Path: utzoo!utgpu!watserv1!watmath!att!cbnews!military From: macko@police.rutgers.edu (Peter C. Macko) Newsgroups: sci.military Subject: Re: US Naval Forces in Gulf, Air Nat'l Gaurd units. Message-ID: <1990Aug15.032421.26794@cbnews.att.com> Date: 15 Aug 90 03:24:21 GMT References: <1990Aug11.015150.19844@cbnews.att.com> Sender: military@cbnews.att.com (William B. Thacker) Organization: Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, N.J. Lines: 90 Approved: military@att.att.com From: macko@police.rutgers.edu (Peter C. Macko) A few additions to a previous posting on U.S. fleet dispositions in the Persian Gulf area. 1. The "command ship" La Salle of the U.S. Joint Task Force-Middle East (the ships actually in the Gulf) is an amphibious assault ship of the Raleigh class commisioned in 1964. This ship is not considered a surface combat craft. I don't have the specifications on the Raleigh class vessels. but from what I've read, amphibious assault ships generally carry "almost 2000 marines" plus a "number of helicopter squadrons depending on its class". The newest design which is called the Essex class is one and a half times the size of the R.M.S. Invincible (a British Aircraft Carrier). So these ships are quite large. Unfortunately I don't have their exact stats. 2. According to the New York Times (8/9/90) the Antietam is not an Aegis missile cruiser but a guided missile cruiser as is the England. Of course there's always the possibility that they made a mistake. 3. Two of the ships accompanying the the carrier Eisenhower are the guided missile cruiser Ticonderoga and the guided missile destroyer Scott. Also with the Eisenhower are 3 other ships. Two of these are probably destroyers if Neil is correct. I have seen nothing to the contrary. 4. In addition to the ships already mentioned travelling with the Saratoga Battle Group is the "Missile Cruiser" Biddle. The Biddle is normally a member of the Wisconsin Surface Action Group which is now also under the Saratoga Battle Group in the Mediterranean. These ships which departed on the 9th have already entered the Med. 5. The carrier JFK as mentioned by Neil is in deed being readied for deployment. Whether it will be heading for the gulf or not, the Pentagon refuses to confirm. According to "an inside source" it will in fact head for the Gulf region and "depending on circumstances" either join the other three carriers or replace the Eisenhower. The JFK will be acompanied by 10 other surface ships. 6. Another that point that the Pentagon seems to be keeping very low key is that every carrier also has a submarine escort of at least one or two sub. The exact mix of attack subs to ballistic subs is in fact, they won't say. Neither will they divulge the number of subs in the area. I wonder just what type of warheads those ballistic subs are packing. Hmmm...... 7. The second largest navy in the region doesn't belong to either the Brits or the Russians but the French. They've recently sent one of their two aircraft carriers, the Clemenceau, into the region with a very sizable escort. On top of that, the English, the Canadians, the Russians, and the Australians have also sent ships into the region. The English have sent some Tornado fighter squadrens as well. With the exception of the Russians, these forces have agreed to assist the Americans in a "quarantine" or as Bush puts it: "interdiction". The Russians have stated that they will assist if the UN decides a blockade is in order. One last little tidbit. In todays paper it was mentioned that Bush had a very long pow-wow with Syria's Assad this morning. They have supposedly reached an "understanding" and are "united" against Iraq. A possible military alliance with Iraq's most hated Arab foe has not been discounted. This most definitely has some interesting possibilities........... Finally, I have a question of my own. A few years ago I heard about Israel's plan to build a state of the art fighter called the Lahvi?? (I don't remember the exact spelling). I also heard that there was considerable pressure to cancel that project. Supposedly this fighter would be able to outperform even America's best. In addition it was supposed to contain the most advanced electronic warfare capability in the world. A tough order, but then if anybody can do it, it would probably be the Israelis. Does anybody on the net know its current status? My sources include the whole weeks worth of the New York Times, The Star Ledger, The News Tribune and an outdated Air Force magazine on the balance of power as of 1988. Questions, comments, and suggestions are welcome.