British, French and U.S. aircraft began the action in mid-March, in a “coalition of the willing” named Operation Odyssey Dawn that was led by U.S. Africa Command. On March 31, NATO took command. Eleven other nations sent aircraft to join the campaign. They were Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Italy, Jordan, Norway, Qatar, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the United Arab Emirates.
But it seems only the U.S. had the firepower to ensure that the essential first objective of suppressing Libyan air defenses was achieved. By the eighth day of the campaign, the U.S. had fired 184 BGM-109s Tomahawk cruise missiles from ships and submarines against radars, surface-to-air missile sites and communications nodes. As for Libyan air bases, there was one attack by three American Northrop B-2s, flying 24-hour round-robin mission from their home base in Missouri. The Stealth Bombers were employed as much for their ability to each drop 15 independently targeted JDAM bombs on hardened aircraft shelters, as for their stealth capability.
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