[h=1]British military almost ran out of missiles during war on Libya[/h]
Colonel Gaddafi (Pic: Reuters)
DAVID Cameron has been accused of leaving the military so squeezed it almost ran out of missiles during the campaign against Libya.
Service chiefs were forced to improvise after being left with no aircraft carriers and dangerously low levels of ammunition.
Michael Clarke, director the Royal United Services Institute, said the stock of 105,000 Brimstone missiles, which were extremely useful, was down to single figures.
Advertisement >>
He added: If it had gone on for too long I think it would have been much more seriously embarrassing.
Meanwhile, Foreign Secretary William Hague admitted Britain could not have won the war without the help of the United States.
But Mr Cameron insisted the UK had been punching above our weight in the conflict.
He dismissed claims that the USA saw the UK as a weak ally as a result of the slashed defence budget and rejected the accusations Britain was running low on ammunition.
The PM said: If you look at the number of strike sorties, there were less than 8,000. Britain performed 1,600 of those, so around a fifth of strike sorties.
He also refused to rule out getting involved in more wars in the Middle East, claiming many similarities between Libya and Syria.
British military jets have pounded Gaddafi loyalist positions surrounding Sirte and the tyrants desert hideout Banin Walid over the past week.
The MoD said last night a strike destroyed a Libyan command and control installation on Thursday.
Rebel forces have been preparing for the bloody push into Sirte for days and the deadline of midnight last night for Gaddafis forces to surrender has been extended.
Gaddafi, who is in hiding, remained defiant, urging his supporters to get ready to fight the occupation.
Read more: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politi...g-war-on-libya-115875-23392058/#ixzz1WyzpxXE9
Colonel Gaddafi (Pic: Reuters)
DAVID Cameron has been accused of leaving the military so squeezed it almost ran out of missiles during the campaign against Libya.
Service chiefs were forced to improvise after being left with no aircraft carriers and dangerously low levels of ammunition.
Michael Clarke, director the Royal United Services Institute, said the stock of 105,000 Brimstone missiles, which were extremely useful, was down to single figures.
Advertisement >>
He added: If it had gone on for too long I think it would have been much more seriously embarrassing.
Meanwhile, Foreign Secretary William Hague admitted Britain could not have won the war without the help of the United States.
But Mr Cameron insisted the UK had been punching above our weight in the conflict.
He dismissed claims that the USA saw the UK as a weak ally as a result of the slashed defence budget and rejected the accusations Britain was running low on ammunition.
The PM said: If you look at the number of strike sorties, there were less than 8,000. Britain performed 1,600 of those, so around a fifth of strike sorties.
He also refused to rule out getting involved in more wars in the Middle East, claiming many similarities between Libya and Syria.
British military jets have pounded Gaddafi loyalist positions surrounding Sirte and the tyrants desert hideout Banin Walid over the past week.
The MoD said last night a strike destroyed a Libyan command and control installation on Thursday.
Rebel forces have been preparing for the bloody push into Sirte for days and the deadline of midnight last night for Gaddafis forces to surrender has been extended.
Gaddafi, who is in hiding, remained defiant, urging his supporters to get ready to fight the occupation.
Read more: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politi...g-war-on-libya-115875-23392058/#ixzz1WyzpxXE9
