Remains of Chinese made missiles found in Tripoli points to Wing Loongs airstrikes

As part of Operation Taoufane al-Karama, the accuracy of night air strikes has become unusually high for at least a week. The past days, many pictures of remains of missiles were sent to me for identification pointing they could have been launched by foreign air forces during night airstrikes around Tripoli. The photos have been taken in fighting in Wadi Rabe on April 17th and in Aziziya and comparison with Chinese made Anti-Tank Guided Missile (ATGM) LJ-7, also known as 'Blue Arrow-7', confirmed that this type of missiles was used in the two air strikes. Some Blue Arrow 7 missiles fragments were found following night air strikes on :

- Wadi Rabe' south of Tripoli on April 17th
- Al-Hira on April 20th
- El-Azizia on April 20th
- Ain Zara on April 21th

The LJ-7 missile is an ATGM derivative of a semi-active laser guided HJ-10 for export market. The missile has been displayed at Eurosatory 2012 as the Blue Arrow 7. It is also used for armor penetration is up to 1400 mm; it is achieved by increasing the warhead and reducing the fuel, resulting in the reduction of the maximum range.

On April 19th, 2018, a LJ-7 missile shot from a drone was used by the Saudi-led coalition to assassinate the president of Houthi Supreme Political Council Saleh Ali al-Sammad.

The LJ-7 missile can be loaded on Wing Loong 2 UAV, in service notably with United Arab Emirates Air Force which deployed some of them at al-Khadim airbase in eastern Libya and with Egypt Air Force.

Al-Khadim is a former airport located in al-Marj province in eastern Libya. Since June 2016, Emirates IOMAX AT-802 “Air Tractor” turboprop aircraft and Chinese-made Wing Loong UAV have been deployed on this airbase on which extension works started to increase its capacity. The existing parking area was equipped with a dozen of shelters, half of them used to house aircraft and drones.

This small fleet was engaged in airstrike and reconnaissance missions in support of Libyan National Army troops fighting islamist groups in Benghazi, in particular the Islamic State et the Benghazi Revolutionaries Shura Council, or BRSC - a group with ties to Al Qaeda. A second parking area was under construction since September 2016 in the base’s southeast corner. A dozen of large shelters were built and half of the new tarmac was achieved on February 2017. The size of these infrastructures is large enough to host fighter jets like F-16s, Mirage 2000s or even Rafales.

Tripoli is far from this UAE-built airbase, so the Wing Loongs might be operated from an alternative runway close to the Tripoli front in order to stay longer in the air for carrying out Close Air Support (CAS) to LNA.

Libya - Weekly situation report 24 - 30 May

On 29 May, French President Emmanuel Macron hosted a summit in Paris about Libya designed to bring together GNA Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj, President of the HoR Agilah Saleh, President of the HCS Khaled Mishri, and Commander of the LNA, Marshal Khalifa Haftar. After the summit, it was announced that an agreement was found to hold parliamentary and presidential elections on December 10th, 2018. On May 24th, a VBIED detonated on Jamal Abdel Nasser Street beside the Kashafa Park and near Tibesty Hotel in Benghazi killing eight people and wounded 20. This attack is the second VBIED explosion in less than 18 months and the fourth in Benghazi this year. In Derna, LNA took control of al-Fatayah neighbourhood, western entrance of the city and Temsket. At least 13 LNA members were killed and 21 wounded this week increasing the death toll to about 45 killed in four weeks of fighting. Seven civilians were killed by a landmine while trying to get out of the city.

This report includes :

- Situation in southern Libya

- Situation in eastern Libya

- Situation in western Libya

- Coast guards activities

- Foreign military flights

- Demining activities

3,99€

Libya - Weekly situation report 17 - 23 May

The past week, ISIS proved again that its members were still very active in the Ajdabiya region by attacking two LNA military checkpoints in the southern axis. Heavy fighting are still ongoing around Derna. According to UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs for Libya (OCHA), since the latest escalation of armed conflict in Derna on May 15th, at least six civilians were killed and 14 injured. In three weeks of fighting, the death toll in LNA ranks increased to 39, including 15 during the past week. In Tripoli, four improvised explosive devices (IED) ready for detonation were dismantled at the highway in Abu Salim area and near the ministry of justice in Souq Tulata. Seven members of the People's Front for the Liberation of Libya (linked to Saif Islam Gadhafi) were arrested in joint operation.

This report includes : - Situation in southern Libya - Situation in eastern Libya - Situation in western Libya - Coast guards activities - Foreign military flights - Demining activities 3,99€

Libya - Weekly situation report 10 - 16 May

Fighting between Libyan National Army brigades and "Derna Protection Force" (former Derna Mujahideen Shura Council) militants are still ongoing in and around the city of Derna. Following the latest reinforcement, LNA Omar Mukhtar Operations Room has now about twenty brigades in the area (on almost hundred LNA units). LNA claimed seized Al-Hila, al-Fatayeh, suburbs of Sie Aziz, Sie Aoun, al-Khabta and the Haysha camp. Ground forces are supported by LNA Air Force and UAE Wing Loong drones and AT-802s turboprop aircraft flying from al-Khadim airbase in al-Marj. In Sebha, fighting continued in and around the historic castle which was partly destroyed. Since the beginning of May, more than 31 people have been killed and 121 wounded in the clashes. In western Libya, several networks of migrant traffickers were dismantled by Zuwara Police Forces seizing several boats and engines.

This report includes : - Situation in southern Libya - Situation in eastern Libya - Situation in western Libya - Coast guards activities - Foreign military flights - Demining activities 3,99€

The UAE Is Getting Ready to Deploy Jets to the Libya War

New satellite imagery from Terra Server — dated Sept. 24 and Nov. 10, 2017 — show accelerating construction on Al Khadim air base in eastern Libya.

And that’s strong evidence that the United Arab Emirates is preparing to intervene even more in the grinding Libyan civil war. The imagery of Al Khadim, located in Al Marj province, depicts a new large parking area and aircraft shelters that could accommodate jet fighters.

The UAE Is Getting Ready to Deploy Jets to the Libya War - Base construction hints at air-war escalation

ISIS Exploits Local Conflict and Moves Back Into Libya

After local forces booted the Libyan branch of Islamic State from Sirte and Benghazi in 2016 and 2017, the terror group reorganized and launched counterattacks targeting both the Libyan National Army and that regime’s rival, the Government of National Accord and associated Misrata militias.

But ISIS’s survival in the region has not motivated the competing regimes in Libya to set aside their differences. An already complex conflict could grow more complex as ISIS again mobilizes in a war-torn country that hasn’t had a single national government since 2011.

ISIS Exploits Local Conflict and Moves Back Into Libya - Rival regimes are too busy fighting each other to oppose the militants

My publication in November 2017

Ce mois-ci, je contribue au n°132 du magazine "Défense & Sécurité International" avec une analyse sur le bilan et les effets de la campagne aérienne de la coalition arabe au Yémen. Il fait suite à un premier article publié dans le n° 119 de Novembre 2015 qui présentait un état des lieux des opérations après six mois de campagne.

This month, I have contributed to Issue No. 132 of "Défense & Sécurité International" magazine with an analysis of the results and effects of the aérial campaign of the Arab coalition in Yemen. It follows a first article published in Issue No. 119 of November 2015 which presented an inventory of the coalition operations after six months of campaign.

My publication for summer 2017

This summer, two of my stories are published in issue 20 of The Aviation Historian magazine and september issue of Air Forces Monthly. First one is the story of the Libyan Tu-22s "Blinder" engaged in Chad against Chadian and French written in collaboration with my colleague Tom Cooper. Two of them were lost during the air raids against N'Djamena in 1986 and 1987. The second article (Flaspoint) establishes an assessment of the air war in Yemen since March 2015.

United Nations Panel of Experts report for Libya used or confirmed my work and analyzes done since last year

On 9 June 2017, United Nations Panel of Experts published its latest report about Libya. Parts of this document (18 pages on 299) used or confirmed my work done for War Is Boring and Défense et Sécurité Internationale magazine.

My publication in May 2017

Two publications in May 2017 : in DSI issue No.129, I talk about the engagement of Egyptian and Emirati Air Forces in Libya with a focus on the UAE deployment at al-Khadim airbase; I have also written a short piece about the latest batch of four F-16IQs delivered to Iraqi Air Force in Issue No.350 of Air Forces Monthly magazine

How Emirati/Egyptian air power turned Haftar's Libyan oil ports disaster to victory

On 14 March, General Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army launched a counterattack against the fighters of the Saraya Defend Benghazi and the Petroleum Facilities Guard coalition, which had managed to take most of the coastal cities near the oil terminals 10 days earlier.

This lightning counter-offensive has left observers skeptical. How could an army have lost an entire region in a few days - and then recovered it so quickly?

How Emirati air power turned Haftar's Libyan oil ports disaster to victory

Emirati are on the verge of deploying fighter jets in Libya

New satellite photos of the al-Khadim airbase taken in December clearly show that the United Arab Emirates are on the verge of deploying fighter jets on Libyan territory. The engagement of the air force of Abu Dhabi alongside Marshal Haftar has already been confirmed for several months. Indeed, IOMAX AT-802 Air Tractors and Chinese-made Wing Loong drones are located on al-Khadim airbase since at least July. Their pilots - most of them are American mercenaries working for Erik Prince as source told War Is Boring in January - regularly carried out air support missions for the benefit of the Libyan National Army against Islamic groups in Benghazi

Emirati Fighter Jets Could Help Tip the Libyan Civil War - A deployment of Mirage 2000s appears to be imminent

Erik Prince’s Mercenaries Are Bombing Libya

On Jan. 11, 2017, Intelligence Online — a professional journal covering the world’s intelligence services — revealed that the pilots of Air Tractor attack planes flying from Al Khadim air base in Libya are private contractors working for Erik Prince, the founder of the company formerly known as Blackwater. War Is Boring’s own sources in Libya confirmed the assertion. Our sources said that the pilots flying the United Arab Emirates Air Force IOMAX AT-802 Air Tractors — converted crop-dusters — are mercenaries and aren’t Arabs. Most of the for-profit aviators are American, according to IOL. Prince denied involvement in the UAE air operations.

Erik Prince’s Mercenaries Are Bombing Libya - For-profit combat pilots fly Emirati Air Tractors

Impressive video of an airstrike performed by a UAE AT-802 in Benghazi

The video below was published on Libyan social media on 10th December. The footage show the impact of a guided bomb on a sniper position in Ganfouda district in Benghazi. From 01:00, the noise of a turbo-propelled engine (like the IOMAX AT-802) can be hear until the explosion. The guided bomb seen on the screenshot seems to be a GBU-12 or GBU-58. This is the second video showing the clear engagement of United Arab Emirates Air Force in support of Libyan National Army operations against Shura Council of Benghazi Revolutionaries (or SCBR) and Islamic State (IS).

No new 'Hind' helicopter for Libyan National Army

On 29 November, photos of supposed new overhauled Mi-35 gunship helicopters located at al-Marj airbase and grounded since 1994, were shared on Libyan social media. It appeared that this information is completely wrong.

One of the supposed three new Mi-35s overhauled at al-Marj airbase (via Oded Berkowitz)

New photos acquired by Aero Histo blog confirmed that this chopper was already in service in Libyan National Army Aviation. Serial number '619' seen below was acquired in April 2015 together with two other units. Indeed, United Arab Emirates purchased three Mil Mi-35Ps (serial numbers '301', '353' and '619') from Belarus, and then delivered them to the LNA/AF on 26th in Marj airbase. On 11 August 2015, serial '301' and '353' were seen in flight in GANAB near Tobruk.

UAE warplanes are killing civilians in Benghazi

Twice in November 2016, the Benghazi Revolutionaries Shura Council, or BRSC — a group with ties to Al Qaeda — published photos of United Arab Emirates Air Force AT-802 and Reaper-style drones in the sky over the Ganfouda area of Benghazi in eastern Libya. On Nov. 2, 2016, an S-100 Camcopter drone performed a reconnaissance mission over this district two hours before a Reaper or similar unmanned aerial vehicle carried out an air strike on a residential area. Ten days later, an Air Tractor belonging to the UAEAF struck the same area, killing at least four civilians including two children — and injuring another child. Drones launched four others air strikes in Ganfouda later the same day. Evidence is mounting that the UAE is indiscriminately bombing militant strongholds in Libya. And civilians are caught in the crossfire.

Guess Who’s Bombing the Crap Out of Libya - UAE warplanes are killing civilians in Benghazi

Les Emirats Arabes Unis en guerre en Libye

Au cours du mois de novembre, le Conseil des Révolutionnaires de la Shura de Benghazi, ou BRSC - un groupe ayant des liens avec Al-Qaïda - a publié des photos d’avions AT-802 "Air Tractor" et de drone de type MQ-9 Reaper de la force aérienne des Emirats Arabes Unis (UAEAF) en vol au-dessus de Ganfouda, un district de la ville de Benghazi dans l'est de la Libye.

IOMAX AT-802U "Air Tractor"de la force aérienne émirati envol au-dessus de Ganfouda le 12 novembre quelques minutes avant qu’il ne frappe

It is almost certain that Egypt and the UAE are directly intervening in the Libya conflict

On Sept. 25, 2016, the Benghazi Revolutionaries Shura Council, or BRSC — a group with ties to Al Qaeda — published photos of air strikes that hit the Ganfouda area of Benghazi in eastern Libya. The group’s Sraya media arm claimed that a drone belonging to the United Arab Emirates was responsible for the bombings. And a week earlier in mid-September 2016, fighters from Ibrahim Jodran’s so-called Petroleum Facilities Guard claimed that either Egypt or the UAE bombed them near the town of Ras Lanuf, killing five fighters involved in a counterattack on Libyan National Army positions. The reports are just the latest in a growing body of evidence that Egypt and the UAE are directly intervening in the Libya conflict.

It Sure Seems Like Egypt and the UAE Are at War In Libya

My interview in Le Monde newspaper on 15 September

My interview (in French) in Le Monde newspaper on 15 September 2016 about United Arab Emirates and Egypt support to General Haftar and Tobruk government.

Le général libyen Khalifa Haftar, faux paria diplomatique