Posted on: Tuesday, November 23, 2004

Bombers hit targets off Kaua'i

By William Cole
Advertiser Military Writer

Far off the coast of Kaua'i, two B-52 bombers made history yesterday, striking and sinking several targets with 2,000-pound satellite-guided bombs.

More than 300 airmen, sailors and Marines are participating in "Resultant Fury," a three-day, $10 million demonstration of the ability to interdict potential adversaries like terrorists or ships used for piracy over vast sea spaces.

"We're matching up advanced weapons with bomber platforms in the Pacific," said Maj. Gen. David Deptula, director of Pacific Air Forces Air and Space Operations. "We'll demonstrate a new capability for the commander of Pacific Command to rapidly conduct maritime interdiction in all weather, day or night, anywhere in the Pacific theater."

Today, up to 10 of the Joint Direct Attack Munitions, or JDAMs, will sink the USS Schenectady, a 522-foot tank landing ship that was decommissioned in 1993 and mothballed at the Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility at Pearl Harbor.

Adm. Thomas B. Fargo, commander of Pacific Command, whose headquarters are at Camp Smith, told the House Armed Services Committee in March that "transnational threats" are a continuing concern in the Pacific region.

Fargo cited organizations including al-Qaida, Jemaah Islamiyah, and more localized groups like the Abu Sayyaf Group in the southern Philippines.

"We also sense increasing synergy between transnational threats like terrorism, illicit drugs, trafficking in humans, piracy, and especially the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction," Fargo said. "We have a number of creative initiatives ongoing to address these transnational concerns."

The "Resultant Fury" demonstration represents the first time modified JDAMs have been used to attack moving ships. Satellite-guided bombs allows interdiction in all weather conditions.

B-52s flying from Guam and Louisiana were to link up for the demonstration at Pacific Missile Range Facility waters off Kaua'i. Reconnaissance aircraft were expected to feed target information to Hickam Air Force Base, which in turn would pass information to airborne bomber pilots.

Seven different aircraft are expected to participate, including B-2 Stealth bombers.

Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-5459.