Reply #27: OK, for the record...

[14thColony]

1. Libya has one of the longest-ranged and highest-altitude SAMs ever made in its inventory, a system specifically designed to kill B-52s (and XB-70s bit that another story); they bought six battalions, and at least four are still thought to be in service. Even two battalions of S-200 could cover the entire Libyan coastline. I would assume the French air force would have already dealt with them, but no idea.

2. Libya probably has a few batteries of 2K12 SAMs in operation, which can reach to 50,000 feet and are highly mobile. As demonstrated in Bosnia & Serbia/Kosovo, they can be a pain in the ass to find and kill.

3. Libya has scores of fighters of various types left in service. They're nothing fantastic, but they would still have to be dealt with.

4. High altitude bombing with B-52s of the type you describe hasn't been in vogue for years. B-52s are primarily JDAM carriers now - GPS guided 500 or 1000lb GP bombs. Very precise, and they can glide a ways, but you still have to get fairly close to your target.

5. The problem is, even IF 4-6 sorties of B-52s are cheaper than 4-6 cruise missiles (which I doubt when you factor in all the support that has to go into protecting and provisioning those 4-6 aircraft), taking down an air defense system of this size requires hundreds of sorties over several days. And it's not like we have a) a lot of B-52 (less than 100 now) and b) they sure aren't all available. So I ferry the B-52s over to the UK, load them up, launch the tankers out ahead of them, along with the AWACS that will now be necessary, launch the BUFFs, have then rendezvous with their fighter cover, then ingress to hit the targets after tanking up (or tank outbound, either way). For all that I could've just fired a couple of cruise missiles from the cruiser offshore and done the same thing. So it's not as simple as comparing the price of a Tomahawk to the price of 10 JDAMs or something.

6. Finally, to knock out precise targets in close proximity to both friendly forces (rebels) and innocent lives, the last thing you want is "many more times (the) destructive force." You want the least amount of force necessary applied as precisely as possible.