ST. LOUIS –Recent U.S. and NATO operations to enforce a no-fly zone over Libya, while fairly successful, also exemplified the need for improved communication and coordination between American military forces and their international allies, according to a top Navy officer.
Of the lessons learned from the ongoing Libyan operation, the need to bolster communication among the U.S. and international contingents carrying out attacks against Quaddafi’s forces stuck out the most, Capt. Mark Darrah, the Navy’s program manager for the F/A-18, said last week during a Boeing [BA] event here.
While coalition forces were on the same page for most, if not all of the no-fly zone enforcement mission–dubbed Operation Oddssey Dawn by the Pentagon–Darrah said the sheer numbers of ships, airplanes and other assets moving above and around Libya required a higher level of coordination among allied forces.
Darrah declined to go into details, in terms of what types of specific improvements were needed to bolster coordination in future coalition operations, but did point out that such adjustments were not unique to the Libyan mission. Rather, he noted, those adjustments would be beneficial in any current or future coalition campaign involving U.S. forces.
Aside from potential improvements to coalition cooperation, Darrah said after action service reviews of Navy-led operations did not show any glaring deficiencies or gaps, adding that Quaddafi’s anti-air capabilities was “nothing that we were not prepared for.”
Further, the F/A-18 program manager said that lessons learned from the Libya operation–particularly in anti-jamming missions against Libyan air defenses–would not impact service plans to field a new electronic jamming capability aboard its fleet electronic warfare fleet.
The next-generation jammer program, once developed, will replace the current ALQ-99 system aboard the Navy’s EA-18G Growler and EA-6B Prowler electronic warfare aircraft.
Since March, U.S. and NATO fighters and warships have pounded anti-aircraft positions within and closed off the skies above the North African nation to pro-government forces allied with Libyan strongman Col. Muammar Quaddafi. Forces loyal to the longtime dictator have been waging a brutal civil war against anti-government rebels looking to topple the Quaddafi regime.
American naval and air forces had been in the lead of the United Nations-mandated mission since operations began last month, only recently handing over control to NATO commanders in recent weeks.
However, since the handover, pro-Qaddafi forces have blugdeoned the ill-equipped and poorly organized rebel forces in Misurata and points east with blistering rocket and artillery attacks, beating those forces back toward the rebel stronghold of Benghazi.
The White House has approved the use of armed MQ-1 Predator unmanned aircraft to take out targets in the North African country.
The White House decision also comes as France, Italy and the United Kingdom announced they would begin sending liaison officers into Libya to help advise rebel forces.