Order of Battle

Warships armed with cruise missiles, tactical fighters, stealth bombers and unmanned aerial vehicles are among the American military assets involved in U.S. and allied forces’ attacks on the Libyan government, Vice Adm. Bill Gortney, director of the Joint Staff, told reporters over the weekend.

On Saturday afternoon, French fighter jets launched air strikes in Libya. Then, more than 110 Tomahawk cruise missiles were fired from both U.S. and British ships and submarines, striking more than 20 integrated air defense systems and other air defense facilities ashore. It was a mixture of old Tomahawks and the newer Tactical Tomahawks, Gortney said. The latter have the capability to loiter above the battlefield until being assigned a target, but “in this particular mission we use them as we have just as one of the older Tomahawks,” he said. By Sunday, the number of Tomahawks launched rose to 124, he said.

Arleigh Burke-class, guided-missile destroyers Stout (DDG-55) and Barry (DDG-52) and submarines Providence (SSN-719), Scranton (SSN-756) and Florida (SSGN-728) participated in the strike. Other ships in the joint task force include the amphibious ships Kearsarge (LHD-3) and Ponce (LPD-15) as well as the command ship Mount Whitney (LCC/JCC-20).

Global Hawks will be used for bomb damage assessment, Gortney said.

On Sunday, he said three B-2 stealth bombers -- launched from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri -- dropped Joint Direct Attack Munitions on military facilities and aircraft from an airfield at Ghardabiya, not far from Misrata.

“In addition to the B-2 strikes, coalition tactical fighters also began hitting the ground forces of Colonel Gadhafi on the outskirts of Benghazi,” he said.

“Fifteen U.S. Air Force and Marine Corps aircraft participated in these attacks, as well as aircraft from France and Great Britain,” he added. “They were backed up by U.S. Navy EA-18G Growlers providing electronic warfare support.” The Air Force fighters involved flew from bases in Europe, Gortney said, declining to be more specific.

In the coming days, the U.S. military would like to hand over leadership of the joint task force to a coalition that is led either by the British and French or NATO, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said March 20 while enroute to Russia. U.S. naval and air assets “have clearly played an important role here at the front end and we will continue to play a role, but we will be one of a number of partners beginning, I hope, in a few days,” he said.