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UK forces are sending in attack helicopters armed with a deadly missile dubbed “the mincer” in a bid to oust Colonel Gaddafi.

The official go-ahead to deploy the four £12million Apache choppers came as the Libyan leader’s thugs launched a last-ditch attack on stricken coastal town Misrata.

Last night a senior Whitehall source said the deployment was “just one step from sending in ground troops”.

The Apache boasts “the mincer” – a ­gruesome anti-personnel missile containing 80 5in-long steel darts called flechettes.

It opens up as it screams towards the target zone and the darts, right, are blasted out of the missile at subsonic speed.

The two-man 205mph war machines are heavily armoured against small arms and rocket fire but will run high-risk missions against fighters and tanks hidden in cities.

Prince Harry recently qualified as an Apache pilot and they are one of the ­deadliest air-to-ground weapons.

Nato has also confirmed French Tiger attack choppers will also be sent in alongside the Apaches in a bid to launch precision attacks on Gaddafi’s forces.

Prime Minister David Cameron yesterday spurned offers of international help to bring an early end to the three-month campaign in Libya. Russian President Dimitry Medvedev reportedly said he was willing to mediate to hasten Gaddafi’s exit.

But Mr Cameron rejected the proposal at the G8 summit of world leaders in Deauville, France. Mr Cameron also refused to say how much the military operation had so far cost the British taxpayer, despite claims that the bill had now topped £400million.

Chancellor George Osborne said the cost would only be tens of millions of pounds, rather than hundreds of millions. Mr Cameron said yesterday: “There have been various offers to mediate and I don’t particularly recognise the Russian offer from Medvedev. I think the most important thing is to send a message back down the pipe – Gaddafi has to go.”

Yesterday heavy fighting broke out on the western outskirts of Misrata, Libya’s third-largest city and the biggest rebel stronghold in the west of the country.

Mortars were fired by pro-Gaddafi forces and the rebels responded by firing back with rockets and heavy machine guns.

A medical worker on the rebel side reported that six fighters had been wounded in the intense fighting, two of them critically.

The PM and France’s Nicolas Sarkozy are planning a joint visit to the rebel stronghold of Benghazi shortly.

Mr Cameron told the summit yesterday that the war was entering a “new phase” with a more intense bombardment of the Libyan tyrant’s regime.

He said there was a growing “momentum” to the Nato campaign and a sense “the regime is very much on the back foot”.

Mr Cameron said: “I believe we are entering a new phase. First, we turned Gaddafi’s forces back at the gates of ­Benghazi to avert a bloody massacre.

“Then we rallied to assist the brave defenders of Misrata and Brega. Now there are signs that the momentum against Gaddafi is really building.

“So it’s right that we are ratcheting up the military, the economic and the political pressure on the Gaddafi regime.”

Mr Cameron was forced to accept there were “uncertainties” about what would happen if Gaddafi was ousted – but he was confident there would not be a vacuum like in post-invasion Iraq.

The PM pointed out that the G8 leaders had agreed a communique, saying: “Gaddafi has lost all legitimacy, he has no future in a free, democratic Libya. He must go.”

The declaration was also signed by Russia even though it had opposed the original UN resolution authorising war.

One step from boots on the ground - by Francis Tusa

THE deployment of Apache helicopters is a logical move and highlights possible directions for the UN-backed conflict.

As operations have become more complex, the ability of fast jets such as the Tornado and Typhoon to achieve more than they have already becomes limited.

Even with excellent sensors, there are always going to be limits to identifying legitimate targets at the best of times. That is where the Apache comes in. Designed to operate in the most dense air defence environments, the Apache can offer far greater security in high threat areas.

It will also be flying closer to potential targets, giving it improved capabilities for identification. Operations in Afghanistan would be very different for British and allied forces without attack helicopters. Often, their mere appearance has persuaded Taliban forces to cease an engagement.

At first, in Libya, they will be flying from amphibious assault ships off the coast – HMS Ocean for the UK.

But it is not a big jump to suggest, if events do not move quickly enough, that to improve the helicopters’ ability to stay near targets, fuel dumps and re-arming stations should be set up in Libya.

Which could be the start of “boots on the ground”, a move that has been regarded as no-go to date.