Show Soldiering Tbe Salt Lake Tribune jl Sunday August 9 1987 A19 Just Who Is the Real Protector n In Persian Gulf? Mine-Lade- h July 24 the Bridgeton the first oCthe reflagged tankers putatively p(J4ected by the United States in the t’erpian Culf hit a mine presumably Uiinran There followed the slightly 'jlmbarrassing spectacle of the tanker too big to be sunk going in front of warships to protect them from Sr mines —i e the tanker was escorting the Navy Oh well Anyway a feW thoughts: First the potential still exists for ’ political disaster The mine that damaged the Bridgeton could just as easily have gotten the USS Kidd the destroyer escorting the tanker At the very least a large mine could do hor9500-to- n rific damage to a ship like the Kidd it might very well sink it A tiny craft like the Stark wpuld have an excellent chance of going down If the Iranians sink an American warship what do we do’ Given that warships are usually thought to embody the sovereignty of their nations the United States probably couldn't just philosophically watch the bubbles If the Reagan administration understands the military realities of the gulf - and the record does not much encouragement on this score - then all may be well But if the n White House is confusing the morally e satisfying with the militarily we will be subject to unpleasant Ii surprises ri i Second the Navy has very little ca- pacity to sweep mines We have apmine-- i proximately three active-dutsweepers and about 20 old ones In the reserve fleet (the Soviets have about j'i 250 mine warfare craft of various Other countries such as kinds) r France have better and more modern minesweeping gear than we do the Navy has minesweep- H However d of-xf- er pos-nbl- y seriousness The latter looks to be what we need more of Fred Finally modern mines especially the kind that lie on the bottom in shallow water arc extremely difficult to sweep Again this isn't to say that the Iranians can get such mines or that they could not be prevented from laying them but the possibility is per- Reed which are effective mines Forchiefly against low-tectunately the Iranians seem to have only old and crude models Whether they can get trickier ones or will try remains to be seen Third the Bridgeton incident supports those who fear that the Navy enamored of its carrier battle groups has neglected the unglamorous equipment needed to survive in small wars and has paid too little attention to stopping modern weapons I'd like not to believe this but the evidence is reasonably persuasive n means For example a of protecting ships against cruise missiles such as the Exocet that hit the Stark is to use chaff Chaff is the equivalent of strips of tin foil launched in clouds over the water that the missile's guidance radar mistakes for a target The missile then chases the chaff instead of the ship According to the military reference book Combat Fleets of the World the Kidd at 9500 tons a very large destroyer carries 24 tubes for launching chaffs the Israeli Romat class patrol boats tiny things of 500 tons carry 145 One notes that in 1973 more than 60 cruise missiles were launched at the Israelis with zero hits Cruise missiles at least those of today can indeed be stopped Doing it requires constant attention considerable resources and a lot of ing helicopters h well-know- haps worth thinking about Sophisticated mines don't have to be hit to explode Some detonate when they detect the magnetic field of a ship others when they hear the ship's noise others when they detect a pressure change caused by a passing ship In principle mines can be swept -i e made to explode harmlessly by using a noisemaker that sounds like a -- - ship or by dragging a gadget m the water that makes a shiplike magnetic field Unfortunately a mine controlled by built-imicrocomputers can be made to go off only when it detects all three kinds of influences an effect that’s hard to Imitate n Further mines can be set to remain inactive for weeks until after the other guy has finished trying to sweep them They can be set to ignore the first several ships they’d attack which might be minesweepers and blow up under the fifth or eighth They can be built with signal processes that allow them to tell what kind of ship is passing and detonate only beneath expensive ones Some mines even release a homing torpedo to chase ships passing at a distance One hopes such complications don't find their way to the gulf And one hopes the Navy’s critics turn out to be wrong We’re likely to find out in the coming months Best prices in town on suits to wear 'round the world two-pan- ts 11 lb I FetcbsUii L©caiQ C©irmi Swjgsft TUpuntry Taste : ' z i $ $ - n Stvedish Knits Reg $155 Solid navy gray brow n QQ QQ or black S 4 Polyester Stripes 4 Reg $175 Subdued navy brow n or grey $ 'fff) 4 4' S? 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