U.S. Moves Unopposed in Tense Gulf of Sidra : Libyan Forces Stay at Home; Exercises May End in ‘a Few Days;’ High-Tech Combat Is Assessed

For the first day this week, U.S. forces crossed Col. Moammar Kadafi’s “line of death” without opposition Wednesday, and Pentagon officials indicated that the military maneuvers that led to long-distance combat with Libya may be drawing to a close.

Officials hinted that if U.S. planes and ships continue to operate in the Gulf of Sidra region without encountering hostile action, they are likely to be withdrawn within “a few days.”

Most of the Libyan navy apparently remained in port Wednesday, and the Libyan air force, which officials said had never been a factor in the conflict, did not venture beyond the nation’s borders.

Terrorism a Concern

However, U.S. officials remained concerned about the possibility that Kadafi may respond with terrorist attacks, and one Pentagon source said that “awareness is at one of the highest levels we’ve had.”

Meanwhile, Pentagon officials began assessing the results of the fighting and the apparent effectiveness of the Navy’s multimillion-dollar, high-technology combat equipment that received initial tests in this week’s skirmishes. And they emphasized that the commander of the U.S. 6th Fleet, Vice Adm. Frank B. Kelso II, has been given authority to end the exercise at any time.

At least three Libyan missile patrol boats were struck by missiles fired by U.S. aircraft and from the cruiser Yorktown in the confrontations Monday and Tuesday, which stemmed from the longstanding dispute over waters off the Libyan coast. Kadafi considers the entire Gulf of Sidra, part of the Mediterranean Sea, to be Libyan territory and has drawn his “line of death” across its 150-mile northern edge.

However, Pentagon spokesman Robert B. Sims said that, on Wednesday, the Libyan navy did not venture beyond the 12-mile limit that the United States recognizes as the legal territorial boundary.

Pentagon officials acknowledged that radar emissions were detected again from a missile-launching site at Surt on the Libyan coast, from which SAM-5 missiles had been fired at U.S. aircraft Monday. A group of A-7 attack jets dispatched from the aircraft carrier Saratoga struck the site Monday and Tuesday, officials said, but the radar unit that controls the surface-to-air missiles had apparently been repaired or replaced.

One source familiar with such units said it is relatively easy to replace the radar dish that would have been struck by a lightly armed, high-speed anti-radiation missile.

However, Sims said the unit was found not to be a threat to U.S. aircraft, and the launch complex on the coast of the gulf was not attacked a third time.

Another Pentagon official, speaking on the condition that he not be further identified, said that, if the missile-control mechanism is turned on and if it targets U.S. aircraft, it could be struck again.

Detectable Several Ways

The telltale radar signals that are emitted when a launcher is “locked on” to a target can be detected by the target, by accompanying airplanes or by electronic receivers aboard one of the two Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruisers assigned to the 6th Fleet force in the central Mediterranean north of Libya.

One of the cruisers and two destroyers were said to be continuing operations in the gulf, while the Saratoga, the carriers Coral Sea and America and accompanying warships were in position north of the gulf, officials said.

The Pentagon official said that the six or more Libyan missiles fired Monday were completely ineffective against U.S. aircraft because of radar jamming from American EA-6B aircraft.

By sending out multiple electronic signals on the frequency used by the missile’s guiding mechanism the EA-6B can confuse the control unit and send the missile downward.

Sims pronounced the overall operation a success, declaring, “We have demonstrated that we have the right to operate in international waters.”

He said that “since 1979, we’ve operated in waters that 35 countries claim as private waters”--including seven previous visits to the Gulf of Sidra since 1981, when U.S. planes shot down two Libyan jet fighters over the disputed territory.

“So there’s nothing unusual about a freedom of navigation exercise. What is unusual is that Mr. Kadafi chose to react to it with force,” Sims said.

The reluctance of the Libyan leader to commit his air force, which flies Soviet-supplied planes, to the confrontation led Pentagon officials to speculate that he was unwilling to risk losing skilled pilots and their planes--military assets that may fare better when put to other tests, such as assisting rebels in Chad.

The inactivity of the air force also led to speculation that the Soviet Union would be reluctant to replace lost Libyan aircraft. The Soviets have kept themselves removed from the confrontation, although a Soviet ship has shadowed at least one of the three U.S. carriers in the region, a Navy source said.

Meanwhile, in a letter sent to Rep. Dante B. Fascell (D-Fla.), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, the White House said that the conflict did not require invoking the War Powers Resolution. Fascell had raised questions about whether such a step was appropriate.

The 1973 resolution limits to 60 days the amount of time that troops can be placed in a position in which they could come under fire without getting the approval of Congress.

At a meeting of the Security Council summoned Wednesday at the request of the Soviet Union and Malta, Soviet Ambassador Yuri V. Dubinin called the U.S. strikes on Libyan boats and missile sites a premediated “bandit attack.”

The harshness of Dubinin’s maiden speech in the council, coupled with the unusual Soviet initiative in calling for the session, heightened the impression that Moscow has determined to enlarge the Libyan clash into an East-West dispute.

By contrast, U.S. Ambassador Vernon A. Walters stuck exclusively to the defense of freedom of navigation which he said U.S. forces carried out this week in conformity with the United Nations charter.

No draft resolution was presented, although Dubinin asserted that the council should “vigorously condemn” the U.S. action. The 15-nation body was scheduled to resume its debate today .

Times staff writers Karen Tumulty and Don Shannon contributed to this report.