Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!rice!uw-beaver!cornell!rochester!rutgers!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!osu-cis!att!cbnews!henry@zoo.toronto.edu
From: henry@zoo.toronto.edu
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: Are Aircraft Carriers Obsolete?
Message-ID: <3368@cbnews.ATT.COM>
Date: 23 Jan 89 02:34:45 GMT
References: <3201@cbnews.ATT.COM>
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>... If the Sheffield _had_ had her radars operational, the Exocet
>would have been detected far enough out for the Sea Wolf (I think that
>is the SAM system the Sheffield class carries) to be used against it.

Alas, Sheffield did not carry Sea Wolf.  The task force had only
a few Sea Wolf ships; after Sheffield was lost, the more exposed jobs
like radar picket generally went to those ships.  It is not clear that
Sea Wolf could reliably stop an Exocet, but it would at least have a
reasonable chance; it (later) shot down an Exocet in a test.

Sheffield's chances certainly would have been *better* if its radar had
been active, mind you.

                                     Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology
                                 uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu