OPERATION “PRAIRIE FIRE”

After Muslim strongman COL Muammar al-Kadhafi overthrew the monarchy in Libya in 1969, he began agitating against two perceived enemies, the US and Israel.  He defiantly and arbitrarily extended his territorial claims to include all the waters south of a line between the Libyan coastal cities of Benghazi and Tripoli.  This “line of death” demarcated an area of the southern Mediterranean known as the Gulf of Sidra, a spot long favored by the US Navy for maneuvers as it was removed from commercial shipping lanes.  Presidents Nixon, Ford, and Carter, occupied with other world matters, chose not to press the issue and moved 6^th FLEET operations elsewhere.  But Kadhafi’s irritations continued over the years with his fanatic rhetoric, his growing bond with Moscow, and his sponsorship of worldwide terrorism.

Then in 1981, an angry President Reagan reversed the US posture.  He severed relations with Libya on May 6^th, then sent RADM James Service’s 6^th FLEET on a Freedom of Navigation exercise into the contested Gulf.  Libya lost two Su-22 “Fitter” fighters to US Navy F-14s in the ensuing confrontation.  The next five years saw no change in Kadhafi’s machinations, and in 1986 the Joint Chiefs of Staff drafted a retaliatory plan called “Attain Document” which scripted an escalating series of wake-up calls to Kadhafi.  The first step, Operation “Prairie Fire,” involved an airstrike against Libya’s anti-aircraft defenses.  On this day “Prairie Fire” commenced when Tomcats from the combined AMERICA (CV-66), SARATOGA (CV-60), and CORAL SEA (CV-43) battle groups crossed the “line of death.”  They were followed the next morning by a surface action group comprised of the Aegis cruiser TICONDEROGA (CG-47) and the destroyers CARON (DD-970) and SCOTT (DDG-995).

On two occasions the first day Kadhafi fired Soviet SA-2 and SA-5 surface-to-air missiles at American aircraft, all at too great a range.  The same day two A-6E Intruders from AMERICA sank a Libyan La Combatante-class corvette as it approached the surface action group.  And by nightfall this day, US units were positioned to strike Kadhafi’s coastal missile batteries near Syrte.  In an orchestrated attack, CDR Robert Brodsky and his wingman led an A-7 Corsair sortie from SARATOGA toward the Libyan coast.  Below, a pair of A-7s from CORAL SEA, led by CDR Byron Duff, skimmed at wavetop level twenty miles off the Libyan coast.  When Syrte’s target acquisition radar lit-up Brodsky, the unseen Corsairs on the deck struck with a pair of AGM-88 HARMs.  In the days that followed A-6Es attacked two other corvettes until, having temporarily repudiated Kadhafi’s territorial claims, US forces departed the contested waters on the 27^th.

Watch for a related story, APR 15

CAPT James Bloom, Ret.

Love, Robert W.  History of the US Navy, Vol 2  1942-1991. Stackpole Books, Harrisburg, PA, pp. 730-32, 755-64, 1992.

Stanik, Joseph T.  El Dorado Canyon:  Reagan’s Undeclared War with Qaddafi.  Annapolis, MD: USNI Press, 2003, pp. 52-56.

Sweetman, Jack.  American Naval History:  An Illustrated Chronology of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, 1775-Present, 3^rd ed.  Annapolis, MD: USNI Press, 2002, pp. 253-54.

ADDITIONAL NOTES:  An airbase outside Tripoli was used during WWII and the years preceding by the Italian, German, and British air forces.  On 15 April 1945 the US Army Air Corps formally adopted the base, naming it for 1^st LT Richard E. Wheelus, a USAAC pilot killed moments after takeoff from Abadan airbase in Iran on 18 February 1945 when the rudder of his Curtiss C-46 “Commando” jammed, nose-diving the plane into the ground.  At one time the 20-square-mile Wheelus AFB was our largest overseas base, housing the largest OCONUS Navy hospital.  A 1960s agreement with then King Idris I of Libya allowed the US to surrender the base.  Kadhafi overthrew King Idris in 1969, although it did not derail US plans to abandon the base.  Today the facility is operated by the Libyans as Mitiga International Airport.

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                        NAVY 4, LIBYA 0

Since 1973 Libyan strongman COL Muammar Kaddafi had claimed territorial sovereignty over the international waters of the Gulf of Sidra–a claim the United States never recognized.  In obvious rejection of Kaddafi’s claim, our warships unambiguously challenged Kaddafi’s “line of death” across the northern gulf, actions that occasionally sparked an armed response from Kaddafi.  In August 1981, observing only a 12-mile territorial limit, US Navy ships cruised the Gulf of Sidra.  Two Libyan Su22M “Fitter-J” warplanes launched to intercept but were shot down by Navy F-14s.  Four years later Operations “Prairie Fire” and “El Dorado Canyon” again pressed Libyan territorial claims and reacted to the Libyan-backed terrorist bombing of the La Belle discotheque in West Berlin, in which one American was killed and 78 wounded.

On this morning, USS JOHN F. KENNEDY (CV-67) was cruising east, well north of the “line of death,” on route to a port call in Haifa, Israel.  At 1155 an American E-2 “Hawkeye” spotted two Libyan MiG-23 “Floggers” turn north after taking off from Al Bumbah airfield near Tobruk.  The closest pair of F-14As of VF-32, flying combat air patrol (CAP), were directed to intercept.  Tensions with Libya were high over Kaddafi’s fear of a preemptive American strike on his chemical factory Rabta.  At 72 miles, the F-14As’ radar “painted” the MiGs, but this time the radar sweep alone did not turn the aggressors away.  Indeed, the E-2 picked up radio chatter from Bumbah directing the MiGs to contest the American planes.  Over the next several minutes the F-14As turned away from the advancing MiGs four times and descended to 3000 feet to position for a lateral intercept.  Each time the MiGs turned to maintain a head-on approach.  At 1201 American weapons were armed.

Now only 12 miles separated the pairs, closing at 1000 knots. “Weapons free,” CDR Joseph B. Connelly in Gypsy 207 fired an AIM-7 “Sparrow” missile at the onrushing MiGs.  This, and a second, failed to track the targets.  The F-14As now split, turning in opposite directions.  Both MiGs turned left after Gypsy 202, at which point Connelly broke sharp right to gain the MiGs’ “six.”  At 1 1/2 miles, Connelly fired an AIM-9 “Sidewinder” that tracked perfectly, exploding one MiG in a fireball.  A second AIM-9 seconds later downed the other aggressor.  Both Libyan pilots perished.

No further aggression unfolded.  Indeed, the true intent of the Libyans may never be known.  They may have wished only to identify the American aircraft as either bombers or fighters–but a communications breakdown with Al Bumbah prevented “waiving off” the MiGs.  A House Armed Services Committee review of the incident months later supported the US action.

Watch for more “Today in Naval History”  11 JAN 23

CAPT James Bloom, Ret.

Pear, Robert.  “U.S. Downs 2 Libyan Fighters, Citing Their ‘Hostile Intent’ Chemical Plant Link Denied.”  New York Times, 5 January 1989.  Retrieved 30 December 2022.

Rosenthal, Andrew.  “Pentagon Defends Tactics of Pilots Off Libya.”  New York Times, 11 January 1989.  Retrieved 30 December 2020.

Stanik, Joseph T.  El Dorado Canyon:  Reagan’s Undeclared War with Qaddafi.  Annapolis, MD: USNI Press, 2003, pp. 228-31.

Sweetman, Jack.  American Naval History:  An Illustrated Chronology of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, 1775-Present, 3^rd ed.  Annapolis, MD: USNI Press, 2002, pp. 246, 253, 254-55, 264.

ADDITIONAL NOTES:  The Navy’s claim of self-defense was justified by the House Armed Services Committee review, citing the MiGs’ continued acceleration head-on, the capability of Libyan AA-7 missiles to strike head-on, and the history of Libya firing first in similar encounters.  The Chairman of the committee was Rep. Les Aspin (D-Wis), future Secretary of Defense under President William Clinton.

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