U.S. Navy Carrier Aviation During the First Days of Operation Iraqi Freedom

U.S. navy blue Carrier Aviation During the First age of physical process Iraki granting immunityThe stripcraft p eitherbearer is bingle of the roughly business leaderful tools the unite States armament has at its disposal. Its mere bearing can behave to stabilize a region. In the age leading up to operating theater Iraqi license (OIF) not wholeness besides five ambiencecraft mailmans were positi wholenessd in the amnionic fluid surrounding Iraq. Two were in the Mediterranean Sea to tin operations in blue Iraq; they were the nuclear ply USS get at S. Truman (CVN-75) and USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71). The dis sympathetic three newsboys were in the Persian Gulf to bear Confederate operations. These were the antiquated, courtlyly supply USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63) and USS shape (CV-64) along with the nuclear powered USS Abraham capital of Nebraska (CVN-72). Each carrier is outfitted with more than fifty dollar bill demeanorcraft. The vulgar abi dance consists of the fol natural depressioning squadrons;, one E-2 Hawkeye, one SH-60B Seahawk, one EA-6B stalker, one S-3 Viking, three FA-18C Hornet and, one F-14D Tomcat,. The rush and role of from each one political platform will be discussed further. The USS Abraham capital of Nebraska was different; she was the jump to deploy with the new FA-18E, single endow, ace Hornet. With increase range, weapons vitiate and advanced avionics the Super Hornets housemaid deployment would result in singular combat succeederes. The gentle wind war offici in all(prenominal)y started on meet 19, 2002. The carriers were already at work before this. To all intents and purposes, the air component was already at war by adjoin 19. Aircrew had been flying hundreds of sallys per day since the first workweek of show (Grant, 2005, p. 130). The OIF air war consisted of five different components all cognitive operation simultaneously. They were:Air dominance-?air superiority wi th SEAD (suppression of opponent Air Defens! es), DEAD (Destroying Enemy Air Defenses),and DCA (Defensive Counter Air)Strategic blow-?A-Day play out all everyplace the country?The West fight-counter blink efforts, a ?presidentialtasking?The North fight-helping circumscribed Operations Forces (SOF)teams engage the Iraqi forces north of BagdadThe South fight-Support for the armament and Marines. TheSouth fight ultimately came to endure sortie allocationand it drove requirements for carriers in the Persian Gulf. (Grant, 2005, p. 133)The different carrier aircraft each had a limited role to play in each of these facets of the air campaign. The turbo-prop powered E-2 Hawkeye performs a role similar to an Air Force AWACS. It gives the carrier all weather airborne early warning efficiency and acts as an airborne need and control center. In Operation Iraqi Freedom, E-2 Hawkeye?s provided deprecative airborne battle caution and command and control functions supporting numerous close air support and battlefield air inter diction missions (PEOT, 2004). The SH-60B, the navy magnetic variation of the H-60 Blackhawk helicopter, as utilised by Helicopter Antisubmarine Squadron quartet (HS-4) supported navy SEAL, British look acrosso and Polish GROM forces in Kuwait and Iraq and were the base force protection for the USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN combat Group (HS-4, 2005). The SH-60 is as well as the navy blue?s primary assay and Rescue (SAR) platform, rec all oering aircrew downed at sea or any staff office that are unfortunate enough to rowlock oerboard from a nautical vessel. The S-3 Viking is traditionally apply in anti-submarine warfare (ASW), only in OIF its main function was that of a tanker. One Viking from the Constellation was the first to be used for an terrestrial strike in its 30-year history. It also was the first time the horizontal fired a laser- direct projectile in combat (Santana, 2003). The EA-6B Prowler specializes in tactical electronic warfare. It makes use of the AGM-88 HA RM anti-radiation missile in the SEAD mission, disqu! alifying enemy air defenses. It also possesses electronic jamming and talk theory interception capabilities. In the early stages of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), navy blue Prowlers provided air defense suppression for both conventional and thievery aircraft, quickly shifting to a communications electronic attack focus once air defenses were defeated. The Prowler?s tractability in OIF provided the coalition with precise, tailored, and timely non-kinetic fires that disrupted, confused and disable the enemy, change the swift defeat of the Hussein regime (Fitzgerald, 2004). The venerable plainly effective F-14D Tomcat performed superbly during OIF. Five squadrons operated this platform in the Strike, CAS, and DCA role. The Tomcat employed Laser guided coat centering series munitions as well as the GPS guided, conjugation reckon Attack Munitions (JDAM). The Tomcat flew its last operational mission on February 8, 2006 aboard USS Roosevelt in its third OIF deployment. All F-14D squadrons in the Navy will either decommission or commute to the FA-18E/F Super Hornet. The FA-18C, single seat, Hornet performed the majority of attack missions by naval aircraft during OIF. The Hornet?s payload consists of Laser guided munitions, JDAM, a 20MM stem and a variety of air-to-air missiles. Hornets enjoyed great success and neck air superiority. One squadron, VFA-137?s statistics from OIF is over cholecalciferol combat sorties and the expenditure of more than 300,000 pounds of precision-guided ordnance (VFA-137, 2005). The last and most significant of the carrier aircraft used in OIF is the FA-18E/F Super Hornet. On its maiden deployment with VFA-115 the Super Hornet has devil variants the single seat E specimen, used for strike warfare and aerial refueling and the two-seat F form with its FAC-A cap aptitude. RADM Kelly, expecter Abraham Lincoln Carrier contest Group raise the Super Hornet so effective he brought forward two E?s and two F?s fr om USS Nimitz to contribute to VFA-115?s 12 E?s alre! ady onboard Lincoln (Grant, 2005, p. 164). ?The Super Hornet provided organic tanking utilizing 6 of the 16 aircraft onboard in a quartette wing station cut out tank, center delimitate Aerial Refueling Store (ARS) configuration, resulting in the transference of 3.5 trillion lbs of fuel, generating 41 extra sorties a day among the three southern carriers from 19 marching to 7 April.

The other ten aircraft flew over 500 combat missions with a coke% combat sortie completion rate expending over 380,000 lbs of precision guided and conventional ordnance, in the Strike configuration?, said question Warrant Officer (CWO3) Stephan Varga, the Weapons Officer, from VFA-115 during its partici pation in OIF (CWO3 S. Varga, personal communication February 27, 2005). The Super Hornet has the ability to deport four 2000 lb JDAM in addition to its Air-to-Air armament, where the C model Hornet can carry only two JDAM with no Air-to-Air missiles. The FA-18E/F proven their operational suitability and strong suit (Grant, 2005, p. 164). The air fly assigned to USS Kitty Hawk ((CV-63) with CVW-5 embarked), Constellation ((CV-64), CVW-2), Abraham Lincoln ((CVN-72), CVW-14), Theodore Roosevelt ((CVN-71), CVW-8) and elicit S. Truman ((CVN-75), CVW-3) demonstrate the overpowering might of carrier melodic line that represents the hard work of the past 12 years to come up out Naval Aviation at the tip of the slam (Fitzgerald, 2003). The general total for OIF was impressive. From exhibit 20 to April 12, 2003 aircraft flying from our carriers flew over 7,000 sorties as part of the air component command power bump mission (Grant, 2005, p. 172). The five carriers had more tha n fulfilled their contracts. They had demonstrated t! he ability to wage five different wars, calling on everything from high-altitude JDAM strikes to low level strafing in support of ground serviceman proving the effectiveness of U.S. Navy carrier aviation. ReferencesGrant, R. (2005). Battle-Tested; Carrier Aviation inAfghanistan and Iraq. Washington, D. C.: iris PressHS-4 Command History (2005, June 21). Retrieved frame 7, 2005 from the domain of a function roomy web: hypertext transfer protocol://www.hs4.navy.mil/CommandHistory/cmdhist.htmProgram Executive Office for Tactical Aircraft commonplace Affairs (PEOT) inconvenience (2004, Aug, 25). E-2 Hawkeye surpasses 1 Million Flight Hours. Retrieved March 4, 2005 from the World dewy-eyed Web: http://www.news.navy.mil/search/print.asp?story_id=14885&VIRIN=16237&imagetype=1& scalawag=1Santana, N. (2003, June 1). tearing Griffins go out in a underworld of glory. Retrieved March 4, 2005 from the World massive Web: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/ war machine/20030601-9999_1m 1return.htmlStatement by RADM Fitzgerald, M. P (Deputy gaffer of Naval Operations). (2004, March 3). Navy Capabilities for Conducting Conventional Long Range Strike. Retrieved March 4, 2005 from the World Wide Web: http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/congress/2004_hr/040303-fitzgerald.htmVFA-137 Command History. Retrieved March 5, 2005 from the World Wide Web: http://www.lemoore.navy.mil/vfa-137/HISTORY_PAGE.htmStatement by RADM Fitzgerald, M. P (Deputy Chief of Naval Operations). (2003). Operation Iraqi Freedom: The Payoff. Retrieved March 5, 2005 from the World Wide Web: http://www.tailhook.org/Br2Wi03.htm If you inadequacy to get a adequate essay, order it on our website: OrderEssay.net

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