European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 15, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                By Barbara Starr Jane a defence weekly in addition to american aircraft carriers sent to the Gulf Region the French have deployed the Clemenceau loaded with antitank helicopters. I f the United states and its allies go to War against Iraq the attack is certain to rely on the massive  naval air Fleet. 1 hundreds of  be launched from the decks of aircraft carriers to strike iraqi missile Sites military installations troops and other critical targets but Back in Washington the,$4 billion Price tags to build new carriers Are making these big ships inviting targets for budget cutters. ,. The . Navy a Carrier based striking Power in the. Persian Gulf area is nothing Short of awesome. Four flattops a the Midway John f. Kennedy Independence and Saratoga and their escort ships a have been patrolling the Northern arabian sea the Gulf of Oman the red sea the Eastern Mediterranean and in. And around the Gulf itself. / the Ranger America and Roosevelt will arrive no later. Than january and the Navy is making plans to Send More a carriers to the Region a possibly the Nimitz Forrestal and Lincoln Vaa. A a. A  a Quot  a. Or though unlikely the 80,000-ton Independence May Quot stay in the area. It has been at sea for almost six months and is expected to return to its san Diego Calif Home base before Christmas. In addition the French have deployed a Carrier the Clemenceau As part of operation desert shield. It is loaded with antitank helicopters  a. Carrier based aviation is Mobile and flexible there is no problem of Basing rights or foreign overflight restrictions. A. A  /. A Quot a. Carriers can move around the Globe on Short notice to respond to any crisis from the invasion of a Friendly nation to a terrorist hostage emergency. Saddam Hussein s forces invaded Kuwait on aug. 2. The first two u a carriers arrived in the Region aug. 6. Writing in proceedings the journal of the . Naval Institute Robert f. Dunn a retired vice Admiral and former commander of the Saratoga said that the Quick arrival of the carriers was crucial the air Power umbrella the. Carriers were Able to put up Over saudia Arabia limited Saddam a military options and exposed his forces to attack 24 hours a Day in All weather and from several different directions according to Dunn. Navy air cover also made it Safe for the arrival of army. Ground  the later deployment of land based air Force planes he said v. The 300-Odd strike aircraft abroad the Kennedy Eisenhower and the Saratoga total More firepower than the entire air forces of most of the nations in the Gulf Region. A a. Quot t Quot   a the aircraft on the Kennedy atone includes 20 f-14 fighters 24 a-7 attack aircraft 13 a-6 attack aircraft nine electronic surveillance aircraft and a variety of patrol helicopters. A  a 7  Quot . Operating carriers is Tough in the narrow shallow and. Congested Waters of the persian Gulf. Before a two Day sortie in october by the Independence no Carrier had entered the Gulf since 1974. While Carrier based warplanes can reach targets in Iraq from outside the Gulf by refuelling in flight or by carrying reduced bomb and missile loads moving a Carrier into the Gulf enables the planes to Fly More missions with larger bomb loads. A a. \. A but the Gulf slight breezes make it difficult for a Carrier. To gain enough Speed for a Long enough distance to. Generate the Strong wind needed Over the deck to launch. And recover its aircraft a there is also concern that the confined Waters of the Gulf make a Carrier vulnerable to missile attack. A if nine carriers Are deployed in the Gulf area in 1991, the Navy will be left with Only two carriers to cover the rest of. The world. A the arithmetic is simple. The  deploys 14 carriers. A. A  -. A  .a. Quot abut no More than 11 Are actually at sea at any one time. The rest Are in port for maintenance Quot we Are stretched very thin Quot says vice adm Richard Dunleavy assistant chief of naval operations for air. Warfare. . A if the crisis with Iraq is not resolved deployments could last longer than the Standard six months time in port Between overhauls could decline and Days spent at sea. Could skyrocket beyond the current 29 Days per Quarter another possible complication barring any change in the Pentagon a budget defense Secretary Dick Cheney responding to High costs and the easing of .-soviet tensions has called for a . Only 12 carriers. Three new carriers a the George Washington the John Stennis and the United states a Are scheduled to enter / the Fleet in the next few years a. A to keep the Carrier Force to 12, some of the careers a currently sailing in operation desert shield Are sure to be. Retired  . A   senior naval aviation officials say a budget driven . Of 12 carriers is dangerously insufficient. A a Quot what part of the world would Yog like us to write off Quot. Asked one Navy official. To press their Case a draft Navy pamphlet was being a widely circulated in Washington that called for 1 steamers. And accompanying support ships to moot National. Security needs. A  a. The Only thing that allowed us to put this a. Unprecedented level of Carrier aviation in the Gull Region was the fact that we actually had a Force of 14 carriers Quot says do Scott Truver director of National Security studies for information spectrum a Washington d c., naval. Consulting firm. A  a -. A   Dunn believes 15 carriers Are needed in order to respond quickly and forcefully around the Globe. Quot the simple facts Are that any Force of fewer than 15 a carriers equates to gaps in coverage Quot he wrote in proceedings. Quot Given the complacency prevailing in late july some of those gaps would probably have been in tie Indian Ocean and the Eastern Mediterranean precisely where indy and Ike were steaming when they  Call to head for. The Middle East . A. A  a Quot Many nations Are understandably sensitive about. Foreign bases on their Sovereign soil and nervous about foreign military aircraft in their skies .  is naval forces that Best support allies other Friendly nations and the National strategy of the United states a and on Short  a meanwhile the National Academy of sciences has been asked by Congress to recommend requirements for the next generation of carriers. A  Quot Dunleavy has hired the Center for naval analysis to. Conduct a similar study. A. For his part he still advocates Large deck carriers. Although he suggests future carriers might have modified catapult assisted ski Jurny decks for Shorter takeoffs a Barbara Starr is military affairs correspondent or Jane s defence weekly part of the Jane s information group in London which also publishes Jane # a fighting ship and Othar military books and journals. Saturday december 15, 1990 the stars and stripes Page 13