Us Carrier Overflown By A Russian Bear

[Jake]

Last week there was a news article about another US Navy battle group being overflown again. About 95% of the time, we allowed these huge maritime bomber, the Russian Bear TU-95 to walk right into our front door.  It's one of ours (and theirs) deceptive tactics to be purposely found and overflown. 

 

 

Part of my learning curve as CIC watch officer is getting familiar with at sea battle tactics.  One of them was electronics warfare with some deception served on a cold platter.  For real world at sea battle drills, one is trying to penetrate and other one is trying to block or evade. Powerful RF energy from any antenna (surface, air or pencil thin beam from a fire control radar) can be your undoing and you sink to the nearest land, which is the bottom of the ocean.  About 3-5 miles down.  

 

We would rather search/detect passively (and the Russian Bear too) while relying on intelligence data or some other data coming from a remote airborne radar, like the USAF AWACS to give us the big picture of 1000 miles plus bubble around the main battle group.  Majority of time, we detect them before they detect us.  

 

OK, the real world game begins.  We detected each other.  He's losing altitude for his final approach to us.  We finally turn on our search and directional fire control radar.  But only at lower power.  Don't want to show our hand by giving them full power or our secret capability to detect them at a more greater distances. Yeah, bluffing is part of this game too.

 

One would argue..... why don't we fry them at full power at the max detection range.  A valid argument because you want to splash him before he launches a big warhead up your ass.  It really all depends on the skipper or the admiral of the battle group.  He's a poker player himself too.....he, he.  

 

One final thought about deception.  The British military intelligence was the first to give it finesse and a flair of James Bond trickery.  During WWII, the British airborne faked a massive air assault behind the German lines.  By the time the Germans maneuvered to cover the air assault, the allied forces rolled through the open front line.  And oh by the way, not a single casualty for the airborne troopers -- the thousand plus parachutists were all 4 foot dummies!

 

Gotta love them Brits.

 

 

 

[BrettGC]

Passive is great, 3 cross bearings from 3 different ships and you have a fix :)   After they've been around a while even with a single bearing a good EW operator will get a feel for the range based on the amplitude of the emission and known operating modes.

 

Just as an aside there's a reason warships still use visual signalling at times, flags and lights that is; it can't be intercepted over the horizon.  Back during exercise Kangaroo 95 off Darwin, about 30 ships from Australia, NZ and the US, the entirety of the the tactical comms were conducted visually for days at a time.  Poor old signalmen, of which I was one before my change to CT, had their asses hanging out.  At night we used to rig deceptive night steaming lights so we looked like merchantmen (port, stbd, masthead and aft steaming lights).   

[Jake]

Passive is great, 3 cross bearings from 3 different ships and you have a fix :)   After they've been around a while even with a single bearing a good EW operator will get a feel for the range based on the amplitude of the emission and known operating modes.

 

Just as an aside there's a reason warships still use visual signalling at times, flags and lights that is; it can't be intercepted over the horizon.  Back during exercise Kangaroo 95 off Darwin, about 30 ships from Australia, NZ and the US, the entirety of the the tactical comms were conducted visually for days at a time.  Poor old signalmen, of which I was one before my change to CT, had their asses hanging out.  At night we used to rig deceptive night steaming lights so we looked like merchantmen (port, stbd, masthead and aft steaming lights).   

I spent many a nights up in the signal shack, shootin' the chit with the skivvy wavers, a nick name for the signalmen.  They knew their chit, silently communicating with just a flick of the hands, trading dirty jokes while alongside underway replenishment.  The rating of CT (communications technician) is a more specialized skill set using ultra secret devices, mostly listening devices.  They were in their own little world.  I couldn't grab ass any of them......he, he.  

 

Rigging deceptive lighting fooled me a couple times.  I thought it was a love boat but turned out to be a very clever destroyer.  Oh, the games we play when we are bored at sea.  I'm sure Brett can explain a more serious cat and mouse games being played out under the surface.  Especially, under the ice cap.  But he will have to kill us afterwards......he, he.  

 

Hazy grey and underway.......

[Jack Peterson]

And they said the Cold war was Finished?  :rolleyes:

 

Jack  :tiphat:

[BrettGC]

I'm sure Brett can explain a more serious cat and mouse games being played out under the surface.

 

There's only two types of ships... Submarines and targets  :thumbsup: