Word: libyans
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...more ways than one. Reagan also made his first public comment -a huzzah-on the news that two of those Navy F-14s had shot down two Soviet-made Libyan Su-22s over the Mediterranean off Libya's coastline (see WORLD). That had been a two-fisted, straight-shooting display of military decisiveness much in keeping with Reagan's desire to project American clout overseas...
...least twelve hours before U.S. F-14 fighters shot down two Libyan jets over the Gulf of Sidra, the Western White House of Ronald Reagan was alert to the possibility of an incident. By Wednesday, more than 40 Soviet-made SU-22s swarmed up from Libyan airfields to probe the U.S. Navy task force on maneuvers. There was even a subtle Soviet endorsement for the Libyan flights.The Soviet destroyer Kashin, which was only a few hundred yards away, trained its guns on ships in the task force, a direct violation of the safety-at-seas treaty signed...
...flew combat air patrol, or CAP in military parlance, watching for intruding aircraft and warning off the unwary. Since the landfall to the south was Libya, led by the unpredictable and often hostile Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, and since U.S. and French aircraft had been harassed over the Mediterranean by Libyan planes, the U.S. pilots were ready for trouble. To the north of the F-14s flew two carrier-based E-2C Hawkeye radar planes, smaller counterparts of the Air Force AWACS, spotting approaching aircraft and ships...
...Wednesday morning, the CAP had intercepted and waved off about 40 sorties by Libyan air force planes. Each time, U.S. F-14s rolled in beside the interlopers, and the Libyan planes turned and headed for home. Had the Libyans not done so, the American pilots would have had no choice but to escort them through the exercise area, however dangerous it might be, since the craft of both nations were over international waters...
Thus there was nothing surprising or particularly ominous about the approach, at 7 o'clock Wednesday morning, of another pair of Libyan aircraft from the south. The Hawkeyes detected them and radioed the CAP. Two silvery F-14s from the Nimitz swung south, spotted the Libyans on their radar, and moved in to identify them. As the two flights approached almost head on, one of the Soviet-built Su-22 planes fired an air-to-air Atoll missile at the F-14s. U.S. forces heard the pilot say in Arabic, "I have fired." He missed...