Military leaders from north America, Europe and the Middle East are scrambling to draw together a multi-national arsenal of fighter jets, warships and reconnaissance planes ready to strike Libya, after the broad United Nations resolution authorising attacks on Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's regime.

The UK, the US, Canada, France and at least one of the Gulf states look likely to take part in enforcing what has been described as a "no-fly" and "no-drive" zone over Libya.

British Typhoon and Tornado fighter jets are expected to deploy from their bases in Lincolnshire and Norfolk this weekend, along with Nimrod surveillance aircraft equipped with sophisticated radar, jamming and listening devices deployed at Sigonella, Sicily, home to a Nato base and US naval air station. It is also possible that Awacs aircraft in Afghanistan could be redeployed, while HMS Cumberland and HMS Westminster are off the Libyan coast.

US naval forces have been gathering in the Mediterranean for the last week. A battle group of five vessels led by the ageing aircraft carrier USS Enterprise includes the nuclear-powered submarine USS Providence and the destroyer USS Mason which both entered via the Suez canal last Saturday from the Red Sea. The USS Kearsarge is also in the area with a contingent of US marines on board. The USS Mason, a guided missile destroyer, was in port in Haifa, northern Israel, on Wednesday.Military strategists said air surveillance would play a large part of any coalition operation against Libya.

"Surveillance will be 60% of the strategy if the plan is to dissuade Libyan aircraft from taking off," said Professor Trevor Taylor, head of the centre for defence management and leadership at Cranfield University. "Ground surveillance will be much more important still if the Libyans start using armoured vehicles because that will multiply the number of targets."

The role of the surveillance aircraft becomes more important if the allied forces decide not to blitz Libya's military assets pre-emptively, but to act only in response to provocation.

Nato's likely support for the operation would allow the use of a flight of Awacs surveillance planes used for command and control and based at Geilenkirchen in Germany. The alliance's surveillance Awacs planes flying off the Libyan coast are already providing 24-hour coverage of the situation in the air and on the battlefields. The US has a squadron of Boeing 707 jets converted for ground surveillance use based at Robins air force base in Georgia.

The surveillance planes have a longer range than fighter jets, which Professor Taylor said would ideally be based much closer to Libya.

"I have a feeling they will look to have assets quite close to allow a quick reaction," he said.

France has air bases in Orange and Istres in the south of the country from which it is expected to deploy Mirage and Rafale fighters, or from the island of Corsica, around an hour's fast flight from Libya. Airborne refuelling tanker aircraft are also ready to depart from Istres, and the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier is at the Mediterranean port of Toulon.

Canada is expected to deploy six CF-18 fighter planes from a base in Quebec after the prime minister Stephen Harper, said the situation in Libya "remains intolerable". The CF-18 aircraft's radar can track targets from great distances, at night and in low visibility. The planes will be supported by as many as 200 Canadian military personnel.

Diplomats have said Arab countries likely to participate in possible strikes include Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan.

Of those, Saudi Arabia has the greatest capacity to strike with its 161 attack aircraft including UK-supplied Tornados and Typhoons. The UAE has a force of 142 F-16 and Mirage fighters, Qatar has 12 Mirage 2000 fighters and Jordan has 53 Mirage and Fighting Falcon ground attack aircraft.