U.S.S. SCHENECTADY (LST 1185]
USS Schenectady met an ignominious end, off Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. US Air Force B-52's dropped guided bombs on the decommissioned LST, one of which completely destroyed the ship. The seventh ship in the Newport class of Tank Landing Ships, the USS Schenectady served as a target of a recently developed air-to-surface/moving target guided bomb. News footage shows a single hit completely destroying ship. The final resting place of the Schenectady will prove to be a productive artificial reef where none existed before. As a diver on artificial reefs, I will long remember the names and histories of the ships I dove upon more than those who met their fate at the end of a welder's torch. The Schenectady was a great lady in her time. Hopefully, much was learned during her final service as a target. Shipmates probably feel she deserved a kinder fate but her service was honorable.
Courtesy of Mike Smolinski
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 23, 2004
SCHUMER: ARTIFACTS FROM THE U.S.S. SCHENECTADY HAVE BEEN SECURED
Schumer [NY Senator, Charles Schumer] announces that artifacts from the U.S.S. Schenectady have been secured by the Navy prior to the ‘smart bomb’ demonstration which is scheduled to sink the decommissioned ship today
Schumer says pending Navy review, the U.S.S. Schenectady artifacts will be on loan to the Schenectady County Historical Society
US Senator Charles E. Schumer today announced that after working with the Navy, several artifacts have been secured from the U.S.S. Schenectady. The ship, which was decommissioned in 1993 after 23 years of service, is scheduled to be sunk today as part of a ‘smart bomb’ demonstration. Schumer called on the Navy to preserve these artifacts as a legacy of the ship, when he heard that it was due to be sunk. The Navy, upon review of a display and maintenance plan, is willing to loan these artifacts to the Schenectady County Historical Society.
"It is one of the highest honors for a community to have a Naval ship named after their city," said Schumer. "The U.S.S. Schenectady served this country with distinction. And though this means its demise, I am glad these artifacts have been saved so that the community can always take pride in the ship’s service." [See site]The Navy has saved from the U.S.S. Schenectady the bell, the builder’s plaque, the flag flown during the decommissioning ceremony, the Union Jack flown during the decommissioning ceremony, the quartermaster’s spy glass, and the ship’s helm wheel.
Parts of this 522-foot ship were built by two Schenectady based companies, General Electric and the American Locomotive Company. In 1968, Navy Secretary Paul R. Ignatius received a letter from Kimberly Duto, a fourth grade student from Franklin School, asking that a ship be named for her hometown, Schenectady. The U.S.S. Schenectady earned four battle stars during Vietnam, and since 1993 has been located at the Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility in Pearl Harbor. The sinking of the ship today will be part of the fight against terrorism. The Air Force will test a new technology where guided missiles hit a moving target. Assemblyman James N. Tedisco contacted Schumer’s office for assistance in obtaining artifacts from the U.S.S. Schenectady for the Historical Society.
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In 1990 the Seabees participated in two SOUTH PAC cruises. Both Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 7 and Underwater Construction Team 2 embarked civic action detachments on the USS SCHENECTADY and USS FLORIKAN. Port calls were made in the Marshall, Gilbert, Solomon, and Cook islands, and at Papua, New Guinea; Tuvalu, and Tonga. Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 1 participated in the West African Training Cruise (WATC). The battalion embarked civic action detachments on the USS BARNSTABLE COUNTY which made port calls at Cape Verde, Senegal, Gambia, and Guinea-Bissau. High praise was received from all recipients.U.S.S. SCHENECTADY (LST 1185] Ship vitals & General Characteristics:
Contract Awarded: July 15, 1966
Keel laid: August 2, 1968
Launched: May 24, 1969
Commissioned: June 13, 1970
Decommissioned: December 15, 1993
Builder: National Steel and Shipbuilding Company, San Diego, Calif.
Propulsion system: 6 diesels; 16,000 horsepower; bow thruster
Propellers: two and one bow thruster screw
Length: 522 feet (159 meters)
Length over derrick arms: 561 feet (171 meters)
Beam: 70 feet (21.2 meters)
Draft: 17,4 feet (5.3 meters)
Displacement: approx. 8500 tons
Speed: 20 knots
Aircraft: helicopter platform only
Armament: one 20mm Phalanx CIWS, 4 3-inch/.50-caliber guns
Crew: 14 officers, 210 enlisted and approx. 350 embarked troops
See site
Courtesy of Richard Miller
BMCS USNR Ret.
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BOW CONFIGURATION, Hinged bow and ramp deployment
U.S.S. SCHENECTADY (LST 1185]
Schenectady, A county and city in New York.
(LST-1185: dp. 8,342 (f.); 1. 522'3"; b. 69'5"; dr. 15'; s. 20 k.; cpl. 231; a. 4 3"; cl. Newport) Schenectady (LST-1185) was laid down on 2 August 1968 by tbe National Steel and Shipbuilding Co., San Diego, Calif.; launched on 24 May 1969; sponsored by Mrs. Charles E. Goodell; and commissioned on 13 June 1970, Comdr. David E. Sigsworth in command.Assigned to Amphibious Squadron (PhibRon) 9 and homeported at San Diego, Schenectady conducted training exercises and trials through the summer. In October, she got underway to accompany Defiance (PG-95) and Surprise (PG-97) to Panama. Detached on the 19th, she returned to San Diego on the 29th and, for the next six months, participated in further training exercises along the southern California coast.
On 5 May 1970, the LST departed San Diego and headed west to participate in Operation "Keystone Oriole," an operation involving the withdrawal of Marine Corps units from Vietnam. Diverted en route to avoid typhoon Carla, she arrived at. Danang, R.V.N. on 24 May; loaded; and departed again on the 25th. From Vietnam, she proceeded to Hong Kong, then to Subic Bay, whence she headed east to Pearl Harbor and San Diego.
Arriving at the latter on 19 June, Schenectady remained on the west coast into the fall and, on 1 October, departed San Diego with six other units comprising PhibRon 5. On the 14th, she joined the 7th Fleet. Four days later, she arrived at Yokosuka. Upkeep in Japan and training operations in the Ryukyus followed. From there, she moved into the Trust-Territories; conducted survey operations; and returned to Okinawa to load diesel-electric generating plants for delivery to the government of the Philippines for use in its rural electrification program. [Dictionary of Naval Fighting Ships, V:728[
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Additional acknowledgements can be found at SCHENECTADY
"From police corruption to multimillion-dollar budget deficits, the city has suffered its share of setbacks in recent years, but nothing like the Navy ship named in its honor is about to undergo.
"The USS Schenectady, a 34-year-old decommissioned Newport class tank landing ship, will be sunk off the coast of Hawaii next week as part of an Air Force demonstration of new "smart bombs" that can destroy moving targets, Capt. David Faggard, Pacific Air Forces spokesman at Hickam Air Force Base, said Monday as reported in the Albany, NY, Times Union.
"The ship, mothballed at Pearl Harbor, will be towed into a practice range at sea where B-52 bombers and other Air Force flights will participate in the demonstration, dubbed "Resultant Fury," Faggard said. Once sunk, the ship will become a reef for fish and other marine life, he said.The sinking, scheduled to take place on Nov. 22 or Nov. 23, will bring to an end the history of a ship that was named at the suggestion of a Schenectady schoolgirl who wrote a letter to the secretary of the Navy. A number of pieces of the ship were built by Schenectady-based General Electric and the American Locomotive Co., said Kathryn Weller, curator of collections at the Schenectady Historical Society, which coincidentally is running an exhibit on the ship until the end of the month.
"Would it be possible to name one of the ships -- Schenectady," Franklin School fourth-grader Kimberly Duto wrote in a May 13, 1968, letter to then-Navy Secretary Paul R. Ignatius.
"The 522-foot ship was decommissioned in 1993, 23 years after it was commissioned and after earning four battle stars for service in Vietnam. Since being decommissioned, the ship has been docked at the Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility in Pearl Harbor.
"That's sad, that's truly, truly sad," former Schenectady Mayor Frank Duci said Monday. "It's one of a kind."
"In 1993, the then-mayor waged an unsuccessful effort to bring the ship to Schenectady, where he hoped to use it as a museum or floating casino docked on the Mohawk River. But the proposal found little support from the Navy. Duci was saddened to learn that the bottom of the Pacific Ocean was slated to be the ship's permanent resting place.
"The city has taken a battering of another kind in recent years. Four Schenectady police officers were sent to prison in the early 2000s after being convicted of corruption. The latest trouble is city finances. Schenectady has accumulated a $10 million budget deficit in recent years and Wall Street has given the city the lowest municipal bond rating in the state.
"But City Council President Frank Maurizio said the USS Schenectady's plight is not a metaphor for the city. "We have suffered some hits," Maurizio agreed, adding, "But I think we're coming back. It's a shame that our namesake is going to be demolished, but not so for the city."
"Mayor Brian U. Stratton said he was gratified that the ship named in honor of Schenectady would be useful right to the end. Military missions are "not always glamorous and sexy," he said.Faggard said next week's mission will allow the Air Force to demonstrate new technology for guided weapons. The U.S. military already uses satellite-guided "smart bombs" to hit stationary targets, but the mission also will allow the Air Force to test out the weapons on moving targets.The new missiles, he said, could be used on ships operated by enemy nations or terrorists." [Albany, NY Times Union]
]
Former crew members
may be interested in this culmination of the history of the
USS Schenectady (LST-1185). The following is the USS Schenectady Crew List.
The last pictures illustrate Schenectady's last great act of defiance.
Photo courtesy of Capt. David Faggard
The former Navy landing ship (tank) USS Schenectady is seen in the waters of the Pacific Ocean just west of Hawaii Tuesday just prior to her sinking by B-52 bombers, including one that flew directly from Barksdale Air Force Base, in Operation Resultant Fury.
Photo courtesy of Capt. David Faggard
[Photo provided by TankNet, courtesy of Steven E
Rivara]
Resultant Fury 05-01 Concludes
Story Number: NNS041124-03
Release Date: 11/26/2004 9:00:00 AM
From U.S. Pacific Fleet Public AffairsPEARL HARBOR, Hawaii (NNS) -- The two-day Navy and Air Force anti-surface warfare exercise Resultant Fury 05-01 concluded in the Central Pacific Nov. 23 with the targeting and destruction of a decommissioned Navy ship.
Personnel from both services worked together to destroy multiple mobile seaborne targets and attack ex-USS Schenectady, a decommissioned tank landing ship, in a unique training opportunity to sharpen at-sea warfighting skills while using the latest in modern weaponry.
Prior to the exercise, ex-USS Schenectady was stripped of equipment and material and cleaned to remove hazardous materials in preparation for being sunk.
“The Navy takes great care in preparing ships such as the ex-Schenectady for targeting and sinking, removing environmental contaminants and conducting the operations greater than 50 nautical miles from shore and in at least 6,000 feet of water in accordance with EPA guidelines,” said Cmdr. Dean Leech, fleet environmental counsel. “Through these remediation efforts as well as range procedures that prohibit the exercise to occur if marine mammals are near the vessel, we ensure protection of the environment while accomplishing necessary testing and training.”
“It is essential that our forces train the way we fight,” said Capt. Matt Brown, Pacific Fleet public affairs officer. “The great benefit of this exercise is that the Navy and the Air Force were able to practice joint operational procedures using state-of-the-art joint weapon systems, like Joint Stand Off Weapons and Joint Direct Attack Munitions in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.”
The exercise also served to integrate aircraft operations with other Pacific Command and Air National Guard Forces, allowing joint forces to continue to demonstrate the ability to respond quickly to a crisis and project air power anywhere in the Pacific region.
While the Navy routinely exercises anti-surface ship operations, Air Force B-52s have historically shared this mission area as well, and Resultant Fury proved the perfect opportunity to train Navy and Air Force flight crews together in the execution of a joint mission.
By working together to gain proficiency in this important war-fighting skill set, the two services were able to establish command and control procedures and evaluate weapons effectiveness using two Air Force B-52s, two Air Force E-8s, one Air Force E-3, two Navy F/A-18E/Fs and one Navy P-3.[http://www.news.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=16069]
The sinking of the retired Navy LST USS Schenectady off the coast of Hawaii on Tuesday night adds depth to the missions and capabilities of the B-52 bomber. But for the crew of the bomber that left Barksdale Air Force Base about 10 hours earlier, it was a shake and a thrilling video as the weapons slammed into the vessel.
"There's a slight shudder on the airplane when the weight comes off," said Capt. Ronald Wheeler, San Diego-reared radar-navigator of the 49th Test and Evaluation Squadron that flew the 20.4-hour mission. "You know when it leaves."
Maj. Terry Christiansen of Metairie, the aircraft commander, said external munitions are propelled off their external rails. "And since we ended up releasing all four simultaneously, 8,000 pounds of weight came off at the same time. So you feel it."
Their B-52 was one of two that took part in the last of two days of Operation Resultant Fury, tests of a new generation of smart bombs designed to find and sink fast-moving ships. Planes taking part, mostly aircraft that call Barksdale home -- even though many are deployed temporarily to Andersen Air Force Base in Guam -- were equipped with what the service calls its "J-series" of smart weapons. But these were enhanced with changes that allow a variety of different aircraft to interact to find and sink rapidly maneuvering surface vessels day or night.
"This was the first time ever a B-52 has gone out and dropped self-designated, laser-guided weapons on a moving ship," Christiansen said. "It's pretty significant."
Though seven of the super-smart weapons were loaded on the bomber late Monday, only the four externals were fired.
Three in the bomb bay returned home with the aircraft.
The reason? A fishing vessel inadvertently entered the range at Barking Sands Pacific Missile Range Facility west of Hawaii. Due to the timing of the exercise, the further release was called off by range safety officers.
"We were unable to contact the trawler or whatever it was and had to cease that part of the exercise due to the fishermen," Wheeler said.
"The last thing they wanted to do was have a safety incident," Christiansen added.
Other than its effect on the balance of power, the mission was pretty typical for a B-52: just more than 20 hours long with weapons dropped from about 6 nautical miles up and a pretty fair distance from the target, though just how high and how far out is classified.
There were two midair refuelings, one just off California, the other off Hawaii, with the aircraft slurping up about 245,000 pounds of jet fuel total.
For Wheeler, who actually toggled off the laser-guided bombs and used what is called a Litening pod to guide them in, the mission was "definitely exhilarating. We took off from Barksdale, flew a 20-hour mission, got to the target area on time and accomplished our objective, which was to sink the ship.
"But to see the LST through the targeting pod I was using to 'laze' the ship, to see it blow up in real time, was pretty exciting. Any hostile surface vessel should take heed."
In all, seven types of airplanes took part in the exercise. Aside from B-52s, the aircraft were said to include B-1 bombers, E-8C JSTARS and E3 Sentry command and control aircraft, Navy F-18 Hornet and F-15E fighters and KC-135 tankers.
"We're matching up advanced weapons with bomber platforms in the Pacific," said Gen. David Deptula, director of Pacific Air Forces Air and Space Operations.
"The ex-Schenectady sunk at 1:45 p.m. Hawaii Standard Time," said Capt. David Faggard, Hawaii-based spokesman for the operation's planning agency, Pacific Air Forces.
"The bombing of the ship marks the first time ever aircraft targeted and sunk multiple moving sea targets.
"Resultant Fury is a demonstration to allies and adversaries in the Pacific that the U.S. Air Force has the ability to rapidly respond and sink multiple moving sea targets in any weather environment, day or night," he said. "The United States is the only nation with this capability."
None of the military people could or would name countries whose moves might now be checked by the capability added to the B-52 and other bombers.
But a civilian observer following the tests would.
One obvious recipient of the message could be China, which has been expanding its maritime capabilities, said Milton Finley, a military historian and chairman of the Social Sciences Department at LSU Shreveport.
"But a message may have been sent to Iran and to North Korea as well," he said.
"There has been a need for this capability because Iran, for one, does have a large number of small patrol boats in the Persian Gulf. This was a none-too-subtle warning that if and when the French and Germans stop groveling in front of the Iranians, it might be time for payback."[http://www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041125/NEWS01/411250365/1002/NEWS]
Resultant Fury 05
The first-ever “Resultant Fury” demonstration will take place in the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean Nov. 22-23, 2004. The two-phased demonstration features B-52 and B-1 bombers meeting, engaging and sinking multiple moving maritime targets. This demonstration is aimed at showing that the US Air Force has the capability to sink multiple moving ships in all weather, day or night, be they used by enemy combatants, terrorists, or those used for piracy. It will mark the first time Air Force aircraft have used the JDAM to sink a moving vessel.
Resultant Fury is a joint countersea demonstration, initiated and directed by the Pacific Air Forces, employing Air Force B-52s against moving maritime targets in an all-weather environment, day or night. This demonstration will take advantage of forward deployed bombers in the Pacific and improve proficiency at both the operational and tactical levels as well as provide increased joint training proficiency. The maritime exercise showcases the services' abilities to work together to accomplish important warfighting missions.
Through real-time, all-weather technology, information is fed [constant Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance platforms to the Pacific Air Operations Center enabling command and control elements near real-time ability to track multiple moving sea targets and feed that information to airborne pilots allowing them to quickly engage and destroy the vessels.
Resultant Fury 05 marks the first time Navy and Air Force aircraft, including B-52s out of Andersen AFB, Guam and B-1s out of Dyess AFB, Texas, will engage multiple moving maritime sea targets using J-Series weapons.
The two-day live-fire against maritime targets will feature on day one two B-52s carrying Affordable Moving Surface Target Engagement (AMSTE) modified GBU-31 (JDAM), and two F/A-18s will carry two AMSTE-modified JSOW. These B-52s and F/A-18s will engage multiple moving seaborne targets. That same day, a B-1 will engage moving targets utilizing its moving target tracking radar and general purpose weapons. During day 2 of the demonstration three B-52s will engage a landing ship tank (LST) with both AMSTE modified JDAM and self-guided GBU-10s.
Two B-52s forward deployed to Andersen AFB, Guam will be the central focus of this demonstration of maritime interdiction. The inherent capabilities of the B-52-heavy payload and long range-make it the perfect platform to demonstrate countersea capabilities in this theater. B-52 Stratofortress bombers have always had the collateral mission of countersea operations. The most common countersea missions are sea surveillance, anti-ship warfare, protection of sea lines of communications through anti-submarine and anti-air warfare, and aerial mining. Anti-ship warfare is commonly referred to as maritime interdiction, or direct attack against maritime targets.
One Air Force B-1, two Air Force E-8s, one Air Force E-3, one Navy P-3, the Pacific Air Operations Center, two F-18E/F fighters, three remote controlled ship targets, three improved surface ship targets and 1 target will also be involved in the Resultant Fury 05 demonstration.
More than 300 people will participate in the $10 million Resultant Fury 05 demonstration.
Resultant Fury 05-01 concluded in the Central Pacific Nov. 23 with the targeting and destruction of a decommissioned Navy tank landing ship, ex-USS Schenectady. Personnel from both Navy and Air Force services worked together to destroy multiple mobile seaborne targets and attack ex-USS Schenectady, in a unique training opportunity to sharpen at-sea warfighting skills while using the latest in modern weaponry. [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/resultant-fury.htm]
Air Force strikes make 'Schenectady' history.
Some artifacts retrieved before decommissioned ship sunk in military exercise near Hawaii
By MIKE GOODWIN, Staff writer, Times Union
First published: Wednesday, November 24, 2004SCHENECTADY -- The USS Schenectady is no more.
The Air Force dropped satellite-guided bombs on the long-mothballed 522-foot tank landing ship Tuesday afternoon in a Pacific Ocean weapons test dubbed "Resultant Fury," blowing massive holes in the city and county's namesake vessel.
"We successfully struck the Schenectady," said Capt. David Faggard, Pacific Air Forces spokesman at Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii. "It's definitely taking on water. It's sinking."
The destruction of the ship occurred at about 5 p.m. EST.
A decade ago, Mayor Frank Duci mounted a failed effort to move the decommissioned ship to Schenectady. But on Tuesday, there was no saving the vessel, though a pod of whales swimming in the vicinity of the ship forced a 40-minute postponement of the attack.
B-52 bombers from Andersen Air Force Base in Guam pummeled the ship with at least seven 2,000-pound satellite-guided bombs developed by Northrop Grumman Corp., sending fireballs and plumes of black smoke from the USS Schenectady, Faggard said. B-52s from Barksdale Air Force Base in Shreveport, La., finished the job, striking the ship with laser-guided missiles, though it could take some time for the ship to sink.
"They all put holes in it, large, large holes," Faggard said.
At 12:34 Hawaii Standard Time, B-52 bombers from Andersen Air Force Base in Guam struck the decommissioned USS Schenectady with seven 2,000 pound satellite-guided Joint Direct Attack Munitions. A short time thereafter, another B-52 struck the ship with four laser-guided bombs. (Courtesy US Air Force)
The attack on the ship was the grand finale of a $10 million, two-day demonstration of Northrop Grumman's new Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System.
The weapons system is the latest update of "smart bombs" and will allow the military to hit moving targets on land or at sea. Previously, such bombs could only be used on stationary targets.
The decommissioned USS Schenectady sunk at 1:45 p.m. Hawaii Standard Time. The bombing of the ship marks the first time ever aircraft targeted and sunk multiple moving sea targets.
(Courtesy US Air Force)The attack comes after the Navy secured a treasure trove of artifacts from the ship, which was decommissioned in 1993. Among the items the Navy historians held onto were the USS Schenectady's wheel, bell and spy glass. Local military retirees and historians hope to someday display the items in Schenectady.
The ship was stripped of its insignias, plaques and other distinguishing characteristics in preparation for the exercise.
Kathryn Weller, curator of collections at the Schenectady Historical Society on Washington Avenue, has been in contact with Navy archivists who, she said, have assured her that a number of items will be available for display in Schenectady.
"We can have the items for up to five years," she said.
Another exhibit of local USS Schenectady memorabilia is currently on display at the historical society. Weller said the organization is already planning an exhibit of the Navy artifacts at the Gillette House, a Stockade landmark that is undergoing renovations to house the county's chamber of commerce.
"We would like to do a semi-permanent exhibit," Weller said.
The USS Schenectady is a Newport-class tank landing ship. It was named after Schenectady County in 1970 at the suggestion of a Schenectady elementary school pupil, who wrote a letter to the secretary of the Navy.
At the time, Schenectady residents held a number of functions to salute their namesake.
Chester "Chet" Watson of the Schenectady/Upper Hudson Council of the Navy League said an exhibit will allow local residents to celebrate the ship named in their honor.
"We're going to make a big deal about it," said Watson, a retired Navy lieutenant commander.
U.S. military sinks own ship as part of exercise
by Ken Wetmore,
KUAM News
Friday, December 03, 2004
Last week the United States military held an exercise called Operation Resultant Fury and B-52s launched from Guam played a major role. The Operation was a three-day, $10 million demonstration put on by the military. As such, one of the ships destroyed for weapons testing purposes was a decommissioned 522-foot tank landing ship, the U.S.S. Schenectady, which was one of the targets used in the exercise off of the Hawaiian Islands.
U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Ed Donaldson is the commanding officer of the 20th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron stationed at Andersen Air Force Base. Lt. Colonel Donaldson's B-52s helped send the Schenectady to the bottom of the Pacific. "We were effectively demonstrating our ability in a joint environment both Air Force and Navy to effectively coordinate command and control on a moving targets on the ocean and basically killing them," he told KUAM News.
The B-52s that launched from Andersen Air Force Base here on Guam made history, as what they did has never been accomplished before. In simple terms, they launched a bomb far from the target and a surveillance aircraft using radar then guided it into a moving target. Captain Bryan Roundtree was one of the mission planners and he says the demonstration proved that in spite of multiple targets being in the same area. The military can zero-in on only the targets they are interested in and no matter what the weather conditions or how the targets dodge, weave, speed up or slow down they cannot evade the incoming bomb.
"Shows that a terrorist now, you think your doing just fine in a vehicle driving along or in a boat cruising along and next thing you're not there anymore, didn't even know what's happening," explained Donaldson.
Both Cpt. Roundtree and Lt. Col. Donaldson say Operation Resultant Fury was 100% successful and is a demonstration to friend and foe alike of the United States' military capabilities.
[COURTESY U.S. NAVY]
The decommissioned USS Schenectady, which earned four battle
stars in Vietnam, will serve
as a bombing target for Air Force B-52 Stratofortress bombers
this month in Hawaiian waters.
By Gregg K. Kakesako
gkakesako@starbulletin.com
[COURTESY U.S.
NAVY]
The decommissioned USS Schenectady, which earned
four battle stars in Vietnam, will serve as a bombing target
for Air Force B-52 Stratofortress bombers this month in Hawaiian
waters.
Air Force B-52 Stratofortress bombers from Guam will use "smart bombs" this month in Hawaiian waters to sink a decommissioned troop transport, as part of training to engage moving sea targets.
Capt. David Faggard, Pacific Air Forces spokesman at Hickam Air Force Base, said the target will be the 34-year-old Newport-class tank landing ship USS Schenectady.
The Air Force demonstration, dubbed "Resultant Fury," will take place in the Pacific Missile Range Facility off Kauai's Barking Sands beaches. About four F/A-18 fighter jets from Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 22 will support the demonstration, which be held between Nov. 16 and 24.
The 522-foot vessel will be towed Nov. 21 f rom the Navy's mothball fleet at Pearl Harbor, where its been berthed since 1993, to an undisclosed location near Kauai.
Faggard said B-52 crews from Guam will be at the center of the demonstration of the Air Force's maritime interdiction capabilities.
He said next week's mission is "to demonstrate the bomber's ability to hit a moving target with a JDAM (joint direct attack munition)," a guided air-to-surface weapon.
Faggard added that "smart bombs" could be used to take out a ship used by a terrorist without harming nearby vessels or facilities. The bombs have been used in the 1991 Gulf War and in the war in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Schenectady, which earned four battle stars for service in Vietnam, is the fifth ship of the 20-ship Newport tank landing ship class. It had a crew of 14 officers, 210 enlisted and could transport 350 troops.
Commissioned in June 13, 1970, the vessel was homeported in San Diego until it was decommissioned on Dec. 15, 1993.
It was then transferred to the Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility at Pearl Harbor and stricken from the Navy rolls in 2001.
PACAF officials: Resultant Fury day one a success
HICKAM AIR FORCE BASE, Hawaii-- Pacific Air Forces officials deemed the first day of live-fire testing in the Resultant Fury demonstration as a success; B-52 Stratofortress bombers succeeded in striking multiple moving maritime targets with 2,000 pound Joint Direct Attack Munitions today.
The live-fire demonstration comprised of two B-52 Stratofortress bombers leaving Andersen AFB, Guam and flying to the Pacific Missile Range Facility. Once in the airspace they engaged and sunk the targets, marking the first time ever an aircraft has successfully targeted and sunk multiple moving vessels with the JDAM.
Tomorrow's demonstration will consist of up to 10 JDAMs being released onto the ex U.S.S. Schenectady.
A media day is planned for 2 p.m. at Hickam AFB. Media interested in attending should be at the Hickam front gate at 1:30 p.m. Major General Dave Deptula, the Director of PACAF Air and Space Operations will be available for a question and answer session. Footage from the strikes will be available.
More than 300 Airmen, Sailors and Marines from around the world are participating in Resultant Fury, a three-day, $10 million demonstration, designed to showcase the first-ever use of satellite guided J-Series weapons to sink multiple moving targets.
"We're matching up advanced weapons with bomber platforms in the Pacific," said Maj. Gen. David Deptula, director of Pacific Air Forces Air and Space Operations. "We'll demonstrate a new capability for the commander of Pacific Command to rapidly conduct maritime interdiction in all weather, day or night, anywhere in the Pacific theater."
For more information regarding Resultant Fury, please contact PACAF Public Affairs at 808-448-3229 or e-mail pacaf.paops@hickam.af.mil. Log onto the Resultant Fury website at: http://www2.hickam.af.mil/pacaf/news/rf.htm
--30--
Through real-time, all-weather technology, information will be fed from Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance aircraft to the Pacific Air Operations Center at Hickam AFB, Hawaii, enabling command and control elements to track multiple moving sea targets and feed information to airborne bomber pilots, allowing them to quickly engage and destroy the vessels. Aircraft used in the demonstration comprise a total force of Global Reach and Global Strike systems consisting of active duty Air Force and Navy, Air National Guard and Reserve crews and weapon systems like the B-52 Stratofortress from Andersen AFB, Guam; the B-1 Lancer from Dyess AFB, Texas; the E-8C, Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (JSTARS) from Robins AFB, Georgia; the E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System from Elmendorf AFB, Alaska; fighters such as the F/A-18, F-15E |
 and the air-to-air refueling
tankers, the KC-135 from McConnell AFB, Kansas, Andersen
AFB, Guam, and Robbins AFB, Georgia. The B-2 Stealth
Bomber from Whiteman AFB, Mo will participate in the
demonstration with air refueling provided by a KC-10
tanker from Travis AFB, Calif.Affordable Moving Surface Target Engagement technology fuses data from multiple Joint STARS sensors to precisely locate and track mobile targets for extended lengths of time; this capability is available for both ground and maritime surface targets. AMSTE technology enables the capability to rapidly provide the warfighter with the ability to precisely engage multiple, moving targets in all weather conditions, from extended standoff ranges, and at very low cost. "The capability for Airmen to rapidly respond
anywhere in the Pacific to sink naval vessels in all
weather, day or night, is crucial for the Pacific
Command. Resultant Fury is designed to demonstrate the
capability to engage and disable ships under
way…thus, providing the combatant commander an
airpower ability to rapidly conduct maritime interdiction
against enemy combatants,” said General Paul Hester,
Pacific Air Forces Commander, Nov 04. |
Many movie clips and stills are on this USAF site
This is the best site I've seen for viewing or downloading clips.
