Written question asked by Angus Robertson (Scottish National Party) on Monday, 10 October 2011, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 12 October 2011. It was answered by Nick Harvey (Liberal Democrat) on Thursday, 20 October 2011 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Libya: Armed Conflict

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many fire missions have been undertaken by Royal Navy warships against Libya land maritime targets in Operation Ellamy to date; and how many of these targets were (a) detected and (b) fire adjusted onto target by (i) United States Navy P-3 Orion aircraft, (ii) Canadian P-140 and (iii) US Unmanned Aerial Vehicles.

Answer: From the beginning of the current operations in Libya up to 6 October 2011, the Royal Navy has undertaken naval gunfire support on 17 occasions.UK Forces are operating as part of a NATO operation. As part of this multilateral mission individual nations have provided various capabilities requested by NATO. Therefore is it entirely appropriate that nations will co-operate when undertaking these operations.I am withholding the information on which capabilities have provided assistance to naval gunfire support missions as their disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the armed forces.

Secondary information