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CNN Live At Daybreak

America Strikes Back: Role of Navy Carrier Groups in Afghanistan Attacks

Aired October 09, 2001 - 07:50   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. I'm Miles O'Brien at CNN Center in Atlanta.

Afghanistan is a landlocked nation and yet the U.S. Navy is playing a critical role in what have been two nights of attacks in areas in Afghanistan.

Let's take a look at the carrier battle groups, or at least as best we know what the carrier battle group situation is in and around the region.

The USS Theodore Roosevelt steamed from Virginia to the Mediterranean Sea shortly after the September 11 attacks and we should let our viewers know we don't know precisely where these carrier battle groups are. This is the last known destination of the Roosevelt group. It may or may not be in the Mediterranean Sea, but just for points of illustration we thought we'd give you a sense of the amount of power that is projected by the naval aircraft carrier battle groups.

Going across Saudi Arabia and into the Persian Gulf, the Carl Vinson, last known location inside the Persian Gulf. And finally, based on the last known location once again, the USS Enterprise battle group in the Arabian Sea.

Now, some of the ships involved in the attacks over the past couple of nights were part of the Enterprise battle group. Let's give you a sense of what a battle group is all about. In all, there are 14 ships involved. The aircraft carrier, of course, is the center of the operation, 1,000 feet long, 85 aircraft on deck. About 50 of them are attack aircraft. A flight deck that is four and a half acres. A speed of at least 30 knots and then some.

It is literally a floating city. We do know that 10 carrier based attack aircraft were involved in last night's attack on Afghanistan. Destroyers also play a key role. There's at least one destroyer in every aircraft carrier battle group. It's primarily a defensive ship designed to protect the carrier, but it does have Tomahawk cruise missiles on board, many of them -- and we do know that cruise missiles were fired from the USS McFaul and the USS John Paul Jones in last night's attack. Now, destroyers are not the only ships in the carrier battle group that have Tomahawk cruise missiles, though. There are two nuclear submarines in a typical battle group. They carry Tomahawk missiles as well. We do know the USS Providence was involved in last night's attack, firing cruise missiles, also part of the Enterprise battle group.

And just one other point to tell you, from Japan, the Kitty Hawk is steaming toward the region, its actual destination unknown. The Kitty Hawk left Japan, where it was based, and it left with a clean deck. Its air wing was gone. There's some reason to believe it might be used to stage some sort of helicopter operation involving some other types of troops.

So that gives you a general sense of the force that is projected by those naval carrier battle groups. We invite you to check out CNN.com for more information on the latest attacks as well as some background in depth on exactly how a naval battle group works and how naval aviation fits into the big picture of these attacks on Afghanistan -- back to Paula in New York.

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