Rebels battle for control of Libyan oil town

Libyan rebels failed to secure control of the oil town of Brega from Moamer Kadhafi's forces, as the West shied away from supplying arms to their outgunned rag-tag army.

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the rebels needed training more than guns but suggested other nations do that job, while his French counterpart Gerard Longuet said providing weapons was not part of the UN mandate.

Gates said the military mission did not call for deposing Kadhafi and suggested ultimately it would be economic and political pressure and Libya's people -- not coalition air strikes -- that would topple him.

Grilled by US lawmakers, the Pentagon chief described the rebels as a "disparate," improvised force that had a supply of small arms seized at regime depots but sorely lacked military leadership.

"What they really need is training, command and control and some coherent organization," Gates told the House Armed Services Committee in Washington.

"The truth is, in terms of providing that training, in terms of providing that assistance to them, frankly, there are many countries that can do that. That's not a unique capability of the United States and as far I'm concerned someone else should do that."

Project Crossbow enhances capabilities

 A collaborative U.S. Air Force and United Kingdom Royal Air Force program is making it easier for the two services to share information collected via intelligence,surveillance and reconnaissance systems.

The program, dubbed Project Crossbow and modeled on the U.S. Air Force's Distributed Common Ground System, was recently fielded in the UK for direct support of coalition warfighters in Afghanistan.

The DCGS, a system of globally-networked ISR capabilities, produces intelligence information collected by platforms like the U-2, RQ-4 Global Hawk, MQ-9 Reaper and MQ-1 Predator.

Project Crossbow's concept of operations calls for true interoperability between both the U.S Air Force and the RAF for distributed use of information from ISR collection assets.

Canadian Air Force,C-17 Globemaster III

South Korea stages live-fire drill near tense sea border

South Korea's military Wednesday staged a live-fire artillery exercise on an island hit by a deadly North Korean bombardment last November, officials said.

The exercise on Yeonpyeong island near the tense Yellow Sea border began at 9.30 am (0030 GMT) and was scheduled to last about one hour, a defence ministry spokesman said.

Tensions along the disputed border have been acute since the shelling last November 23 killed two marines and two civilians and damaged dozens of homes. It was the first attack on a civilian area in the South since the 1950-53 war.

Pyongyang said it was responding to a South Korean artillery drill which dropped shells earlier that day into waters claimed by the North.

Wednesday's drill was the first since a live-fire exercise on Yeonpyeong last December 20. That passed off without incident despite the North's threats to hit back.

A similar live-fire drill was being carried out Wednesday on Baengnyeong island, the closest one to the North's coastline.

The exercises involve K-9 self-propelled howitzers, Vulcan cannons and 81mm mortars, according to the Marine Corps which garrisons the frontline islands whose defences have been strengthened since last November.

Guns were being aimed southwards, away from the North.

British Submarine Strikes On Libya Air Defense

A Royal Navy submarine has launched further missile strikes against Libyan air defence targets as part of cordinated coalition action in support of enforcing UN Resolution 1973.

In a statement, the Chief of the Defence Staff's Strategic Communications officer, Major General John Lorimer, said:

"British Armed Forces have again participated in a co-ordinated strike against Libyan air defence systems in support of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973.

"The UK launched guided Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles from a Trafalgar-Class submarine at air defence targets as part of the coalition plan to enforce the resolution.