European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - April 28, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Monday april 28, 1986 the stars and stripes Page 9 experts say nato could fight together More standardization desirable by Mike Heronemus staff writer Mons Belgium if nato goes to War its forces could fight together effectively with few problems say three experts at supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe. A norwegian a Canadian and a German officer agreed that the degree of standardization in equipment logistical support and training would allow nato ground forces to fight the Way we want to fight but that More standardization is desirable. A number of nations Are flying the f-16 fighting Falcon f-4 phantom and f-104 Star fighter one offi cer said. Each nation May incorporate some variations to suit its National needs but the Basic aircraft is the same he said. The Leopard tank is being built by Many european countries another officer said and a lot of the same wheeled vehicles Are used in Europe like the Mercedes   155mm self propelled howitzers the Hawk air defense missile system and the Patriot air de sense missile system Are or will be used by . Allies in Europe. Several other weapons systems also Are used by More than one nato country s armed forces. Besides efforts to encourage acquisition of the same equipment for Allied countries nato and shape standardization has meant developing ways to support Allied forces in combat training forces to operate together and making sure nations can fight Side by Side without disrupt ing each other the shape officers explained. Tactical doctrine on How we will fight has been devel oped and agreed to by Allied nations one of the officers pointed out. Details that had to be worked out included nato definitions of such actions As defense. One nation might define defense As hiding in a base ment while another would say that defense Means at tack he said. With a nato definition when the com Mander of a joint Force orders a Pursuit All the Allied forces involved know just what the commander wants them to do he explained. It is commonly known How we will fight the Battle he said. Higher degrees of compatibility can be found among air and Navy forces than in ground forces two of the officers pointed out. Joint naval training and operations and aircraft Cross servicing exercises were the reasons Given. Two nato naval forces operate off Europe s shores and a third Allied Force is on Call for the Mediterranean one officer said. The on Call Force conducts exercises twice a year in those and All Allied exercises All National naval forces use nato publications concerning operations he said. Cross servicing of Allied nation aircraft is continuous the Canadian air Force officer said. Cross servicing includes flight line maintenance checks fueling and arming of aircraft. About 1,800 missions Are flown yearly to support ground Crew training in Cross servicing he said. Current requirements Call for technicians trained in Cross servicing to work on a designated Model of aircraft once every 90 Days to maintain their capability to service and Arm it he said. Storing Allied aircraft munitions at bases throughout Europe is counter to the Cross servicing philosophy he said but it must be done to some extent because of the Lack of standardization in the bombs and missile systems. The Allied command Europe Mobile Force has been in existence since 1960. Land and air units of eight countries make up the Force which is exercised regularly a shape spokeswoman said. Whenever there is a corps size exercise in Germany it must include at least one Force of an Allied nation the German officer said. Vii and v . Corps spokesmen said their commands conduct corps level exercises three to six times each year. One shape officer saw logistics As a difficult problem in International operations. He said logistical support of its forces is a National responsibility despite the existence of the nato maintenance and Supply Agency Namsa in chateau Roux France. Namsa s main task is to assist nations by supplying spare parts and providing repair facilities to support weapons systems used by two or More nato nations. Even when weapons systems Are used by More than one nation modifications to the equipment May be hindrances to support by other users. A weapon like the 155mm howitzer May use the same size round one officer explained but it May not be Able to use certain charges available. There is a big Effort to see if some types of ammunition can be produced not just in size but in Power of the charge he said. Communication among Allied forces seems to be the most serious problem of overcome All three officers agreed. In a recent exercise communications equipment had to be borrowed so German and american forces could talk to one another the German officer said. In War it won t be possible to borrow equipment he said. Language will continue to be a problem the German officer said. If ground troops can t talk a Little of the language of the country where they Are fighting they la be lost on the Battlefield without knowing How to ask their Way he said. France sets Oft nuclear fest . Claims Wellington new zealand up France conducted an underground nuclear explosion sunday at its muru Roa test site in the first French test of the year the new zealand government said. Prime minister David Lange said the blast had an estimated yield equal to 4 Kilotons of int. France last year carried out seven tests at muru Roa. Its test in octo Ber was rated at 12 Kilotons to 14 Kilotons. Lange said France was obviously determined to continue testing in the face of opposition from All countries. In the  he said the latest test highlights the need for a comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty to be concluded As quickly As  last year France admitted blow ing up the Greenpeace flagship Rainbow Warrior in Auckland har Bor on july 10 to prevent it from leading a protest flotilla. Two French secret service agents Are serving prison terms of 10 years each for manslaughter in the death of a Greenpeace photographer. ., German soldiers jury Rig skills honed in Battle damage repair test by Mike Heronemus staff writer Meppen Germany american and German soldiers Are deliberately blasting holes in trucks and tracks to see if they can quickly jury Rig repairs. The Battle damage repair testing began april 21 and will continue through May 9, said chief warrant officer Jimmy Mason. He is in Germany to observe the tests for the . Army ordnance Center and school at Aberdeen proving ground my. Hand grenade size bomb lets and 155mm howitzer rounds Are being detonated to Sim ulate damage that would occur to vehicles near surface artillery blasts he said.  Equipment in the test includes 2va ton and 5-ton trucks my 13 armoured personnel carriers and self propelled 155mm howitzers. German equipment includes 7 ton and 1.5-ton trucks Leopard 1 tanks Marder infantry fighting vehicles and m113 armoured personnel carriers. The idea is to shoot it the vehicle and repair it so you can drive it away said Leslie o Neal representing the army s tank and automotive come. The wheeled vehicles Are set up in a a shape around the munition to be detonated Mason explained. Blasts Are designed to simulate damage possible in a surface Artil Lery blast 15 Yards to 20 Yards away he said. I expected More damage than we re get Ting said Sec. James West also an observer from the ordnance Center and school. Most damage has been to radiators Bat teries and tires and holes have been blasted in vehicle bodies Mason said wednesday. Our biggest headaches Are tires and Radia  the first tracked vehicles were set for blasts that afternoon. West said a . 2-ton truck was draped with a ballistic Blanket during one blast. The Blanket is made of Nylon Materi Al like that used in police flak vests and is being tested to see if it would be an effective material to Cut Down secondary Shrap Nel such As paint chips Metal slivers and such o Neal said. Also being tested is a foam filler replace ment for air in truck tires. A 2vi-ton truck had the front two wheels and outside four wheels on the Back filled with the spongy substance. Three of the wheels took five hits but the truck was driven away from the test site. A few Miles away one tire that had been seriously hit fell apart. O Neal said that tires filled with the foam can take a .30 or .50 Caliper round with no  the jury rigging repairs using Putty tape and whatever else is Handy Are the kinds of repairs that would be done Only in wartime o Neal said. An added facet of the Battle damage repair test has american and German soldiers working together on each other s equipment. Language has been some hindrance but we get our Point across said spec. 4 James fielder a 22-year-old army me chanic assigned to 498th maintenance co 2nd army div fwd. Mechanic work is about the same regardless of what country makes the truck said the Soldier from men Tor Ohio. An immediate problem was the metric and Inch standards of German and Ameri can equipment fielder said. The germans working with him on an american 5-ton truck brought out their Toolbox but had to borrow american tools before doing any work. The German soldiers from the 3rd direct support maintenance co were having no other problems working on american trucks said Feld Webel army staff sgt Hans Werner Sander noncommissioned officer in charge. The results of the testing will be published in . And German handbooks said capt. Dieter Guertler who will write the handbook for the German ordnance school at Aachen. Norwegians Hunt for foreign sub reported in fiord Oslo Norway up naval ves Sels and aircraft combed the inner reaches of the hard anger fiord saturday in a search for a foreign submarine an experienced Pilot reported seeing from a Low flying plane. Einar helium a defense ministry spokesman said the military had neither seen nor heard the submarine since it was spotted Friday near Varal Soey a Small Island 20 Miles deep inside the fiord on Norway s West coast. Varal Soey is about 18 Miles Inland from the Island of Stord where a major submarine Hunt took place in 1983. The spokesman said the reported sighting was taken seriously because it took place in Daylight from a Low flying plane. But by the time our vessels and helicopters arrived they could find nothing helium said. If there Are no More signs then we will tone Down the  he declined to say How Many vessels and aircraft were involved in the search. It was exactly three years ago that the biggest submarine Hunt in norwegian history took place off the tiny Hamlet of Leirvik on the Island of Stord. At that time three frigates two corvettes and three submarines As Well As helicopters and Orion reconnaissance planes searched the fiord for the intruder. A total of 24 Tern underwater missiles were fired at the intruder which was believed to be a soviet whisky or foxtrot class submarine. In its report after the search the defense ministry said there was an 80 percent prob ability that the submarine was still in the fiord even after norwegian defense forces left the area. The deep Waters of the imposing hard anger fiord close to the port of Bergen make submarine Hunting a difficult task