Page 235 - NAVAL SCIENCE 3 TEXTBOOK

NAVA l. WEAPONS AND A IH CRAfT 241

Airbome enrlY-II'l1millg (A my) aircraft maintain stations f~1r against enemy buildings, tanks, ground equipment, and to rtifica-
Ii·om a fighting force, to provide early warning of approaching tions during Operation Desert Storm in 1991, similar attacks later
en em)' aircraft and cruise missiles, and to direct interceptors in Operation Enduring freedom in 2001-2002, and in many other
into position. military operations since have shown how devilstatingly accurate
today's precision-guided weaponry has become.
Rotar}'-winged helicopters serve·a variety of roles in the Navy,
Nevertheless, as a result of the combat experience in Vietnam
among which are cargo and personnel transportation, undersea
and later conflicts, new fighter aircraft sllch as the F-16 Falcon
warfare, observation and reconnaissance, search and rescue, and
and the F/A-lS Hornet were designed from the beginning to
mine counterme .. 1sures. In the other services they are often used in
incorporate fuselage-mounted 20-mm Gatling gUlls among their
ground-attack roles.
armament, the sL'\-barreled version of which can fire one hun-
For mallY years following \·\'orld \Var 11, lighter-than-air craft
dred rounds per second. These fuselage-mounted gUllS are more
fell into disuse in the Navy. but in recent }'ears their stability and
accurate, especially against airborne targets, than the older pod-
ability to hover on station for long periods of time have caused
mounted versions were.
renewed interest in thelll. A new type of US\V patrol blimp has
All things considered, while guided weapons now predomi-
been proposed and may possibly join the fleet in the future.
!lilte, it is likel}' that some form of gun will remain an important
part of naval aircraft armament for many years to come.
Naval Aircraft Weapon Systems
Until the end of \'''orId \Var 11, most of the armament of naval Guided Missiles
fighter-type aircraft consisted of small- to medium-caliber machine
A llIissife is any object that can be projected or thrown at a target.
guns of one sort or another. augmented at times by unguided rock-
This includes stones and arrows as well as gun projectiles, bombs,
ets suiti.1ble for use against land targets, ships, and surl~1Ced sub-
torpedoes, and rockets. Today, however, the term usually refers to
marines. To these were added bombs of various sizes and types,
a guided lIIi5sife, an unmanned, self-propelled vehicle with a guid-
incendiaries in the case of fighter-bomber and attack aircraft, and
ance system that controls its flight to the target. 13)' contrast, the
torpedoes. In the ye.1I's after the war, the advent of nuclear weap-
term sml1rt bomb has come into COlllmon use to describe non-
ons caused several models of Navy attack planes such as the A-3,
self-propelled air-dropped munitions fitted with guidance systems
A-4, and A-S to be developed specificall)' to deliver nuclear bombs.
that can control the flight path to the target. A rocket differs from
Fortunately these capabilities were never called upon in practice.
a guided missile in that it does not have an internal guidance sys-
so eventually they were fitted with conventional weaponry or con-
tem. A guided missile can carry either a con\'entional explosive or
verted to usc as unarmed tanker and reconnaissance .lircraft.
a nuclear warhead.
During these same years, guided missiles were developed for
The Navy's homing torpedoes are self-propelled weapons hav-
fighter aircraft, and these saw some use in aerial combat in both
ing elaborate guidance systems that hunt for a target ilnd steer
the Korean and Vietnam \Vars. J\·iost aerial dogfight engagements
for it on a collision course. They are not technically regarded as
in both these wars, however. continued to be decided with bow or
guided missiles, since they do not travel above the Earth's surface.
wing-mounted machine guns. Rapid-firing Gatling-type (rotat-
They will be discussed briefly along with guided missiles, how-
ing barrel) machine guns mounted in detachable pods beneath
ever, because they are so important in the fleet's advanced guided
the fuselage began to appear in the late 1960s. These were intended
\\'eapon systems.
primarily for use against ground targets by contemporary fighter-
There is a standardized three-letter DOD designation system
bomber and attack aircraft. several models of which had not origi-
lor the various types of guided missiles, similar to the designa-
nally been fitted with <lily gUllS at all, in the mistaken belief that
tion system for Navy ships. The first letter designates the launch
they were no longer needed-a notion proved very wrong during
environment: A is lor ai r launched; R is for surface ship launched;
the Vietnam \Var. Almost all fighter <lnd attack aircraft de\reloped
and U is lo r underwater launched. The second letter designates
since have been fitted with some type of integrated gun system.
the mission, such as G for surface attack, I for aerial intercept, Q
In the 1980s and 1990s, however, improved guidance systems
for drone, and U for underwater attack. The third letter designates
and better propulsion systems did ultimately cause more and more
the t)'pe: M lor guided missile, R for rocket, and N for probe. The
reliance to be placed on the guided missile as the main armament
three designation letters are followed by .. 1 design number. ~'Iost
tor most modern jet-powered naval fighter-type aircraft. Cruise
missiles are also given names by which they arc coml11only identi-
missiles and precision weapons like smart bombs play major roles
fied throughout their service lifetimes. regardless of any modifica-
in the case of today's attack aircraft. Modern US\V helicopters use
tions the)' m<1)' go through. For example the RIM-IS6 Standard 2
air-launched homing torpedoes as their principal weapon against
missile is the one hundred fifty-si.\1h design of ship-launched, aer-
enemy submarines. Carrier- and ground-based aircraft attacks
ial intercept guided missile. It is still named the Standard missile,