Soviets Selling Sophisticated Jet Bombers to Libya, U.S. Sources Say
WASHINGTON — The Soviet Union has sold sophisticated jet attack aircraft to Libya that would give Libyan strongman Moammar Kadafi’s government greater capability to strike longer-range targets in the Middle East, including Israel, Pentagon sources said Tuesday night.
The planes are SU-24 Fencers, which have an unrefueled radius of more than 800 miles, said the sources, requesting anonymity.
The Soviets are believed to have sold 12 to 15 of the planes to the Libyans, the sources said. The price is not known.
Libya has been a major purchaser of Soviet military equipment in the last 15 years.
The SU-24 bombers have been broken into pieces, crated in large boxes and delivered to the Libyans, the sources said.
The deliveries have been infrequent and at irregular intervals, the sources said.
The sources said the Fencers are likely to be based in eastern Libya, possibly at Al Bumbah. From there, the planes could fly round trip, without refueling, to Israel.
The New York Times, in today’s editions, reported that the Soviets have also agreed to refit a Libyan transport plane, the Soviet-built Ilyushin 76, so that it can be used as an in-flight refueling plane.
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