessel taking on water.
UK aircraft also attacked a command and control node and a weapons depot in Bir al-Ghanam in the Djebel Nafousa, and a staging post in Zlitan.
On Tuesday night, an RAF patrol returned to Zlitan and conducted a precision strike on a barracks and military staging post.
While yesterday an armed reconnaissance patrol identified and destroyed an armed truck at Al Aziziyah near Tripoli.
And last night, Tornado GR4s launched from RAF Marham in Norfolk. Supported by VC10 and TriStar tankers, they flew south across Europe and the Mediterranean to launch a large salvo of Storm Shadow precision guided missiles at command bunkers near Sebha, 700km south of Tripoli, out in the Sahara.
They landed at Gioia del Colle after a mission lasting seven hours, and will in due course recover back to Marham.
These and other NATO operations were supported by a large force of essential support aircraft, including RAF VC10s, TriStars, Sentries and Sentinels, and the Fleet Air Arm’s Sea King Airborne Surveillance and Control helicopters.
See video footage from gun cameras onboard British Army Apache attack helicopters recorded on 6 August 2011 during strikes on military facilities of the former Gaddafi regime at Al-Watiya in western Libya.**