That thing at 500 feet?!?
Posted on 10/29/2015 11:59:58 AM PDT by tcrlaf
Two Russian warplanes flew within one mile of the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier, forcing the U.S. Navy to launch four fighter jets in response Tuesday, a Navy spokesman told Fox News.
The USS Reagan was sailing in international waters east of the Korean peninsula, Stars and Stripes reports. It adds that the U.S. is currently engaged in joint military exercises with South Korea.
The Russian "Bear Bombers" approached the aircraft carrier at an elevation of 500 feet Tuesday morning, according to Navy spokesman Commander William Marks. He said U.S. F/A-18 Super Hornets escorted the Russian planes as they transited out of the area.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Another message to Obama??
I hope our fighters were up long before the Bears were 1 mile away.
These planes should have been introduced to the CIWS.
The only reason they were there is because we let them get that close. If you can stand off and fire missiles from 20 miles away, there is no reason to buzz a ship. The Russkies just wanted to say howdy.
Your attention please - note how close the Bears got before anything was done. Well within air-launched antishipping missile range.
Actually, there is. If you *can* get that close, even dumb bombs can render a flight deck unusable of if you’re lucky cause secondary explosions that can sink a ship. You can gravity-drop conventional bombs that are far more powerful than anything you can stuff on the nose of a bomber-carried missile.
Hey 0dungo, the 1980’s is calling wanting their foreign policy back.
You mean the CIWS we removed from many naval combatants and didn’t put on the Ronald Reagan?
With the limp wristed officers Obama has been pushing, the CAP was likely sitting on deck waiting for permission to fly, then told they would hurt somebody’s self esteem.
I don’t know anything about the military. But i know one mile is awfully close and it’s too late to stop a missle. No?
That thing at 500 feet?!?
I wonder if the Bear crews were flashing crappy Russian porn centerfolds to the USN escort pilots, like they used to do during similar overflight intercepts in the Cold War?
I suspect it was simply poorly written.
Bears used to overfly us all the time, and we always had planes in the air well in advance. No reason to think that has changed, as it would be dereliction of duty if something happened.
Well that was a stupid decision. How are they going to kill the Muslims in RHIBs like what took out the Cole?
On a lot of ships Phalanx has been replaced with RIM-116 RAM launchers.
Emphasis on “replaced”. RAM takes the place of Phalanx.
See my post at #13. I doubt they waited until it was a mile away to launch fighters from the ready cat.
I don’t doubt that they came within a mile, as they used to do that on occasion back in the Seventies.
500 feet would be pretty low, but as long as they aren’t flying directly over the ship, who cares.
Depends on the missile and what you have to use against it. A Phalanx CIWS can shoot down an incoming anti-ship missile all the way almost until contact. However, its chances of doing so are never anywhere near 100%.
That said, the Bears should never have been allowed in line of sight of the carrier, let alone one mile. There should have been air patrols out and an AWACs up looking for threats, even in an exercise situation.
The RAM launchers may have more range, but even in tests they haven’t been as good at stopping threats at ranges this close as the Phalanx was. We should have both, not one or the other. Unfortunately, we’ve been replacing Phalanx with RAM batteries - which, ironically, means that small surface boats can get close again in a USS Cole style attack. Phalanx can be used against small surface craft, RAM can’t.
And it was a two-way street.
We used to do pull some really nasty tricks on the Sovs during the Cold War. When they transited the Novorosik (I think - whatever the third Kiev was called) from the Black Sea to Vladivostok, having to take the LOOOOONG route around Africa because we had the Egyptians deny them transit through Suez we and out allies harrassed her the whole frikking way.
Including an embarassing overflight by A-6s while an Indian Navy delegation was on board.
Fact is, I’m sure we’re doing this sort of thing to those Russian ships in the Med for the Syria strikes. This is probably just Vlad paying us back a little.
USS RR was retried with CIWS.
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