Washington Post:
The U.S. military dramatically stepped up its assault on Libyan government ground forces this weekend, launching its first attacks with AC-130 flying gunships and A-10 attack aircraft, which are designed to strike enemy ground troops and supply convoys, according to senior U.S. military officials.
Their use, during several days of heavy fighting in which the momentum seemed to swing in favor of the rebels, demonstrated how allied military forces have been drawn deeper into the chaotic fight in Libya. A mission that initially seemed to revolve around establishing a no-fly zone has become focused on halting advances by ground forces in and around Libya’s key coastal cities.
The AC-130s, which fly low and slow over the battlefield and are typically more vulnerable to enemy fire than fast-moving fighter jets, were deployed only after a week of sustained coalition attacks on Libyan government air defenses and radar. Armed with heavy machine guns and cannons that rake the ground, they allow strikes on dug-in Libyan ground forces and convoys in closer proximity to civilians.
Their use in Libya could be “a significant game changer,” said a senior military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military operations.
Military officials consider AC-130s and A-10s well suited to attacks in built-up areas, although they pose more risk for pilots and their lethality has been criticized as indiscriminate in past wars. The gunships, developed from a Hercules C-130 transport plane for use in Vietnam, have been used in virtually every U.S. military combat operation since then, including Grenada, Panama, Bosnia and Kosovo, as well as Iraq and Afghanistan.
AC-130s were used to great effect during both of the U.S. attacks into Fallujah, an al-Qaeda stronghold in the early days of the Iraq war. In Afghanistan, the military considers them a particularly effective weapon against dug-in militants and commanders have frequently complained that they are in too short supply.
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The tougher and more risky mission to halt Gaddafi’s ground troops from attacking into key Libyan cities has quickly overshadowed the less challenging task of stopping the Libyan dictator from launching his aircraft to attack rebels. The ground attack mission also opened up some rifts between coalition partners in NATO and Arab nations, who were reluctant to support attacks that could produce civilian casualties. And it has led some U.S. lawmakers to charge that the Obama administration launched the U.S. military into the middle of a complex ground fight between rebels and loyalist forces without a clear exit strategy.
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I noted early on that these planes were more suited for the war we were fighting in Libya after the first sorties wiped out their air defenses. The A-10 is ideal for taking tanks and the AC-130s can destroy dug in infantry. Together they make it very difficult for Libyan forces to mount a siege.
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