Forze Aeree e velivoli dislocati a Souda Bay

Qatar Amiri Air Force
-6 Mirage 2000EDA/DDA del 1th Fighter Wing, 7th Air Superiority Squadron, Doha IAP, (ridotti a 4)
-2 WS Commando del 2nd Rotary Wing, 9th Multirole Squadron, Doha IAP
-2 AW 139 del 3rd Rotary Wing, 20th Squadron

Armèe de l'Air
-8 Mirage 2000D dell'EC 02.003 Nancy/Ochey
-4 Mirage 2000N dell'EC 01.002 Luxeuil/St.Sauveur
-2 Mirage F 1CR dell'ER 02.033 Mont de Marsan
-2 Mirage F 1CT dell'ER 02.033 Mont de Marsan

Aeronavale
-1 Atlantic 2 della 23F Lorient/Lann-Bihoué

United States Navy
-EP 3E del VQ-2 Whidbey Island NAS

United States Air Force
-E 3B del 552ACW Oklahoma AB
-RC 135W del 55th Wing 38RS Offut AB

English translation by Dario Cocco

Operation Harmattan is the designation adopted by France for its military operations within the context of the UN mission "Unified Protector".
Harmattan is the name of a dry and dusty wind that blows west/northwest of the Sahara desert going towards the Gulf of Guinea; the period that it occurs is wintertime, between November and March, and is considered a calamity natural.
Saturday, March 19th, with an order given directly by French President Nicholas Sarkozy to the French General Staff Air Force (Armee de l'Air) France began military operations against the regime of Mu'ammar Gadhafi, the purpose of this intervention was to support military forces of the rebel National Transitional Council (CNT) and the protection of civilian victims of the repression perpetrated by loyalist forces of the Ra'is.
The first missions of the Armée del l’Air were carried out with Rafale fighters taken off directly from the air bases on national territory.
From that context, the Air Force was committed in carrying out daily patrols of the Libyan airspace to enforce the "No Fly Zone" and to attack against ground forces. In the second stage were also used the air bases of Solenzara (Corsica), Sigonella (Sicily) and Souda Bay on the island of Crete (Greece).
The component put on field by the Armée de l'Air was considerable, on the Lybian theater were employed Rafales, Mirages 2000D and N, Mirages F 1CT and CR, C 135FR tankers and E 3F AWACS, the latter operating directly from the bases of Istres and Avord.
Besides the Armée de l'Air also the Air Component of the Marine Nationale has supported Harmattan operation with their Rafales, Super Etendards SEM, Atlantic 2 maritime patrol aircraft, AWACS (Airborne Warning And Control System) E 2C Hawkeye, all operating from French carriers.
Starting on June 3rd the first missions carried out by helicopters of the French Army Gazelle and Tigre (Armée de Terre) were undertaken using as a base of support ships of the Navy.
Within the context of Operation Harmattan about 5600 sorties were carried out, more than forty missions with helicopters, which in the general context have led to the destruction of 1700 targets; in the eight months of military operations have been committed about 4200 soldiers have been employed.
By October 31st, the mission ended with the withdrawal of all forces.
Alongside the French Operation Harmattan saw also the deployment of the Air Force of the Kingdom of Qatar, the first Arab nation to intervene after the resolution 1973 of UN Security Council. The small Air Force has deployed 6 Mirages 2000EDA and DDA from 1st Fighter Wing, 7th Air Superiority Squadron (Doha IAP) on the base of Souda Bay; the number of aircraft was subsequently reduced to 4 units. Also two brand new AW 139 and two WS Commando (English version of the well known Sikorsky SH 3D Sea King built under license by Westland in England) used for SAR (Search and Rescue) and local transport while logistical support was provided by C 17A Globemaster III of transport Wing, which kept active the link between Doha IAP (International Airport) and the island of Crete.
The choice to use the air base at Souda Bay as a "location" of the Mirages 2000 of the 1th Fighter Squadron was pretty obvious for technical/logistic reasons, taking advantage of the presence of French colleagues with the same aircraft.
Unified Protector was a mission of peace requested by the UN (United Nations) which, according to Security Council Resolution Nbr. 1973, establised a no-fly zone on Libyan airspace to protect the safety of the civilian population and support the rebel forces trying to defeat the autocratic regime of Mu'ammar Gadhafi. The military intervention in Libya has officially started on March 19 by the French Air Force fighter bombers by sending Rafales and Mirages 2000 with the aim of bombing Gadhafi's land forces in the area of Benghazi. Only a few hours later the Americans and the British intervened by the side of the French employing Tomahawk cruise missiles launched from naval ships positioned in the Mediterranean.
The attacks were initially carried out independently by some countries belonging to the so-called coalition of "goodwill" without a common line, but by March 25th, the official starting date of the "Unified Protector" mission, NATO has managed the "direction" of operations. In the first phase the nations engaged in enforcing the naval blockade and the no-fly zone were: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Italy, France, Norway, Qatar, Spain, United Kingdom and the United States, then the front has expanded to other nations such as Sweden, Holland, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates bringing the total to 19 countries; note that as in the case of Sweden, always known as a neutral country, the Libyan crisis has scored his first military intervention in history.
Different countries assigned different names to their missions such as: “Odyssey Dawn” for the United States, Denmark, Norway and Italy, “Ellamy” for the UK, “Mobile” for Canada, “Falcon Freedom” for Belgium and finally “Harmattan” for France and Qatar.
The cause that led to the creation of the Unified Protector was a popular uprising which broke out in Libya, one of many which ignited within the Arab countries, a ferment called "Arabic Spring", which in Libya but also in Egypt, Tunisia and Syria saw the people rise against the dictatorial regimes that have raged for decades in these countries, and in some cases, despite the protest movements, still continue to exist.
The military mission has come after a long period of economic embargo by the European Union and the United States that led to the desired result, and despite the unanimous condemnation of the bloody repression perpetrated on the civilian population and insurgents on military intervention was inevitable.