Week 6: Strike Warfare

I.         Mission Definition – Strike Warfare is the use of tactical aircraft and/or cruise missile strikes against land targets in an offensive power projection role.

 

II.       History

A.       WWII aircraft gave birth to naval strike warfare

B.       Aircraft ability to appear quickly / unexpectedly makes them particularly effective

C.       Strike warfare value up since addition of precision bombs / cruise missiles

D.       Every platform has a role in strike warfare (patrol, helo, electronic attack, surveillance, strike fighters)

E.       Doubled strike capability in the past few years

F.       F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet, JSOW, JDAM, ERGM (Ext. Range Guided Munitions), TACTOM (Tactical Tomahawk)

G.       Afghanistan – 1st time US Navy struck landlocked country; some targets 800mi inland

 

III.     Mission Capabilities and Tactical Terms

A.       STWC trained in Tactical Air (TACAIR) and TACTOM strike capabilities

B.       The STWC is responsible for planning and executing all tactical and cruise missile strikes for a task force

1.        Coordinated Strike

a.        Reduce enemy’s war-making capacity by destroying specified targets at known locations

b.        Often inland, heavily defended

c.        Ex: refineries, power plants, oil storage, factories, airfields, troop concentrations, HQs, terrorist training camps, command and control centers

2.        Interdiction

a.        Destroy targets to deny access to areas

b.        Ex: bridges, railroads, roads

c.        Secondary: attack targets of opportunity

3.        Armed Reconnaissance

a.        Patrol area and destroy targets of opportunity

b.        Secondary: attack fixed targets if no targets of opportunity present themselves

4.        Close Air Support (CAS)

a.        Harass, neutralize, or destroy enemy ground forces

b.        Requires detailed communication and coordination

c.        Called in by spotters on the ground or forward air controllers

 

IV.     Basic Overview of Platforms

A.       TACAIR

1.        Aircraft that can serve an attack role

a.        F/A-18 Hornets, F-14 Tomcat, AV-8B Harrier

b.        EA-6B Prowler: limited role in direct attack; very good SEAD (suppression of enemy air defenses)

B.       Cruise Missiles

1.        Unmanned, self-propelled, guided weapon delivery vehicle

2.        Primary Missile: BGM-109 Tomahawk Land Attack Missile (TLAM)

a.        Launched by Mk41 VLS on ships or VLS / torpedo tubes on submarines

 

Platform

Advantages

Disadvantages

TACAIR

BDA

CAS / Armed Reconnaissance

Flexibility

Greater Payload

Reusable

Target Selection Capability

Human component

Shorter range (w/o refueling)

Limited deep strike capability

Cruise Missiles

Deep Strike Capability

No chance of losing pilots

High accuracy

Multiple launching platforms

No BDA

No target selection

Small payload

High cost ($1.5M each)

 

C.       Naval Surface Fire Support (NSFS)

1.        Used for shore bombardment (prepare landing zone for amphibious assault)

2.        Uses Mk45, Mk75

a.        Short-range (comparatively); makes ship vulnerable to enemy aircraft and shore-based missiles

3.        Mk45 62-caliber gun mount refit program

a.        GPS-guided Ext. Range Guided Munitions (ERGM)

·         60nm+; rocket motor attached to rear of shell

b.        155mm Advanced Gun System (AGS) (100nm) (future)

V.       Weapons

A.       Non-precision Weapons – no attached guidance system

1.        General Purpose (GP) “Slick” Bombs

a.        Iron; Most basic, inexpensive; simple detonation, high explosives in aerodynamic bomb casing

b.        Computer determines when to release bomb: Computer Calculated Impact Point (CCIP)

c.        Most effective against unhardened structures

d.        Mk82/83/84 (500/1000/2000)

2.        Retarded General Purpose Bombs

a.        High drag (caused by tail and either “ballute” [parachute] in AIR or metal vanes in Snake Eye)

b.        Allows aircraft to safely drop at low altitude (can get out of the way)

c.        Snake Eye or AIR retarded bomb; effective against same targets as GP bombs

3.        Cluster Bombs

a.        Free-fall bombs; deploy bomblets over comparatively large area

b.        Effective against soft spread-out targets

c.        Used against armor, personnel, structures, radar sites, runways

d.        Mk20 Rockeye, CBU-59

4.        Fuel Air Explosive Bombs

a.        Mixture of 3 gases in the bombs; delayed fuse ignites gas ŕ rapid expanding fireball

b.        Effectiveness: Outdoors: Mines, soft structures, aircraft (parked), personnel

        Inside: > effect; destroy structures (highly effective vs. sub pens, comm bunkers)

        Both: consumes oxygen, collapsing the lungs of personnel still alive

c.        BLU-95/96 … not suited to ships, rarely used

B.       Precision Weapons – attached guidance package

1.        Anti-Radiation Missile (ARM)

a.        Passive; homes on electromagnetic radiation (given off by radars)

b.        Used against SAM sites and ship-based radars; very effective; expensive

c.        Can be fired at a target or with delayed acquisition at a general area or direction

d.        AGM-88 HARM (High-speed anti-radiation missile)

2.        Guided Air to Ground Missiles (AGM)

a.        Anti-tank (AGM-114 Hellfire), anti-structure (AGM-65 Maverick, AGM-84E SLAM-ER)

b.        SLAM can be launched from outside the range of enemy air defenses

3.        Laser Guided Bombs (LGB)

a.        Iron bombs with control fins and laser seeker; extremely accurate; more expensive

b.        Seeks laser “painted” by: aircraft that fired it, unmanned aircraft vehicle (UAV), or ground units

c.        GBU-12/16/10 (500/1000/2000) [Paveway II class]; [Paveway III] GBU-24 “bunker buster” (2500)

4.        GPS Guided Bombs

a.        GPS (Global Positioning System) guided with INS (Inertial Navigation System) backup

b.        Target downloaded before mission, but can be changed in-flight

c.        GBU-32 JSOW – attachment for all 250/500/1000/2000lb bombs

d.        AGM-154 JSOW – glide bomb with bomblet, anti-armor, or unitary warhead

 

VI.     BGM-109 TLAM (Guidance Systems)

A.       TLAM C, D TLAM C (conventional unitary warhead) and TLAM D (bomblet “dispenser” warhead)

B.       Guidance by INS, Terrain Contour Matching (TERCOM), Digital Scene Matching Area Correlation (DSMAC), GPS

C.       Pre-launch: mission info loaded into missile (target coords, waypoints, terrain contour maps)

D.       Launch

1.        Rocket booster to clear it from ship

2.        Wings, tail fins, air scoop extend, turbofan starts during boost phase

3.        INS navigates during initial cruise phase

a.        Determines acceleration and velocity in 3-D

4.        TERCOM activated when land reached – scans terrain, compares to inertial position and contour map

5.        DSMAC: photos sent from satellite utilized as target nears – compared to onboard camera’s pictures

6.        GPS used throughout to improve accuracy

a.        Within a few years, TERCOM and DSMAC will be removed and GPS/INS will guide the missile

b.        TERCOM and DSMAC very time-consuming and very hard

E.       Variants

1.        BGM-109C Tomahawk Block III Unitary Warhead Variant

2.        BGM-109D Tomahawk Block III Submunitions Variant

3.        Block IV Tactical Tomahawk (TACTOM)  - incl. hard penetration warhead, inc. range, loiter capability

 

VII.   Etiquette: Memos – see pro book