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Air Force Demos Planes in Nevada

Aired February 07, 2003 - 14:51   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.


KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: If there is a war, a high-tech piece of equipment in America's arsenal could reduce the risks for U.S. soldiers. It is called the Predator. The unmanned remote-controlled plane is as lethal as its name implies.
CNN's Frank Buckley is at the Predator proving ground. He is in Nevada -- hi, Frank.

FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, Kyra. That Predator, among the many Air Force aircraft that we're going to be seeing. Right now, if you take a look from the C-17, you can actually see some -- a live picture from the C-17 aircraft as Air Force airmen parachute out. This is part of the live demonstration that is taking place here today at the Nevada test and training range. Many different aircraft are being shown to us here out in Nevada.

Joining me right now to talk about the C-17 and what we're witnessing right now is Bill Walsh, Captain Bill Walsh from the 315th Airlift Wing in Charleston, South Carolina. Pretty remarkable sight, we just saw those guys jumping out of the -- the aircraft. As we watch them, tell us who they are and what are they doing?

CAPT. BILL WALSH, 315TH AIRLIFT WING: OK. That's the 820 Security Group. They just jumped from about 800 feet, Frank. So they are jumping from the airplane. They are taking the airfield. Now the airplane is going to swing around and do an assault landing. It's going to get down on the ground, stop with 2500 to 3000 feet, and back up.

It's one of the only airplanes in the inventory that is going to actually back up. The door is going to open, four Humvees are going to come running out of the back with machine guns on top, again securing the airfield. Once they are secure, the airplane will take off and do a max power takeoff, and they'll be off in about another 3,000 feet. It's an amazing, capable airplane.

BUCKLEY: Yes, we were just talking about that. This is an aircraft that has 757 engines, four of them, heavy aircraft. And yet it can stop on a dime, really, for an aircraft of this size. How is it able to do that?

WALSH: It's an amazing airplane; you are right. And it is from thrust vectoring and backing the airplane up using the thrust reversers, but what you are talking about -- you're right, a 500,000 -- 580,000 pound airplane, and when you think about air lifters, you think the big C-5 with the nose that opens up, which is a great strategic airlifter. This is also a tactical airlifter, which will get you into an area, for example, Afghanistan, landing on some of these short fields at night with night vision goggles. It is an amazing tactical airplane, so it is made for short field and strategic, as well as tactical air lift.

BUCKLEY: And you were talking about the aircraft backing up. Why does it -- why is that a capability that it needs? How does that help the aircraft?

WALSH: Well, a lot of these small fields, you can't -- there's nothing to push an airplane back. This is -- gives it more tactical capabilities. The actual plane backs up, and it can back up out of a spot, it can back up to a taxi way, so it can depart. And as you see the airplane coming around right now, he's going to do an assault landing. When he lands that airplane, again, that back door is going to open up. They're going to get the troops out, and then of course, he is going to get out of there as soon as possible.

BUCKLEY: We are going to see this tactical landing if we go to that camera -- and you can actually see it coming down. Our cameraman, Dimir Lareddick (ph), took a ride on this aircraft yesterday, and was telling us that it's quite a ride coming in on that final.

WALSH: It really is. In fact, we were flying yesterday. Did this profile, and here comes Major Stan Davis (ph) is at the command right now, landing the airplane.

He's going to take the airplane right down, and put the airplane on the ground and stop it within about 3,000 feet. So it's really amazing.

Another thing is, this is an all-reserve air crew. This is -- we are all reservists at this point, out here for this exercise, but we go back to regular jobs when we're not doing this. And again, he's doing a high-speed pass at about 250 knots, and now he's going to turn around, drop the gear, and do a very short final here at Indian Springs, and then he is going to bring the airplane to a stop. And then after they depart, they are going to fire the flares, which -- which are pretty much the defensive systems of the airplane.

BUCKLEY: All right. Well, Bill, we appreciate your insight as we take a look at that plane coming back around. It's -- it may be a few minutes before we actually see it touch down. So Kyra, we're going to throw it back to you at this point as we look at one of the many aircraft on display here in Nevada -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Pretty amazing pictures, our Frank Buckley there with the U.S. Air Force. Thanks, Frank.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired February 7, 2003 - 14:51   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: If there is a war, a high-tech piece of equipment in America's arsenal could reduce the risks for U.S. soldiers. It is called the Predator. The unmanned remote-controlled plane is as lethal as its name implies.
CNN's Frank Buckley is at the Predator proving ground. He is in Nevada -- hi, Frank.

FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, Kyra. That Predator, among the many Air Force aircraft that we're going to be seeing. Right now, if you take a look from the C-17, you can actually see some -- a live picture from the C-17 aircraft as Air Force airmen parachute out. This is part of the live demonstration that is taking place here today at the Nevada test and training range. Many different aircraft are being shown to us here out in Nevada.

Joining me right now to talk about the C-17 and what we're witnessing right now is Bill Walsh, Captain Bill Walsh from the 315th Airlift Wing in Charleston, South Carolina. Pretty remarkable sight, we just saw those guys jumping out of the -- the aircraft. As we watch them, tell us who they are and what are they doing?

CAPT. BILL WALSH, 315TH AIRLIFT WING: OK. That's the 820 Security Group. They just jumped from about 800 feet, Frank. So they are jumping from the airplane. They are taking the airfield. Now the airplane is going to swing around and do an assault landing. It's going to get down on the ground, stop with 2500 to 3000 feet, and back up.

It's one of the only airplanes in the inventory that is going to actually back up. The door is going to open, four Humvees are going to come running out of the back with machine guns on top, again securing the airfield. Once they are secure, the airplane will take off and do a max power takeoff, and they'll be off in about another 3,000 feet. It's an amazing, capable airplane.

BUCKLEY: Yes, we were just talking about that. This is an aircraft that has 757 engines, four of them, heavy aircraft. And yet it can stop on a dime, really, for an aircraft of this size. How is it able to do that?

WALSH: It's an amazing airplane; you are right. And it is from thrust vectoring and backing the airplane up using the thrust reversers, but what you are talking about -- you're right, a 500,000 -- 580,000 pound airplane, and when you think about air lifters, you think the big C-5 with the nose that opens up, which is a great strategic airlifter. This is also a tactical airlifter, which will get you into an area, for example, Afghanistan, landing on some of these short fields at night with night vision goggles. It is an amazing tactical airplane, so it is made for short field and strategic, as well as tactical air lift.

BUCKLEY: And you were talking about the aircraft backing up. Why does it -- why is that a capability that it needs? How does that help the aircraft?

WALSH: Well, a lot of these small fields, you can't -- there's nothing to push an airplane back. This is -- gives it more tactical capabilities. The actual plane backs up, and it can back up out of a spot, it can back up to a taxi way, so it can depart. And as you see the airplane coming around right now, he's going to do an assault landing. When he lands that airplane, again, that back door is going to open up. They're going to get the troops out, and then of course, he is going to get out of there as soon as possible.

BUCKLEY: We are going to see this tactical landing if we go to that camera -- and you can actually see it coming down. Our cameraman, Dimir Lareddick (ph), took a ride on this aircraft yesterday, and was telling us that it's quite a ride coming in on that final.

WALSH: It really is. In fact, we were flying yesterday. Did this profile, and here comes Major Stan Davis (ph) is at the command right now, landing the airplane.

He's going to take the airplane right down, and put the airplane on the ground and stop it within about 3,000 feet. So it's really amazing.

Another thing is, this is an all-reserve air crew. This is -- we are all reservists at this point, out here for this exercise, but we go back to regular jobs when we're not doing this. And again, he's doing a high-speed pass at about 250 knots, and now he's going to turn around, drop the gear, and do a very short final here at Indian Springs, and then he is going to bring the airplane to a stop. And then after they depart, they are going to fire the flares, which -- which are pretty much the defensive systems of the airplane.

BUCKLEY: All right. Well, Bill, we appreciate your insight as we take a look at that plane coming back around. It's -- it may be a few minutes before we actually see it touch down. So Kyra, we're going to throw it back to you at this point as we look at one of the many aircraft on display here in Nevada -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Pretty amazing pictures, our Frank Buckley there with the U.S. Air Force. Thanks, Frank.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com