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CNN Live At Daybreak
America Strikes Back: The Role of Helicopters In Possible Troop Deployment
Aired October 15, 2001 - 08:22 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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: While Afghanistan is landlocked, the waterways within striking distance are getting a bit crowded. There are several naval battle groups in the region helping orchestrate attacks on Afghanistan.
Our Miles O'Brien is in Atlanta at our Big Board with a look at one of the battle groups with a very special mission -- good morning again, Miles.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again, Paula.
You know, Bob Franken was just talking about ultimately putting ground troops in the region, and one of the ways that's going to happen potentially is through the use of some naval forces, as well as some air force helicopters.
Let's talk about the role of helicopters in this sort of endeavor, as well as a little look back on the history of their use. We'll bring in one of our military analysts, Retired General Don Shepperd.
General Shepperd, good to see you, sir.
MAJ. GEN. DONALD SHEPPERD (RET.), U.S. AIR FORCE: Good morning, Miles.
O'BRIEN: All right. Let's -- just give us the brief history. What we're talking about here is putting helicopters on aircraft carriers -- not unprecedented, is it?
SHEPPERD: No, it's not unprecedented at all. In fact, it took place as far back as Grenada. It went on into Somalia, Haiti and even in the Gulf War.
What we're talking about is either army or special forces people deployed on the decks of carriers. It sounds really easy, and it's also rumored that the Kitty Hawk is en route to the Arabian Sea, probably in the Indian Ocean right now.
This is something we've been walking on -- working on for a long time in a program called JSHIP, or Joint Ship Helicopter Integration Program -- very, very difficult. It sounds easy just to land on the deck and fly off the deck. It involves training. It involves equipment. It's a very complicated process, Miles.
O'BRIEN: All kinds of navigational issues, just space issues, all kinds of things.
Let's take a look at a 3-D animation to give you a sense of what we're talking about here. And we'll probably tell you about two different types of aircraft: the Pave Low and the Pavehawk. And we have depicted a scenario here where it rendezvous with a C-130 for refueling.
You've got some range issues if you're out there in the Arabian Sea, don't you?
SHEPPERD: You indeed do. First of all, you're probably operating 100 to 200 miles offshore. If you're going to go into Afghanistan, that's about a 400 mile leg one way. You have to have some refueling.
Now, if you use special forces helicopters and aircraft, such as is depicted here -- Pave Lows and also the Talon 2 aircraft for refueling those helicopters, then you have unlimited range. If you use the standard Blackhawk helicopter, then you cannot air refuel with that if it's army troops.
And by the way, we used army troops off the decks of the Eisenhower and the America during Haiti, so this is not unprecedented at all. We know how to operate with the army off the decks. We know how to operate with special forces off the deck, but it takes a lot of practice.
You have a big magnetic field off these carriers that provides real problems for handling ordnance, in other words weapons and munitions, that type of thing. This is a very, very delicate ballet that has to be practiced, and we are getting good at it as a result of...
O'BRIEN: All right.
SHEPPERD: ... some joint things we have done recently.
O'BRIEN: When the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in 1979, they did it using helicopters. The helicopter initially proved to be something that gave them tremendous superiority, but then the CIA gave the rebel forces there Stingers, which are surface-to-air missiles, shoulder mounted. All of a sudden that helicopter advantage went away very quickly.
To what extent are the U.S. helicopters susceptible to these surface-to-air missiles?
SHEPPERD: They are susceptible. It's a major concern. They have not only Stingers, but the older Soviet SA-7 and newer versions that have been available on the black market, probably stockpiled by the Taliban.
As we put helicopters and low-flying aircraft in there, they are going to be vulnerable. Now, we are protected by flares that we dump out the back, both automatically and manually. But the distance to the airplane from where the missile is being shot is a factor. These airplanes will be vulnerable, and we can expect some losses.
O'BRIEN: General Don Shepperd, as always giving us some good insights as to how things might be shaping up in the region -- we appreciate your time, and we'll send it back to Paula in New York.
ZAHN: And as always, Miles O'Brien, very strong at that Big Board -- thank you Miles.
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