WASHINGTON -- Libyan fighter pilots tried to lure U.S. fighters below Moammar Gadhafi's 'line of death' during extensive air operations off Libya in February but the Americans refused the bait, it was disclosed Thursday.
New details of military manueversoff Libya that led up to the U.S. air strikes against the Libyan cities of Tripoli and Benghazi April 15 appeared in the August issue of Proceedings, a magazine published by the private U.S. Naval Institute.
The author of the article, Lt. Cmdr. Robert Stumpf, was a pilot aboard the aircraft carrier Coral Sea, one of three flattops that took part in the operations. Stumpf now is with a squadron at Cecil Field in Jacksonville, Fla., a Navy spokesman said.
Navy officials appeared upset that Stumpf submitted the article without clearance from the Navy.
But his account of U.S. pilots up against the Libyans read like something out of 'Top Gun,' a hit summer movie about Navy fighter pilots.
Prior to the attack, Stumpf wrote, there were three phases of what the Navy calls 'Operations in the Vicinity of Libya.' During the second phase, between Feb. 12-15, at least two Soviet-built MiG-25 Foxbat interceptors approached within visible distance of the Coral Sea battle group.
'Only once did Libyan Arab Air Force fighters approach the carriers' positions,' he wrote. 'Several Foxbats overflew the Coral Sea but with (Navy F-18) Hornets escorting them, they displayed no threatening intentions.'
Navy strategy is to prevent aircraft or ships from approaching a carrier battle group but naval experts said little can be done in peacetime to avoid an approach in open air space if there is no evident hostile intent.
Over the four-day period, Navy aircraft recorded 160 encounters with Libyan fighters, including Soviet-made MiG-23 and SU-22 and French-built Mirage Vs and F-1s, Stumpf wrote. All were armed with two or more air-to-air radar-guided and heat-seeking missiles.
'Americans dominated this tactical scenario, gaining an offensive position on virtually every intercept,' Stumpf wrote.
'When (Libyan planes) closed to within 10 miles (of Navy combat air patrol fighters flying forward of the fleet), the U.S. pilots could often maneuver at will to arrive at a firing position behind the MiGs.
'Often the Libyans would attempt to lure U.S. fighters below the 'line of death' by flying lazy, predictable patterns, gradually working southward,' he wrote. 'Prior to crossing the line, the U.S. fighters would disengage and return to station.'
Gadhafi drew his 'line of death' across the mouth of the Gulf of Sidra, which he has declared Libyan territory. The United States recognizes only the standard 12-mile international limit.
Stumpf wrote some Libyan pilots, when cameras were aimed in their direction from nearby Navy planes, 'waved tentatively to the escorting U.S. pilots. But they received no response except a cold stare.
'Others appeared to slide down in the cockpit, as though they could keep from being shot by not exposing their upper torso through the (plane's) canopy,' he wrote. 'Some made vain attempts to shake the Hornets or (F-14) Tomcats off their tails.'
