CV Power Projection: The 'Night' Stuff.
Abstract
The primary mission of naval aviation is power projection. Over the years, in order to successfully conduct this mission, the threats encountered have driven tactical air to the night, low altitude environment. Is this still a viable task for the Carrier Battle Group (CVBG) and is it still necessary to support the operational commander? Will lessons learned from Desert Storm indicate a need to redefine the role of the CVBG and give the night interdiction mission entirely to the Air Force? A brief review of the development of night systems is conducted, current capabilities are discussed and a comparison of Navy and Air Force systems is presented. The combined use of night vision goggles with state of the art forward looking infrared (FLIR) systems in Navy F/ A-18s and A-6s is more flexible and provides more capability in some scenarios and environmental conditions than is available from the Air Force FLIR only systems. The lessons learned from Desert Storm are numerous and important, but can not applied to all future conflicts. Geography made it very difficult for naval aviation in the war against Iraq and the next conflict may find the Air Force facing a similiar problem. This paper contends there is still a need for improving our night strike capability and a need for both Navy and Air Force in future joint operations.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 20, 1991
- Accession Number
- ADA240463
Entities
People
- Richard E. Clayton
Organizations
- Naval War College