The Norwegian Government is working for a broad coalition in the Libya-operation

- The Norwegian Government is prepared to participate in the military operation in Libya in a broadest possible coalition, including participation from nations in the region. The Norwegian Government has decided to participate with the Norwegian F-16 contribution to operation “Odyssey Dawn”, says the Norwegian Minister of Defence.

This Monday, the Norwegian Government deployed six F-16 fighter-airplanes to Crete. The planes will participate in an international operation in order to enforce UN Security Council Resolution 1973 to protect civilians in Libya.

As of today, the ongoing coalition operation is called Odyssey Dawn. It is an US led coalition of western and regional nations. Odyssey Dawn was launched 19th March by USA, Great Britain and France.

The US has signalized that they, relatively soon, will wish to transfer the command of the operation to an international command structure. At present time, it is still unclear how and what this structure will look like.

- Having joined this coalition operation, it is still decisive that we can establish a broad international coalition with the largest possible contribution from nations in the region.

Several countries
In addition to Norway, USA, Great Britain, France, Spain, Italy, Canada, Denmark, Belgium, The Netherlands, Greece, Qatar and The United Arabic Emirates have already decided or signalized participation in a coalition operation.

-As in all other international operations Norway takes part in, we want full Norwegian control with how the Norwegian forces are used. For this reason, it is deemed necessary that the rules of engagement and operations plans are in place, before take off of our planes, says Minister of Defence Faremo.

Conditions
The following conditions must be in place prior to the planes are being brought into action:
• An effective command- and control arrangement
• Access to and approval of the plans of operation
• Complete Norwegian control with the use of the forces
• The Norwegian contribution must be based on Norwegian law and Norwegian contingent obligation pertaining to international law.
• Norwegian personnel must be subject to the jurisdiction of Norwegian law
• The rules of engagement (use of military power) are satisfactory and in accordance with the intention of the operation and safety for the Norwegian forces
• Norwegians officers will join the chain of command to ensure that Norwegian military contribution do not participate in operations which is against Norwegians law, obligations and limitations.

-These preconditions reflect the same conditions we usually demand for Norwegian participation in international operations, Faremo says.

Well trained and equipped
The Norwegian forces are participating in order to implement all parts of resolution 1973, and can be used both in an air-to-air and an air-to-ground role. –I am proud of the fact that the Norwegian capable force has proven that it can deploy in such a short time. The Norwegian forces are well trained and equipped for the tasking, Faremo says.

The Norwegian contribution F-16 fighter airplanes are for the time being deployed with support elements to Souda Bay at Crete for a period of up to three months. 

Costs
The cost of the Norwegian contribution is presumed covered through an additional allocation in the defence budget for 2011. The preliminary cost estimate is NOK 70 million, but this estimate is only based on empirical data from previous operations. It must therefore be expected that the cost estimates might change as more detailed planning is available.