THE SHIELD AND THE SWORD

[Music] this is the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier the USS Enterprise from a deck of almost four and a half acres the enterprise can launch in a single strike over 1/2 million pounds of conventional explosives the enterprise can move its arsenal from sea to sea at the rate of 600 miles per day without the need to pause and refuel one of the most versatile and lethal air bases in the world during peace the Navy trains tests and evaluates its capabilities through games called fleet exercises in these exercises our own submarines play the role of the hostile none are more silent swift or deadly from the very outset the submarine enjoys a major tactical advantage the ability to move through the world's oceans unseen to be declared the victor the submarine commander must demonstrate his ability to locate surface targets then properly positioned himself for the subsequent attack and escape unlike older submarines which had to closed within yards of a target to make a kill the modern-day sub can strike from as far away as 100 miles ever since World War two air power has been essential for achieving victory at sea a fact that will not be overlooked by the submarine commander for air power is not only the key to sea control but the submarines most lethal fo the Admirals briefing begins by reviewing the current threat we'll be reducing this threat sector this afternoon with s3 flights into the area and the most immediate threat is always the submarine 56 degrees and a layered depth of around 200 feet okay now I want to be sure that we stay outside the thousand fathom curve to ensure that we have seesee capability before we have to make the turn point and run for the launch and sir in this area the thousand fathom curve runs from roughly this position here southeasterly along the California coast to about down in here very well [Music] the sea control mission begins by establishing hair supremacy over the waters to be neutralized this is the combined responsibility of the e-2 Hawkeye early warning aircraft and the Navy's air superiority fighter the f-14 Tomcat day and night they work as a team protecting the task force from a surprise air or surface attack the Tomcats aughh nine fire control system is the most formidable ever mounted in a fighter aircraft on its radar the f-14 can simultaneously lock-on and track as many as 24 targets targets that can be attacked concurrently with six long-range Phoenix missiles or singularly with Sparrow and Sidewinder missiles and finally with twenty millimeter Gatling guns early detection capability allows the f-14 to lock on to fighter sized aircraft it ranges exceeding 100 miles and with its lookdown capability to detect low-flying cruise missiles at 70 miles the Phoenix missile has repeatedly shot down drones at ranges beyond 70 miles at 30,000 feet above the carrier task force the e2s powerful radar scans the sea and sky for hundreds of miles in every direction long before any contact can pose a threat it is noted and electronically evaluated should the contact prove hostile the e2 coordinates the f-14 intercept in the air above the task force this is the shield but on the high seas the ultimate challenge of the sea control mission emanates from below the surface over blue water beyond the range of land-based patrol aircraft the primary responsibility for detecting then neutralizing the submarine threat belongs to this airplane the s3 a Viking it is the other half of the shield manned by a crew of four this highly automated plane is the most advanced anti-submarine aircraft in the world [Applause] utilizing an onboard digital computer the s3 Viking provides the CV task force a self-contained high-speed data processing system that can look beyond the farthest horizons and into the deepest oceans using underwater listening devices called sana buoys the Vikings senso operator monitors the ocean depths for any sign of the Seas most lethal fish the submarine in addition to what the senso operator can hear these underwater sounds are electronically displayed showing what no I could otherwise see we ate sour Roger we'll replace it with our initial pattern is there the tackle assisted by the s3's multitude of sensor systems directs the Viking crew in this hunt a hunt that starts hundreds of miles ahead of the carrier task force utilizing computer logic a net-like pattern of son of buoys is laid across the carrier's path a screen that will be continuously advanced to proceed the Seavey's every movement the faulty buoy will be replaced before moving on flying at the van of the task force the s3 is frequently the first to detect a surface threat thus the Viking has been extensively equipped to perform the surface surveillance mission the Viking zaps 1/16 high-resolution radar can detect surface ships at long range and is especially effective at spotting periscope size targets even in high sea States the Viking locates a target with radar and wants to track the contact without creating its own electronic emissions it can switch over to the passive FLIR system this infrared generated image provides the s3 crew a TV like picture even in fog or total darkness it looks like a plain old vs. even more effective at detecting a possible threat at long range is the Vikings electronics support measures or ESM this system passively detects electronic emissions such as radar then using the onboard computer a reference library classifies the type of emission detected okay go ahead and record it anyway the s3 radio communications systems range from datalink HF line-of-sight UHF to secured behind the Vikings and beneath the e-2 Hawkeye z' and the f-14s begins the carrier's third line of defense high-speed missile cruisers frigates and destroyers all armed with a multitude of long and short range surface to surface and surface-to-air missiles in addition to their own anti-submarine systems these escort ships are home base for the ASW equipped sh to F lamps helicopters [Music] still miles beyond a submarines effective strike range these ship based helos can deploy their own sana buoys or monitor those that were dropped earlier by the s3 Vikings still beyond torpedo range carrier-based s h3h sea king's make one last check of the water below before allowing the carrier to pass armed with acoustic homing torpedoes these helicopters are lethal to any submarine that might work its way past the primary line of detection the final defensive barrier is provided by the aircraft carriers own basic point defense systems with decoy and electronic jamming systems the carrier's defenses are further enhanced the responsibility for both the defensive and offensive posture of the task force rests with the Admiral and his staff the Admirals primary source of intelligence the basis on which he makes his tactical decisions comes from the carrier's combat Information Center or CIC to handle the immense flow of data generated by the task force's numerous sensor platforms the CICE is highly automated in seconds a computer diagnostic command can assist in determining how best to close a gap in the task forces defenses or attack a revealed threat another data processing Center is the tactical support center or TSC the TSC monitors the ASW aircrafts on station activities and coordinates their tactics as each flight returns its recorded data is evaluated on the TSC s high-speed displays a process which immensely speeds up debriefings and isolates tactical errors on this enlarge display the trained eye can perceive details that may have been missed by the flight crew details that may reveal the presence of a submarine hon yet another processor enlarged hard copies of the acoustic grams are reproduced allowing even a closer analysis together these multiple layers of the carrier's defense are all but impregnable [Music] though the s3 is a primary component in the interlocking elements of the defense system its position at the forefront of the task force requires that it perform its primary mission completely independent of outside support alone the Viking must detect and analyze then localize and destroy any subsurface threat but today it is only an exercise a small explosive device called suss will be dropped to advise the hostile that he has been found and attacked climax x-ray dragon fire one coordinated attack 3440 north one two zero one zero west at time one seven zero five Hulu by the rules of the game the submarine must now surface acknowledging the kill how many how many submarines does that make now that'll be two threat submarines that we know of in the area the primary use of the power projection mission in peacetime is to demonstrate capability to reveal a flexible source of military strength as a warning to a potential hostile that his interest would be best served by the conference table not the hazards of war [Music] the carrier has now turned toward land cruising slowly her screws emit little sound for distant submarines to detect her presence the escort ships have moved beyond the horizon presenting the minimal satellite or radar target operating at reduced altitudes the Seavey's air cover maintains a low profile as the task force creeps forward for the final exercise of the game [Music] [Music] there is little need to hurry for unlike the carrier that is here one hour and gone the next the land-based target is fixed a geographical spot that cannot escape [Music] [Music] [Music] 200 miles to the southeast a patrolling dragon fire makes the first contact on the defensive perimeter of the hostile forces the s3s copilot has detected a weak electronic emission on his ESM system I'm getting some ESM activity very search radar maybe those tips of CPIC said we're filling the harbor cut out last night we're now looking for it yeah the family would be about that for xx right right apart computer processing and signature comparison has identified this omission as ship based air search radar utilizing line-of-sight transmission the task force is alerted these are the carrier's major offensive weapons the attack aircraft [Music] they are the sole the all-weather a-6 intruder and the close support light attack aircraft the a7 Corsair armed with computer guided missiles and smart bombs led to the target by advanced navigational assistance we're closing speeds and distances are measured by Doppler radar and laser beams these planes can strike with accuracy never before achieved in tactical warfare [Music] decommissioned ships are today's target this a six strike demonstrates the awesome force of modern conventional weapons [Music] [Music] [Music] flying low to avoid radar detection the main strike approaches the beach [Music] since repeated attacks are no longer necessary to assure the neutralization of hard targets small sorties are frequently the rule in inclement weather the mission is assigned to the all-weather day or night attack aircraft the a-6 intruder on his infrared display the a six-second officer can see through rain fog or the darkness of night once he has selected his target he will guide his weapon to it with laser beam accuracy and only the mighty b-52s area larger bomb load the pilots of the a7 Corsairs must merely place their aiming reticle on the target an on-board computer will automatically release his selected weapon at the precise instant to ensure the maximum target accuracy with laser and electronic guided weapons the a7 s accuracy is even further improved [Music] as the attack rages below the f-14s guard the sky above on its variable-geometry wings it's the equal of any fighter in the world [Music] the Tomcat is an air superiority fighter [Music] while the battle rages over land the scope and diversity of the threats aimed at the task force are evaluated [Music] in this age of increasing dependency on foreign markets and overseas resources the value of Fleet exercises cannot be underestimated for to do so could bring to pass a prophecy made by the commander-in-chief of the Soviet Navy he has said the flag of the Soviet Navy flies over the oceans of the world sooner or later the United States will have to understand it no longer has mastery of the Seas Freedom of the Seas not mastery is the naval mission of America for freedom of the Seas like all freedoms is no more assured than our ability to protect [Music]