Wednesday, March 02, 2011

On Libya and airplanes

Enforcing a no-fly zone in Libya is a bit like moving all the furniture from your living room into your basement. Nobody doubts that it can be done, but it'll take strenuous effort. Especially that 50 inch internal projection TV from 2002.

There's a good rundown of all the problems here so I won't bother listing them.

I don't know where the 5th Fleet order of battle can be sourced but based on all the talk about USS Enterprise (CVN-65), I assume that there are no other carriers that are surge available for the region on short notice.

And Enterprise had just sailed through to the wrong side of the Suez just a couple of weeks ago, where plans are for it to hold station.

Two amphibs (LPD-15 and LHD-3, Ponce and Kearsage respectively) are being surged but that's just sensible in case there's need for a forcible NEO; the area is going to be swimming with these things from all nations.

Other than that, Spain could possibly divert Príncipe de Asturias (R-11), a ski-jump carrier.

So it looks like the chances of NATO/American intervention are slim.

In other news HMCS Charlottetown is going to be deploying in that region. Typical. I predict that, for now and the next 10 years, Canadian naval response to the greatest crisis in the world at any given time will be the deployment of a single Halifax class vessel!

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