U.S. SAYS NAVY HAS COMPLETED LIBYAN EXERCISE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000302430019-3
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 21, 2012
• Sequence Number: 19
• Publication Date: March 28, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/09/21: CIA-RDP90-00965R000302430019-3
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U.S. Says Navy
Has Completed
Libyan Exercise
By MICHAEL R. GORDON
Special to The New York Times
WASHINGTON, March 27 ? The
Reagan Administration announced to-
day that Navy ships and planes had
completed their exercise in the Gulf of
Sidra and had moved north of the gulf
region.
During the operation, American
ships had operated in the gulf, south of
Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi's "line of
death," the northern boundry of the
gulf, for 75 hours and Navy planes flew
188 sorties in the gulf area, Defense
Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger said
today.
Administration officials said that the
three American aircraft carriers and
the 127 ships accompanying them were
taking up new positions in the Mediter-
ranean Sea north of the gulf.
The carrier battle groups are ex-
pected to stay in the region for at least
several days so that they would be in
position to counter Libya should Colo-
nel Qaddafi, its leader, order reprisal
attacks or military raids, officials said.
To Hold Libya 'Responsible'
President Reagan said in a speech in
New Orleans that if Libya engaged in
terrorist attacks on Americans, the
United States would hold Libya "fully
responsible."
President Reagan, in a telephone
conversation with the commander of
the Sixth Fleet said that it "has once
again served as the spear and shield of
American policy in a troubled and vola-
tile re'gion."
Meanwhile, Administration officials
said that Vice Adm. Frank B. Kelso 2d,
commander of the fleet, was the lead-
ing candidate of Mr. Reagan to become
Chief of Naval Operations, the highest
post in the Navy.
iThe White House released the text of
a Presidential letter today that was
sent to Congress on Wednesday, which
explained the operations in the Gulf of
Sidra area. This was done in lieu of a
notification to Congress under the War
Powers Act.
Weinberger Discusses Operation
Defense Secretary Weinberger
briefly appeared before reporters and
discussed the operation in general
terms.
Mr. Weinberger said the exercise
was "in every way a successful opera-
tion" in that attacks were warded off
without loss of life or damage to Amer-
ican planes or ships.
NEW YORK TIMES
20 March 1986
Admiral Crowe said the Libyans had
made extensive efforts to jam United
States equipment electronically. "We
operated in an intense electronic envi-
ronment but it did not hinder our own
operations," he said.
United States planes first entered thei
gulf on Sunday afternoon at 4:30 East-
ern standard time. Three United States
ships crossed into the gulf Monday at 6
A.M. Eastern standard time.
During the five days of exercises,
United States forces carried out five at-
tacks on Libyan missile patrol boats
that were deemed to be menacing
United States ships.
The Pentagon has confirmed that
two of the ships were seriously dam-
aged.
Navy planes also twice attacked
radars at a Libyan SAM-5 missile site
at Sidra. Pentagon officials said today
there were signs that the missile radar
was operational again. Officials said
that a second SAM-5 missile site at'
Benghazi might also be operational
soon.
? Soviet Steps Described
The three United States ships operat-
ing in the gulf today moved north of the
"line of death" at 10 A.M., officials
said. The three ships were the Ticon-
deroga, an Aegis air defense cruiser,
and two destroyers, the Scott and the
Caron. The Caron carries extensive in-
telligence equipment and recently,
prompted a Soviet protest when it
moved into Soviet waters in the Black
Sea.
Government officials, familiar with
intelligence reports, said the Soviet
Union had taken steps during the exer-
cise to avoid an unintended confronta,
tion with American forces.
They said the Soviet Union had
moved its submarines out of the area to
avoid the risk that its craft would be
mistaken for six Libyan submarines
and come under attack. As it turned
out, the Libyan submarines, which
were Soviet-made Foxtrot submarines
never left port.
The officials said intelligence infor-
mation suggest-et:Mat the Soviet Union
did not provide "real-time," or im-
mediate intelligence information, to
the Libyans on ffie American fleet.
4 Soviet Ships
The Soviet Union maintained four
ships in the Mediterranean. But intelli-
gence reports suggested thaaErSo7rta
Raps had communicated directly with
headauarters at Sevastopol and did not
communicate directly with a Soviet
c,,hrn.rine tender that was docked at
Tripoli.
Colonel Qaddafi has said the Libyan
armed forces vlbuld carry out target
practice in the Mediterranean. But Mr.
Weinberger said that all of the Libyan
naval and air units had been "pulled
back in, so it'll take them some time, I
guess, to get out there."
During the exercise, the Libyans
fired at least five SAM-5 antiaircraft
missiles and one SAM-2 antiaircraft '
missiles at United States planes, Pen-
tagon officials said.
The officials said today that United
States planes were never seriously en-
dangered by the, missiles.
Said to Be Out of Range
They said that the SAM-5 missiles
were most effective at a range of 75
miles or less and that United States
planes were generally out of the range
of the missiles.
They said that E-6 Prowler aircraft
with jamming equipment had been op-
erating in the area. The equipment can
send out signals that create false tar-
gets and may have deceived the Liby-
ans into thinking the American planes
were closer to the missile site.
The Libyan Air Force was never
very active during the exercises. Mr.i
Weinberger said today that on the first
day of the United States exercise two
Libyan MIG-25 planes came no clos
than 125 nautical miles to United Stat
ships.
"And thereafter the skies in the Gulf
of Sidra were clear of any Libyan
planes, and the Libyan planes confined
themselves to patrolling on land and
going over the desert," Mr. Weinber-
ger told reporters.
Pentagon officials said one reason
that Libyan planes stayed clear of the
area was to avoid being struck by
Libyan SAM-5 missiles. Two Libyan
planes were shot down by United States
Navy F-14's in 1981 after one fired on
the Navy pjanes.
Mr. Weinberger said that the pur-
pose of the exercise was not to settle a
score with Libya but was intended to
demonstrate the freedom of naviga-
tion.
But White House advisers have said
that the exercise was planned because
President Reagan felt that Colonel
Qaddafi had failed to heed the Adminis-
tration's message that it would not tol-
erate Libyan sponsored terrorist at-
tacks.
In his remarks to Admiral Kelso, Mr.
Reagan said that the Sixth Fleet had
''sent a message to the whole world
that the United States has the will, and
through you, the ability to defend the
free world's interests." Mr. Reagan
also said that the Sixth Fleet had up-
held "the fundamental principle of
freedom of the seas."
The operations constituted the 19th
naval exercise that the United States
has carried out in the area since 1981. It
was the eighth time that the United
States has operated below the 32-30
north latitude line that forms the north-
ern boundry of the Gulf of Sidra.
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/09/21: CIA-RDP90-00965R000302430019-3