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Libya
The Navy
The navy has always
been the stepchild of the Libyan armed forces, although its Soviet-supplied
submarines and fast-attack craft with missiles have endowed it
with the potential for inflicting damage on other naval powers
in the Mediterranean. The enormous firepower available to small
vessels armed with missiles and sophisticated electronic guidance
systems has enabled Qadhafi to assemble a modern flotilla at relatively
low cost and with few personnel. The navy consisted of no more
than 200 officers and men when the first warship was delivered
to the Idris regime in 1966. Under Qadhafi, naval personnel had
increased to 6,500 by 1986 and was expected to rise still further
to meet the staffing needs of additional ships on order.
Traditionally, the navy's primary mission has been to defend
the coast and to assist the other services in maintaining internal
security and public order. After the previously separate customs
and harbor police were joined with the navy in a single command
under the Ministry of Defense in 1970, the mission was extended
to include responsibilities for curbing smuggling and for enforcing
customs laws. The rapid naval buildup that occurred during the
1970s was intended to enforce Qadhafi's claim of sovereignty over
the Gulf of Sidra with its sponging and fishing grounds as well
as potential unexploited mineral wealth. The navy could also deter
landings or raids aimed against the country's oil fields and vulnerable
oil transport network. The purpose of acquiring amphibious ships
for landing infantry and tanks was less obvious. One explanation
might be to present a threat to Egyptian forces near the border
with Libya. The Egyptians' sole land supply route is the coastal
road from Alexandria.
The navy has always been dependent on foreign sources for equipment,
spare parts, and training. In 1972 a British naval advisory mission
that had assisted in the development of the Libyan navy since
its founding was terminated. Training was shifted to Greece and
to Egypt and later to the Soviet Union. The initial ship orders,
placed with British yards, were for patrol boats and corvettes.
The largest surface ship in the Libyan navy, a frigate of about
1,500 tons with a crew of 130, was ordered just before the 1969
coup and delivered in 1973. Later, high-speed patrol boats and
corvettes equipped with surface-to-surface missiles were purchased
from France, Italy, and the Soviet Union. Between 1976 and 1983,
six Soviet Foxtrot-class submarines were delivered. Each required
a crew of seventy-five; in addition, twelve Soviet advisers were
reportedly assigned to each vessel. (For an inventory of ships
of the Libyan fleet, see; table 11, Appendix).
Little information was available on the navy's organizational
structure, but Tripoli was known to be the site of the naval command
headquarters and of the principal naval base. Other bases were
located in the ports of Benghazi, Darnah, Tobruk, and Marsa al
Burayqah. A repair base was located at Al Khums east of Tripoli,
and a submarine base was under construction at Ras al Hilal.
As of early 1987, the Libyan navy had faced no hostile actions
except for the encounter with the American fleet in March 1986
in which one missile boat and a corvette were destroyed and others
possibly damaged. Earlier, it was reported that the small Libyan
vessels were experiencing difficulty in obeying Qadhafi's order
to remain at sea to avoid the risk of being bombed in port by
American planes. The fleet reported breakdowns of engines and
electronic failures as well as shortages of food and fuel.
By early 1987 it was considered probable that the Libyan navy
was overextended, having carried out a rapid buildup without sufficient
trained personnel. More than one-third of the entire naval complement
of 6,500 would be required to supply a single crew for each of
the ships in commission in 1986. In addition, personnel would
have to be found to staff a number of other vessels on order.
Aggravating the problem of reaching a satisfactory level of operation,
training, and maintenance was the need to become familiar with
a variety of modern weapons systems from numerous supplier countries,
among them Britain, France, Italy, Yugoslavia, and the Soviet
Union.
Data as of 1987
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