With the near complete removal of US military personell from the Libyan conflcit it seems that we won't be firing any further Tomahawk missiles at the desert nation. We have sent a few Predator drones as a replacement. This is probably an improvement in real terms as the Tomahawk has to know where it is going before it leaves the ship while Predator can take off on a "watch and see" sort of mission.
It has the ability to hang above potential target areas, providing up-to-the-minute info the NATO commanders and also has a limited on-board weapons capability of a couple of Hellfire missiles. These can be fired at a target that presents itself and may be available for too short a time to launch an airstrike against. This weapon system has proven hugely effective over the borderlands of AfPak. With a hang-time of over 14 hours they can chase a target to ground and then (in relays) wait until it resurfaces. The powerful camera array can allow operators to recognize facial features to confirm a target's identity before launching a missile. This should enhance the NATO effort to "strike at command and control assets" (also known as Mr. Khadaffi) as well as allowing strikes to be made very close to non-combatants as the Hellfire is extremely accurate.
Mr. Khaddafi may wish to remind himself of the fate of Sheikh Fateh al Masri and Mustafa Abu al-Yazid who met their fates at the hands of the unseen "eye-in-the-sky". Retirement may now seem more of an option .
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