25 Most new aircraft have replaced traditional dial and “strip” instruments with computer-driven MultiFunctional Displays (MFDs). These have the advantage of better presenting data to the air crews, and they can be reconfigured in flight. This means that during takcoff, for example, the air crew can pick the instruments most important to them at that time. So-called “glass cockpits” have between five and a dozen such MFDs, and have become quite popular.
26 In the 1960s when air-to-air kill ratios against North Vietnamese MiG fighters began to fall off, the dedicated efforts of a couple of F-8 Crusader FRS IPs (James “Ruft” Ruliffson and J.R. “Hot Dog” Brown) created the famous Topgun school. More recently, the F-14 FRS at NAS Oceana, Virginia, managed to hang a modified LANTIRN laser targeting pod onto a Tomcat, so that it could deliver laser-guided bombs. This little trick increased the number of aircraft that could deliver precision weapons in every CVW by about 25%, which is not shabby for an ad hoc effort!
27 The atomic combat requirement was outlined in a famous 1947 memorandum prepared by Rear Admiral Dan Gallery. He was a legendary Naval aviation figure (he commanded the escort carrier group that captured the German U-505 in 1944), and his paper would eventually start a virtual war between the Navy and the newly created Air Force. 28 The original carrier USS Enterprise (CV-6) was arguably the U.S. Navy’s greatest warship, with a combat record second to none. She fought in five of the six great carrier-versus-carrier clashes, surviving serious combat damage many times. The Enterprise was so hated by the Japanese that they claimed to have sunk her by name on a number of occasions.
28 USS Ranger (CV-4), was the first American carrier built from the keel up. At only about fourteen thousand tons displacement, Ranger was tiny compared to Lexington and Saratoga, and it showed when she went into service. With less than half of the aircraft capacity of the two larger ships, Ranger was simply too small to support a powerful air group, and was never considered a front-line vessel. Despite this, the Navy learned valuable lessons from building Ranger, and it showed in the next class of aircraft carriers.
29 A new reactor design under consideration for future carriers will never need refueling. This is a tremendous advantage, since refueling is a complex overhaul that takes three years in a shipyard.
30 Secretary Lehman also authorized the reactivation of the four World War II-era Iowa-class (BB-61) battleships armed with antiship and long-range cruise missiles.
31 Thomas Jefferson also appears on Mount Rushmore, but he was always skeptical about sea power, and in the Navy’s eyes he did not merit the naming of a carrier.
32 Originally, CVN-75 was to have been named the USS United States, after the original supercarrier (CVA-58) broken up on the building ways in 1949. In fact, there exist photos of her keel being laid under that name. However, for political reasons, the Clinton Administration decided to rename her Harry S. Truman. So for the second time, Harry Truman “sank” the USS United States!
33 The Virginia is frequently and incorrectly referred to as the Merrimac, which was previously a steam frigate in the Federal Navy. Incompletely burned and scuttled when the Gosport Naval Yard (near the present-day Norfolk Naval Base) was abandoned in 1861 by Federal forces, it was raised and then used to build the Confederate ironclad.
34 After years of being a part of Tennaco Corporation, Newport News Shipbuilding separated in 1996 and is now a full-time shipbuilding concern.
35 The four catapults on every carrier are numbered 1 through 4, from the starboard bow (Catapult 1) to the port angle (Catapult 4).
36 For example, the tiny “LOX crew” cares for a tank of immensely hazardous liquid oxygen, which is used to refill the breathing air systems of some aircraft. This tank sits on an inclined ramp on the deck edge. A quick-release fitting allows it to be sent into the sea in the event of a fire, to prevent a catastrophic explosion.
37 Because of the high temperatures generated by the engine afterburners of aircraft like the F-14 Tomcat and F/A-18 Hornet, the JBDs contain a system of cooling channels, through which are pumped seawater. This system keeps the hydraulically erected JBDs from melting under the thermal pounding.
38 The Navy does not use radioactive steam to power its catapults. The steam that powers everything on the ship is actually heated in the secondary (non-radioactive) loop of the reactor plant. All of the radioactive components of the reactor plant are contained in either the reactor vessels or the primary cooling loop of the system.
39 Some people get lucky. In 1983, during an attempted launch on board the USS John F. Kennedy (CV-67), the crew of an A-6E Intruder suffered a “cold shot,” and ejected just before the aircraft pitched over the end of the bow into the water. The pilot’s ejection seat fired him up, and his parachute let him down gently, unhurt, onto the deck just in front of the JBD of the catapult that had misfired his aircraft! The bombardier/navigator was not quite so lucky. Because his seat fired an instant earlier, he was thrown farther aft and to the side, and his parachute caught the overhanging tail of an EA-6B Prowler before he hit the ocean. The emergency crews searched for over a half hour before they found the crewman hanging over the side aft of the island, bruised from banging heavily against the hull, but alive.
40 The only known “live” service firing of Sea Sparrow occurred in 1992, when the USS Saratoga (CV- 60) accidentally launched a pair of the SAMs, one of which struck the Turkish destroyer Mauvenet. Five Turkish sailors were killed by the detonation of the warhead, including the ship’s captain.
41 The name is a particularly rude reference to a habit of man’s best friend.
42 For those of you with a desire to fully understand the workings of nuclear reactors in detail, see my book Submarine: A Guided Tour of a Nuclear Warship (Berkley Books, 1992). 44 The term “Skunk Works” refers to the original Lockheed Advanced Projects Division in Burbank, California, which was headed by the legendary Kelly Johnson and Ben Rich, and was designed to produce “out-of-the-box” ideas that could be rapidly and economically produced. Examples of the Skunk Works concept in action include the F-80 Shooting Star, the U-2 and SR-71 reconnaissance aircraft, and the F-117A Nighthawk stealth fighter. A number of companies, including Newport News Shipbuilding and Boeing Military Aircraft, have set up similar organizations. 45 “Ski Jumps” were developed by the Royal Navy in the 1970’s to improve the takeoff and load-carrying characteristics of V/STOL aircraft like the FRS.1/2 Sea Harrier and AV-8B Harrier II. The addition of a slight incline to the end of a flight deck provides the aircraft an upward “push” at the critical point of takeoff. So effective are ski jumps at giving V/STOL aircraft “something for nothing,” that almost every nation with carriers, with the exception of the United States, utilizes them in their carrier designs.
43 While Naval aviators did have some precision weapons such as Paveway II LGBs and the new AGM- 84E Standoff Land Attack Missile (SLAM), their stockpiles were small, and lacked the capabilities of the newest systems like the Paveway III LGB and GBU-15 electro-optical guided bombs. So rapidly were these stocks used up that the Navy had to borrow a supply of Paveway II LGB kits from the USAF so that they could continue to strike precision targets.
44 The “Virtual Presence” campaign was designed to support additional procurement of the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber, hopefully with the funds that could be diverted by canceling production of additional aircraft carriers and their aircraft. Saner views took hold, and the production of the B-2 was capped at twenty-one.
45 “Black” procurement programs are designed to be so secret that they are not officially acknowledged in the federal budget. Only a select group of legislators and administrators are allowed to know of these projects, and the clearances required to work on them are above Top Secret.
46 As if all this was not absurd enough, there was the problem that DoD and the Navy improperly canceled the A-12 program, claiming that the GD and MDC had somehow “defaulted” on the contract. Normally, such cancellations are of government “convenience,” allowing the
contractors to recover their losses and costs for shutting down the program. However, DoD and the Navy contended that the contractors had failed to do their jobs properly, and thus actually owed the government around $1.3 billion in money already paid. As might be imagined, this rapidly became a matter for high-priced lawyers, and resulted in an expensive show trial that the government decisively lost. While the government and contractors continue arguing over the details, it looks like the Navy will have to cough up something like $3.8 billion over the roughly $4.8 billion already spent to pay for its improper cancellation of the program.
47 The shame of it is that the design of the A-12 appears to have been sound, and while it would have been expensive at between S150 and $175 million a copy, that seems quite reasonable when compared to the Lockheed Martin F-22A Raptor stealth air-superiority fighter, which is priced almost identically! 51 To put an ironic perspective on this decision, General Charles “Chuck” Horner, who commanded U.S. Air Forces in Desert Storm, has told me that the only Navy strike aircraft he valued during the Desert
48 This also conformed to the usual Navy practice of giving feline names to Grumman fighters.
49 When Soviet intelligence obtained the specifications for the F-14 in the early 1970’s, the numbers actually terrified the Russian fighter pilots. So desperate were the Soviets to counter the F-14, and the other third-generation Western fighter designs, that they began to spend exhorbitant amounts of money on new fighter designs, and on intelligence efforts to obtain technical information that they could copy into their new aircraft.
50 Compared to the F-14’s single helicopter air-to-air “kill” during the war, F-15’s scored thirty-five victories. Much of this was due to the advanced NCTR systems of the USAF aircraft, which made them better able to employ their long-range weapons with the certainty required to avoid possible “blue-on-blue” incidents.
51 Along with the U.S. Navy, there was a single foreign customer for the Tomcat: the Imperial Iranian Air Force (IIAF). The IIAF Tomcat sale was approved by the Shah of Iran, based upon the capability of the AIM-54 Phoenix to hit the fast, high-flying MiG-25 Foxbat-R reconnaissance aircraft that had been intruding across the border shared with the then-Soviet Union. Of the eighty IIAF Tomcats ordered, all but one was delivered, with the last F-14 being embargoed and eventually delivered to the USN. Very little has been published in open sources about the air battles of the Iraq-Iran War (1980-88), though some of the F-14’s are reportedly still flying today.
52 During Desert Storm, this was usually four Mk. 83 1,000-lb/454.5-kg general-purpose bombs or a pair of Mk. 20 Rockeye cluster bombs. Today, the Hornet tends to carry PGMs like Paveway LGBs. 57 While the LANTIRN system is used on single-seat F-16C fighter-bombers, it tends to be limited to striking fixed, preplanned targets only. For missions requiring a search for a target, two-person aircraft like the F-14 Tomcat or F-15E Strike Eagle are necessary. 58 The A/U/RGM-84 Harpoon has been in service since the late 1970’s, originally having been designed to deal with patrol boats and other surface combatants at ranges of up to 60 nm/100 km. Thousands have been bought by dozens of nations for use on aircraft, ships, and submarines. It remains the most common and popular antishipping missile in the world today.
53 The Raytheon (formerly Texas Instruments) AGM-88A HARM missile is 13 ft, 7 in/4.2 meters long, 10 in/25.4 cm in diameter, and weighs 798 lb/363 kg. Range depends on the speed and altitude of the launching aircraft, but a standoff of 50 nm/92.6 km is typical for Prowler missions.
54 In 1953, some of the Navy’s older aircraft carriers were redesignated as Antisubmarine Aircraft Carriers, with air groups specifically tailored for ASW. These were mostly made up of ASW helicopters and S-2F Trackers.
55 The Soviet “Alfa”- and “Sierra”-class SSNs, along with a few experimental boats, had hulls welded from titanium, a very non-magnetic metal. The Russians can no longer afford the exotic construction methods required to build such boats.
56 This can be as low as five hundred feet, according to some open-source publications. For obvious reasons, MAD performance specs are highly classified.
57 Because of the scope of the original LAMPS Mk. III system with ship-mounted data links and processors, the Navy felt that the aircraft was only a secondary component. Therefore, IBM was selected to integrate the entire aircraft/ship system.
58 For more on the UH-60 Blackhawk, see my book Armored Cav (Berkley Books, 1994).
59 On the nose of all Block 11 and III TLAMs is a small “lip” that helps reduce the radar signature of the missile by deflecting, rather than reflecting, incoming radar waves. Also, RAM is used at various places around the TLAM airframe to further reduce the missile’s radar return.
60 The development and production of the thousands of TERCOM terrain maps that were necessary to hit targets around the world is a mind-numbing job. So much so that it took the Defense Mapping Agency (now part of the National Imagery and Mapping Agency) six months to build the TERCOM maps needed to give TLAM planners just three routes (one each from the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, and Mediterranean Sea) for the missiles to fly into the Baghdad area.
61 Current Navy plans have some thirty F/A-18E/F Super Hornets being built in Fiscal Year 1999, which will provide enough of the new aircraft to constitute the first advanced training and fleet squadrons.
62 For a general primer on airborne ordnance, see Fighter Wing (Berkley Books, 1995).
63 One of the more interesting possibilities for JSOW is to use it as a resupply system for Special Forces units behind enemy lines. It could even be packed full of MRE ration packages, and used for humanitarian relief in “hot” combat zones.
64 The USMC MEU (SOC) is a multi-purpose/capability unit based around a reinforced Marine battalion and medium-helicopter squadron. For more information on MEU (SOC)s and their operations, see my book Marine: A Guided Tour of a Marine Expeditionary Unit (Berkley Books, 1996).
65 There are more carrier groups in the Pacific because the U.S. still maintains one CVBG/CVW at Japanese bases. The remaining groups are based at the West Coast ports of San Diego, California; Alameda, California; Everett, Washington; and Bremerton, Washington.
66 Given the historic unreliability of the United States in foreign affairs and alliances, very few nations are willing to risk the political fallout it takes to invite in U.S. forces. For example, because of the political and cultural risks, Saudi Arabia denied America access to bases during the 1997/98 Iraqi crisis.
67 Currently, O-10 (Admiral and General) are the highest ranks allowed by Federal law. The O-11 rank is a rare honor, voted by Congress for special personnel and occasions. These are known as Admiral of the Fleet, and General of the Army/Air Force/Marine Corps. The last living recipient of this honor was General of the Army Omar Bradley.
68 “CAG” is a term dating back to before World War II, when the air unit aboard a carrier was known as
69 Much of this information comes from Combat Fleets of the World (A.D. Baker, III, U.S. Naval Institute Press), which is the finest such volume in the world. If you want to know more, look it up in Combat Fleets.
70 Despite their intended “low mix” status in the Cold War structure of the U.S. Navy, the FFG-7’s have frequently been in the thick of maritime operations and actions. Two of them, the Stark (FFG-31) and Samuel B. Roberts (FFG-58), were severely damaged by missiles and mines during operations in the Persian Gulf in the late 1980’s, but survived to serve today. FFG-7’s were later key assets in the maritime embargoes of Iraq, Bosnia, and Haiti, as well as in combat operations during Desert Storm.
71 For more on the ARG, MEU (SOC), and their various components and missions, see my book Marine: A Guided Tour of a Marine Expeditionary Unit (Berkley Books, 1995).
72 In addition to USACOM, there are seven other regional CinCs. These include the Pacific Command (PACOM), Strategic Command (STRATCOM), Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), Central Command (CENTCOM), Special Operations Command (SOCOM), Space Command (SPACECOM), European Command (EUCOM)
, and Transportation Command (TRANSCOM).
73 Though there are literally dozens of such programs (ranging from staff-level exercises to war games involving tens of thousands of participants), the best known are at the Army’s National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California, and at the Air Force’s Operation Red Flag at Nellis AFB, Nevada.
74 Most veterans of Desert Storm will tell you that the extensive force-on-force training prior to their deployment to the Persian Gulf was tougher than anything the Iraqis threw at them. This is hardly a surprise, since the Opposing Force units they trained against are usually the best-trained and motivated units in the U.S. military.
75 This is the same group that I highlighted in my 1996 book Marine: A Guided Tour of a Marine Expeditionary Unit (Berkley Books, 1996). 82 The GW, Norrnandy (CG-64), South Carolina (CGN-37), and Guam were all scheduled either for deep overhaul or scrapping at the end of the cruise in 1998.
76 This similar to the Red/Green Flag exercises conducted by the USAF at Nellis AFB to the south of Fallon. Although somewhat smaller than the Nellis exercises, there is a greater emphasis on live-fire and electronic-warfare issues.
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