Defense Technology International - March 2008 - (Page 40)

OPERATIONS NAVAL AIR MISSION READY Carrier strike group is on call 24/7 in the Persian Gulf ALEX LORMAN•ON BOARD THE USS TRUMAN he conﬂict in Iraq is mostly perceived as a land war. Images of troops on patrol, wheeled and tracked vehicles moving through cities, roadside bombings and soldiers battling insurgents have come to deﬁne military activity visually. But there is another side to the war, one in which the U.S. Navy is playing a vital and largely unnoticed role. Warships stationed in the Persian Gulf provide a range of support services to the land campaign, from air operations to electronic intelligence-gathering. The Navy and its coalition partners also assure that the shipping lanes of the Gulf remain open to commercial vessels and its waterways are closed to terrorists and smugglers. The Navy’s main weapon in the Gulf is the USS Truman carrier strike group, one of 11 in the service. This armada includes the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman and its air wing; T a destroyer squadron; guided missile cruisers; supply vessels; and, below the waters of the Gulf, at least one nuclear submarine. Though well away from land-based threats, most of these ships are vulnerable to attack, especially the Truman, notably from swarms of armed or “kamikaze” speedboats on suicide missions sent by insurgents or from Iran. Their tactics are designed to penetrate the carrier group and inﬂict casualties and damage. Even if such an attack had minimal e ect on Navy ships, the public relations value for the attacker would be immense. On board the Truman, on station in an undisclosed location in the Gulf, operations are conducted with an overwhelming degree of order and synchronization, both of which are key to safe and e ective movement of crew, ordnance and aircraft. To provide ground troops with the on-demand close air support that is now routine in Iraq, aircraft and weapons are in constant motion. When ground forces request air support, the Truman generally has planes in the air ready to execute the mission. To keep them flying as long as possible, Carrier Air Wing Three (CVW-3) launches timed cycles of aircraft from the Truman. The F/A-18E Super Hornet strike fighters refuel in mid-air (generally from land-based tankers operated by the U.S. Air Force), and are ready to attack or perform reconnaissance as needed. This means that launch and retrieval operations on the Truman are virtually continuous. For the pilots, ordnancemen, aviation specialists and air bosses of CVW-3, war is a 24-hr. job. Close ground support makes use of some of the most advanced technology in the Navy, especially when it comes to targeting. The objective, of course, is to kill the bad guys and destroy their resources. But it also involves reducing—or eliminating—collateral damage, especially in urban areas. Dropping a 1,000-lb. bomb equipped with a GBU-31 Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM), or ﬁring a Raytheon AGM-65 Maverick air-to-surface missile from a Hornet and hitting a target within a radius of 30 ft. deﬁnes precision technology. Hitting targets with such accuracy, even when air operations are so thoroughly controlled, is still a matter of critical timing. During a “cleared hot” weapons run, there is seldom time to describe targets repeatedly to pilots. This is why transmitting pictures of target areas over the warplane’s Remotely Operated Video Enhanced ALEX LORMAN/DEFENSE TECHNOLOGY INTERNATIONAL An F/A-18C Hornet is prepped for launch on the USS Truman. 40 DEFENSE TECHNOLOGY INTERNATIONAL MARCH 2008 AviationWeek.com/dti http://www.aviationweek.com/dti

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Defense Technology International - March 2008 Contents Sweden Cancels SEP; Israel Launches Imaging Satellite; Geotextiles Secure Ammo Dump U.S. Navy Taps Neural Architecture Software to Assure Job Satisfaction Shrapnel-Like Pieces of Reactive Materials Increase Explosive Force of Bombs Technology is Rapidly Closing the Gap Between Sensors and Shooters Italian Army Program Aims to Develop a Fully Networked Land Force Political and Military Uncertainties Plague U.S. Defense Budget Democrats Put Pentagon on Notice Over Spending and Policy at DTAR Conference Russian Combat Vehicle Protects Tank Formations from Anti-Armor Weapons European Battlelabs Use Simulation to Verify Technologies and Stretch Defense Funds Malaysia Accelerates Fleet Modernization to meet Long-Term Goals U.S. Navy Says Composite Raiding Boat May Reduce Injuries From Wave Shocks Seeing Isn’t Believing When it Comes to Deciphering Funds for Secret Projects Advances in Sensors and Propulsion Make Torpedoes Ever More Lethal FAA is in No Rush to Approve Rules that Let UAVs Fly in Civil Airspace USS Truman Carrier Strike Group Patrols a Rough Neighborhood 24/7 U.S. says Sino-Russian Space Disarmament Plan is Riddled with Pitfalls Hyperspeed Projectile; “Sound Cloak” Hides Subs; Improving Nuclear Forensics Dutch Air Commodore Theo ten Haaf Analyzes the Impact of Rotary-Wing Operations One Soldier’s War is a Behind-the-Headlines Look at Russia’s Campaigns in Chechnya Black Budgets are Huge and Growing, and Often Conceal Amazing Failures

Defense Technology International - March 2008

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