"The two-month-old civil war in Libya is about to get a lot deadlier, for both sides.
In a bid to break a weeks-long stalemate in Libya, France and the U.K. have simultaneously made a portentous decision. Both countries are deploying tank-busting attack helicopters from their respective amphibious ships, currently sailing off the Libyan coast.
“What we want is to better tailor our ability to strike on the ground with ways that allow more accurate hits,” said French diplomat Alain Juppe.
There are three British Army WAH-64D Apaches (pictured above) embarked on the assault ship HMS Ocean, with up to three more on the way. The choppers were recently re-certified for shipboard use, as a partial replacement for the Royal Navy’s recently-retired aircraft carrier and Harrier jump jets.
An unspecified number of French army Tiger choppers were reportedly among a dozen choppers aboard the assault ship Tonnerre".....................
SS109 wrote: Helicopters are a lot more vulnerable to anti-aircraft weapons. Hopefully the French and British forces don't take too many casualties.
According to the article, NATO did not know that the French were sending their helos. If that is the state of their Command and Control this could get much uglier.
