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

U.S. navy blue Carrier Aviation During the First geezerhood of physical process Iraqi granting immunityThe stripcraft p solelybearer is bingle of the some(a) bureauful tools the unite States armament has at its disposal. Its mere presence can behave to stabilize a region. In the age leading up to operating theater Iraqi license (OIF) not integrity besides five ambiencecraft mail crew cuts were positi matchlessd in the irrigate surrounding Iraq. Two were in the Mediterranean Sea to harbour operations in blue Iraq; they were the nuclear ply USS devil S. Truman (CVN-75) and USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71). The dis mistakable three common carriers were in the Persian Gulf to concord southerly operations. These were the antiquated, courtlyly supply USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63) and USS constellation (CV-64) on with the nuclear powered USS Abraham capital of Nebraska (CVN-72). Each carrier is outfitted with more than fifty dollar bill demeanorcraft. Th e customary abidance 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 initiative deployment would result in singular combat succeederes. The push over war offici everyy started on meet 19, 2002. The carriers were already at work before this. To both 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 calendar week of show (Grant, 2005, p. 130). The OIF air war consisted of five different components all cognitive operation simultaneously. They were:Air dominance-?air supe riority with SEAD (suppression of foe Air D! efenses), DEAD (Destroying Enemy Air Defenses),and DCA (Defensive Counter Air)Strategic besiege-?A-Day contend out all everyplace the country?The West fight-counter pelt along 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 prevail 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 command and control center. In Operation Iraqi Freedom, E-2 Hawkeye?s provided diminutive airborne battle caution and command and control functions musical accompaniment numerous close air su pport and battlefield air interdiction missions (PEOT, 2004). The SH-60B, the dark blue magnetic variation of the H-60 Blackhawk helicopter, as utilise by Helicopter Antisubmarine Squadron quartet (HS-4) supported nautical forces SEAL, British look acrosso and Polish GROM forces in Kuwait and Iraq and were the primary force protection for the USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN combat Group (HS-4, 2005). The SH-60 is too the navy blue?s primary assay and Rescue (SAR) platform, rec all overing aircrew downed at sea or any personnel department that are unfortunate enough to rowlock overboard from a naval vessel. The S-3 Viking is traditionally employ in anti-submarine warfare (ASW), still 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- channelise projectile in combat (Santana, 2003). The EA-6B Prowler specializes in t actical electronic warfare. It makes use of the AGM-! 88 HARM anti-radiation missile in the SEAD mission, incapacitating enemy air defenses. It also possesses electronic jamming and communications interception capabilities. In the early stages of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), dark 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 tractableness 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 exactly 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 agency series munitions as well as the GPS guided, conjugation coordinate Attack Munitions (JDAM). The Tomcat flew its last operational mission on Febru ary 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 cannon and a variety of air-to-air missiles. Hornets enjoyed great success and fire air superiority. One squadron, VFA-137?s statistics from OIF is over cholecalciferol combat sorties and the cost 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 deuce variants the single seat E specimen, used for strike warfare and aerial refueling and the two-seat F put with its FAC-A cap aptitude. RADM Kelly, expecter Abraham Lincoln Carrier contest Group prime the Super Horne t so effective he brought forward two E?s and two F?s! from USS Nimitz to conduce to VFA-115?s 12 E?s already 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 communication channel Aerial Refueling Store (ARS) configuration, resulting in the transference of 3.5 one million million million 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 chieftain Warran t Officer (CWO3) Stephan Varga, the Weapons Officer, from VFA-115 during its participation in OIF (CWO3 S. Varga, personal communication February 27, 2005). The Super Hornet has the ability to give tongue to 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 turn up their operational suitability and strong suit (Grant, 2005, p. 164). The air wing 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 stimulate S. Truman ((CVN-75), CVW-3) present the overpowering might of carrier melodic line that represents the hard work of the past 12 years to light up out Naval Aviation at the tip of the empale (Fitzgerald, 2003). The general total for OIF was impressive. From knock against 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 (Gra! nt, 2005, p. 172). The five carriers had more than fulfilled their contracts. They had demonstrated the ability to wage five different wars, calling on everything from high-altitude JDAM strikes to low level strafing in support of ground parade proving the effectiveness of U.S. Navy carrier aviation. ReferencesGrant, R. (2005). Battle-Tested; Carrier Aviation inAfghanistan and Iraq. Washington, D. C.: fleur-de-lys PressHS-4 Command History (2005, June 21). Retrieved serve 7, 2005 from the human race roomy electronic network: hypertext transfer protocol://www.hs4.navy.mil/CommandHistory/cmdhist.htmProgram Executive Office for Tactical Aircraft universe 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&varlet=1Santana, N. (2003, June 1). tearing Griffins go out in a limelight of glory. Retrieved March 4, 2005 from the World immense Web: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/ armed forces/20030601-9999_1m1return.htmlStatement by RADM Fitzgerald, M. P (Deputy head word 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 spacious essay, order it on our website: OrderEssay.net

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