Originally Posted by downsizer
So 12 TLAMs did change the conflict? Are you claiming that to be true?
Why would WEBF claim that? I'm sure that 12 (or however many) TLAMS didn't change the conflict any more than 'x' Storm Shadows launched from outside Libyan airspace by Tornados flying eight-hour 5,000 mile round trips from RAF Marham (with their attendant tankers) but at least the SSN was able to stick around doing other useful things in between.
Originally Posted by Occasional Aviator
On your second point and IMHO, OCEA and AH were sent to the Libyan operation (after land-based air power had dealt with any possible naval threat) as a political token gesture and in a desperate attempt to get the RN and Army involved after it became clear that NGS wasn't going to make any difference either...
AH might not have been as effective as Harriers but they were better than nothing. In other forums, I was advocating their deployment on board HMS
Ocean right from the beginning. Most of the activity was occurring within 3-5 km of the sea and they could have prevented Gadaffi's forces from using the coastal highway with such impunity. Remember all the to-ing and fro-ing between Tripoli, Misurata, Ras Lanuf, Ajdabiya, etc? By the time the UK and French AH arrived, most of Gadaffi's forces had left Tripoli and entrenched themselves in other population centres, mainly strung along the coast. Think how many civilian lives could have been saved and how much misery could have been avoided if those movements had been nipped in the bud.