Watching Libya April 16/17, 2011

The leadership shown by the US, Britain and France – as shown by their joint call for international unity and determination to end the crisis in Libya, published yesterday Friday, April 15, in The Times, The Washington Post and Le Figaro (see Watching Libya April 15, 2011 below) – should not be misunderstood. It does not mean that other partners in NATO and beyond it are any less keen to see a stable post-Gheddafi Libya. Their perception of the situation, of what needs to be done and of their own country’s role in the required effort, will obviously differ, reflecting different perceptions of national interest.

A country that is determined to participate in Libya operations is Canada. Canadian foreign minister Lawrence Cannon participated at the inaugural meeting of the Libya Contact Group in Doha last Wednesday, April 13, as well as the NATO Foreign Ministers Meeting in Berlin that concluded its deliberations yesterday Friday, April 15.

Canadian Forces participated in Operation UNIFIED PROTECTOR – the NATO-led maritime mission launched on March 22 to impose the arms embargo and No-Fly Zone called for in UN Security Council Resolution 1973 authorising the international community to “take all necessary measures” to protect civilians in Libya. Three days before (March 19), a coalition joint task force led by US AFRICOM started air operations. On March 27, command over aircraft engaged in the operation was transferred to Commander, Combined Joint Task Force UNIFIED PROTECTOR (Lieutenant-General Charles Bouchard of Canada).

On 14 March, HMCS Charlottetown (FFH 339) - a Halifax-class frigate with a crew of c. 240 officers and sailors, a CH-124 Sea King helicopter and air detachment - joined Standing NATO Maritime Group 1 (SNMG1) to take part in Canadian and international operations already under way in Libya. It is engaged in maritime operations to enforce the arms embargo and its tasks include escort service and air defence for vessels such as replenishment ships, information gathering and interdiction of prohibited supplies.

The air task force deployed on the Canadian operation is flying from the NATO bases of Trapani-Birgi and Sigonella in Sicily, Italy. It includes a “six-pack” CF-188 Hornet detachment from 425 Tactical Fighter Squadron, a CC-150 Polaris air-to-air refuelling detachment from 437 Transport Squadron, and a CP-140 Aurora detachment made up from 405 and 407 Long Range Patrol Squadrons. The air task force involves 250 personnel from 3 Wing, 8 Wing, 14 Wing and other locations across Canada. The participation of Canadian forces is entrusted to a 17 strong task force in Naples, Italy.

Of course, Canadian forces had already been involved in evacuation operations in February. On February 24, Canadian foreign minister Lawrence Cannon announced arrangements for the evacuation of Canadians in Libya. A CC-177 Globemaster strategic airlifter based at Spangdahlem, Germany, was relocated to stand by in Rome. Joint Task Force Malta (Lieutenant-Colonel Anthony DeJacolyn of 1st Canadian Division Headquarters, commanding) was set up on February 25, involving the arrival in Malta of a Canadian team – on the same day as a multinational Non-combatant Evacuation Operation (NEO) Coordination Centre came on stream on the Island – to establish links with other Canadian civilian officials and regional allies.

The CC‑177 Globemaster arrived in Malta from Rome early in the morning of February 26 and made the first Canadian evacuation flight that afternoon, bringing Canadians and other foreign nationals from Tripoli to safety in Malta, including Canadian and Australian embassies' staff. An Operational Liaison and Reconnaissance Team together with medical and other personnel arrived in Malta on February 27. Within 48 hours from the start of operations, two C-17 Globemasters (officially designated CC-177 Globemaster III within the Canadian armed services), two CC-130J Hercules and about 70 military personnel were working from Malta.

On March 8, a CC-130J Hercules 2011 undertook the last military evacuation flight out of Tripoli International Airport to Malta. Over 11 days of operations, the Canadian task Force at Malta rescued 61 Canadians and 130 other foreign nationals aboard six flights by CC-177 Globemaster and CC-130J Hercules. [All above statements correspond to information available on the official website of the Canadian Department of National Defence [here]

There has been some confusion about the deployment of Canadian military personnel and aircraft in Malta. Last week, on April 10, a local newspaper in Long Beach, California, the Press Telegram, belonging to the Los Angeles Newspaper Group, published a report wherein it was stated that: “On April 7, Canada announced it would be sending a second C-17 to Malta, along with a naval frigate, 240 sailors and support crew and an elite crew of 13 military reconnaissance soldiers.”  [Click here]. The Maltese daily The Independent picked up the story without, apparently, checking it [here].

We did and have come to the conclusion that it is clearly an old story presented as news. Evidently it refers to the setting up of the Canadian Joint Task Force Malta during the last week of February 2011. Two Canadian Globemasters were indeed using Malta but, as narrated above, this was in late February in the early phase of the crisis.  The frigate referred to in the Press Telegram report is evidently HMCS Charlottetown (FFH 339) and the 240 “sailors and support crew” are the Halifax-class frigate’s 240 sailors and officers. This vessel was already in the Mediterranean in March.

And as far as the “elite crew of 13 military reconnaissance soldiers”, they are clearly none other than the 13 members of the Operational Liaison and Reconnaissance Team. They were part of the forward element of Canada’s participation in the multinational effort to assist in the departure of Canadians and other foreign nationals stranded in Libya. They arrived at Malta International Airport with a CC-130J Hercules aircraft on February 28 and you can see an official picture of them [here].

‘Operational Liaison and Reconnaissance Teams’ (OLRTs) are a key operations management element of the Multinational Interoperability Council (MIC). The MIC charter is a non-binding agreement between Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States of America that establishes the MIC as an enduring multinational organization concerned with coalition interoperability issues and concerns. The rationale and tasks of the OLRT are spelt out in the ‘MIC Rapid Reconnaissance Handbook for Humanitarian/Disaster Response’ produced by the Operations Multinational Interoperability Working Group.

Why would a local newspaper, such as the Press Telegram of Long Beach CA, pick on this particular item? It becomes easier to appreciate its interest if one bears in mind that Long Beach has been, since 1941, home to a production facility of, originally, the Douglas Aircraft Company, and, following the merger of Boeing and McDonnell Douglas in 1997, of Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The site produced more than 15,000 planes including the C-17 [Click here]. In fact, the newspaper observes that the Globemaster despatched to Malta by Canada are “Long Beach-built Boeing C-17 Globemaster”.

Globemasters do matter to Long Beach readers of the Press Telegram. The same newspaper, on January 19 of this year, reported rumours (unconfirmed by Boeing) that workers employed on the production of the C-17 at the local Boeing plant had just been notified that up to 1,000 of them would be made redundant by late 2012. Reporter Kristopher Hanson observed that “a downsizing of such a size aligns with the company's long-time plan to reduce its C-17 work force as it scales back production from 15 to 10 jets annually” and that a “cutback of around 1,000 workers would bring C-17 employment in Long Beach to fewer than 4,000 by 2012, less than a third of the local aerospace work force of the late 1990s”  [Click here].

The Maltese interest in Press Telegram story – and The Independent’s rush to reproduce it – is obviously related to Malta’s sensitivities about the use of its airport and harbours by foreign military forces because of its constitutionally enshrined neutrality. Its constitution declares that Malta – an EU member state – is “a neutral state (…) adhering to a policy of non-alignment and refusing to participate in any military alliance.” Although “no military facilities in Malta will be allowed to be used by any foreign forces”, the Maltese constitution does provide for exceptional situations when the government of Malta may choose to waive this provision, such as “in pursuance of measures or actions decided by the Security Council of the United Nations”. [ You can access the full text of the Constitution of Malta here].

The Maltese government has nevertheless opted not to host military aircraft used against the Gheddafi regime, whilst it has been at the forefront of international efforts to evacuate foreign nationals from Libya. On March 19, prime minister Lawrence Gonzi told the press that his “priority as Prime Minister is the security of the country.” He also reiterated Malta’s willingness to continue to play a “pivotal role on humanitarian and evacuation issues” arising from the situation in Libya. Opposition leader Joseph Muscat confirmed that government and opposition were in agreement regarding Malta's position. In view of the fact that there are bases in Sicily, only a few minutes from the Island, on the Italian mainland and in Crete, Malta is not technically necessary to launch air strikes on Libya. On the other hand, it has clear advantages as a humanitarian hub. (See Watching Libya March 20, 2011, Watching Libya March 7, 2011, and Watching Libya March 4, 2011 below).

Finally, Canadian Globemasters are not known to have landed in Malta’s only airport (all other facilities were run down and finally stood down with the closure of British bases in 1979) after April 7 as one would have expected from a reading the Press Telegram report. Maltese aircraft spotting enthusiasts report landings/takeoffs of 20 military aircraft at Malta International Airport between March 16 and April 15 [Click here], of which:

- 12 French Armée de l'Air and Aéronavale: of which Eurocopter EC225 Super Puma and Eurocopter SA 365/AS365 Dauphin 2 from French naval assets, Embraer E121, and Falcon 900 (the latter is used by the Escadron de transport, d'entraînement et de calibrage which is in charge of transportation of VIPs)
- 4 Royal Air Force and Royal Naval Fleet Air Arm : of which Augusta Westland AW101 helicopters (Merlin, formerly EH101s) from Royal Navy assets  in harbour in Malta, Lockheed Martin C-130J "Super" Hercules and Boeing C-17 Globemaster III
- 2 Flygvapnet  (Swedish Air Force) C-130 Hercules: probably the Hercules forming part of the Swedish contingent in Sicily, used for mid-air refuelling of the 8 Saab JAS 39 Gripens stationed at Sigonella air base in Sicily
- 1 South African Air Force Boeing 737-700: This aircraft must be the Inkwazi (Fish Eagle), the SAAF aircraft reserved for RSA's VIPs; the registration code ZS-RSA fits. This is almost certainly the aircraft that brought South Africa’s president Jacob Zuma to the African Union delegation meeting with Gheddafi on April 9-11 (See Watching Libya April 9/10, 2011, Watching Libya April 11, 2011 and Watching Libya April 12, 2011 below).
- 1 US Air Force C-17 Globemaster III

As can be seen above, C-17 Globemaster III aircraft did land in Malta between March 16 and April 15 but not Canadian ones. Canadian CC‑177 Globemasters did use Malta in the last week of February and first week of March to evacuate Canadian and other foreign nationals from Libya.