A sharp jerk - and the plane disappears into a cloud of superheated steam, being carried forward, against the wind. Another moment - and under the wing stretched the endless sea … Gone! The deck crew jumps up from their knees and prepares to launch the next F / A-18. The fighter, swaying under the load of bombs, approaches the catapult - a baffle rises behind, the sailors fasten the catapult shuttle to the nose landing gear. The final check follows and the fancy "dance" of the SHOOTER begins - arms at shoulder level, turning the body from side to side, returning to the starting position, arm to the side - bring the engines into takeoff mode. Ready! Now comes the characteristic "squatting down" gesture with an outstretched hand … TAKE OFF !!!
Shooter is a member of the carrier's deck crew responsible for the release of aircraft. Due to the high noise level, communication between the pilot and the Shooter is carried out using a sophisticated system of gestures.
The last time US Navy aircraft carriers were massively used about a quarter of a century ago - in the hot winter of 1991, during the offensive Operation Desert Storm. The fierce 43-day air war that crushed Saddam Hussein's army became a reference example of a new generation of wars - where the stakes are placed on high-quality information support, precision weapons and absolute technical superiority of the winner over the loser.
In total, 44 countries have signed up for the Coalition against Iraq (international forces - MNF). However, in fact, the entire operation was based on American bayonets. The Yankees made a decisive contribution to the defeat of Hussein and, frankly, they could have done well on their own. The "allies" were invited only for courtesy (however, someone came running himself, hoping for praise and a tasty piece from "Uncle Sam").
As expected, the American fleet flashed its power and splendor in the superwar. For the first time, Tomahawk cruise missiles were used to a limited extent - a total of 288 SLCMs were fired at the positions of the Iraqi troops and the infrastructure of Iraq. Mine-sweeping ships engaged in the elimination of mine laying in the Persian Gulf. Battleships fired at the coast with a deafening roar. In general, the classic naval forces had a symbolic meaning in a purely land war. Before the massive appearance of the Tomahawk SLCM, the only naval vehicle capable of providing real support to the Army and Air Force was the US Navy carrier-based aircraft.
Floating airfields
"Jack of all trades" or a stupid relic of the past seeking any, sometimes the most ridiculous, ways to prove the expediency of its existence?
What are the prospects for a modern AUG in an air offensive operation? How rational was the decision to use the forces of the six aircraft carrier groups to strike targets in the depths of the coast?
The answer can be found by tracing the combat path of each of the "heroes".
As noted above, the Yankees drove six aircraft carriers of different generations to the Middle East. Despite the 40-year age difference, on the decks of the Nimitz and Midway there was the same - the best and most modern aircraft at that time. The real combat power of an aircraft carrier ship weakly correlates with its age - the composition of the air group changes rapidly with the appearance of the next generation of fighters (bombers, UAVs), while no cardinal changes in the design of the ship itself are required.
USS Teodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) resembles the Suez Canal
At first glance, the choice of areas for combat maneuvering of AUGs seems illogical - half of the aircraft carrier groups were stationed in the Red Sea. This situation is in clear contradiction with the very idea of an aircraft carrier as a mobile airfield deployed close to the enemy. Deck pilots, on the contrary, had to operate from afar, making flights across the entire Arabian Peninsula. The average duration of sorties from aircraft carriers in the Red Sea was 3.7 hours versus 2.5 hours for those based in the Persian Gulf, 200-280 miles off the coast of Kuwait. They did not dare to come closer.
As you might guess, such a disposition was dictated by security measures. To send all six aircraft carriers into the turbulent waters of the Persian Gulf would be an overly reckless and presumptuous decision. There is no hope for an escort. A meeting with an accidental mine, anti-ship missiles or an attack using asymmetric means (a boat with suicide bombers) - the consequences are obvious.
If you have already come to "direct the show-off" - you need to avoid risky situations as much as possible. Why run into unnecessary trouble when the Air Force does the bulk of the work anyway?
Otherwise, you can get "Scud" on a wide deck (as could be the case with the aircraft carrier "Saratoga").
America, Saratoga and John F. Kennedy operated from the Red Sea. "Theodore Roosevelt" in the company of the old "Ranger" and the already decrepit "Midway" dared to enter the Persian Gulf.
Otherwise, the contribution of the US Navy carrier-based aircraft to Operation Desert Storm is as follows:
Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71)
Nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the fourth ship in the Nimitz series. At the time of Operation Desert Storm, she was one of the largest, most powerful and modern ships in the world. Length 332 meters. Full displacement 104 600 tons. The crew of the gigantic ship is 5700 pilots and sailors.
Roosevelt moved out of Norfolk on December 28, 1990 and already on the third day suffered its first loss - during a combat training flight, the EA-6B Prowler electronic warfare plane crashed. The bursting air arrestor cable left the car no chance - the plane rolled across the deck and fell overboard. The aircraft carrier moved further across the Atlantic.
A powerful combat unit arrived at a position in the Persian Gulf even before the operation began, but the first combat sortie from an aircraft carrier took place only on February 19, 1991, on the third day of the war.
During the hostilities, the Roosevelt wing suffered minor losses - for various reasons, three aircraft were lost (2 F / A-18C fighter-bomber and A-6 attack aircraft). But, perhaps, the loudest incident occurred on February 20 - a sailor from the deck crew was sucked into the engine of an aircraft taking off.
Of course, all this is complete nonsense against the background of the general results of the aircraft carrier's combat work:
75 days at sea, 4149 sorties, 2200 tons of bombs dropped. Powerful!
This is the best performance of any American aircraft carrier involved in Operation Desert Storm.
But is Roosevelt's strength so great against the background of the Air Force? However, more on that later.
John F. Kennedy (CV-67)
The last of the US Navy supercarriers with a non-nuclear power plant. The only ship of its type, the result of a deep modernization of the Kitty Hawk-class aircraft carriers.
Kennedy has been in the Middle East since August 1990, but has made no attempt to slow down the deployment of Iraqi troops in Kuwait. Subsequently, he was appointed the flagship of the combat group in the Red Sea.
In total, in 43 days of the war, the Kennedy air wing performed 2,574 sorties, dropping 1,600 tons of bombs on the enemy's heads.
America (CV-66)
Officials say the aircraft carrier, named after the American nation, has restored freedom to the people of Kuwait. Probably, they would not have coped without him.
78 days at sea, 2672 sorties, 2000 tons of bombs dropped.
In the first days of the war, America's air wing provided cover for the strike groups of the MNF aviation, but soon the pilots began independent strikes against the positions of the Iraqi troops. Military bases, positions of Scud missiles, accumulations of enemy armored vehicles, bridges and oil-producing infrastructure of Iraq were subjected to fierce bombing. According to American data, in 43 days of intense combat work, pilots from "America" managed to knock out 387 enemy tanks and armored personnel carriers!
It is worth noting that America is the only aircraft carrier that had to operate on both sides of the Arabian Peninsula. A month later, on February 14, 1991, America was redeployed from the Red Sea to the Persian Gulf, where it joined Roosevelt, Ranger and Midway.
Saratoga (CV-60)
The third in a series of four Forrestal-class attack aircraft carriers, with a total displacement of 75,000 tons. The ancestor of modern supercarriers with gigantic dimensions and an angled flight deck.
"Lady Sarah" has been in the Red Sea since August 22, 1990, but her pilots did not even try to delay the advance of the Iraqi army or "project" their force in any other way. The Yankees cannot be denied prudence - an attempt to enter Kuwait's airspace with the forces of one or two, even six aircraft carriers, would not give anything but severe losses among the equipment and personnel of the aircraft wings.
As a result, instead of "projecting power" and Saddam Hussein's calls for an end to the aggression, the Saratoga crew headed for the coast of Israel. The ship stopped in the roadstead of Haifa, and the watch went ashore.
On the way back, a tragedy struck - the boat, full of sailors and bags of souvenirs, briskly flew into a high wave and capsized. The Saratoga crew was missing 21 sailors. However, everyone was no longer up to them - a military operation against Iraq began in the region.
The Saratoga pilots made 2,374 sorties in the conflict zone.
Own losses amounted to three aircraft (F / A-18C Hornet, A-6E Intruder and the F-14 Tomcat heavy interceptor). The Hornet from the Saratoga Air Wing is considered the only MNF aircraft shot down in aerial combat (shot down by an Iraqi MiG-25, pilot Michael Spencer killed).
On January 30, 1991, the Saratoga air wing set a record by carrying out a strike operation with the simultaneous participation of 18 Hornets - as a result, over 45 tons of bombs were dropped on enemy positions! (one hundred Mk. 83 caliber 454 kg)
Around the same time, another noteworthy incident occurred with the Saratoga.
- Johnny, can you see this shooting star?
- Yeah, Steve, that's pretty damn cool. I made a wish as soon as possible to return alive to my baby in Ohio.
Fortunately for the Yankees, the Scud flew over their heads and fell into the sea somewhere over the horizon …
Ranger (CV-61)
Ranger in dry dock. In the background are Hancock and Coral Sea (1971)
The elderly "Ranger", launched back in 1956, was scheduled to be decommissioned in 1993. The ship was sent without regret to the war zone, closer to the enemy's shores.
The aircraft carrier's wing flew 3329 sorties in the conflict zone. Average among other AUGs.
More, nothing remarkable happened to the "Ranger".
Midway (CV-41)
Old Man Midway surprised.
The ship, built in 1945, demonstrated combat capability at the level of Kitty Hawk-class supercarriers, and surpassed everyone in overall efficiency (cost / benefit), including the nuclear-powered Theodore Roosevelt!
3019 sorties, 1800 tons of dropped bombs. Moreover, "Midway" is the only American aircraft carrier that did not lose a single aircraft during the entire operation "Desert Storm".
Vintage Midway is a representative of a different era. A legacy of piston aircraft and naval battles for Guadalcanal and Midway.
The aircraft carrier "Midway" did not require exotic concepts of combat use ("a means for projection of force", "weapons of the first day of war", etc.)bureaucratic tricks that have no relation to reality).
It was created for real naval battles. At a time when the combat radius of low-speed aircraft did not exceed a couple of hundred miles, and the take-off weight was less than 10 tons, the idea of a naval mobile airfield was a truly justified decision.
During the Cold War, the Yankees began to build "super-strike aircraft carriers" with the expectation of their use in local wars, where they would duplicate the tasks of conventional aviation. The sailors forgot about the sea and climbed into the air - into the original sphere of activity of the Air Force. The result is the following paradox:
A not too large and relatively simple aircraft carrier of the WWII times has demonstrated performance at the level of modern overgrowths. The Midway's wing made an average of 76 sorties per day. The Theodore Roosevelt Air Wing - 96 sorties per day.
The dimensions of atomic super-giants have doubled, the cost and labor intensity of construction have reached astronomical values - moreover, their real combat capability has increased by only a few% compared to the old ship.
Upgraded USS Midway (CV-41) with angled flight deck
But, excuse me, what does it all matter?
In Operation Desert Storm, the air wings of six aircraft carriers flew 18,117 sorties.
During the same period of time, land-based aircraft made over 98 thousand sorties over Iraq and Kuwait.
The total contribution of six AUGs was 15% of the combat work of the Air Force of the Multinational Forces.
And what value would they have individually?
Moreover, the effectiveness of aviation is assessed not only by the number of sorties. Such a parameter as the combat load is very indicative. Carrier planes dropped about 10 thousand tons of bombs on Iraq.
During the same time, Air Force planes poured 78 thousand tons of death on the heads of Iraqis. Impressive?
The penultimate word of the day before yesterday's technology
The participation of six AUGs in Operation Desert Storm provided a clear example of the ineffective use of the fleet. The results of the combat work of the aircraft carriers turned out to be so negligible that there is no need to speak of any serious influence on the conduct of the operation. Most likely, the air force pilots did not even notice the presence of such "assistants".
Naval pilots were satisfied with this state of affairs. The Centurions sat quietly behind the backs of the Air Force pilots. Moreover, they received a generous portion of fame and were in no hurry to climb under the shots of the Iraqi Shiloks. With all due respect to the skill of these people, their participation in Operation Desert Storm can only be called profanity.
Centurion - pilot who made 100 landings on the deck of an aircraft carrier
All facts add up to a single picture:
- scanty, against the background of the Air Force, the number of sorties and dropped bombs;
- an absurd disposition, with the deployment of half of the aircraft carriers in the Red Sea;
- delays in entering the war. The most powerful of the ships ("Roosevelt") deigned to make the first sortie only on the third day of the war - an eloquent testimony to the "necessity" of its participation in the operation;
- the combat work of the "centurions" was regularly interrupted by long delays. For 43 days of the war, there were only six days when combat missions were made from all aircraft carriers. As a rule, the rest of the time, two of the six "floating airfields" were not operational, and were engaged in other important matters - repair and replenishment of strategic materials (fuel, b / n food) from supply ships.
Where could they be in a hurry? The Air Force did all the work for them.
The figures irrefutably testify that carrier-based aviation, due to its small number and unsatisfactory performance characteristics of aircraft, is a useless tool in local wars.
Aircraft carriers were created as a specific naval weapon. The only adequate field of application for this technique is in the open ocean. Where there is no competition from ground-based tactical combat aircraft.
However, with the development of the nuclear submarine fleet, jet aircraft and the emergence of air refueling systems, the combat value of these huge expensive ships raises GREAT doubts.
