SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2003
US naval aircraft carriers head for Asia
HARVEY STOCKWIN
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
GUAM, WEST PACIFIC: Half of the United States Navy's twelve large aircraft carriers are now either in, or on their way to Asian waters in what looks certain to be the biggest assembly of naval airpower since the height of the Vietnam War over 30 years ago.
Here, in the westernmost US island in the Pacific, there is as yet no sign of any of the military reinforcements likely to be sent to the region as a result of the current Korean crisis.
The latest move comes with US Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld ordering the 81,000-ton conventionally-powered carrier USS Kitty Hawk, the only US carrier based in Japan, to proceed to the Arabian Sea/Gulf area. There it will join its sister ship the USS Constellation, and the 95,000-ton nuclear powered USS Abraham Lincoln.
But by the end of the month there will be at least five carriers in the Arabian Sea. The newest carrier in the Navy, the 98,000-ton nuclear-powered USS Harry Truman is already in the western Mediterranean and will soon proceed to the Arabian Sea, while the nuclear-powered USS Theodore Roosevelt, after a shortened period of working-up exercises off the eastern US coast has already departed for the Mediterranean.
Normally there is only one US carrier deployed in the Arabian Sea. During the Afghanistan War there were three, though one, the Kitty Hawk was unusually converted to be a helicopter carrier and base for special forces. The assembly of five carriers, each carrying up to 75 jet aircraft, is unusual except in time of war. Indicating the likelihood of conflict, the Abraham Lincoln was halted on its way home after a six-month deployment in the Gulf, and ordered to return.
Two other nuclear-powered carriers, the USS Nimitz in San Diego, and the USS George Washington in Norfolk, Virginia are readying for deployment in case they are also required.
Meanwhile the 95,000-ton nuclear-powered USS Carl Vinson has been dispatched from Hawaii to move quickly to East Asian waters, to fill in for the Kitty Hawk, and to be available should the Korean crisis intensify. Thus as many as eight carriers, or two-thirds of the US carrier fleet, could soon be in Asian waters.
In addition, several amphibious assault ships have also been deployed. Seven of these are 40,000-ton Wasp-class ships loaded with helicopters and Harrier jets which would be classified as full aircraft carriers in any other Navy.
There are no indications that B-52 bombers have yet been deployed on Guam. Reports earlier indicated that B-52s and B-1 bombers might be stationed here if Korean developments warranted it. They would be sent to the large Andersen air force base which occupies roughly one-fifth of the island and was last used as a B-52 base during the Vietnam War.
Another longer-term development will be the basing of four hunter-killer nuclear-powered submarines on Guam. This planned deployment reflects US concern at the uneasy situation in the Taiwan Straits, and ever-growing Chinese naval power.
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