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BBC News UK
27 May 2011 Last updated at 07:17 GMT
Libya Apache deployment approved by David Cameron
Colonel Richard Kemp: "This will enable rebel forces to unlock a comparative
stalemate"
The UK is sending four Apache attack helicopters to the mission in Libya, after
approval by the prime minister.
If called upon, they will allow for swifter attacks on a wider range of smaller
targets in urban areas.
The Apache helicopters, normally based at Wattisham, in Suffolk, are expected
to go into operation within days.
Downing Street says intelligence suggests Col Muammar Gaddafi is "on the run"
and hiding in Tripoli hospitals in the belief he will be safe there.
The Apache helicopters and their pilots, who are part of the Army Air Corps,
are currently on exercise in the Mediterranean.
There had been speculation about the move to deploy them since Monday after
France said it would be deploying French Tiger helicopters and the UK would be
sending Apaches.
A Downing Street spokesman said: "Ministers have given clearance in principle
for the deployment of attack helicopters in Libya. It is a matter now for
military commanders to make decisions on deployment."
Vulnerable
The final decision rested with David Cameron, who earlier on Thursday had
requested more information about possible risks, while he was en route to the
G8 Summit in France.
Continue reading the main story
Analysis
image of Caroline Wyatt Caroline Wyatt Defence correspondent, BBC News
The Apache is prized by its crews and the troops it supports because it can
operate day or night, in bad weather and in climates ranging from the chill of
the Arctic to the heat of the desert, with dust and sand kept out of the engine
by special filters...
* Read more: How Apaches could aid UK in Libya
BBC political editor Nick Robinson says the prime minister is determined that
the move will not be seen as a desperate attempt to break military deadlock but
instead as an example of the UK turning up the heat on the Gaddafi regime.
More than two months after he ordered military action, Mr Cameron has taken
another decision which he knows is fraught with risks, adds our correspondent.
The deployment of Apaches in Libya means there will be less chance of civilian
casualties in operations that currently rely on the use of Tornado and Typhoon
aircraft.
But the Apaches could be targeted themselves as they operate at lower altitudes
and Libyan forces loyal to Col Gaddafi still have access to thousands of
surface-to-air missiles.
The deployment was discussed at a meeting of the UK's National Security Council
at Downing Street on Thursday.
Shadow defence secretary, Jim Murphy, said it marked a serious intensification
of Britain's military commitment in Libya.
Civilian disguise
"It's a totally different order from those in a fixed wing aeroplanes thousands
of feet up in the air. These are close combat, fast attack helicopters,
vulnerable to ground attack," he said.
"So the government's got to reassure itself and reassure the public about the
safety and the risk to our pilots. And in doing that they also have to be
clearer about what's the exit strategy, what's the end game in Libya? What's
the politics that goes alongside the military effort?"
Col Richard Kemp, former commander of forces in Afghanistan, told BBC Breakfast
that Apaches can target individual soldiers, or groups of soldiers, on the
ground as opposed to tanks or artillery or buildings.
"They are much more use at dealing with Gaddafi's latest tactics, which include
using individuals in civilian clothes," he said.
"They are going to be critical in taking the campaign further and possibly
unlocking what is not far off stalemate at present."
Retired Rear Adm Chris Parry, a defence analyst, said there was the potential
for the Apaches to escalate the mission in Libya.
"It really depends how you want to use the Apaches. If you use them for
protecting civilians, for defensive operations and for interdicting Colonel
Gaddafi's re-supply convoys, then I would guess not.
"If you use them for assault operations and in reinforcing the rebels in their
attacks on the Gaddafi regime I would say, yes, it is.
UN Security Council Resolution 1973 authorised air strikes to protect Libyan
civilians from attacks by forces loyal to Col Gaddafi.
The UN vote followed the violent suppression of protests against Col Gaddafi's
regime and military strikes against Col Gaddafi's forces in support of the
rebels began on 19 March.
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