Pentagon spokesman David Lapan offered an operational update Tuesday of how the "kinetic military operation" known as Operation Unified Protector in Libya has played out -- it included 5,357 sorties flown by U.S. forces since April 1 until Tuesday.
That's up 41 sorties since Lapan's update on Monday. Predator strikes totaled 101 since April 1, while 262 sorties overall dropped ordnance. Targets have included air defenses and ground forces, such as vehicles and missile launchers.
From April 1 through Aug. 10, the U.S. sorties were 4,925 with 224 strikes that dropped ordnance and 84 Predator strikes.
Here are some other figures:
1. Cost to U.S.
The estimated cost to the Department of Defense for Libya operations is approximately $896 million through July 31, 2011. This cost includes amounts for daily military operations, munitions used in the operation President-directed drawdown of DoD supplies and humanitarian assistance.
2. Foreign Military Sales
From the beginning of OUP through Aug. 19, the U.S. has sold participating allies and partners approximately $221.9 million worth of ammunition, repair parts, fuel and technical assistance.
3. Non-Lethal Aid
The Defense Department has expended about $12.5 million of the $25 million drawdown authority for non-lethal aid to Libya, which includes approximately $1 million for ready to eat meals. The MRE drop on May 10, was 10,000 cases -- 120,000 meals -- delivered to Benghazi.
On June 16, a second shipment of non-lethal aid was delivered including medical supplies, boots, tents, uniforms and personal protective gear. These are all from Department of Defense stocks.
This is the value of the aid only, and no additional requests are in the hopper a this time though Lapan said the U.S. will continue to work with the TNC to determine additional assistance it may need.
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