Merkava Israeli Main Battle Tank
The vagaries of overseas suppliers were a constant concern to the Israeli defense establishment and government, and in the 1970s Israel began development of its own tank. Known as the Merkava, it entered service in 1978. The Merkava built on lessons learned by the Israel Defense Forces in its long experience in tank warfare to that point, with the primary concerns being firepower and armor protection.
The Merkava underwent continued upgrades, with the Mk 2 appearing in 1983, the Mk 3 in 1990, and the Mk 4, entirely on Israeli manufacture, in 2002. One of the world’s most powerful tanks, the Merkava also affords perhaps the best crew protection. Its engine is mounted in front, and the turret is mounted slightly to the rear of the vehicle and has a distinctly pointed front. The turret also has a large bustle at the rear. The hull is of cast and welded armor and incorporates rear doors that allow access to the fighting compartment for resupply of ammunition or even transportation of a limited number of infantry if fewer main gun ammunition rounds are carried.
The Merkava I weighs some 132,000 pounds and has a crew of four and a 900-horsepower engine that can move the tank at a maximum road speed of 34 miles per hour. The Mk 1 mounts a 105mm gun, three machine guns, and a 60mm mortar in the turret roof; the Mk 2 has the same armament but improved armor and a new fire-control system. These two models were superseded by the Mk 3, introduced in 1990. A major improvement over its predecessors, it incorporates widespread upgrades in armament, armor, and other systems. The Mk 3 mounts a 120mm smoothbore gun in place of the 105mm gun on the Mk 1 and Mk 2. Its 900-horsepower engine has been upgraded to 1,200 horsepower. The tank weighs approximately 134,000 pounds and sports a new transmission, suspension system, and armor. It also has threat warning systems and an improved fire-control system. Its nuclear-biological-chemical protection package completely seals the tank and allows the crew to work in ordinary clothing. The Merkava Mks 1–3 rely on some foreign-built components.
Further Reading
Foss, Christopher F., ed. The Encyclopedia of Tanks and Armored Fighting Vehicles. San Diego: Thunder Bay, 2002.
Tucker, Spencer C. Tanks: An Illustrated History of Their Impact. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2004.
Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk Helicopter
Sikorsky entered the U.S. Army’s 1972 Utility Tactical Transport Aircraft System competition with its S-70 and won a protracted fly-off in 1976. The S-70 entered service with the army as the UH-60 Black Hawk in 1978, replacing the Bell UH-1 Iroquois.
Two General Electric T700-GE-700 1,620-horsepower turbo shaft engines turn the UIH-60’s composite titanium and fiberglass 53-foot 8-inch four-bladed main rotor and a four-bladed tail rotor. The UH-60 has a long, low profile shape in order to enable it to be transported (with some disassembly) by a C-130 Hercules transport. It also features a Stability Control Augmentation System, transmissions and gearboxes that have a 30-minute dry-run capability, and rotors and drive shafts designed to sustain multiple hits by up to 23mm cannon fire and remain operational.
The UH-60 has a maximum speed of 159 miles per hour, a ceiling of 19,000 feet, and a combat radius of 368 miles. It has a 4-man crew: 2 pilots and 2 crew chiefs. Manned by crew chiefs/gunners, it can carry two 7.62mm machine guns, two 7.62mm miniguns, or two 12.7mm (.50-caliber) GAU-19 Gatling guns. It has two hard points on each of two stub wings that allow it to carry combinations of rockets and missiles. The UH-60 can carry 11 troops with equipment or 6 stretchers and can lift 2,640 pounds of cargo internally or 9,000 pounds externally by a sling. It can also transport a M119 105mm howitzer, 30 rounds of ammunition, and a 4-man crew.
As a utility helicopter, the Black Hawk performs a great number of different missions, including troop and equipment transport, electronic countermeasures, and aeromedical evacuation. The UH-60 Marine One transports the president of the United States. Modified versions have served with the U.S. Army, the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Navy (SH-60B Seahawk), and the U.S. Coast Guard (HH-60J Jayhawk medium-range rescue). The UH-60 also serves in the military establishments of some two dozen other nations. Black Hawks have had a distinguished record in service with U.S. forces from the U.S. invasion of Grenada in 1983 to the present with both regular and Special Operations units. Some 4,000 UH-60s have been built.
Further Reading
Bishop, Chris. Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk. Oxford, UK: Osprey, 2008.
Leoni, Ray D. Black Hawk: The Story of a World Class Helicopter. Reston, VA: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2007.
McGowen, Stanley S. Helicopters: An Illustrated History of Their Impact. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2005.
Hughes (McDonnell Douglas/Boeing) AH-64 Apache Helicopter
The AH-64 Apache helicopter was the world’s first dedicated attack helicopter and, in its D model, the most advanced. Credit for the aircraft is confusing. Hughes Aircraft won the design competition but sold its helicopter business to McDonnell Douglas in 1984, which in 1997 was acquired by Boeing. The Apache grew out of Cold War concerns in the United States over the large number of Warsaw Pact tanks. It was to have standoff capability, to be able to strike and destroy targets from ranges where it could be safe from most enemy antiaircraft fire. Hughes Aircraft and Bell submitted designs, and the army selected that from Hughes. The AH-64 Apache replaced the Bell AH-1 Cobra (official designation HueyCobra), and was designed to attack and destroy targets in all weather conditions. The Apache entered service in 1985.
Designed to fight and survive in a hostile environment, the Apache can withstand 20mm cannon fire. Heavily automated, it includes target acquisition and designation sighting equipment as well as an infrared laser range finder. An integrated helmet and display system allows the pilot to aim weapons merely by looking at the target. Powered by two 1,536-horsepower General Electric T700 turbo shaft engines, the AH-64 has a maximum speed of 232 miles per hour, a ceiling of 21,000 feet, and a maximum combat range of 380 miles. Armament consists of one 30mm automatic Boeing M230 chain gun under the fuselage (with storage for 1,200 rounds) and 16 Lockheed Martin/Boeing AGM-14D Longbow Hellfire antitank missiles (eight under each winglet) or 76 70mm (2.75-inch) unguided rockets (formerly known as Hydra and now designated the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System, or APKWS).
The Apache first saw combat in the U.S. invasion of Panama in 1989 and then performed brilliantly in the 1991 Persian Gulf War, when Apaches destroyed Iraqi radar sites and several hundred tanks for no losses of their own. The more capable AH-64D Apache Longbow entered service in 1997. It features the Longbow millimeter wave fire-control radar and the Longbow Hellfire missile. The AH-64D saw service in the Afghanistan War (2001–) and in the Iraq War (2003–2011). In these conflicts, however, the Apache was shown to be vulnerable to infantry ground fire at short ranges. In 2003 it was also deployed to South Korea.
A Hughes (Boeing) AH-64 Apache. The world’s first attack helicopter, it was designed to fight and survive in a hostile environment. It has night vision equipment and is able to stand off and engage targets at a distance. The Apache distinguished itself in the 1991 Persian Gulf War. (Lockheed Martin)
Older AH-64A helicopters have been upgraded to the AH-64D standard and are now receiving a new targeting and night-vision system, known as Arrowhead. All (more than 700 in 2006) U.S. Army Apaches were to be equipped with the Arrowhead system by 2011. Apaches have been exported to a number of other nations. The United Kingdom version is built by the Augusta Westland consortium and is known as the AH Mk.1. It features a folding blade assembly to facilitate carrier operations.
Further Reading
Fredriksen, John C. Warbirds: An Illustrated Guide to U.S. Military Aircraft, 1915–2000. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 1999.
McGowen, Stanley S. Helicopters: An Illustrated History of Their Impact. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2005.
Hawker-Siddeley/McDonnell Douglas Sea Harrier
The Hawker-Siddley Harrier is one of the most remarkable aircraft in aviation history and a major triumph for British military aviation. The Harrier is the first vertical short takeoff and landing (VSTOL) combat airplane in history. Developed as a land plane, the naval version Sea Harrier proved successful as a carrier aircraft.
Work on the Harrier began in 1957 as a collaborative venture between Hawker Siddeley and designers at the Bristol Engine Company, which had begun work on a turbofan engine, the exhaust from which could be vectored downward. The prototype aircraft first flew in October 1960. The project was conceived as a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) joint venture to fill close support and reconnaissance roles.
During the next two years, six prototype aircraft underwent extensive testing. Following modifications, another nine aircraft were produced. The first of this new aircraft, the Kestrel, flew in March 1964. The nine Kestrels were formed into a squadron to undergo joint testing by British, American, and West German pilots beginning in October 1964. West Germany subsequently withdrew from the project, but six of the aircraft were sent to the United States for further testing, where they attracted the interest of the U.S. Marine Corps.
With the collapse of the project as a NATO venture, the British decided to continue development of the aircraft on their own. The first preseries aircraft, dubbed the Harrier, flew in August 1966. Resembling the Kestrel in outward appearance, the Harrier incorporated enhanced avionics and equipment. The first production model flew in December 1967, and the aircraft entered service with the Royal Air Force in April 1969. Subsequently the Harrier received more powerful Pegasus Mk-102 and then Mk-103 engines.
In 1969 the U.S. Marine Corps ordered 12 Harrier aircraft, with a designation of AV-8A. Subsequently the United States ordered 110 of the aircraft, including 8 of the two-seat trainer version. McDonnell Douglas later acquired the U.S. rights.
In 1975 the Royal Navy adopted a navalized Harrier for carrier service. Known as the Sea Harrier, it entered service in 1978. Hawker Siddeley was merged into British Aerospace (BAe) in 1977, and the BAe Sea Harrier was designed to operate from a new series of commando carriers. A new Sea Harrier, the FA.2, entered service in 1982. It could carry both Sidewinder and Sea Eagle missiles. Sea Harriers were retired from Royal Navy service in March 2006.
McDonnell Douglas subsequently entered into an agreement with British Aerospace (Hawker-Siddeley merged into BAe in 1977) for an enhanced AV-8B to be produced for both countries. Entering service in 1991, the McDonnell Douglas AV-8B featured an enlarged wing of new composite construction. This larger wing allowed more fuel and greater armaments to be carried. The engine was identical to the AV-8A. In the U.S. Marine Corps the AV-8B replaced both the AV-8A and the Douglas A-4M Skyhawk light attack aircraft. McDonnell Douglas also sold some AV-8B aircraft to Spain (where it was known as the Matador) and to Italy and India for naval use.
The single-seater AV-8B was powered by a Rolls-Royce Pegasus F402-RR-406 turbofan engine capable of 23,800 pounds of thrust, producing a maximum speed of 629 miles per hour, a ceiling of 50,000 feet, and a range of 685 miles with three-hour combat patrol endurance time. The plane featured a bicycle-type configuration undercarriage. The AV-8B was armed with a fuselage-mounted GAU-23U 25mm gun system (left pod) and 300 rounds of ammunition (right pod). Its standard air-to-ground armaments load was six 500-pound bombs, while the standard air-to-air load was four AIM-9L/M Sidewinder missiles. Seven armaments stations made it possible to carry up to 13,200 pounds of ordnance.
The great advantage of the VSTOL Harrier was that it could operate from very small areas, even a woodland-cleared field. The plane had the ability to hover in the air like a helicopter, and among novel ideas tested were the Skyhook, a crane that could launch the plane from either a ship or even a submarine and then retrieve it afterward without the necessity of a flight deck.
Sea Harriers proved their worth during the Falklands War of 1982, when they shot down 21 Argentine aircraft for no combat losses of their own (2 succumbed to ground fire and 4 to accidents). Harriers also saw extensive duty in the Balkans and in the Persian Gulf War in 1991, when they were the most forward-deployed tactical strike aircraft in the theater. Both land- and sea-based Harriers also provided highly effective service with British and U.S. forces in the 2003–2011 Iraq War. The vast majority of them were flown from carriers.
Further Reading
Angelucci, Enzo. The Rand McNally Encyclopedia of Military Aircraft, 1914–1980. New York: Military Press, 1983.
Barybrook, Roy. British Aerospace Harrier and Sea Harrier. London: Osprey, 1984.
Davies, Peter E., and Anthony M. Thornborough. The Harrier Story. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1996.
Nordeen, Lon O. Harrier II: Validating V/STOL. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2006.
Traditionally during hours of darkness, armies have not operated at all or have conducted only limited operations. If armies made recourse to fires, flares, and other illumination devices, these allowed the enemy to see as well. This has now changed dramatically, thanks to night-vision devices (NVDs).
The two basic night-observation systems that do not use white light illumination are active and passive. The active systems came first, during World War II, and were still around in some forms through the Vietnam War. Active systems had two basic components: an infrared light source to illuminate the target with light not visible to the human eye and a scope that could see the infrared. The early infrared scopes for rifles looked very much like the later starlight scopes except with an infrared spotlight about six to eight inches in diameter mounted above it.
The U.S. M-48 tank and some early models of the M-60 tank had a huge spotlight mounted above the main gun. The spotlight had both infrared and white light modes. The tanks also had onboard infrared scopes. These systems were classified as active because they had to project their own light. The problem with active systems was that they were easily detectable if the enemy was equipped with infrared sights. These systems have all now been replaced by the passive systems, which only magnify ambient light. Since they project no light themselves, they are not detectable by the enemy.
During World War II, the Germans developed the cascade image tube. Contacted by the U.S. military after the war, the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) developed a greatly improved cascade image tube. The new system, known as image intensification, had major problems, however. The image was projected upside down, and the large size of the device was also a problem. By the mid-1960s most of these problems had been overcome, and the first passive NVDs were issued to U.S. troops. NVDs first were employed in combat in the Vietnam War and played an increasingly important role in both the Persian Gulf War (1991) and the early fighting of the Iraq War (2003–2011). Especially in the latter conflict, NVDs allowed the U.S. Army to “own the night.”
A U.S. Army pilot positions his night vision goggles on his flight helmet in preparation for a night helicopter training mission at Alamagordo, New Mexico, in April 1997. (Department of Defense/Spc. Gary A. Bryant)
NVDs are of two types: image intensifiers and thermal infrared detectors. Image-intensifying devices magnify light and then display the image electronically. They must have some light available to function but can magnify it from 2,000 to 5,000 times, in effect allowing soldiers to turn the battlefield from night into day. Thermal forward-looking infrared detectors, sometimes known as sensors, detect differences in temperature between objects and their environment.
Among such systems, the best known is probably the U.S. Army Starlight Scope. It entered service in 1964 and could either be handheld or fitted to such weapons as the M16 rifle. Later models included a control allowing a uniform level of illumination and flash protection to prevent damage from very bright light and permit the user to see the rounds from the weapon strike the target. Initially the Starlight Scope was only effective to about 300 yards, but later versions provided significantly greater range.
Subsequent image enhancers are far more effective and lighter. Night-vision goggles, which first appeared in 1977, are one such development. Issued to individual soldiers, night-vision goggles are electro-optical systems that magnify existing light. The light source to be amplified may come from the moon or stars or the glow on the horizon from a distant city. Users do not look through the goggles; rather, the users see a greatly amplified electronic image on a phosphor screen, much as a TV screen. That screen is colored green because the human eye is able to differentiate more shades of green than any other phosphor color. Range is 100–400 feet.
Such systems and lasers have largely replaced infrared systems on the battlefield. Larger image intensifiers may also be mounted in vehicles. Research on NVDs now centers on expanding the field of vision (currently only about 40 degrees with NVDs, whereas a normal field of vision is 120 degrees), higher sensitivity, and increased resolution.
Further Reading
Richardson, M., et al. Surveillance and Target Acquisition Systems. London: Brassey’s, 1997.
The U.S. Navy weapons system Aegis, officially the Weapons System Mk 7, employs the SPY-1 phased-array radar to detect, classify, and track surface and aerial targets as well as to control a warship’s missiles. Begun in the late 1960s to provide surface combatants with a means of countering the growing Soviet air threat to U.S. Navy carrier task forces, Aegis narrowly escaped the budget ax in the tight fiscal climate of the mid-1970s.
Developed by the Naval Ordnance Systems Command under the project direction of Captain Wayne E. Meyer and pushed forward by chief of surface warfare Vice Admiral James H. Doyle Jr., Aegis went to sea first in the Ticonderoga-class missile cruisers, the lead ship commissioning in 1983. By certain estimates, one of these capable warships doubled the effectiveness of the air defenses of a carrier task force.
During the 1990s, destroyers of the new Arleigh Burke class also received Aegis. Over time, the system has proved amenable to upgrading. By the end of the 1980s, Aegis could track simultaneously several hundred separate targets and control a dozen missiles in the air at once. The guidance system of Aegis substantially extended the range of antiaircraft missiles by plotting more efficient trajectories. The Tomahawk long-range attack missile was integrated into Aegis in 1987. The system proved itself in the 1991 Persian Gulf War when the missile cruiser Bunker Hill (CG-52) assumed tactical control of 26 warships and over 300 aircraft; the Aegis cruiser directed thousands of strikes, intercepts, tanker missions, and reconnaissance flights without significant problem.
Further Reading
Friedman, Norman. World Naval Weapons Systems, 1997–1998. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1997.
Muir, Malcolm, Jr. Black Shoes and Blue Water: Surface Warfare in the United States Navy, 1945–1975. Washington, DC: Naval Historical Center, 1996.
The Phalanx is a U.S. ship-mounted close-in weapons system (CIWS, pronounced “sea-whiz”). The Phalanx is designed to defend against incoming antiship missiles and aircraft at close range. Manufactured by the Hughes Missile Systems Company (purchased from the General Dynamics Pomona Division in 1992), now the Raytheon Systems Company, the Phalanx point-defense system consists of two 20mm gun mounts. It automatically identifies and engages incoming missiles and high-speed low-flying aircraft. Each mount includes an M-61A1 20mm Vulcan Gatling-type rotating six-barrel cannon controlled by search and tracking radars. The Phalanx was designed to be the final defense against enemy missiles and aircraft that had succeeded in penetrating other defenses.
The Phalanx system underwent operational testing and evaluation aboard the destroyer USS Bigelow in 1977 and more than met specifications. Production began the next year, and the Phalanx was first deployed aboard the aircraft carrier USS Coral Sea in 1980. The updated Phalanx was first deployed in 1988 aboard the battleship USS Wisconsin.
The first model was capable of firing some 3,000 rounds per minute. The addition of a pneumatic gun drive increased this to 4,500 rounds per minute. Firing can be continuous or in bursts of 60 or 100 rounds. The ammunition drum initially held 989 rounds, but this was subsequently increased to 1,550 rounds. The 20mm subcaliber sabot projectile has a 15mm tungsten or depleted uranium penetrator, which is enclosed in a discarding plastic sabot and lightweight metal pusher.
A variety of upgrades have been made to the Phalanx system. These include new computer systems, improved fire control, better forward-looking infrared radar, and integrated multiweapon operations capabilities.
Since entering service, the Phalanx system has been the primary point-defense weapon of virtually every class of U.S. Navy ship. It is also deployed on the ships of more than 20 allied navies. The U.S. Army utilizes a land-based version of the Phalanx system. It, however, employs high-explosive incendiary tracer self-destruct ammunition.
Further Reading
Hooten, Ted. Jane’s Naval Weapons Systems, 2001–2002. London: Jane’s, 2002.
Hovercraft are vehicles capable of travel on a cushion of pressurized air generated by powerful ducted fans. The concept was first under development as early as 1875 in the Netherlands, but it was not brought to fruition until British engineer Sir Christopher Cockerell’s 1950 design of a working hovercraft eventually yielded the first Saunders-Roe prototype hovercraft, the SR.N1, in 1959. Commercial interest in a hovercraft capable of traversing the English Channel led in 1968 to the production of several variants of the successful model SR.N4, the last two of which plied the route until October 2000. These car-and-passenger ferries displaced 165 to 200 tons and could carry a mix of up to 278 persons and 36 cars. Four Proteus gas turbines powered the four topside propulsion propellers and the four cushion-generating centrifugal fans, the exhaust of which was contained under the hull by a neoprene skirt. Though capable of reaching a speed of 100 knots, usual service cruising speed was 55–70 knots. Further commercial applications can be found in Europe and Russia.
The United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, and the United States all anticipated the applications for amphibious warfare of hovercraft, particularly their ability to skim over water and land. The Soviet Union was the largest developer of hovercraft, and the world’s largest by far is the 1988 Soviet Pomornik-class at 550 tons, while the most numerous is the U.S. Navy’s 184-ton LCAC (Landing Craft Air Cushion), with more than 90 in service since 1984. An innovative 1990s British design is the lightweight composite ABS M10 medium-lift hovercraft, the economical twin-diesel power plant of which also greatly simplifies engine upkeep over the usual gas turbine installation. Other nations with hovercraft include China and Iran.
Hovercraft excel at quickly moving vehicles and matériel ashore in amphibious landings, but the vulnerability of their exposed propulsion and cushioning components to defensive fire better suits them to operations after a landing area has been secured. Hovercraft can be useful in minesweeping operations. However, hovercraft are expensive to produce and difficult to service. U.S. hovercraft have seen service in the Persian Gulf and in Somalia.
Further Reading
Jane’s Amphibious Warfare Capabilities. Coulson, Surrey, UK, and Alexandria, VA: Jane’s Information Group, 2000.
Jane’s High-Speed Maritime Transportation, 2000–2001. Coulson, Surrey, UK, and Alexandria, VA: Jane’s Information Group, 2000.
Nimitz-Class U.S. Navy Aircraft Carriers
In 1955 the U.S. Navy commissioned the first of its four Forrestal-class aircraft carriers. The first supercarriers, these ships incorporated many features intended for the canceled aircraft carrier United States. The Forrestal-class ships had an overall length of 1,086 feet, a displacement of 75,900 tons (full load, which made them 25 percent heavier than the World War II Nimitz class), and a maximum speed of 33 knots. The Forrestals were the first aircraft carriers designed specifically for jet aircraft and the first to have angled flight decks (making possible simultaneous launch and recovery) and steam catapults. They were also the first since the Lexington class to have enclosed bows. The last joined the fleet in 1959. These ships provided excellent service during the Vietnam War and the Persian Gulf War. All were decommissioned during 1993–1998.
Four follow-on aircraft carriers, identified as the improved Forrestal class, were commissioned during 1961–1968. But the next aircraft carriers, the Nimitz-class ships, were of an entirely different design and were the largest and most powerful warships ever constructed. Nuclear-powered derivatives of the aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy (CVA-67) of 1975, the first ships of the class were approved during the Vietnam War. Displacing over 91,000 tons at full load, the Nimitz measures 1,088 feet in overall length and 257 feet in flight deck width. The relatively compact two-reactor power plant allows great storage space for ammunition and aircraft fuel while producing 280,000 shaft horsepower for a speed of more than 30 knots. It joined the fleet in 1975.
Survivability features include advanced torpedo protection, intricate subdivision (23 watertight transverse bulkheads and over 2,000 compartments), and Kevlar armor. The ship’s pumps can correct a 15-degree list in only 20 minutes. The U.S. Navy claims that the Nimitz could withstand at least three times the punishment survived by Essex-class carriers such as the Franklin and Bunker Hill late in World War II. Defensive weaponry consists of the ship’s fighters, Sea Sparrow antiaircraft missiles, and the Phalanx close-in weapons system.
For striking power, the Nimitz relies on its air group of 90 aircraft. Four elevators and four steam catapults help speed flight operations. In addition to the Nimitz, there are nine other ships in the class: the Dwight D. Eisenhower, Carl Vinson, Theodore Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, John C. Stennis, Harry S. Truman, Ronald Reagan, and George H. W. Bush (the last in the class, it was commissioned in 2009). Thus, Nimitz-class carriers have been built for over 30 years, setting a record for the construction of modern capital ships to one basic design.
Chesneau, Roger. Aircraft Carriers of the World, 1914 to the Present: An Illustrated Encyclopedia. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1995.
Friedman, Norman. U.S. Aircraft Carriers: An Illustrated Design History. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1983.
Polmar, Norman. Ships and Aircraft of the U.S. Fleet. 17th ed. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2000.
Ohio-Class U.S. Navy Submarines
There are 18 U.S. Navy Ohio-class submarines. Fourteen of them are ballistic missile submarines (SSBN), and four are cruise missile submarines (SSGN). Designed for extended patrol duties (currently of some 70–90 days each but limited only by the food supply carried), the Ohio-class submarines were initially planned as a class of 24, but 6 were cancelled. They were constructed during 1976–1997 and first entered commission in 1981. The 14 Trident missile-armed SSBNs carry some 50 percent of the entire thermonuclear deterrent of the U.S. armed forces.
As the new dreadnoughts, with the exception of the Henry W. Jackson, the submarines of the Ohio class are all named for states, an honor hitherto reserved for battleships. The largest U.S. Navy submarines ever, the Ohio-class submarines are 560 feet in length with a beam of 42 feet. Propelled by an S8G PWR nuclear reactor, they have two geared turbines. Each also has a reserve Fairbanks Morse auxiliary diesel engine. The submarines displace 16,499 tons surfaced and 18,450 tons submerged. They have official speeds of 12 knots surfaced and 20 knots submerged, although submerged speeds of 25 knots have been reported. The submarines have crews of 15 officers and 140 enlisted personnel.
Each submarine has four 21-inch torpedo tubes for the Mark 48 torpedo, and each carries 24 Trident missiles. While two classes of Russian submarines are larger (the Typhoon class is twice the Ohio class in displacement, and the Borei class is some 25 percent greater), these both carry fewer missiles (20 for the Typhoon class and 16–20 for the Borei class).
With the end of the Cold War, beginning in 2002 four of the Ohio-class (Ohio, Florida, Georgia, and Michigan) were converted to carry Tomahawk cruise missiles. Designated SSGNs, each of these submarines has been fitted with 22 vertical launch tubes for Tomahawk missiles, and each of these submarines may carry 154 Tomahawk cruise missiles with either conventional or nuclear warheads. They can also launch Harpoon missiles through their torpedo tubes and can carry other payloads to include unmanned aerial vehicles or those for countermine warfare.
The navy plans to retain the Ohio class in service through 2029.
Further Reading
Fontenoy, Paul E. Submarines: An Illustrated History of Their Impact. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2007.
Hutchinson, Robert. Jane’s Submarines: War beneath the Waves from 1776 to the Present Day. New York: HarperCollins, 2001.
The term “laser” is an acronym for “light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation.” While most light sources emit photons in all directions, lasers amplify light and concentrate photon emission in a coherent narrow beam. Typically, laser light is nearly monochromatic.
Building on theories developed by Albert Einstein in 1916, Theodore H. Maiman at Hughes Research Laboratories in Malibu, California, demonstrated the first laser in 1960. The first major industry application of laser technology appeared in the form of the supermarket scanner in 1974. Today many different types of lasers perform a wide variety of functions, from consumer electronics to medicine, industry, science, and war. Laser types include gas, chemical, excimer, solid state, semiconductor, and dye.
Most military lasers are employed in target illumination and acquisition, such as in tanks. Lasers are integral to target acquisition in many so-called smart bombs and cruise missiles. Research work is ongoing to develop smaller solid-state laser weapon systems that might be mounted on a vehicle or carried in an aircraft. Scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California, have developed a laser that can penetrate one inch of steel. Such lasers, known as SSHCL (for solid-state heat-capacity laser), might be used to destroy enemy shells and missiles as well as to attack targets hundreds of miles distant.
The U.S. Navy’s high-energy laser beam director built by Hughes Aircraft Company for use in high-energy laser research and development. The experimental pointing and tracking system was designed to track targets in flight and direct a high-powered laser beam to selected aimpoints. (U.S. Department of Defense)
Further Reading
Richardson, M., et al. Surveillance and Target Acquisition Systems. London: Brassey’s, 1997.
Svelto, Orazio, ed. Principles of Lasers. Translated by David C. Hanna. New York: Springer, 2004.
In contemporary usage, stealth technology refers to efforts to obscure or completely mask aircraft, ships, missiles, and other military equipment from radar or infrared detection. Masking weapons from an enemy is as old as warfare itself. The development of radar in the mid-1930s provided the means to detect aircraft and ships at great distances, but early on Sir Robert Watson-Watt, one of its pioneers, noted that radar reflectivity might be reduced in bomber aircraft. Radar operators also observed that some types of aircraft were easier to detect than others.
During World War II, British and American bombers dropped aluminum strips known as chaff (or window) that produced a multitude of indecipherable reflections on German radar screens. By the close of the war, the Germans were actively working on stealth aircraft that used materials in their construction to absorb rather than reflect radar waves. The Germans also experimented with shielding metal snorkel devices on submarines with rubber to inhibit airborne radar detection. Stealth technology, however, reached a new level of sophistication late in the Cold War in a U.S. Air Force project begun in 1977 that culminated in the Lockheed F-117A Nighthawk stealth fighter, which entered service in 1982.
Basically, stealth technology relies on two principles. The first is to modify the shape of the ship or plane so that the contoured surfaces so easily detected by radar are replaced by flat surfaces and sharp angles that reflect radar signals away from the receiving radar antenna. The second important principle of stealth technology is to construct the plane or ship with critical surfaces made of nonmetallic materials that absorb radar or infrared waves. Special exterior paint can augment this effect. Stealth design principles also emphasize positioning engines and propulsion plants in positions that mask infrared signatures and reduce the wakes of ships and aircraft.
The first stealth ship was the Swedish Visby corvette. Other examples of stealth ships are the French La Fayette–class frigates as well as the British Type 45 destroyer and the U.S. Navy DD(X) destroyer designs. Stealth ships employ sharply reduced numbers of right angles. They also utilize an outer layer of carbon fiber that absorbs radar waves. A tumble-home design also reduces the radar cross section.
Stealth technology cannot render a plane or ship entirely invisible but can dramatically reduce the radar signature. Reportedly in the F-117A and in the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber, this is so small as to resemble a small bird or even a bumblebee.
Although the new U.S. stealth technology made its first appearance in warfare during the 1989 invasion of Panama, it was especially important, and most identified with, the 1991 Persian Gulf War when F-117As flew undetected over Baghdad to drop laser-guided bombs. During that war Nighthawks flew 1,271 sorties without a loss. Again, in the Iraq War (2003–2011) the United States employed stealth aircraft to attack such high-value targets as command and control centers. To counter the new stealth technologies, nations are developing passive radar arrays and low-frequency radars able to detect the new planes and ships. Nonetheless, development of stealth technologies continues.
A Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit bomber (top) and a T-38 Talon fighter (bottom) on display at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland. The B-2 bomber was the world’s first stealth bomber. At a cost of $2.1 billion each, it is also easily the most expensive aircraft ever produced. (Department of Defense)
Further Reading
Richardson, Doug. Stealth Warplanes: Deception, Evasion, and Concealment in the Air. Osceola, WI: Motorbooks International, 2001.
Sweetman, Bill. Stealth Aircraft: Secrets of Future Airpower. Osceola, WI: Motorbooks International, 1986.
The Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit is the world’s first stealth bomber. With the advent of new radar-evading technologies, in 1981 the U.S. Air Force initiated Project Senior to design a strategic bomber capable of penetrating Soviet airspace without being detected by radar. Congressional approval was secured in 1987 for the procurement of 132 such aircraft, but with the end of the Cold War and mounting costs, the number was reduced to 21.
Building on technologies for the Lockheed Martin F-117A Nighthawk stealth fighter, Northrop Grumman proceeded with the new aircraft. The prototype XB-2 was publically revealed in rollout in November 1988, and its first test flight was in July 1989. The B-2 first became operational in 1993, with the entire fleet achieving that status in December 2003. In appearance the B-2 greatly resembles the radical design XB-35 Flying Wing developed by Northrop in 1946. Lacking any vertical stabilizer, the B-2’s sharply swept 33-degree wing terminates in a double “W” outline.
The above-wing mounted engines stop short of the trailing edge in order to reduce infrared detection. The B-2s also have an exhaust temperature control system to minimize thermal signature. The plane is built of radar-absorbing composite materials, and its surfaces have a special radar-absorbent coating. These and its design leave only the smallest radar signature.
The B-2 has a two-man crew, seated side by side, of aircraft commander and mission commander, compared to four men for the North American/Rockwell B-1B Lancer and five in the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress. The B-2 has a wingspan of 172 feet and a length of 69 feet. Four 17,300-pound-thrust General Electric F-118 turbofan engines produce a maximum speed of some 600 miles per hour. The B-2 has a ceiling of 50,000 feet and a range of more than 6,000 miles (10,000 miles with one refueling), which means that it can fly anywhere in the world with one in-flight refueling. It can carry, in twin bays underneath the wing, eight nuclear weapons, eight cruise missiles, or 40,000 pounds of conventional bombs or mines.
Unlike the B-1B, which was designed for high-speed, low-altitude penetration of an enemy airspace, the relatively slow B-2 Spirit was developed specifically for multirole, high-altitude, subsonic missions. At a cost of $2.1 billion (1997 dollars) apiece, the B-2s are easily the most expensive aircraft ever built. The B-2 is expected to remain in service for decades to come and, along with the B-1 and B-52, provide the United States with great flexibility in strategic bombing missions.
Further Reading
Goodall, James. America’s Stealth Fighters and Bombers. Osceola, WI: Motorbooks International, 1992.
Holder, Bill. Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit: An Illustrated History. Atglen, PA: Schiffer, 1998.
Miller, Jay. Northrop B-2 Spirit. Leicester, UK: Midland, 1995.
The establishment of satellites in space for the first time in history made possible accurate navigation on Earth. In the 1970s the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Air Force launched the Navstar Global Positioning System (GPS). GPS has many civilian users, but the system was designed for and is operated by the U.S. military. Controlled by the Department of Defense from a central station at Falcon Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado, GPS employs a network of 24 satellites that orbit Earth in a 12-hour period. At any given time, from five to eight of these satellites are accessible to a GPS receiver from any point on Earth. The Soviet Union undertook the launching of satellites for a similar system, known as Glonass, beginning in 1982.
Satellites in the system send radio signals from space. GPS receivers then process these signals to compute position, velocity, and time. GPS can provide a fix anywhere on Earth’s surface and is accurate to within 12 feet. The military implications of GPS are enormous, including the rescue of downed air crews; the coordination of the movements of larger units even to individual soldiers, vehicles, and ships; artillery fire direction control; the control of tactical and strategic air strikes; the targeting of precision-guided munitions; and the processing of intelligence collected by space-based platforms.
Further Reading
Bull, Stephen. Encyclopedia of Military Technology and Innovation. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 2004.
Chetty, P. R. K. Space Technology and Its Applications. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1988.
Dutton, L. Military Space. London: Brassey’s, 1990.
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), commonly called drones and also known as remotely piloted aircraft, came into being after World War I. Although the term “unmanned aerial vehicle” could apply to anything from cruise missiles to kites, generally speaking the term is used to reference reusable heavier-than-air craft. UAVs were initially unsophisticated radio-controlled model aircraft developed to train antiaircraft gunners. Interest in such craft increased sharply during the Cold War with advances in avionics, computer technology, and photographic equipment. UAVs also have the great advantages of being much less expensive than manned aircraft and not risking the life of a pilot. In civilian service UAVs perform myriad functions. In the military they do far more than reconnaissance missions, including the delivery of munitions.
The United States employed some UAVs during the Vietnam War in a reconnaissance role. Israel and the United States have led in their development. As early as 1982, the Israeli Aircraft Industries was involved in UAVs. The Israel Defense Forces employed them for the first time in Operation PEACE FOR GALILEE, its 1982 invasion of Lebanon. The United States purchased the IAF Pioneer UAV in 1985 and employed it in both the 1991 Persian Gulf War and the 2003–2011 Iraq War. The Pioneer has an endurance time of 5.5 hours, a ceiling of 12,000 feet, and a payload of 75 pounds.
A U.S. Air Force General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper (originally the MQ-9B Predator) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) landing at Joint Base Balad, Iraq, on November 10, 2008. (Department of Defense)
Among the most sophisticated of current UAVs is the RQ-1/MQ-1/MQ-9 Predator. A long-endurance, medium-altitude UAV, it is a midwing monoplane with a slender fuselage, a high aspect ratio wing, and inverted-V tails. It requires line of sight with its ground control station. The Predator can fulfill a variety of missions from reconnaissance to ground attack. Developed by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems for the U.S. Air Force, the Predator first flew in 1994 and entered production in 1995.
The Predator is 27 feet in length and has a wingspan of 48 feet 7 inches. Fitted with video cameras, the RQ-1 Predator can provide real-time intelligence information from over the battlefield. The upgraded MQ-1 Predator incorporates many improvements. Powered by a Rotax 914F turbocharged four-cylinder 115-horsepower engine and pusher propeller, its maximum takeoff weight is 2,250 pounds. Its normal cruising speed is 81–103 miles per hour (maximum speed is 135 miles per hour) with a ceiling of 25,000 feet and an effective range of 675 miles. Endurance time is 24 hours. Surveillance and reconnaissance payload is 450 pounds. Its radar system provides all-weather surveillance capability. It can carry an assortment of munitions, including two AGM-114 Hellfire missiles. The Predator is also fitted with an emergency recovery parachute.
Predators provided intelligence data, including bomb-damage assessment, during the 1999 NATO Kosovo air campaign. In 2001 they were deployed as part of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM in the Afghanistan War (2001–), and in November 2002 an MQ-1 Predator in Yemen fired a Hellfire to destroy a car carrying suspected terrorists. Predators have also carried out similar ground-attack missions in Pakistan, Somalia, Libya, and Iraq.
The 14,500-pound (takeoff weight) U.S. Northrop Grumman high-altitude RQ-4 Global Hawk, which resembles in appearance and mission the U-2 reconnaissance aircraft, has a payload of 1,900 pounds and a maximum endurance time of 42 hours and can survey as many as 40,000 square miles of territory a day.
Virtually all major military powers now employ drones. Most military analysts predict that their use will only increase and that they will take on a larger number of roles, perhaps excluding only for the immediate future air-to-air combat.
Further Reading
U.S. Office of the Secretary of Defense. Unmanned Reconnaissance Systems Roundup, 2005–2006. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 2005.
Panzerhaubitze 2000 German Self-Propelled Howitzer
The German Panzerhaubitze (armored howitzer) 2000 155mm self-propelled tracked howitzer, or PzH 2000, is recognized as the world’s most advanced tube artillery piece. Developed by the German firms of Krauss-Maffel Wegmann and Rheinmetall, it evolved from an international program that was canceled because of funding and design problems. Germany then proceeded alone. The prototype PzH 2000 was completed in 1993. Plans to purchase 1,254 of the self-propelled howitzers were reduced to only 185. The PzH 2000 entered service with the German Army in 1998.
The PzH 2000 is 38 feet 5 inches in length, 11 feet 10 inches in width, and 10 feet 2 inches in height. Its combat weight is 55.8 tons. It has a fully enclosed 14.5mm armored welded steel turret. Powered by the MTU 8811 Ka-500 engine, it has a road speed of 41 miles per hour, an off-road speed of 29 miles per hour, and an operational range of 261 miles.
The PzH 2000 has a crew of five: commander, driver, gunner, and two loaders. Its Rheinmetall 155mm main gun (with 60 rounds of ammunition) with automatic ammunition feed can fire 3 rounds in 9 seconds and 10 rounds in 56 seconds. Maximum range is 18.6 miles for high-explosive rounds and 24.9 miles for rocket-assisted rounds. Its ability to provide accurate fire to such ranges had been a major selling point. Secondary armament consists of a top-mounted Rhinemetall MG3 7.62mm machine gun.
The PzH 2000 is in the service of half a dozen nations. It first saw action in August 2000 in Afghanistan with the Dutch Army, firing against Taliban targets in Kandahar Province.
Further Reading
Bailey, Jonathan B. A. Field Artillery and Firepower. 2nd ed. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2003.
Zabecki, David T. “Great Guns! Benchmark Artillery Pieces That Shaped Military History.” MHQ (August 2014): 76–84.
The thermobaric bomb is an antipersonnel bomb used to penetrate and destroy deeply buried targets. The U.S. BLU-118/B thermobaric bomb was rushed through development and testing following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, D.C. Developed in a span of only several months and first exploded at the Nevada Test Site on December 14, 2001, the bomb utilizes principles of heat and pressure discovered in investigations into deadly cave mine explosions.
The BLU-118/B warhead is encased in a 98.5-inch-long, 2,000-pound bunker-busting bomb. Carried to the target area by an F-15E Strike Eagle or a B-1 or B-52 bomber, it is then guided to the target, penetrating through the concrete at the cave entrance. A fuze munition unit creates a small initial explosion, causing a fine aerosol mist. A second larger explosion then ignites this mix, creating an intense fireball and propelling it through the cave complex at supersonic speed. Heat and pressure are immense. Temperatures of as high at 3,000 degrees Celsius—more than double that of a conventional explosion—traveling at 10,000 feet per second suck in all the air from the complex and cause catastrophic damage to the internal organs of individuals present.
The principle is not new. The United States had employed a somewhat similar fuel-air bomb at the end of the Vietnam War, while the Russians had employed thermobaric rocket-launched weapons in fighting for Chechnya and Dagestan in 1999–2000. Following its successful testing, the BLU-118/B was first employed in early 2002 by U.S. forces in Operation ENDURING FREEDOM against cave complexes in the Gardez region of Afghanistan where Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters were believed to be located.
Further Reading
Meyer, Rudolph, Joseph Khler, and Axel Homburg. Explosives. 6th ed. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-VCH, 2007.
Improvised explosive devices (IEDs) have been employed in warfare almost since the introduction of gunpowder, although the term has only come into use since the Iraq War (2003–2011). They remain the weapon of choice for insurgent/resistance groups that lack the numerical strength and firepower to conduct conventional operations against an opponent. IEDs are the contemporary name for both booby traps and other command-detonated explosive charges employed in World War II and the Vietnam War. In more recent times IEDs have been employed against civilian targets by Basque separatists, the Irish Republican Army, and the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Attempt to Assassinate Napoleon I
One of the more spectacular uses of an IED that almost changed history occurred in an attempt to assassinate Napoleon Bonaparte on Christmas Eve 1800. Seeking to take advantage of the first consul’s well-known punctuality, monarchist conspirators filled a water cart with explosives designed to detonate as Bonaparte traveled in his carriage to the opera for the first performance of Haydn’s oratorio The Creation.
The ensuing blast killed 22 bystanders and wounded another 57. Among the dead was a little girl who had been paid to hold the horses of the water cart. The emperor escaped injury thanks to the accident of the coachman in his carriage being drunk and driving too fast. Bonaparte’s wife Josephine, traveling in the second carriage, also escaped injury thanks to it being delayed because of her tarrying to arrange her cashmere shawl.
Increasingly, IEDs were the chief weapon used by insurgents during the Iraq War from 2003 to attack U.S. forces and Iraqi police and army personnel and to carry out sectarian violence. The simplest type of IED was a hand grenade, a rigged artillery shell, or a bomb triggered by a trip wire or simple movement. It might be as simple as a grenade with its pin pulled and handle held down by the weight of a corpse. When the corpse was raised, the grenade exploded. Obtaining the material for such weapons was made easy for the insurgents in the Iraq War by the failure of U.S. and coalition forces in the heady days of the March 2003 drive on Baghdad to recognize a potential insurgent threat and secure the extensive Iraqi Army ammunition dumps. Thousands of tons of bombs and artillery shells simply disappeared.
Soon insurgents were employing these weapons against U.S. troops. By 2004, the insurgents employed more effective wireless detonators in the form of garage door openers and two-way radios. U.S. forces responded with radio-jamming devices known as Warlocks and by employing heavier armor on vehicles. By 2006, assisted by outside powers such as Iran, the insurgents introduced much more sophisticated IEDs triggered by infrared motion sensors as well as more powerful explosives and even shaped charges in order to attack armored vehicles. U.S. forces attempted to counter these by better intelligence and technological innovation, such as remote-controlled vehicles and the Buffalo 23-ton anti-IED vehicle with a 30-foot robotic arm. In spite of U.S. efforts, IEDs exacted a growing toll. By 2005, IEDs were responsible for 62 percent of U.S. combat deaths and 72 percent of the wounded. Estimated U.S. spending on research and development to defeat IEDs jumped from $150 million in 2004 to $3.3 billion in 2006.
Placed in any imaginable location such as in donkey carts, paint cans, and trash bags, IEDs appeared on the roadsides, in markets, and even in schoolyards. They also took the form of cars packed with explosives, which would be driven into a crowded area and detonated by their suicide-bomber drivers. The insurgents began employing IEDs in pairs, with the second device exploding after responders had arrived to take care of injured personnel from the first blast. Suicide belts and vests might also be considered IEDs.
IEDs were used to create the maximum harm at the least cost to the insurgents in order to influence public opinion and affect morale. Shia and Sunni groups have used IEDs extensively against each other in the sectarian violence that has swept Iraq. Casualty totals are one way to judge the effectiveness of a military operation, and growing casualties from IEDs in the 1980s and 1990s induced the Israeli Army to withdraw from southern Lebanon.
Further Reading
Crippen, James B. Improvised Explosive Devices (IED). New York: CRC Press, 2007.
DeForest, M. J. Principles of Improvised Explosive Devices. Boulder, CO: Paladin, 1984.
Tucker, Stephen. Terrorist Explosive Sourcebook: Countering Terrorist Use of Improvised Explosive Devices. Boulder, CO: Paladin, 1994.
