European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - April 27, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                The raid. Continued from Page 13 can buy a $75,000 missile to shoot Down a $20 million air plane. The object was to put a maximum amount of Force on the target in the minimum time exposed to defences a Pilot said. That s the gut Issue in All strike  the following account of the raid is based largely on interviews with defense department officials who have read cables about the raid and accounts of Pilot debriefings watched videotape taken during the bomb runs and listened to cockpit conversations recorded during the Mission known As operation Al Dorado Canyon. Econ Alpha the order went out shortly after Nightfall monday april 14, aboard the two aircraft carriers patrolling off Sicily. The code word meant total emission control no radar no radio no video movies for the 5,000 sailors aboard each ship. There were soviet ships nearby and for the Mission to be a Surprise the russians had to be Given the slip. In Vietnam they used to sit there and count planes As we launched and then Tell the North vietnamese a Navy Pilot in Washington said. We managed to avoid that this  As the carriers the America and the Coral sea steamed South with 20 support ships giant Kc-10 and smaller kg-135 fuel tankers were lifting off from British air Force bases in Fairford and Mildenhall England. For the Crew members of the 28 tankers the Mission had begun Days earlier with flights from their . Bases to Britain. The tankers arrival in Gloucester and Suffolk had been noticed and widely reported amid speculation that . Forces would soon hit Libya an act of retaliation was expected for the bombing of a West Berlin nightclub that killed a . Soldier and a turkish woman and injured hundreds of other people. That made it All the More remarkable air Force officers later said that the bombers caught the libyans by Surprise. The f-111s gave the tankers a 24-minute head Start and then at 7 36 . Libyan time began taking off from Raf Lakenheath two dozen bomb Laden aircraft with five ef-111 electronic warfare planes close behind. It was the first combat Mission for most of the crewmen. The bombers flew in cells of six with the most experienced pilots leading the Way. Because neither France nor Spain would allow the planes to Fly Over their territory the pilots flew 2,800 Miles Down the coast of Europe and then East through the Strait of Gibraltar. For the Tanker Crews who can stretch and use a lavatory the trip was Long for the f-111 Crews strapped into their seats it seemed endless. The refuelling undertaken four times on the Way to Libya was a dangerous Ballet that was choreographed before the planes took off to avoid the need for midair conversation. The Lead plane Rose up to the belly of the Tanker first with the other five planes in close formation nearby. Even in Daylight the operation is delicate a Boom operator guides the Kc-10 s fuel stick into a nozzle atop the f-111 while both Fly at 400 Mph the Jet Pilot and the Boom operator close enough to read each other s lips. At night and with no radio Contact Small signal lights on the belly of the Kc-10 were All the f-111 pilots had to guide their crafts. The Lead plane once it was tanked up dropped Down and to the Side. The next f-111 then moved in until All six were ready to reassemble and Fly to the next rendezvous. Six f-111s and one ef-111, considered aircraft spares turned Back after the first refuelling some tankers flew on simply to refuel other tankers. In the Mediterranean the arrangements were no less Complex. Vice adm. Frank b. Kelso ii the 6th Fleet commander had operational control Over Navy and air Force units during the raid. He ordered his Battle group into position from the command Center of the America. Kelso sent the Coral sea to a spot More than 100 Miles North of the two targets near Benghazi in Eastern Libya the America proceeded about 100 Miles North of the three targets in Tripoli. A helicopter Carrier the Guadalcanal moved closer to Libya. Its helicopters stood ready for search and Rescue missions and its shipboard Hospital was ready to treat any survivors two destroyers deployed close to Shore to lend similar support. In an above deck Glass Booth the air Boss of each a-7 Corsair takes off from deck of the Carrier Saratoga during . Navy exercises in the med last month. Pc 70s of Raf Mildenhall refuelling in route to Libya was a dangerous Ballet choreographed in Advance to avoid need for midair conversation. Carrier began sending aircraft into the darkness at Midnight. Fourteen a-6 intruders  bombers similar to the f-111s, were sent up for the bombing raid. Each Carrier sent up two e-2c Hawk eyes propeller driven control planes with giant radar domes atop their fuselages that would orchestrate air traffic and watch for hostile interceptors. Slow and defenceless the Hawk eyes would Circle outside the 150-mile threat envelope of Libya s longest Range missile the soviet made Sam-5, but could detect any libyan fighter taking off. Forty five syrian pilots considered Superior to the libyan pilots had been stationed in Libya. But no libyan fighter planes took off during the attack. Pilots at an air base near Sirte on the Gulf of Sidra ignored direct orders to respond to the attack. If the libyans had taken off it would have been a real Turkey shoot Navy Secretary John f. Lehman or. Said later in a speech. The shooting would have come from f-14 and f-18 fighters flying above the action. Each air Boss sent up a dozen fighters to Circle in pairs 15,000 feet above each target area ready to swoop Down with sidewinder air to air missiles and other weapons if any fighter tried to intercept a . Bomber. Other f-18 hornets were positioned 30 to 40 Miles offshore armed with High Speed anti radiation missiles or harms. A-7 Corsair warplanes armed with older Shrike anti radar missiles came within about eight Miles of the Beach. And ea-6b prowlers were launched to Jam libyan radar electronically. From the Gulf of Sidra incident in late March when Libya fired at . Aircraft and . Forces attacked a missile site and several patrol boats the americans knew the location and frequency of Many libyan radars and the Range of the libyan missiles. As the bombers approached the electronic planes waited to detect the libyan radars first Early warning signals then missile guiding systems. As soon As they come on you squirt pm with electrons or with missiles a Pilot said. The carriers launched refuelling planes too Ka-6s smaller than the air Force tankers. The Navy planes had less distance to cover but if an Accident fouled a Carrier deck the bombers might have to stay up longer than planned the tankers were in the air As a precaution. At 1 54 a.m., with everyone in position and the bombers making their final approach the crucial electronic warfare began. During the next 15 minutes the f-18s hit several antennas with some of the three dozen harms fired about $8 million Worth and the hammers filled libyan radar Scopes with Static. For years every . Battle group in the Mediterranean has drafted rough Battle plans for a libyan strike As a precaution. Detailed planning for this Mission began after the terrorist attacks on the Rome and Vienna airports on dec. 27. Adm. James d. Watkins chief of naval operations first suggested a Navy air Force joint operation. Lists of possible targets were then sent from the staff of Kelso the Fleet commander through the european Chain of command to the Pentagon and eventually to the White House. Target selection depended on several variables did the president want maximum visible damage or did he want pinpoint accuracy did he want to strike military or economic targets these guidelines emerged there should be minimal risk to pilots Washington wanted no prisoners of War. The targets should be military and tied at least to . A photos libyans examine the rubble of a b-727 destroyed during the . Raid on Benghazi Airport. Satisfaction to libyan terrorist activities. Khad Afy and his guard should be personally threatened but regular troops and civilians who it was hoped might turn against him should be spared As much As possible. Weapons were then chosen laser guided smart bombs for a precision attack on khad Afy s compound 500-Pound dumb bombs to cause maximum damage at the Benina Airport where aircraft hidden behind sandbag revetments could Best be damaged by shrapnel. Rules of engagement were Laid Down. If any system failed such As the self defense chaff used to confuse radar guided missiles pilots were not to enter libyan airspace. If the target could not be located and locked in pilots were not to drop their bombs. Three bombers did not reach Libya because of mechanical problems four More two a-6s and two f 111s flew Over Libya but did not release their bombs. Because of the High costs of the ordnance involved five air Force planes carried their bombs Home rather than drop them into the sea a common safety measure. This was different from the War in Vietnam where pilots always had secondary targets. If you went in you dropped a Navy officer recalled. Any Crater was Fine. You just wanted to hit Vietnam. Here we were looking for accuracy within eight to 10  at 2 a.m., the bombing began. The f-111s crossed the Beach along with the a-6 intruders. An a-6 Pilot flew Over Benina Airport at 400 feet his weapons officer releasing 16 bombs two at a time. A second a-6 followed close enough to see if the first plane was fired on but far enough Back to elude bomb fragments from the first attack. Has the bombing Hurt . Interests in the Arab world by . Apple or. New York times t he . Bombing raids on Libya will significantly damage american interests inthe Arab world several Well known expert son the Region contend. The Reagan administration on the other hand insists the raids will have Little such effect. No one expects the raids to Lead to any sort of military confrontation Between the United states and Arab nations nor is there a serious threat that any Arab country that has diplomatic relations with Washington will break them. Specialists in the Region consider limited political or economic sanctions by some countries a reduction in the size of american embassies for example or a partial embargo on the importation of american products Only slightly More Likely. The damage to the United states is More Subtle. In the Wake of the attack moderate Arab governments normally Well disposed toward the United states joined Radical nations in condemning the american actions. Saudi Arabia said the attack ran count Efto All International norms and Egypt said it viewed the attack with anxiety and deep  Chad i Kiili the usually restrained Secretary general of the 21-member Arab league asserted that the attack compromises perhaps irreversibly United states relations with Arab  his words were taken As a particularly worrying sign by Many american arabists. But the administration says such comments Are Mere window dressing. The less Radical Arab countries officials say must keep peace in the Arab family and they do so by issuing critical statements publicly while telling the United states privately that they approve of military action against Moa mar khad Afy of Libya. What they say privately is rather different Secretary of state George p. Shultz said. And i think that there is a widespread sense that khad Afy is a menace to them. I Don t think that there Are any illusions in the Arab world about  an administration official who monitors Arab affairs said any decline in american influence in the Middle East would be Short lived because the moderate Arab governments know that we Are their Best Chance for  Lisa Anderson an associate professor at Columbia University who specializes in the Middle East said the reality was considerably More Complex. There is widespread hostility toward khad Afy she said but there is probably even greater hostility to bullies Large non Arab countries that strike at Small Arab countries. The United states is now put into that category Anderson said. Governments associated with the United states Are in a very difficult position now and i think you will Start to see them pulling away from us. No one in his right mind in the Middle East is going to say he s  Henry Schuler of Georgetown University s Center for strategic and International studies commented what Shultz and the others say is True of the Arab establishment and moderate governments. But it is not True at All of the masses. For them there is tremendous Appeal in anyone who Sticks it to the West because islam s Days of glory came when the arabs swept out of the Peninsula unyielding aggressive As hell. And that s what khad Afy and the Ayatollah stand for today he said referring to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini the iranian Leader. Leaders have to take those feelings into account. If they Don to they will be in deep  among those who would be most menaced by heightened Arab nationalism several analysts said might be King Hussein of Jordan and president Hosni Mubarak of Egypt. It is widely believed that one reason Mubarak leaked word that he had rebuffed american proposals for a joint american egyptian attack on Libya several weeks ago was to distance himself from american policy toward khad Afy. Gary g. Sick of the Ford foundation who served on the National Security Council in the Carter administration and Early in the Reagan administration said it was inevitable Given the history of the Region that a big external Power like the United states taking As bold a step As the bombing of Libya would be seen in a colonial role. We look As if we re trying to impose our will he said and governments in the area that continue to support the United states look like servants colluding with Neo colonialism. That could cause moderate governments Many of which already have deep serious internal problems to lose their grip and that in turn would Hurt  in a similar vein Fouad Ajami professor of Middle East studies at the Johns Hopkins school of advanced International studies wrote in an essay not wholly critical of the libyan raids that the Middle East is a Region where those at the receiving end of american Power have vast reservoirs of cultural sympathy and support to draw  we think of or. Khad Afy As an isolated hated figure in his Region and he is Ajami said. But americans underestimate the extent to which he acts out the anti Western sentiments of More Ordinary mainstream opinion and the Way his world cushions him against the attacks of a foreign  at Benina no one fired Back but the six intruders assigned to the Benghazi Barracks encountered a storm of missiles. Most went astray. Still As a flier who flew in Vietnam said at night they All look like they re coming at  the f-111s first destroyed the Barracks of khad Afy s guard and then with less Success hit a training Camp at a nearby port where smoke and Haze obscured the target. At 2 06 a.m., five More f-111s swept in to attack the Tripoli Airport. Man what a target one Pilot exclaimed when he saw soviet made Il-76 cargo planes sitting on the apron. As the bombers flew away the e-2c Hawkeye checked each Call sign in a process known by pilots As debuting to ensure that no libyan plane was sneaking out on a bomber s Tail. By 2 12 a.m., the raid was Over. By 2 13, the Navy officer watching the console at the Back of the e-2c knew there was trouble one air Force bomber had failed to respond to the radio Call. For Kelso who had followed the radio checkoff process for his Carrier command Post the apparent Downing presented a dilemma. Although . Hammers had disoriented libyan defences the libyans were firing Many missiles. Sending a helicopter search and Rescue team in close would endanger four More men. Moreover the pilots of the a-7s and a-6s had reported seeing a fireball Over the water. So Kelso ordered a moderate search sending an ep-3 Orion listening plane to see if there were any radio signals coming from the pilots emergency equipment. One warship reported hearing a single set of beeps. The search continued through tuesday. Farther out to sea the carriers restocked their weapons stores from replenishment ships. In Britain All but one f-111, which was diverted to Spain with an overheated engine landed safely 15 hours after the first Kc-10 had taken off. By thursday capt. Fernando l. Ribas Dominicci and capt. Paul f. Lorence the pilots of the missing bomber were declared killed in action. The Navy had ordered the Coral sea to remain in the Mediterranean past its scheduled return. Military officials admitted that an errant . Bomb was probably responsible for damage to a residential neighbourhood in Tripoli. And a Pentagon spokesman Robert b. Sims was displaying film and photos of bomb damage. We Hope that these acts deter future acts of terrorism Sims said. One can t know for sure that that will be the  Page 14 the stars and stripes sunday april 27, 1986 the stars and stripes Page 15