Word: libyans
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What prevented the Libyan missiles from inflicting real damage was the fact that most of them were fired without radar guidance. "We forced the Libyans to turn off their radar," says Lehman. "If they turned them on to guide their missiles, they would get a HARM down the throat." Nor was any defense mounted by the Libyan air force, whose pilots are notoriously poor night flyers. Military intelligence intercepted a radio transmission of air force headquarters in Tripoli pleading with a base commander in Benghazi shortly before the attack to get his craft in the air. The commander's reply...
...slightest glitch. Five of the 18 F-111 craft developed such malfunctions, probably in their radar targeting equipment, as did two of the carrier-based A-6 craft. Pentagon officials rightly maintain that the rules of engagement in wartime would not be as stringent as those for the Libyan mission, but the high rate of even minor malfunctions is hardly encouraging...
...bomb run completed, U.S. craft lifted quickly out of the Libyan light show and headed north. For the airmen flying the F-111s, that prospect included an additional eight hours' flying time and two more midair refueling operations. One last snafu occurred when one of the F-111s overheated and was diverted to a U.S. naval station near the Spanish town of Rota. When the rest of the crews returned to Britain after spending 15 hours strapped into the F- 111s' tight quarters, some men had to be lifted out of their seats...
...then Libyan radio was claiming many casualties, including the death of one of Gaddafi's eight children and the injury of two others. Dr. Mohamed Muafa, who identified himself as the Gaddafi family's physician, said he had found all three children in the wreckage of the colonel's home an hour after the attack. Washington officials were frankly surprised there were not more casualties in Gaddafi's compound. Of the five bombers assigned to hit it, four dropped 16 laser-guided 2,000-lb. Paveways. The bombs cratered the compound, blew out windows and caved in a wall...
...make the world smaller for the terrorists," commanded President Reagan on April 7, as the U.S. looked for ways to forestall a new wave of Libyan terrorism. The planning for an air strike that would ultimately engage 150 warplanes and drop some 60 tons of bombs on Libya was intricate and constrained by a host of political and diplomatic as well as military considerations. It required U.S. airmen to fly through heavy flak in the dead of night and strike with flawless precision. The primary target: Colonel Gaddafi's headquarters. The unstated hope: that the Libyan leader would be asleep...