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American Morning

America's New War: Kind of Force 14-Ship Battlegroup Represents

Aired September 21, 2001 - 11:51   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.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Think of it as another chalk talk, if you will. Let's think about an aircraft battle group, and to help us kind of illustrate all these points, we're going to will turn to one of our military experts, General Don Shepherd, who joins us now from Washington, former head of the National Guard and a retired U.S. Air Force general.

General Shepherd, we are talking about a Navy battle group here, so I don't want it get you into too deep waters here, but I know, in general, you can at least walk us through this or help us understand the kind of force that a 14-ship battlegroup represents.

So, let's take a look real quick, and we will go down to, this is a hypothetical position. We know there are forces in the Arabian Sea. Let's just assume for a moment we are talking about the USS Carl Vinson. It's at the center of about 14 ships in all, more than a thousand feet long. Now general, they call this putting the force forward, and on it, it is a floating city.

Give us a sense of perspective. How much capability do we have just with one aircraft carrier?

MAJ. GEN. DONALD SHEPPERD, RET. U.S. AIR FORCE: Miles, we've you got a lot of capability. We got a great Air Force, and also we've got a great Navy. And although I'm not a Naval expert, we have worked with the Navy over the years in joint operations. It as formidable piece of machinery out there. The aircraft carrier itself is the center of activity, because it launches strikes at a distance, and it is protected by cruisers, destroyers, also submarines. You launch carriers, you launch strikes from the carriers, you also launch airplanes to protect the carrier and the battle force. At the same time, the carriers are out there, you have the ability to launch airplanes from the United States for strikes. You have the airplanes in the Gulf region out there. So when you add all this together, it is a very formidable force.

O'BRIEN: All right, general, Let's move along to the cruisers that would be typically associated with an aircraft carrier battle group. There are two cruisers with the Vinson Group that we know of, USS Antietam, and the USS Princeton. These are Aegis Cruisers, and Aegis is a type of radar system which is highly advanced, isn't it?

SHEPPERD: It is very advanced. And the Aegis system provides radar coverage for the fleet itself, from incoming aircraft, from incoming missiles, and it can also, as you showed there, launch Tomahawk missiles we have seen on the previous strikes.

By the way, I just wanted to say that your graphics are absolutely terrific. Whoever is doing these for you has their acts together.

O'BRIEN: Kudos to the folks in the weather department, who incidentally have had a little extra time. And we do appreciate your assistance. Thank you, general.

So the cruisers are generally the offensive side of things. There is also a defensive component to this destroyer. There is one destroyer in the Vinson battle group. It is a smaller ship than the cruisers, but also have tomahawks as well. Could it be used in an offensive capacity? We are talking about Afghanistan, that doesn't have a navy.

SHEPPERD: Yes, tomahawk missiles can be launched from the decks of the ships, and from submarines under the water. We have the full capability under the water and on the water to launch these, as well as from land-based systems. The message for anyone watching this is, we're coming after you, and we're coming after you from underwater, all the way to outer space, with airplanes, with missiles, whatever it takes, and not just the military.

O'BRIEN: Let's take one more look at that final component you alluded to the Los Angeles Class Attack submarines. Two of them associated with the Vinson group, a crew of 130. Once again, Tomahawk missiles. I can't give you a total number of Tomahawk missiles that would be in this battlegroup, but we have a total of three carrier groups in the general vicinity. That puts an awful lot of firepower in that area.

SHEPPERD: That's an awful lot of firepower for sure. Now the key is not the firepower. The key is the intelligence to make sure, when you fire the firepower, it hits the right targets. That's the key of what President Bush asked for the patience of the American people. Don't be too eager to go out and just strike empty tents. We are going to find out what we're doing. When we come, we are going to come with overwhelming force, and we're going to hit the right things.

O'BRIEN: All right, Lieutenant General Donald Shepperd, retired U.S. Air Force, thanks very much, once again, you for your insights. I always appreciate them.

Paula, of course the concern is, that some of these $2 million cruise missiles might spend an awful lot of time rearranging dirt or destroying $10 tents, and that's what military planners are contending with as we speak.

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