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May 15, 2008 With naval battles on the high seas now virtually extinct for the U.S. armed forces, the navy's role has become more one of infantry invasion and airstrike support - and with this new role comes a need for vessels more suited to littoral (just offshore) operations. The initial order was placed back in 2005, and the first delivery, the U.S.S. Independence, has just been launched, a speedy trimaran with helicopter decks, a stealthy radar profile and a healthy array of arms. It's configurable to suit a wide array of littoral combat missions, including minesweeping, anti-submarine and surface...

WASHINGTON: The ongoing naval wargame in the Bay of Bengal involving five nations does not "target" China but is designed to shape strategic choices by regional actors like India, a senior Pentagon official has said. "This exercise does not target China. It is designed to shape strategic choices being made by all regional actors. Malabar is a sign of responsible stakeholders interested in promoting peace and security by a visible presence," said Brigadier General John Toolan, Principal Director for South and South East Asia at the US Department of Defence. The four-day 'Malabar Exercise' started on September 4 with the...

RAF fighter jets have been fired upon by surface-to-air missiles in Afghanistan. The Harriers provide crucial air support for British troops carrying out operations against the Taliban in the lawless Helmand province to the south of the strife-torn country. Squadron Leader Damien Killeen, 33, operational commander for the Harrier detachment based in Kandahar, said Taliban forces had a number of American, Russian and Chinese weapon systems at their disposal. Sqn Ldr Killeen said: "There have been engagements against aircraft, isolated engagements, whilst low flying - small arms, rocket propelled grenades, small rockets - the standard arsenal. We haven't suffered any...

AL ASAD, Iraq (April 9, 2006) -- Sweat slowly drips off of the Marines as they carefully raise the 500- and 1000-pound munitions to the weapons carriage on the AV-8B Harrier - the Flying Nightmares are readying for action. Marine Attack Squadron 513, Marine Aircraft Group 16, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, is the first Harrier squadron to employ the Joint Direct Attack Munitions in a combat zone. "With this new feature on our jets, we will be able to hit targets more accurately, therefore making us a more effective squadron," said Lt. Col. Willis E. Price, commanding officer, VMA-513. The...

An RAF Harrier was destroyed and another has been damaged in a rocket attack in Afghanistan, it emerged yesterday. The jets were on the ground at a military airfield at Kandahar in the south of the country when they were damaged early on Friday morning. First reports of the attack from the Ministry of Defence made no mention of the damage to the aircraft and failed to disclose that one of them had been destroyed. The RAF has only six Harrier GR7A jets - each worth £20 million - in Afghanistan, all of them from No 3 (Fighter) Squadron based...

AL ASAD, Iraq, Sept. 28, 2005 — For many people, doing two jobs at once is an unwelcome burden. For hard-charging Marines, it's a challenge and a chance to become better at both. Maj. Keith Couch, the acting commanding officer of Marine Wing Headquarters Squadron 2 (Forward), is leading his squadron in war while simultaneously flying combat missions in Iraq, protecting Marines and soldiers with their boots in the sand. “Flying combat missions and commanding MWHS-2 work hand-in-hand,” said the native of Leslie County, Ky. “Commanding headquarters squadron, you have the advantage of getting a firsthand perspective of what is...

Release A050916b CAMP BLUE DIAMOND, AR RAMADI, Iraq – Coalition Forces conducted an air strike Sept. 15 against a known terrorist safe house and weapons cache in the western Al Anbar Province border town of Karabilah . The target was an abandoned school used by al-Qaida in Iraq terrorists to carry out attacks against local civilians and Coalition Forces. At the time of the strike, terrorists were also observed firing mortars from outside of the building. Two AV8-B Harrier jets destroyed the building using precision-guided 500 lb. bombs. Multiple secondary explosions were observed by Coalition Forces after the strike. Nine...

June 26, 2005 Hi-tech SAS troops take on Taliban Michael Smith UP TO two squadrons of British special forces are preparing to go to Afghanistan within weeks to provide the reconnaissance for an expected British deployment of more than 5,000 troops. The men from the SAS and the new Special Reconnaissance Regiment (SRR) will form a combined joint taskforce with members of the Australian SAS, according to senior defence sources. A company of British paratroopers will provide backup. The British special forces of about 120 men will be based in the southern province of Kandahar ahead of a 5,500-strong infantry...

Just breaking: Harrier, probably Marine Corps, crashed in Yuma, AZ - possibly within the city.

13th MEU embarks on final mission of pre-deployment work-ups Submitted by: 13th MEU Story Identification #: 2005610134415 Story by Cpl. Andy Hurt ABOARD THE USS TARAWA (LHA-1) (June 10, 2005) -- The sounds of anchor chains rumbled through the narrow halls of the USS Tarawa Wednesday morning, signaling the final at-sea period for the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit during pre-deployment work-up training. The Special Operations Capable Exercise will determine whether the MEU is qualified to accomplish specialized amphibious operations while they endure the upcoming Western Pacific deployment, scheduled for mid-July through early 2006. Each element of the MEU, including MEU...

Harrier squadrons combine in Iraq to provide air supportSubmitted by: 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing Story Identification #: 20041224153725 Story by Sgt. Nathan K. LaForte AL ASAD, Iraq (Dec. 24, 2004) -- The salt-stained jets streaked across the sky signaling the arrival of the newest squadron on the block. They were exhausted from a trans-Atlantic flight that started at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Ariz., and ended at Al Asad, Iraq in a few short days in mid-November. The "Tomcats" of Marine Attack Squadron 311, Marine Aircraft Group 16, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, found their "welcome aboard" period short-lived as the...

 22nd MEU (SOC) Harriers join the fight against Taliban insurgentsSubmitted by: 22nd MEUStory Identification #: 20046105260Story by Gunnery Sgt. Keith A. Milks KANDAHAR AIR FIELD, Afghanistan (June 10, 2004) -- AV-8B Harrier II attack jets from the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) recently conducted ground attack missions against anti-coalition militia in Afghanistan's Oruzgan province in support of the MEU's ground forces. Based out of Kandahar Air Field, the Harriers have seen extensive use flying escort and reconnaissance missions, but the missions beginning on June 2 marked their first true combat sorties since the MEU's arrival in Afghanistan...

WASHINGTON, March 25 (Reuters) - The United States has placed about 2,000 Marines with special operations training aboard Navy ships in the Gulf, poised for use in Afghanistan, where the hunt for al Qaeda and Taliban fugitives is intensifying, defense officials said on Thursday. U.S. commanders have not yet decided how many of the Marines deployed with the seven-vessel naval Expeditionary Strike Group, led by the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp, will be sent into Afghanistan, officials said. The Marines are from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. The Wasp strike group, carrying 2,000 to 2,200 Marines from the 22nd Marine Expeditionary...

Official U.S. Navy file photo of USS Bataan (LHD 5). View Larger Download HiRes   USS Bataan to Deploy in Support of OIF Force RotationStory Number: NNS040113-06Release Date: 1/13/2004 4:16:00 PM   From U.S. 2nd Fleet Public AffairsNORFOLK, Va. (NNS) -- The multi-purpose amphibious assault ship USS Bataan (LHD 5), will deploy Jan. 19 from Norfolk to the Central Command (CENTCOM) area of responsibility (AOR) in support of the Operation Iraqi Freedom II (OIF II) force rotation. Bataan will provide amphibious lift support for Marines from the Second Marine Expeditionary Force (II MEF) headquartered at Camp Lejeune, N.C. II...

Making a 'Smooth' TransitionSubmitted by: 13th MEUStory Identification Number: 2003123112712Story by Capt. Bill Pelletier ABOARD USS PELELIU(Dec. 3, 2002) -- It?s been a busy year for Maj. Barry Dowell and some of his comrades. In October 2002, Dowell, a Harrier pilot by trade, was doing refresher training at VMAT-203, a training squadron at MCAS Cherry Point, N.C., after serving as a flight instructor in Texas for two years. Fast forward to three weeks ago, and Dowell had completed more than a dozen combat missions, most of them north of Baghdad. "It's pretty wild," said the 34-year-old Lexington, Ky., native,...

The future of Marine Aviation is grim. The Corps plans to eliminate 36% of its fighter-attack aircraft (F/A-18s and AV-8 Harriers) as part of the Navy-Marine TacAir Plan. The V-22 tilt-rotor remains "in development" and soaring costs allow only half the number desired to be funded each year. Meanwhile, the Corps will buy new engines to extend the life of its ancient CH-46Es, yet again. This has delayed plans to overhaul and upgrade 111 of the Corps 165 CH-53Es. Now there is talk of buying new CH-53Ks, since the ageing Echos may be too costly to rebuild. However, there will...

Sailors and Marines will stop in Hawaii en route to San Diego Nearly 6,400 sailors and Marines will arrive at Pearl Harbor this morning for a brief Hawaiian port call on their way home to San Diego and Camp Pendleton from the Iraq war. The Marines belong to Regimental Combat Team 1, while the sailors are assigned to five amphibious ships -- USS Boxer, USS Bonhomme Richard, USS Cleveland, USS Dubuque and USS Pearl Harbor. They are part of the first groups of Marines that shipped out for the Iraqi war from San Diego as part of the USS Tarawa...

Senior Air Force officers say their service is not planning an early retirement for the A-10, an aircraft optimized for supporting troops on the ground, despite assertions to the contrary in an opinion piece published last week in The New York Times. But these leaders acknowledge that extension of the Warthog's service life and precision upgrades to the aircraft may yet be terminated as the Air Force crafts its fiscal year 2005 budget. Those cuts to A-10 modification efforts could ultimately produce a similar effect: hastening retirement for at least some of the aircraft, service officials concede. Earlier this...

GOTTA SEE THIS - War for Enduring Freedom 03/16/03 -USS T.Roosevelt, USS Kitty Hawk, B-2, GR7, A10, AV-8B, leaflets BREAKING: US SEEKS PEACE ---- BUT IS READY - GOOD MORNING BAGHDAD!!!!!!!!!!!!! BREAKING: USS Theodore Roosevelt, USS Kitty Hawk BREAKING: B-2, 'Spirit of Oklahoma', 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, BREAKING: Harrier GR7, A10, Harrier AV-8B, Living Support Area 7, 633 Squadron Royal Air Force BREAKING: Nutcakes in Saddam City BREAKING: Leaflets dropped BREAKING: B-1 JDAMs in measured response ========= USS Kitty Hawk ========= Somewhere near Iraq, heroes on the USS Kitty Hawk prepare. ========= USS Theodore Roosevelt =========...

<p>WASHINGTON (AP) -- In the opening hours of war in Iraq, volleys of terrain-hugging cruise missiles and torrents of precision-guided bombs would seek to blind Saddam Hussein's military, cutting military communications and clearing the way for a ground invasion that would sweep north from Kuwait.</p>

Navy's F-14A Tomcat Crashes in Iraq By ROHAN SULLIVAN .c The Associated Press ABOARD THE USS KITTY HAWK (AP) - A F-14 Tomcat strike fighter crashed into the Iraqi desert during a bombing mission early Wednesday after a mechanical failure caused its engines to fail, senior Navy officers said. The pilot and a second crewman ejected to safety and were rescued by helicopter. The F-14A - a type of plane that dates from the late 1960s and is among the Navy's oldest - went down in southern Iraq about 1:50 a.m. said Rear Adm. Matthew G. Moffit, commander of the...

LONDON - US-led forces are poised for an "imminent" attack on Baghdad which according to senior military sources at US Central Command in Qatar is likely to begin "within 48 hours," the British press said Wednesday. The "big push" for Baghdad would begin "within 48 hours" with an intensive artillery bombardment supported by close air cover before the main body of troops stepped forward, said The Times. The assault is likely to start to the southwest of Baghdad with an initial strike to breach Iraq's elite Medina division's lines north of Karbala and head on to the capital, it said....

U.S. Marines from Task Force Tarawa walk through the streets of Nasariyah, Iraq, on Saturday. After five days here, they're not quiet sure whether each Iraqi man they meet is friend or foe. Photo by Joe Raedle / Getty Images NASIRIYAH, IRAQ — Somehow, even under the cloud of death, life goes on in this town. A girl skips playfully in a yard. Herders tend to livestock. A police siren wails in the background. But the illusion of normalcy never lasts for very long. Sporadic gunfire is commonplace, and sends residents scrambling into their homes. Artillery blasts are less frequent,...

GULF WAR II: Brit support grows for conflict + Officer reveals brutality LT COL TIM COLLINS: Reveals his battle to lift Iraq's shadow of tyrannyTO THE RESCUE: US marine carries tot to safety after Iraqis fire on civiliansTO LOVING CARE: Forces doc cradles tot A SMILING teenage girl who waved at patrolling British soldiers and accepted a big-hearted squaddie's gift of chocolate was HANGED by agents of Saddam. The butchers of the dictator's corrupt Ba'ath party had spied on the Muslim youngster from an alleyway in Az Zubayr near Basra. Battle-hardened troops of the 1st Batallion, The Royal Irish Regiment...

DEADLY: Marines with an anti-tank Milan missile launcher yesterday PROUD: Salute from a Challenger tank crew off for night patrol in Basra city HUMBLED: PoW is escorted away by British soldier at camp in south Iraq SADDAM GIVES TWO MEDALS IN SICK HONOUR TO SUICIDE KILLER SICK Saddam yesterday awarded two posthumous medals to the suicide bomber who lured four American soldiers to their deaths at an Army checkpoint. And as the killer, Ali Hammadi al-Namani,was named and hailed a hero on Iraqi TV, the country's Vice-President warned the US could expect MORE suicide attacks on its troops. Gloating...

By NICOLE WINFIELD, Associated Press Writer CAMP AS SAYLIYAH, Qatar - Coalition aircraft and artillery destroyed several Iraqi armored vehicles that streamed out of the besieged city of Basra overnight, the top British commander in the Gulf said Thursday. Air Marshal Brian Burridge said he didn't have specifics on how many of the estimated 120 tanks and armored personnel carriers heading south out of Basra toward British troops were destroyed, or what type of weaponry was used against them. British pool reports said U.S. Navy (news - web sites) F-18 Super Hornets and Royal Air Force Harrier ground attack jets...

WARPLANES ATTACK CONVOY British warplanes are attacking a large column of Iraqi troops heading out of Basra as 5,000 Republican Guards are reported to be heading for a possible showdown with US Marines. British radar picked up a convoy of some 70 -120 vehicles retreating from Basra on Wednesday evening. The convoy is heading towards the al-Faw peninsula and the military says it could either be a counter attack by the Iraqi army to recapture lost territory or a movement away from Basra to avoid a limited uprising that began on Tuesday afternoon. The Officer Commanding 40 Commando's battle room,...

US TROOPS parachuted into northern Iraq last night as the coalition began to open up a new front against Saddam Hussein. A key airfield was taken by about 1,000 United States paratroopers from the army’s 173rd Airborne Brigade who were dropped into the Kurdish controlled region, becoming the first sizeable American military presence in that part of the country. “This is the beginning of the northern front,” a US official was quoted as saying. Meanwhile, George Bush, the US president, announced yesterday that he was sending 30,000 more troops to the Gulf to reinforce the coalition forces. The 4th Infantry...

Allied jets target Republican Guard convoysMar 27 2003 The Western Mail - The National Newspaper Of Wales IRAQI military in Baghdad and Basra were last night risking being wiped out in air attacks by leaving the confines of the cities to confront coalition troops.Saddam Hussein's elite Republican Guard left the capital in a column of 1,000 vehicles.And up to 120 Iraqi troop vehicles drove out of Basra in a southern direction.Harriers and Tornados flying out of Kuwait attacked the armoured convoys.An RAF source said, "A significant number of British aircraft are involved."It appeared the vehicles were heading towards British troops...

Basra 'rises up' against Saddam By Donald Macintyre at Central Command, Doha, Qatar 26 March 2003 The British Army was massing outside Basra last night amid reports that forces loyal to Saddam Hussein were using mortars to quell a popular uprising in the city. British troops were preparing an attempt to seize the city in support of the mainly Shia Muslim population after civilians took to the streets in revolt against the Iraqi authorities, reporters embedded with the 7th Armoured Brigade, the Desert Rats, said. One report – which quoted Royal Scots Dragoon Guards intelligence sources – said Iraqi mortar...

British forces have destroyed 20 Iraqi tanks as fighting intensified around Basra, Iraq's second biggest city. They launched strikes with huge AS90 guns against 11 targets, including tanks and artillery pieces but then faced a counter attack by up to 50 Iraqi tanks breaking out of Basra. The regular Iraqi Army T-55s charged south towards 3 Commando Brigade on the Al Faw peninsula. British light tanks from the Queen's Dragoons' Guard and marines from two battalions on Al Faw stopped the Iraqi advance along with helicopter gunships from HMS Ark Royal. Harriers and A-10 tankbusters were also called in to...

A RAF Harrier GR7 ground-attack aircraft conducted the UK's first operational firing of an AGM-65 Maverick air-to-surface missile on 21-22 March, when the aircraft attacked a mobile 'Scud' surface-to-surface missile launch site in Iraq. The strike took place at an undisclosed location some 320km inside Iraq, according to a Ministry of Defence statement issued on 22 March. This reported that the Maverick had "successfully engaged and destroyed the target." The UK awarded Raytheon of the US a £42 million ($65.6 million) contract for the AGM-65G2 variant of the Maverick missile in the wake of targeting difficulties experienced during Operation 'Allied...

RAF Harrier jump jets and US tanks and troops were crushing an Iraqi fightback in the key southern port of Umm Qasr yesterday. Around 120 of Saddam Hussein’s elite Republican Guard troops had stalled the US Marines’ advance into the town with heavy fighting. The Iraqi soldiers — holed up in a three-storey building in the old part of the town — withstood an assault by 2,000 Marines with tanks and heavy machine guns. White flags did not appear from the smoking debris of the building until two Harriers roared in to blitz it with 500lb bombs. The twin blasts...

American ground forces are using air power to destroy Iraqi positions in southern Iraq. Marines have been searching a bombed compound in the port city of Umm Qasr that had been sheltering about 120 Iraqi soldiers. They engaged in a heavy firefight, with the Iraqis using tanks that destroyed one building. A US Marines Harrier jump jet from a ship in the Persian Gulf flew over and dropped two 500-pound bombs on the target. The Marines were checking for survivors. Elsewhere, Marines, trying to take the city of Nasiriya, say they are facing a force of about 500 Iraqi troops...

Iraq's inhospitable western desert is the scene of a campaign without the presence of cameras or media pools. The battle here is astride the crucial road from Jordan to Baghdad The western desert is a flat land of compacted sand, sharp flints and pavements of limestone and basalt. Its occupants are a few Bedouin encampments and the occasional dirty towns that grew up around the pump stations on the now abandoned Baghdad-Haifa oil pipeline. Now a road follows that pipeline, the main strategic route connecting Baghdad with Jordan to the west. And along this road a very different kind of...

Two British Harriers have come under heavy anti-aircraft fire for the first time since the start of the Iraq crisis, pilots say. The planes were operating in Iraqi airspace near the Kuwait border when the attack occurred, the airmen said. The volley of 10 shells exploded just seconds behind the planes as they carried out a night patrol mission over the weekend, it is said. Veteran RAF Harrier pilot Flight Lieutenant Jocky Wilson, 40, said he was "happy to be alive". The father-of-three said: "We were flying a regular mission on Saturday night in just a pair and we had...

Tomahawk ... £1m-a-time barrage from sea and air A HUNDRED RAF warplanes will spearhead an unprecedented blitz on Iraq in the first hours of war - paving the way for the ground invasion. Our brave fliers will take part in the biggest British air armada since the Suez crisis half a century ago to unleash havoc on Saddam. They will play a key role beside US and Aussie pilots in devastating Iraq’s military with the most up-to-date "smart" weapons ever used in battle. Last night a senior British officer at Qatar, the Allies’ nerve centre, said: "Nothing like this has...