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F-15 Strike Eagle Crashes in Libya- Crew Safe

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Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- A U.S. Air Force fighter jet crashed in Libya after experiencing an equipment malfunction, but both crew members ejected safely and are now out of Libya and in U.S. hands, the U.S. military and a senior U.S. defense official said Tuesday.

A pilot and weapons officer aboard an F-15E Strike Eagle had flown from Aviano Air Base in Italy to Libya when the fighter experienced problems, the U.S. military command for Africa said in a statement. Both pilots ejected, the statement said.

The pilot and weapons officer suffered minor injuries but landed safely in Libya, the military said.

A U.S. military plane picked up the pilot, a senior defense official said. Libyan rebels recovered the second crew member and "took good care of him" until coalition forces "could come get him," the official said.
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Both crew members are out of Libya, the official said.
The jet was based out of the Royal Air Force base at Lakenheath, England. It flew to Libya as part of a coalition attack on Libyan air defense targets meant to protect civilians in that country. The action was authorized by the United Nations Security Council.

The crash was "not due to enemy or hostile actions," said Kenneth Fidler, a spokesman for U.S. Africa Command.

Rods from the gods?

Gadhafi's compound bombed - Libyan leader missing ...

Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- The heart of Moammar Gadhafi's compound in Tripoli lay in shambles Monday as the United States and allies continued their mission to dilute the Libyan leader's strength. But Gadhafi's whereabouts -- and his plans after promising a "long-drawn war" -- remained unknown.

A coalition military official insisted neither Gadhafi nor his residence were intended targets of the bombing late Sunday. But the official -- who was not being identified because of the sensitivity of the information -- said the compound was targeted because it contained capabilities to exercise command and control over Libyan forces.

U.S. Vice Adm. Bill Gortney reinforced the coalition's objective.
"We are not going after Gadhafi," he said at a Pentagon press briefing. "Regime forces are more pressed and less free to maneuver."
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Asked about reports of smoke rising from the area of Gadhafi's palace, Gortney said, "We are not targeting his residence."
Western journalists, including CNN's Nic Robertson, were taken inside the compound by Libyan officials to survey the destruction.

Robertson reported a four-story building was heavily damaged, possibly by cruise missiles. He held a chunk of metal retrieved from the site -- with writing in English -- that appeared to be from a missile.

A Libyan government official said the building was used by Gadhafi officials and said there were no casualties from the building.

The building is only 100 yards or so from a statue of a golden fist crushing a model plane emblazoned with "USA" -- a monument to the 1986 American bombing of Libya, in which a U.S. plane was shot down

B-2s fly from Whiteman to bomb Libya

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The world's most expensive warplane rarely leaves its climate-controlled hangar but when it does, the B2 bomber makes a spectacularly effective start to a war -- including during this weekend's attack on Libya's air defenses.

The mission of the B2 Spirit stealth bomber is to penetrate heavily defended enemy territory and "kick down the door" on the opening night of a conflict, and the stealth aircraft has been put to that use during the Iraq War, Kosovo and Afghanistan.

Costing 2.1 billion dollars each, the B2 has a contoured, radar absorbing skin that makes it almost impossible to detect.

The long-range, heavy bomber capable of penetrating sophisticated and dense air-defense, and with one refueling, is able to fly to any point in the world within hours.
The aircraft is famous for rather ominous-looking bat-like silhouette: The leading edges of the wings are angled at 33° and the trailing edge has a double-W shape. It is manufactured at two Northrop Grumman facilities in Pico Rivera and Palmdale in California.

The aircraft also are deadly and effective: An assessment published by the USAF showed that two B2s armed with precision weaponry can do the job of 75 conventional aircraft

That makes it a powerful weapon to strike targets including bunkers, command centers, radars, airfields, air defenses.
The B2 can carry 16 2,000 pound (900 kilogram), satellite-guided bombs, including an earth penetrating version.
It also is the only US warplane equipped to deliver the GBU-37 "bunker buster," a 5,000 pound (2,250 kilo) bomb with a hardened nose that can bore through 20 to 30 feet of rock or reinforced concrete before detonating.
Its bomb bays can carry eight GBU-37s, and it also can carry 16 Joint Air to Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM), which have been tested at ranges 180 miles (290 kilometers) from the target, or the Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW), a glide bomb that releases cluster bombs.

A major drawback, however, is the intensive maintenance required by the B2s, whose heat and moisture sensitive skin must be painstakingly taped and cured after every mission.
In previous conflicts, the maintenance requirements kept the B2s tethered to their home base at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri.

In Afghanistan, that meant 44-hour bombing runs for their two-member crews, the longest air combat missions in history. It also meant few B2 missions.

But the air force has built special climate controlled shelters at bases on the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia and at Fairford, England for B2s, which were built by Northrop Grumman and first flew in 1989.

However, US defense officials said Sunday that three B-2 Stealth bombers flew non-stop from Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., dropping 40 bombs on a major Libyan airfield in an attempt to destroy much of Ghadafi's air force.