A summary of the Libyan campaign for Typhoon from "Eurofighter World" magazine:
Focus on LibyaThe Fleet Effectiveness of the Typhoon on Operations
Following six months of intensive operations - 24 hours a day, 7 days a week - the British and Italian Typhoon fleets came back home from their key roles in Libya operations. The aircraft, which went into combat for the first time in both air-to-air and air-to-surface missions, was re-deployed to Gioia del Colle and Trapani air force bases in Southern Italy from the 21[SUP]st[/SUP] March 2011 and amassed over 5000 flying hours. During this time, in support of UN Security Council Resolution 1973, Typhoon has proven itself as a first class multi-role aircraft, both enforcing the no-fly-zone over Libya and in ground attack missions against regime forces threatening civilians. These achievements have marked a significant shift for the Typhoon and has successfully demonstrated the full maturity and adaptability of the platform. Within 18 hours of the identification of Gioia del Colle as the Operating Base, the RAF had deployed 10 Typhoons, provided the early entry support staff and were managing the flow of equipment and personnel into the base. Wing Commander Jez Attridge, who took part in the first missions over Libya spoke to us about the deployment: "We have a philosophy that if you stay ready you don't have to get ready. Consequently, although the RAF Typhoons were not formally at a high readiness state, 10 jets were armed and ready to deploy within 48 hours of the notice from our Headquarters. We had no need to conduct any extra pilot training which allowed the aircrew to focus on studying the likely air and surface threat and refine tactics".
"The Station Commander told station personnel on 17[SUP]th[/SUP] March that we were on notice to move. The Station immediately went into action the next morning to have 8 jets ready to deploy within 48 hours and we were ready on 19[SUP]th[/SUP] March. The really impressive aspect of this was how everyone moved with a common purpose and how our industrial partners immediately synchronized their activity with ours". This rapid response from industry in
achieving the first-ever avionics update to Typhoon aircraft on operations was commended by the RAF. These activities which were completed in phenomenal timescales, enabled clearance of air-to-surface roles for the full fleet. This success delivered a clear message about the efficient joint working arrangements established with the MOD and RAF and the determination and commitment of industry. The end result was that the RAF were able to deploy the aircraft and maintain Quick Reaction Alert tasking, whilst also continuing the training of pilots at RAF Coningsby.The deployment in Libya has clearly defined the key functions of the aircraft, ranging from the vital task of air superiority, with the capability to engage multiple targets at long, medium or short range using AMRAAM, IRIS-T or ASRAAM missiles to the newly established surface attack role, striking at long range with precision weapons. In addition, Typhoon can deliver close air support to ground forces – including the supply of intelligence, a show of force and weapon attack.
On 12[SUP]th[/SUP] April 2011, Typhoon first proved itself to be a potent ground attack aircraft when a Typhoon patrolling over western Libya successfully engaged two Main Battle Tanks to the south of Misrata with Enhanced Paveway II bombs. Since that mission, Typhoon has continued to prosecute targets threatening the safety of Libyan civilians. Typhoon has offered a credible option to Defence that covers two roles that were previously discharged by two separate platforms. "We don't actually move from air-to-air to air-to-surface – the aircraft is always providing the pilot with information about the air environment and we can employ missiles against hostile threat aircraft at any time. So if you like, employing air-to-surface weapons is a capability that works with, not against, the other capabilities of the aircraft. The difficult part of the mission is interpreting the complicated picture on the ground and ensuring that the weapons are used against the right target, every time".
An early mission in the vicinity of Misrata demonstrates the ease with which Typhoon can influence the ground environment. In this particular case, the Typhoon was wingman to a Tornado GR.4. Typhoon had only been declared in the air-to-surface role for two weeks and the pilots were still relatively inexperienced. However, when a target was passed to the formation by AWACS, the Typhoon pilot was able to cue the formation's weapons onto the pro-regime forces within minutes, by a combination of Link-16 and Litening III targeting pod. Weapons were delivered by the formation within 10 minutes of the initial message. More remarkable, was the delivery of two Enhanced Paveway II weapons by the Typhoon, to two separate targets, in one pass. The pilot had not practiced this attack for over a year, yet was able to choose this delivery method due to the ease with which the aircraft allows air to surface delivery.
Asked what he felt were the advantages of the Typhoon, he said "For me it was looking at the air-picture of the entire operating area, whilst on the ground at Gioia Del Colle. Our Link-16 datalink allowed us to zoom in to any area, interrogate tracks to see who was operating where and pick up tasking. When you are 700 miles away, this level of situational awareness allows you to prepare mentally for the mission before entering the airspace so that you are immediately effective. If you combine this with the outrageous thrust to weight advantage that Typhoon enjoys you have an aircraft that carries a lot of ordnance, with a pilot that has no doubt where that payload is to be delivered".The pilots faced many challenges during the missions, as NATO forces worked to combat the aggressive actions of Libyan forces. Without being able to go into details as to how these attacks were addressed, Wg. Cdr. Attridge did say: "The Defensive Aids Sub-System on the Typhoon is world-class. Our pilots staked their lives on it every day, with no hesitation".The Officer Commanding 906 Expeditionary Air Wing of the Royal Air Force, Group Captain Squires, commented on the Typhoon's vital role in the operation."The Typhoon's contribution to enforcing the UN Resolution has been immense. The skill, determination and professionalism of the pilots and engineers alike, combined with the potent capability of an aircraft which can switch from air-to-ground and air-to-air tasking in a moment's notice has been exceptional and earned them a superb reputation within NATO. The Typhoon force can return home extremely proud of their immense contribution to NATO's Operation Unified Protector."The success of the Typhoon fleet in Libya can be attributed to their breadth of capability and the flexibility of the platform, which is able to carry out operations day or night, in all weather conditions and deploying a wide variety of weapons. The fact that the airframe is largely constructed of carbon fibre composites and light alloys to save weight – meaning it consumes less fuel and can carry more weapons was never more vital than on the five hour plus missions along the Libyan coastline.
As explained by Squadron Leader Rupert Joel during his Libya de-brief for the media at Paris air show in June, it's about 600 miles from Gioia de Colle to Libyan air space. "In Afghanistan I flew 325 miles maximum and in Iraq, 350 miles". At 800 miles, the Libyan coastline is even longer. "The aircraft doesn't suffer at all from flying those extra hours. We're flying them a lot and they're performing exactly as they do in the UK".
Speaking about combat missions to the media during RIAT, Fairford Air Show in July, Wg Cdr Attridge said. "In just over 3 months we've flown almost 1300 hours, the same as a Typhoon circumnavigating the Earth 24 times. Overall, I've been personally fortunate to oversee the maturation of the RAF's first multi-role combat aircraft since World War II. More than that, as a Service we've been fortunate to have at our disposal an aircraft that fulfils the RAF's mantra of being agile, adaptable and capable. This is reinforced by the fact that the average hours flown per aircraft during this operation have increased from the initial 24 to nearly 90 per month, which demonstrates the platform's stunning serviceability".
Further testimony to the Typhoon's ease of operation and therefore minimal training burden when operated in the swing-role configuration is that several pilots were deployed with no air-to-surface experience. After one week's training they were combat capable and have now delivered several weapons with no mishaps or excursions from the ROE.
What has been staggering to the uneducated and pleasing for those more familiar with Typhoon's performance is the ease with which it transports heavy weaponry over significant distances in a fast moving, ever changing environment. Several times Typhoon pilots have been forced to climb over thundercloud activity en route to the Area of Operation, whilst other aircraft with less performance have been forced to re-route. The point that makes Typhoon stand apart from its contemporaries is that even when carrying 4 x 1000Ib weapons, a targeting pod and 2 underwing tanks it can still fly at 40,000 feet, 500+kts ground speed whilst burning a total of 44kg/minute, 4kg.minute more than with 2 bombs and only three times the burn rate of sitting at idle on the ground. This has obvious benefits in terms of endurance. More importantly, it ensures that the Typhoon is less of a burden on the air refuelling plan in the air-space. When the bombs are released the fuel burn reduces to 30 kg.minute, allowing the aircraft to loiter and provide airborne cover with its full complement of air to air weapons for a significant period of time.
Mixed Fighter Force operations combining both Tornado GR4 and Typhoon aircraft in the OCA role brought a significant additional dimension to RAF combat ops during Operation Ellamy. The Typhoon's prodigious air-to-air capability afforded the Tornados a far greater degree of protection against Libyan air threats and the enhanced DASS on Typhoon added significant threat awareness and superior protection against the prolific Libyan surface-to-air threat. Working with the Tornado GR.4, Typhoon has enabled the UK to meet its commitment to the UN-mandated Libyan no-fly zone whilst still providing Air Defence of the UK and its dependencies."
Below can be found some Operation Ellamy data shown at the July briefing, related to the combined fleet of RAF Tornado and Typhoon
10.
Op ELLAMY Stats.
| Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug
(18 Aug) | TOTAL |
| Hours Flown | 181 | 460 | 525 | 501 | 590 | 301 | 2519 |
| Planned Missions | 32 | 94 | 107 | 83 | 124 | 62 | 486 |
| Achieved Missions | 29 | 88 | 103 | 83 | 114 | 58 | 459 |
| Weapons Released | | 17 | 35 | 25 | 87 | 45 | 209 |
| Frame Swaps | | 2 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 18 |
| COMAO | Average of 2 to 3 COMAO's flown each week | | 66 | | | | |
Overall success rate: 97%
Italian Air Force Typhoons of 4 and 36 Stormo, redeployed to Trapani-Birgi Air Force Base, reached the milestone of 1000 flying hours in June whilst involved in NATO operations.Part of the Birgi Air Task Group which was created by the Italian Air Force for these operations, these aircraft joined the Libya mission on 29th March 2011.
The ItAF's Typhoons have been responsible for the defence of high value airborne assets deployed by NATO such as AWACS, ISR and air tankers plus the protection of tactical assets involved in Combined Air Operations (COMAO).
The Italian Typhoons worked in partnership with the RAF Typhoons, operating without any technical or interoperability issues. While Gioia is a permanent Eurofighter base, Trapani, in Sicily, has been used by the Grosseto based aircraft, proving the typically small footprint and high operational availability that is standard for the Typhoon.
The British and Italian fleets were withdrawn from Libya from the 23[SUP]rd[/SUP] September 2011 as part of a "strategy to optimise the air contribution to the current and future campaign" according to an MoD statement. Italian Typhoons returned to their home bases to continue in their air policing missions over Italy, Slovenia and Albania following their successful involvement. The achievement of these missions and Typhoon's rapid deployment 72 hours from the initial UN mandate and the subsequent missions 12 hours later, are testament to the "instant deployability and relevance of this new generation aircraft", as Wing Commander Attridge himself states.
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