Navy and Air Force Team Up to Sink Iraqi Patrol Boat
Navy NewStand
Story Number: NNS030325-09
3/25/2003
By Chief Journalist (SW) Douglas H Stutz, Combined Forces Air Component Commander Office of Public Affairs
CENTRAL COMMAND (NNS) -- U.S. Navy and Air Force assets teamed together to conduct a successful nautical strike March 21, as a fast-attack Iraqi patrol boat in the Arabian Gulf was targeted and sunk by precision-guided ordnance.
A Navy P-3C Orion long-range patrol aircraft, from Patrol Squadron 46, assigned to Task Force 57, located and tracked the patrol boat and then relayed the information to an Air Force AC-130 gunship from the 4th Special Operations Squadron Deployed, which targeted the boat.
The action took place next to several oil platform superstructures located off the southern Iraqi Al Faw Peninsula, approximately 295 miles southeast of Baghdad. Many of these oil platforms dot the coastal area throughout the Arabian Gulf region, and are used to pump oil to ocean-going tankers.
Aware of how Saddam Hussein's regime had set oil wells on fire during the last Gulf War, Coalition special operations forces deployed to secure the platform to prevent sabotage and eliminate any chances of ecological disaster. It was during the actual mission execution that the Iraqi patrol boat was spotted by the Orion crew members.
"This type of mission of the P-3C showed just how capable and valuable a Navy platform it is," said Cmdr. John Robey, Combined Forces Air Component Commander P-3 liaison officer. "The P-3C was initially engaged in a non-traditional role, then carried out the more traditional function, and then assisted in coordinating a successful strike with an Air Force asset."
According to Robey, there were two P-3Cs supporting special operations forces by providing real-time video downlinks using an advanced imagery system and nighttime infrared capability.
"Not exactly the most traditional use of the P-3," Robey noted. "It is a testimony to the plane and crew and to the new technology, that we were able to accomplish the initial mission of keeping the command center informed with real-time information, then engage in the more time-honored role of maritime surveillance, and then support with the AC-130 gunship putting munitions on target.
"After the P-3C crew noticed the patrol boat during the initial mission, they carefully monitored the vessel throughout the entire operation," continued Robey. "When the operation was over, the crew then coordinated with the AC-130 to have the boat destroyed. The entire operation was a successful link between SOF (Special Operation Forces), USN and USAF."
According to Navy officials operating out of the Combined Air Operations Center at a desert air base in Southwest Asia, Iraqi Navy vessels can pose a concern to coalition naval forces in the northern Arabian Gulf due to possible attempts at mine-laying. Several small coastal vessels have already been captured with mines aboard.
The Iraqi Navy, which mainly has operated out of the deep-sea port of Umm Qasr, has basically been a coastal defense force, and could carry and deploy mines in and around the coastal ports, shipping lanes or operating areas of the Al Faw Peninsula.
The AC-130 gunship, bristling with Vulcan and Bofor cannons, Gatling gun and 105 mm howitzer, is primarily used for close air support, air interdiction and armed reconnaissance. It is also used for perimeter and point defense, escort, landing, drop and extraction zone support, forward air control, limited command and control, and combat search and rescue.
"The patrol boat was a target of opportunity," said Robey, "and anytime we can involve our traditional role with advanced technology and the ability to work with other coalition force assets like SOF, and the Air Force, then that is a true measure of joint capability."
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