© Reuters/Chip Somodevilla/PoolU.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates meets with troops from the U.S. Army 25th Infantry Division from Hawaii during a visit to Camp Victory in Baghdad April 7, 2011.
The unmanned aircraft, already used to target militants along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan, will allow for precise attacks against Gaddafi's forces, Gates told a news conference.
"He (Obama) has approved the use of armed Predators," Gates said.
The first two Predators, which carry Hellfire missiles and can stay in the air for 24 hours, headed to Libya on Thursday but had to turn back due to bad weather, said General James Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The U.S. military plans to maintain two patrols of armed Predators above Libya at any given time, permitting better surveillance -- and targeting -- of Gaddafi's forces as they dig into positions next to civilian areas, Cartwright told the same briefing.
The drones are based in the region but typically flown by remote control by pilots in the United States. The drones for Libya had not been withdrawn from Afghanistan, Gates and Cartwright said.
Gates said Obama continues to be opposed to sending U.S. ground forces into Libya. There were no plans to send U.S. trainers to augment NATO forces already working with rebel forces or to increase the American presence substantially, Gates said.
"There's no wiggle room in that," he said.
Asked why the United States did not want to increase its role in Libya, Gates noted the U.S. military was already stretched thin, with 100,000 troops in Afghanistan, 50,000 troops in Iraq and 18,000 sailors on 19 ships assisting Japan after its devastating earthquake and tsunami last month.
"There was never a lack of clarity about the limits of the U.S. role here," Gates said.
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