European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - November 12, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse Thursday. November 12,1987 the stars and stripes Guadalcanal ready to head Home after 3 months of Gulf duty Page 3 Guadalcanal Manama. Bahrain a to will be thanksgiving at sea Christmas at Home Tor inc amphibious assault ship Guadal canal which left Home last june for a Nevers in the Mediterranean got an order to turn left and slipped into the persian Gulf for three months of escort and mine sweeping duties. The ship is expected to Cave lie Region this coming week after turning aver tour of its eight mine sweeping Navy helicopter to its replace ment the sister ship Okinawa. On aug. 15, the Guadalcanal arrived in the Gulf. Its night inc navigation of the Strait of Hormuz the gulfs Gateway was tense and secrecy cloaked. It went a lop Speed with lights out and radar shut Down to conceal its pres ence from iranian coastal monitors and silkworm missile batteries. During its Gulf Lour the ship look part in most convoys of Kuwait tankers rescued a downed iraqi fighter Pilot and played Host to thousands of visitor in Goodwill visits to Bahrain and saudi Arabia. None of that was in the plan when the Guadalcanal left Norfolk va., in Nind june As part of a task Force assigned to operation Bright Star a joint u. Is egyptian military exercise in the Mediterranean. We really had no thought of coming to the recalled capt. Skip Din in the 44-year-old helicopter Pilot who commands the Guadalcanal. Then begot the order 10 turn after the supertanker Bridgeton hit a mine july 24 while head ing up the Gulf in the first Convoy of kuwaiti tankers . Officials looked hastily fora toils to Deal with a threat they admitted having underestimated. The Guadalcanal s Lask was to sail from the african coast to inc Remote in Dian Ocean Island of Diego Garcia unload most of its Marine helicopters and combat Force of 1,200 marines and sail 2,500 Miles Back to the Gulf with the mine sweeping Rh-53d sea stallions. Although it was serious business the in offered a sporting Challenge Dir Ren of Virginia Beach vs., Sard in a recent interview. The idea was to gel lost to Sec if a ship this big could simply disappear and travel a Long Way without being thus shortly after inc ship left Diego Garcia Pentagon officials in Washington reported it suffered Ait electrical Tail Urc requiring a mum to Diego Garcia for repairs. In fact there was no breakdown. . Officials maintained the fiction the Guadalcanal sailed for the Gulf on a Dif Ferent course. The helicopters on the flight deck were camouflaged with nets and usual navigation lights were changed to make us look Tike a con incr Dirren said. The navigator used two different charts staying on track while sending out false position reports with the Pentagon reporting it still a week away the Guadalcanal reached the Strait of Hom Tuz aug. 14 and sailed through with the Crew at Battle stations and the missile Cruiser Fox serving a Pathfinder. A moonless night helped it slip past Iran s coastal patrols and communications monitors. The ship was in the Gulf for a full Day before a British television reporter in a chartered boat spoiled it off Bahrain. In three months the Quad led the. Sen knt Ahi or 11 rsm or various Smspimw-38 Eam it Orf Onofno of Vii -xf.r1. I i on gtt�ecmm.-. To our i if � � Rulh Al . Cha Froc Antous shrine Roc Tott four 76 my. 3 in guns two 20 my Tia tax weapons system opus pc 23 knots approxtruitap/26m.p.h. Comr 608 47 officers 562enmted men troop 1,746 Gulf just once for an overnight replenish., ment trip to the Gulf of Oman. Although the excitement Many Days consisted of counting the garbage bags As a Junior officer put it and listening to bizarre radio chatter on the gulfs airwaves there was plenty to keep he Guadalcanal Busy. The helicopters required constant maintenance in the extreme summer heal and desert Dusi storms in late August the ship rescued a iraqi air Force Captain who drifted in the Northern Gulf for to Days after being shot Down he said by an iranian mis Sile. The americans sent him Home with a Guadalcanal baseball Cap and a Frame photo of the ship and in return received a Supply of nuts and Taffy and two Small Arab rugs. Weeks later during a Call at the saudi Oil port of dam Mam 4,000 saudis and resident americans visited the ship and 1,000 crewmen were Able to spend i night ashore with . Oil workers an their families. It was Welcome to America Sai Dirren. Otherwise inc aging Gray vessel sailed mostly in the Middle and Southern base for helicopters sweeping for mines ahead of the convoys. Dirren who fondly refers to his 23 year old vessel As a mull compared 10the greyhounds of the sea has an unabashed admiration for his Crew thai makes him often sound More like a scoutmaster than a sea Captain. We re going Home with a great sense of in do he said. We were told to do something thai was difficult and the did More than i could Ever of seeking second source for stealth missiles Washington a the air Force in a move to get its stealth cruise missile program Back on rack has awarded a ,2 million contract to Mcdonnell Douglas corp. For technology Transfer leading to a second source production capability of the advanced cruise missile program officials said tuesday. General dynamics corp., Developer and prime con tractor for the missile will be required to provide tech Nical specifications for the weapon to Mcdonnell Douglas. Assuming Mcdonnell Douglas is then successful in setting up us own production facilities the air Force will be Able to award subsequent production contracts on a competitive basis the service said the air Force declined to elaborate on Why it was taking the action. But the selection of a second source follows the disclosure last May by congressional officials hat the program was suffering serious Cost Over runs and schedule delays. The stealth cruise missile is a so called Black pro Gram meaning that the air Force refuses to discuss any aspect of the program or How much funding i involved. The term stealth is applied to a variety of techniques that can be used to foil radar. By employing unusual aircraft designs and new types of materials a plane or missile can absorb or deflect radar signals without bouncing them Back to an enemy tracking system. Although most of he publicity about stealth technology has entered on the advanced technology bomber being developed by the Northrop corp., Gen eral dynamics has been under contract since 1983 to develop and build a stealth version of the Standard air launched cruise missile am a Jet powered flying bomb hat hugs the ground to escape detection. Besides the missile s St Cali characteristics the am is also expected to of itch greater Range than the cruise missiles now in use allowing bombers to launch Hern farther from their Tan Juls according to Trade publications. The air Force had previously said in expected to maintain Only one production source for the stealth missile because it planned to buy Only about 1,500 of them. The service released the statement tuesday Dis closing in had reversed that approach following a re port on the Mailer by the Trade publication study warns of soviet conventional arms threat London up a respected thin tank said tuesday that new advances in soviet conventional weaponry particularly in Jet lighten and tanks pose a significant new threat to . And nato forces in Europe. The International Institute of strategic studies i1ss said that despite soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev s apparent de sire to Cut defense spending Moscow continues to reduce the West s shrinking technological Lead. The Institute s new military balance 1987-88" also said both the United Stales and soviet Union continue to modernize their nuclear arsenals. But the group s assistant director Cross re said at a news Confer ence Overall we judge that , and soviet strategic forces remain in rough the miss is a defense research Center thai is Independent of governments. Anticipating the expected scrapping of . And soviet medium Range missiles experts in Europe have turned their Atten Tion to the two sides conventional forces the miss said that in terms of aircraft Moscow has rapidly put Inlo service More Mig-29 fulcrum and Mig-31 Fen hound interceptors. These Are very High performance air Craft with Long combat Radii and a look Down shoot Down capability and thus pose a significant threat to the . By and especially b-52 bomber fleets the military balance report said. Look Down shoot Down is a High tech targeting capability. The study said thai Over the last year the soviets have greatly increased the number of their sophisticated t-80 Battle tanks to 2,300. Cross said the t-80s normally mount reactive Armor thai Calls Inlo question the effectiveness of Many nato anti Lank weapons. While not necessarily a Battle winning technological break through this development represents substantial and continuing Advance in the protect Ion of soviet of soviet arms. The study said in creased sophistication with All its costs and benefits continues to be displayed and the technological Gap Between East and West continues to in said this enhancement continues despite general Secretary Gorbachev s apparent desire to reduce defense on the american Side the miss said that while earlier spending brought improvements last year in tanks armoured fighting vehicles and attack helicopters the decline in outlays Over the past two years is already being reflected and will increasingly cause procurement pro Grams to be slowed Down reduced or possibly even cancelled with regard to the persian Gulf War the Institute admitted to great difficulties in obtaining accurate information on weapons deliveries to Iran and Iraq and on their losses of Materiel. But ii said that Overall Force and equipment Levels show Little change and tailing an effective arms embargo would appear sufficient 10 permit conflict at present Levels to continue
