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"Some NATO air strikes in Libya may have violated the law of war" report of the International Commission of Inquiry on Libya says

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According to a report published in these hours by the UN Commission of inquiry on Libya, the coalition of NATO and non-NATO members, operating within Operation Unified Protector to enforce the UN Security Council resolutions 1970 and 1973, may have violated the law of war in some air strikes that caused the death of civilians.

Nothing comparable to the international crimes, both crimes against humanity and war crimes, committed by Gaddafi forces and including unlawful killing, individual acts of torture and ill-treatment, attacks on civilians using prohibited weapons (cluster munitions and anti-personnel and anti-vehicle landmines), and rape;  nor the “serious violations” committed by the thuwar (anti-Gaddafi forces aka “rebels”), that included unlawful killing, arbitrary arrest, torture, enforced disappearance, indiscriminate attacks, and pillage.

NATO told the Commission that it had a standard of “zero expectation” of death or injury to civilians and that no targets were struck if there was any reason to believe civilians would be injured or killed by a strike.

The vast majority of NATO airstrikes did not cause collateral damages, even where there was a significant potential for civilian harm: for example, on May 24-25 when NATO aircraft struck the Bab-al-Aziziyah facility, the headquarters and residence of Gaddafi in central Tripoli numerous security buildings, located less than 300 meters from civilian apartment buildings, (close enough to be at risk of collateral damage), were destroyed without civilian casualties.

However, “on limited occasions, the Commission confirmed civilian casualties and found targets that showed no evidence of military utility. The Commission was unable to draw conclusions in such instances on the basis of the information provided by NATO and recommends further investigations.”

Indeed the conclusion is:

The Commission found NATO did not deliberately target civilians in Libya. For the few targets struck within population centres, NATO took extensive precautions to ensure civilians were not killed.

However, there were a small number of strikes where NATO’s response to the Commission has not allowed it to draw conclusions on the rationale for, or the circumstances of the attacks. The Commission is unable to conclude, barring additional explanation, whether these strikes are consistent with NATO’s objective to avoid civilian casualties entirely, or whether NATO took all necessary precautions to that effect.

NATO’s characterization of four of five targets where the Commission found civilian casualties as “command and control nodes” or “troop staging areas” is not reflected in evidence at the scene and witness testimony. The Commission is unable to determine, for lack of sufficient information, whether these strikes were based on incorrect or out-dated intelligence and, therefore, whether they were consistent with NATO’s objective to take all necessary precautions to avoid civilian casualties entirely.

The Commission has investigated numerous strikes in Libya, especially those where civilians died. And although it determined that NATO did not commit any human right violation, nor used  prohinited weapons, found some oddities.

As the use of “miscellaneous Precision Guided Munitions”, four of which were employed along with 3,644 LGBs, 2,844 GPS-guided, 1,150 precision-guided direct-fire weapons (such as Hellfire missiles), or the use of expired materials.

For instance, in one of those air strikes, the one in the town of Majer in the area of Al Huwayjat on Aug. 8 that resulted in the single largest case of civilian casualties from a NATO airstrike NATO dropped a GBU-12 bomb whose guidance kit was more than five years past its warranty date (2005).

GBU-12 guidance kit debris with warranty expired in 2005

Even if this is not “ethical” nor safe, there are still some reasons to explain the use obsolete components that might turn a smart weapon into a dumb one. Usually, a laser designator past its warranty expiration date would not be used whereas a tail kit of a PGM, used for bomb guidance, could be used past warranty date, after being checked to see if the fins deployed according to military sources.

In fact, NATO’s answer was that “the fact alone that an expiration date has been passed does not mean that a weapon is no longer reliable.”

Nevertheless, the usage of such old parts indicates that NATO partners were probably running very low on bomb (as pointed out in my final report on the Libya Air War).

But, what’s really amazing in the report is that NATO did not answer to all the UN Commission’s requests; requests aimed to determine the legitimacy of few air striks. On the contrary, it officially affirmed to be concerned if  some incidents (as the above) were included in the final report, “as on a par with those which the Commision may ultimately conclude did violate law or constitute crimes.”

That’s what emerges from a series of letter (last of which dated Feb.15) sent by NATO’s legal adviser to Judge P. Kirsch, Chair of the International Commission of Inquiry on Libya, to answer questions about the way the air campaign was conducted, specific targeting procedures, type of munitions used, etc.

[Annex II pag. 12 of the report]:

“We would accordingly request that, in the Commission elects to include discussion of NATO actions in Libya, its report clearly state that NATO did not deliberately target civilians and did not commit war crimes in Libya.”

Earlier NATO had already explained to be not “persuaded that examination of conduct of parties to the Libyan internal conflict implies expansion of the Commission’s work to include “investigation” of NATO’s actions giving effect to the mandate contained in UN Security Resolution 1973.”

Anyway, the Commission’s report contains lots of interesting things (number and type of weapons used, maps, satellite imagery, and so on) so I suggest you to read it at this link.


There was a time when the F-14 Tomcat was better at bombing Iraqi ground targets than the F-15E Strike Eagle

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On Sept. 22, 2006 after 36 years of service, the last F-14 Tomcat was retired by its main operator, the US Navy, at NAS Oceana. Although six years have passed since then, there are many unknown facts to be told or simply to be remembered about the last Grumman’s (now Northrop-Grumman) fighter.

One of these often untold stories dates back to Apr. 2003 when, in the midst of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), the Tomcats of the VF-154 Black Knights were embarked aboard the USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63).

The US Central Command (CENTCOM) ordered to VF-154 to detach five of its F-14A (BuNos 158620, 161296, 161288, 161292 and 158624) and five of its crews to Al Udeid air base, in Qatar. This was the first time in history that US Navy aircraft were tasked to fight a war from both ashore and at sea at the same time.

The five Black Knights’ Tomcats were dedicated to provide Forward Air Controller (Airborne) or FAC(A) and Strike Coordination and Reconnaissance (SCAR) for Coalition fast jets (such as USAF F-16CGs and F-16CJs, RAAF F/A-18As and RAF Tornado GR-4s) deployed to Al Udeid.

The VF-154 Tomcats crews also had to train USAF F-15E crews to conduct FAC(A) and SCAR missions.

During this shore-based period a VF-154 F-14A (BuNo 158620 callsign “Nite 104”) crashed because he suffered a single engine and fuel transfer system failure forcing the crew to eject.

However during this special period the five Black Knights’ crews were able to accomplish more than 300 combat hours dropping more than 50,000 lbs of ordnance.

These results were possible even if the Tomcat had some disadvantages when compared directly to some of the attack planes mentioned above: for example, the Strike Eagle has a maximum payload far superior than the one of the Tomcat and the F-14A could only employ Laser Guided Bombs (LGB) and it was not able to use Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM) due to a lack of a digital databus (the Bs and Ds-models Tomcat could use JDAMs).

Still, the F-14 had also some advantages: the AN/AAQ-25 LANTIRN (Low Altitude Navigation and Targeting, Infrared, for Night) pod used by Tomcat crews was more capable than the USAF’s AN/AAQ-14 and also than the first AN/AAQ-28s Litening II. In fact the AN/AAQ-25 provided the Tomcat with the capability to point the pod to chosen waypoints without the employment of radar, an ability that the F-15E didn’t have. The F-14s were also equipped with a Programmable Tactical Information Display System (PTIDS) and 20 cm X 20cm screen that provided the Radar Intercept Officer (RIO) with a better display than the Weapons System Officer (WSO) in the F-15E.

All these features made the F-14 a really impressive attack platform- as a Tomcat driver once explained: “With the Strike Eagle you can put the bomb on the building. With the Tomcat you’ re putting the bomb into the third window from the left, from miles away”.

Dario Leone for The Aviationist.com

Image credit: U.S. Navy

Italian Predator drone stays aloft for 24 hours in Afghanistan and completes four missions in one sortie

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The Italian Air Force has set a new service record in December 2012, when one of its Predator drones deployed to Herat flew for 24 hours, supporting four different ground missions in Afghanistan.

MQ-1C Predator A+

Image credit: ItAF

The MQ-1, with the Task Group “Astore”, initially fllew over the Bakwa district to support a ground patrol of the Task Force “Victor” that was inspecting the route to be used by an arriving Italian Army convoy.

Then it moved to support from the above the important redeployment phase of the Task Force “South East” from Bakwa base, that was handed over to the Afghan Army.

Within the same district, the Predator then supported a strike mission by two Italian AMX jets that have attacked and destroyed with LGB (Laser Guided Bombs) the antennae of a group of insurgents.

During the same sortie the drone flew over a village near Shindand, where the Task Force “Center” is settled and where an army deport had been discovered, to collect imagery.

Flying for 24 hours in Remote Split Operations (meaning the aircraft is launched by a mobile ground control station and remotely taken on charge by another ground control station located at Amendola, in Italy, and controlled via satellite link) between Italy and Afghanistan, the Italian Predator beaten the previous Air Force record by 2 hours.

Italian Predator

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[Photo] French Atlantique maritime patrol aircraft sporting Laser Guided Bomb markings (from Mali Air War)

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ATL2 France

The following images were taken at RAF Lossiemouth by The Aviationist’s contributor Alessandro Fucito, during the recent Exercise Joint Warrior 2013.

They show one of the two French Atlantique II maritime patrol aircraft sporting two LGB (Laser Guided Bomb) markings.

Five French Navy’s Atlantique II (ATL2) MPA (Maritime Patrol Aircraft) were deployed to Dakar, Senegal, in support of Operation Serval in Mali. Indeed, the aircraft were not only used to perform ISR (intelligence surveillance reconnaissance) in West Africa, but were also employed as bombers: according to several sources, numerous GBU-12 250 kg laser guided bombs were dropped in the Sahel.

The ATL2 can accomodate up to four GBU-12s but it can’t self designate targets. At least, not yet.

ATL2 France dettaglio bombe

Image credit: Alessandro Fucito

 

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Examining Israeli Air Force Weaponeering in the Damascus Strike

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For the second time in three days, strike aircraft of the Israeli Air Force (IAF) attacked targets in the vicinity of Damascus International Airport.  The targets are alleged to have been shipments of Syrian ballistic missiles bound for Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon.  U.S. Intelligence sources and open-source reporting have claimed that Israeli jets struck these weapons caches during the first raid without penetrating Syrian airspace.

If it is true that Israeli fighters remained over Lebanon during the strike, it raises interesting questions regarding the choice of weapons used in the raid.  The distance from the Lebanese border to Damascus prevents the use of JDAM series weapons or Paveway series Laser Guided Bombs.  However, by examining the IAF order of battle, it can be inferred that the Israelis likely utilized the Rafael Popeye standoff missile to strike these targets.

IAF F-15 taxi

The IAF currently utilizes three weapons that possess the range and precision targeting capabilities necessary for the Damascus raid.  The Popeye, with a reported 48 nm range, could easily be launched from inside Lebanese airspace and fly the approximately 30 nm to strike Damascus.  Additionally, the end-game EO/IR targeting and large 750 lb warhead makes the weapon a logical choice.

It is unlikely, but possible, that the Israelis used the Delilah air to surface missile.  Delilah was originally conceived as a low-speed, loitering weapon that could strike moving targets and be reprogrammed after launch.  The loiter capability of the weapon makes it ideal for attacking surface to air (SAM) sites or radars as well as high value mobile targets such as ballistic missiles.  However, the small 66 lb warhead is a poor choice for a large target such as a warehouse.

It is also possible that the Israelis used the GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb.  The folding wings of the glide weapon give the requisite range.  However, the small warhead makes the weapon a less attractive choice, unless a large number of the weapons were used.  The GBU-39 uses a JDAM style GPS guidance system and is believed to only have been integrated on the F-15I strike fighter.

Michael Glynn for TheAviationist.com

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What kind of target did the Israeli Air Force really hit in Syria?

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Twice between May 3 and 5, the Israeli Air Force conducted air strikes in Syria using Precision Guided Munitions.

The first raid hit a convoy believed to be moving Fateh-110 missiles destined to Hezbollah, whereas the second one hit several ground targets located near Damascus:  the Jamraya scientific research centre (the only one officially confirmed by the Syrian TV), some missile fuel storage depot as well as the 4th Brigade of the Republican Guard’s barracks.

After an open source imagery analysis of Al-Manar TV (a Lebanese satellite television station affiliated with Hezbollah) The Aviationist’s contributor and military expert Giuliano Ranieri was able to locate the site of the attack near Jamraya research center.

jam

Actually, it’s is still not clear whether the center, attacked in January, was hit again or not; still, the building complex targeted in the night between May 4 and 5 could have been be a research center’s back-up structure, used to continue scientific works.

jam MOD 1

© 2013 Europa Technologies
Image © DigitalGlobe
© 2013 Google
© 2013 ORION-ME

Images of the site seem to show that no penetrating weapons were employed nor ventilation systems, typical of underground bunkers can be seen, a sign that, quite likely, the target could have been a mysterious facility operating under cover rather than a military installation.

target 1

“It’s hard to understand what the facilities was: just dead hens and collapsed walls can be seen in the photos published by the media outlets…” Ranieri explains.

Regardless of what the facility might have hidden, the attack seem to have been accurate and quite far from populated areas.

Mideast Syria Israel

Another sortie was made against a munition depot near Al-Dimaas, 15 km from Jamraya.

 

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New Video of British Killer Drones Incinerating Taliban in Afghanistan

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Reaper drone attack

We have seen several videos showing U.S. Reaper drones attacking Taliban in Afghanistan with rain of Hellfires.

But, since the RAF (Royal Air Force) operates just five of them, it’s much more difficult to find footage showing MQ-9 UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) do what they do better: spying on ground targets and individuals and kill them with either missiles or 500-lb LGBs (Laser Guided Bombs).

Provided the details are correct, the one below shows RAF Reaper drones carry out deadly air strikes in Afghanistan from their ground control station at RAF Waddington, in the UK. Previously, since 2007, RAF crews flew UAVs from Creech Air Force Base, Nevada.

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[Photo] Rafale multi-role combat planes conduct first French air strike in Iraq

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Rafale from cockpit

The French Air Force has conducted the first air strike on a terrorist target in Iraq.

Two Rafales, one C-135FR Tanker were involved in a 7-hour mission from Al Dhafra to Iraq (1,700 kilometers) to destroy an ISIS  target in northern Iraq on Sept. 19.

Four GBU-12 LGB (Laser-Guided Bombs) were dropped by the two multi-role planes to hit a munition and fuel depot near the town of Zumar.

BDA French Air Strike

The target was obviously destroyed during this first (symbolic) mission that marked the beginning of the involvement of the French tactical planes in the air strikes against ISIS militants. Until today, the Rafale had been involved in reconnaissance missions.

Rafale first raid

In 2011, a French air strike conducted by a package which included Rafale jets opened the Libya Air War.

Rafale first strike

Image credit: French MoD

 


Video shows French air strike in Iraq from launch to recovery, including aerial refueling

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Rafale two seat

Yesterday two Rafale jets conducted the first French air strike in Iraq. And here’s a video which shows the mission from beginning to end.

On Sept. 19, two Rafales of the EC 3/30 “Lorraine” supported by a C-135FR Tanker of the GRV 2/91 “Bretagne” were involved in the first air strike on an ISIS  target in northern Iraq.

The 7-hour mission from Al Dhafra saw the attack plane drop four GBU-12 LGB (Laser-Guided Bombs) on a munition and fuel depot near the town of Zumar.

Each aircraft was equipped with four GBU-12s, a Damocles designation pod and MICA air-to-air missile.

Image credit: French MoD via Theatrum Belli

Video shows night aerial refueling of an F-16 during first U.S. air strike in Syria

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RAF Tornado GR4 attack planes perform first strike mission in Iraq (but don’t drop any bomb on ISIS)

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RAF Tornado GR4 MOD

Two Royal Air Force Tornado GR4s performed a mission over Iraq. Although they carried some Laser Guided Bombs, the two British attack planes didn’t use them, as they did not find suitable targets.

On Sept. 27, two RAF Tornado GR4s, deployed at Akrotiri airbase, in Cyprus, performed an armed reconnaissance mission in company with other planes from the international coalition, over Iraq.

Tornado Shader

Although the British Parliament has approved an attack role for the 6 “Tonkas” currently committed to Operation Shader and limited until yesterday to the reconnaissance role, the two attack jets which flew over Iraq earlier today did not drop any bomb on ground targets, as no “appropriate target” was identified.

The RAF Tornado jets, supported by a Voyager tanker, carried three Paveway IV LGBs (Laser Guided Bombs) and a Litening III pod that enabled the aircraft to gather intelligence that, according to the UK MoD “will be invaluable to the Iraqi authorities and their coalition partners in developing the best possible understanding of ISIL’s disposition and help acquire potential targets for future operations, either by aircraft or Iraqi ground forces.”

Tornado Shader Paveway

Image credit: RAF / Crown Copyright, Corporal Mike Jones/MOD

 

Watch an ISIS compound be wiped out through an F-15E Strike Eagle’s SNIPER advanced targeting pod

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F-15 Sniper Targeting Pod

An interesting point of view: from an F-15E Strike Eagle Advanced Targeting Pod

Designated AN/AAQ-33, the Lockheed Martin Sniper Advanced Targeting Pod (ATP), equips several U.S. and foreign attack planes including the B-1B “Lancer” and the F-15E Strike Eagle.

The pod, equipped with a Laser designator used to guide LGBs (Laser Guided Bombs) and a FLIR (Forward Looking Infra Red) and CCD TV camera,  is used for identification of targets (both on the ground and airborne ones), tracking, coordinate generation, and guidance.

F-15E Sniper

Although some videos recorded through the Sniper ATP are available online, here’s one released by the Pentagon showing an attack on an ISIL Compound near Kobani, Syria.

Blast aside, the symbology that appears in the ATP footage is interesting: target aside, there are a lot of symbols that we know nothing about, a result of the so-called “sensor fusion,” the combination of sensory data derived from the plane and other assets’ data sources.

 

Hornet Ball 2014: the best naval aviation video of the year

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Hornet Ball 2014

Once again, Hornet Ball is the best naval aviation video of the year.

The Hornet Ball (Strike Fighter Ball Pacific) is an annual event consisting of all the West coast Naval F/A-18C Legacy Hornet and F/A-18E/F Super Hornet squadrons, their pilots and guests.

Each year the event features a video, produced by “Wingnut”, a Hornet pilot himself, compiled from all the squadrons’ last year of flying in both combat and training missions: catapult launches, trap landings, aerobatics, dogfighting against Su-30s and Mig-29s, live firing of air-to-air missiles, HARM anti-radion missiles, LGBs (Laser Guided Bombs), cluster bombs, low level flying in the desert, ATFLIR  (Advanced Targeting Forward Looking Infrared) pod clips, and much more.

Here’s the Hornet Ball 2013.

H/T Tom Demerly and Al Clark for the heads-up

 

F-35B successfully completed initial tests with ASRAAM and Paveway IV weapons

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F-35B trials

UK F-35B has conducted first tests with ASRAAM and Paveway IV weapons at Patuxent River Naval Air Station in Maryland, United States.

A British test team, has successfully completed initial trials with ASRAAM (Advanced Short Range Air-to-Air Missile) missiles and Paveway IV LGBs (Laser Guided Bombs) on the F-35B, the STOVL (Short Take Off Vertical Landing) variant of the Joint Strike Fighter, at NAS Patuxent River, US.

“Dummy” weapons (identical in shape and weight to the original ones) were tested during 9 flights in different configurations of both weapons types on two F-35Bs, flown by Billie Flynn, Lockheed Martin’s F-35 test pilot and Squadron Leader Andy Edgell from the RAF.

According to the team, which included personnel from BAE Systems, “the initial tests are an important step in integrating weapons onto the F-35B, allowing test pilots to understand how they affect the way the aircraft performs and handles.”

Such tests are the first step towards full interoperability of the two weapons, already used by the Royal Air Force on its existing fleet, with the F-35B, destined to enter in UK’s active service, with both the RAF and Royal Navy by 2018.

As already highlighted in the past, whilst carrying significant payload on external wing pylons makes the JSF more “convincing” as a multi-role platform, it makes the plane much less stealthy as well.

Image credit: BAE Systems

 

"Some NATO air strikes in Libya may have violated the law of war" report of the International Commission of Inquiry on Libya says

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0
According to a report published in these hours by the UN Commission of inquiry on Libya, the coalition of NATO and non-NATO members, operating within Operation Unified Protector to enforce the UN Security Council resolutions 1970 and 1973, may have violated the law of war in some air strikes that caused the death of civilians. […]

There was a time when the F-14 Tomcat was better at bombing Iraqi ground targets than the F-15E Strike Eagle

0
0
On Sept. 22, 2006 after 36 years of service, the last F-14 Tomcat was retired by its main operator, the US Navy, at NAS Oceana. Although six years have passed since then, there are many unknown facts to be told or simply to be remembered about the last Grumman’s (now Northrop-Grumman) fighter. One of these […]

Italian Predator drone stays aloft for 24 hours in Afghanistan and completes four missions in one sortie

0
0
The Italian Air Force has set a new service record in December 2012, when one of its Predator drones deployed to Herat flew for 24 hours, supporting four different ground missions in Afghanistan. Image credit: ItAF The MQ-1, with the Task Group “Astore”, initially fllew over the Bakwa district to support a ground patrol of […]

[Photo] French Atlantique maritime patrol aircraft sporting Laser Guided Bomb markings (from Mali Air War)

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The following images were taken at RAF Lossiemouth by The Aviationist’s contributor Alessandro Fucito, during the recent Exercise Joint Warrior 2013. They show one of the two French Atlantique II maritime patrol aircraft sporting two LGB (Laser Guided Bomb) markings. Five French Navy’s Atlantique II (ATL2) MPA (Maritime Patrol Aircraft) were deployed to Dakar, Senegal, […]

Examining Israeli Air Force Weaponeering in the Damascus Strike

0
0
For the second time in three days, strike aircraft of the Israeli Air Force (IAF) attacked targets in the vicinity of Damascus International Airport.  The targets are alleged to have been shipments of Syrian ballistic missiles bound for Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon.  U.S. Intelligence sources and open-source reporting have claimed that Israeli jets struck these […]

What kind of target did the Israeli Air Force really hit in Syria?

0
0
Twice between May 3 and 5, the Israeli Air Force conducted air strikes in Syria using Precision Guided Munitions. The first raid hit a convoy believed to be moving Fateh-110 missiles destined to Hezbollah, whereas the second one hit several ground targets located near Damascus:  the Jamraya scientific research centre (the only one officially confirmed […]
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