By Missy Ryan and Phil Stewart
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. and British ships and submarines launched missile strikes against Libya on Saturday, officials said, as the West began a first phase of its military operations to force Muammar Gaddafi from power.
Vice Admiral Bill Gortney, director of the U.S. military's Joint Staff, said over 110 Tomahawk cruise missiles had struck more than 20 Libyan air defence sites starting at 1500 EST/1900
GMT.
Commanders described plans to take out Libyan defences, mostly around the capital, Tripoli, and the city of Misrata, to enable manned aircraft to be sent in to enforce a no-fly zone across northern Libya.
"We are on the leading edge of a coalition military operation," Gortney said. "This is just the first phase of what will like be a multiphase operation."
But he said it will be six to 12 hours before commanders, using Global Hawk unmanned aircraft and other means, can assess the damage the strikes have inflicted.
Gaddafi has warned Western powers they will regret getting involved in his country's internal affairs.
The United States, France, Britain, Canada and Italy make up the coalition carrying out the operation, called "Odyssey Dawn." Arab nations are expected to join later, said a U.S. military official on condition of anonymity.
Some 25 coalition ships, including three U.S. submarines armed with Tomahawk missiles, are stationed in the Mediterranean, a military slide showed. Five U.S. surveillance planes are also in the area.
Officials said U.S. forces and aircraft will take part but U.S. planes had not yet begun patrolling the skies above Libya.
Officials said General Carter Ham, head of U.S. Africa Command, was taking the lead in the operation.
Gortney said no U.S. forces were on the ground in Libya, but the United States would take a leading role in the operation's logistics, such as refueling.
(Editing by Christopher Wilson and Vicki Allen)