Free Republic

WASHINGTON (AP) - Three of every four allied airstrikes are now targeting Republican Guard forces that stand between advancing columns of U.S. ground troops and Saddam Hussein's government, a top American air officer said in an Associated Press interview Saturday. From his desert command post in Saudi Arabia, Air Force Brig. Gen. Daniel Darnell also said U.S. and British warplanes over the past week have attacked virtually every military airfield in Iraq - believed to number roughly 100 - and have seen only a small number of planes. Intensified allied airstrikes on Saddam's best ground forces coincide with efforts by...

CAMP AS SAYLIYAH, Qatar - The United States halted Tomahawk cruise missile launches over parts of Saudi Arabia after the kingdom complained some of the weapons fired from American ships had landed in the vast desert country, the Central Command said Saturday. The problems apparently involved missiles fired from ships in the Mediterranean and Red seas, said Maj. Gen. Victor Renuart. He said the United States was trying to fix the problem and would "go back with the Saudis and work to resume those (launches) when it's appropriate." He said the military hoped to be able to resume launches across...

The Tomahawk cruise missile, which can be launched from surface ships as well as submarines, is traditionally used for long-range, precision strikes against high-value, heavily defended targets, according to military experts. Navy ships in the Persian Gulf and Red Sea launched more than a dozen such missiles on Baghdad around dawn today, local time. Radar detection of a flying Tomahawk, whose range could exceed 1,000 miles, is difficult because of the missile's small radar cross-section and low-altitude flight. After launch, a solid-propellant rocket motor accelerates the missile until a turbofan engine takes over for the cruise portion of the flight...

WASHINGTON March 13 — The United States is moving 10 Navy ships armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles from the eastern Mediterranean to the Red Sea, senior U.S. officials said Thursday. The move indicates weakening U.S. confidence that Turkey will grant overflight rights for U.S. planes and missiles.From the Red Sea the cruisers, destroyers and submarines would be able to launch their Tomahawks typically fired in the opening hours of a war for flights over Saudi Arabia to targets in Iraq.

Tomahawk's journey begins in ball of flame from US warship ABOARD USS COWPENS (AFP) Mar 12, 2003Anybody unfortunate enough to be standing on the deck of this ship when a Tomahawk cruise missile launches would probably be blown over the side.The missile will rise above the deck with a terrifying boom and pass through a towering ball of flame to begin its journey of destruction."It's a pretty awesome sight," said Gunner's Mate Chief Eric Palmer, 30, of Colorado.The Cowpens, a guided missile cruiser in the Gulf since late February, is one of at least 30 warships which are in the...

ABOARD THE USS COWPENS March 12 — As warplanes roar over the Persian Gulf in preparation for a possible strike on Iraq, sailors are readying another weapon for attack: Tomahawk cruise missiles.Sailors aboard the cruiser USS Cowpens and up to 30 other ships within range of Iraq have been running drills on how to launch the sophisticated long-range attack weapon that was first used extensively during the 1991 Gulf War."We run all the way through the system, short of pushing the button to fire," Lt. Cmdr. Jim Jones, 35, of Titusville, Fla., said Tuesday."The only thing missing is the 'click,...