UNITED STATES NAVY IN DESERT SHIELD/DESERT STORM

Two types of Tomahawk were used The high-speed anti-radiation missile
during DESERT STORM; the conventional (HARM) proved especially effective in the de-
land-attack missile, mAM-C, and a version struction and suppression of Iraqi electronic
equipped with submunitions, the ThAM-D. emitters, particularly those associated with
The ThAM-C: accurately delivers a single 1,000 radar sites used to direct anti-aircraft guns and
pound warhead. ThAM-D can dispense up to surface-to-air missiles.
i66bomblets in24packages. Thesubmunitions
can be armor-piercing, fragmentation or in- Another system dedicated to insuring
cendiary. ItAMs were used against chemical the survival of sailors and their ships is the
and nuclear weapons facilities, surface-to-air AEGIS combat system. The system can defeat
mis.~ile sites, command and control centers an extremely wide range of targets. One AE-
and Saddam's presidential palace. GIS cruiser even detecte~ and tracked four
Iraqi SCUD missiles fired at great ranges.
Tomahawks were used in DESERT AEGIS cruisers coordinate anti-air defense of
STORM to both destroy important targets and the battle group in a multi-threat environ-
save allied aircraft by attacking defensive po- ment. This high-tech command and control
sitions in advance of the air assault. "It costs a system allows the battle group to concentrate
lot of moneyX' said Senator Sam Nunn, chair- on its offensive tasks by reducing the resources
man of the Senate Armed Services Committee, needed for its defense. The AEGIS ships them-
`tut when you look at the precious savings of selves made a formidable contribution to of-
lives, I think the dollars are well invested." fensivefirepower:morethan25%oftheTLAMs
fired during DESERT STORM were fired by
Anti-ship attacks were carried out us- seven of the nine AEGIS cruisers on station.
ing the smaller Harpoon cruise missile system,
previously used against Iranian warships in Among the other ways the Navy used
1988 after the mine attack on USS SAMUEL B. "high-tech" weaponry to minimize the need to
ROBERTS (FFG 58). The Navy also recorded place American pilots in danger is the Un-
the first combat use of the stand-off land- manned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), or Remotely
attack missile (SLAM). SLAM, a variant of the Piloted Vehicle (RPV) as they are sometimes
Harpoon, allows pilots to attack high-value called. The UAV was another Gulf War suc-
targets from more than 50 miles away. cess story. Several times larger than the re-
mote control airplane a hobbyist might own,
Deployed from carrier-based aircraft, the UAV is equipped with a television camera
SLAMs use targeting data loaded into the mis- that relays live battlefield pictures to the con-
sile ]~fore takeoff, Global Positioning System trol site. Launched from ships, or from the-
mid-course guidance assistance and video aim- ground, it can operate for several hours at a
point control to provide a precision strike ca- distance of more than 100 miles from the launch
pability that minimizes collateral damage. point. Information gained from the UAV is
SLAM's data link system allows the missile to used to direct gunfire and gather other real-
be launched by one aircraft and be guided to time information from behind enemy lines
the target by another aircraft, normally posi- without risking the lives of airborne or ground-
tioned out of danger more than 60 miles away based forward spotters.
from the target.
The "smart" weapons and laser-guided

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