Tag Archives: USS Ross

Clemenceau and Clemenceau, in a way, ~40 Years Apart

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Here we see the current flagship of the French Navy, the nuclear-powered carrier Charles de Gaulle, and her strike group in the Mediterranean including Horizon-class air defense frigate Forbin, Aquitaine-class FREMMs Normandie, and Alsace; Durance-class tanker Marne, Greek HS Hydra, and the Burke USS Ross. The CSG is on its “Clemenceau 22” deployment.

Now rewind the clock to 1983, and we see the smaller conventionally powered Clemenceau-class aircraft carrier Foch with Super Etendards and Atlantiques on deck, along with her escorts in the Mediterranean. These include two Tourville-class ASW frigates (Aconit and Duguay Trouin), two George Leygues-class ASW frigates, two Durance-class tankers (some things never change), the missile cruiser Colbert, and the destroyer Du Chalya (D630).

And yes, De Gaulle has the characteristic delta wing arrow on her deck as well, as seen in this great shot from a Dassault Rafale.

Navy fedex’s 59 TLAMs to Syria via overnight delivery

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It looks like the Navy really plastered Shayrat Airfield in Homs with several flights of Tomahawks from USS Ross (DDG-71) “Fortune Favors Valor” and USS Porter (DDG-78) “Freedom’s Champion” in response to the Syrian government’s chemical weapons attack April 4 in Khan Sheikhoun.

Both ships are DDG-51s built at Pascagoula in the 1990s, with Ross being an earlier Flight I ship and Porter a Flight II. Both are stationed at Rota as part of a four-DDG force used for forward ballistic missile defense and have been in the news a lot lately for patrols in the Black Sea.

It should be pointed out that the bit below about the strike being coordinated to a degree with the Russians holds water as the TLAMs flew across the Russian S-400 MEZ unscathed. That, or the S-400 is not what its cracked up to be.

From the Navy’s presser:

A total of 59 TLAMs targeted aircraft, hardened aircraft shelters, petroleum and logistical storage, ammunition supply bunkers, air defense systems, and radars. As always, the U.S. took extraordinary measures to avoid civilian casualties and to comply with the Law of Armed Conflict. Every precaution was taken to execute this strike with minimal risk to personnel at the airfield.

The strike was a proportional response to Assad’s heinous act. Shayrat Airfield was used to store chemical weapons and Syrian air forces. The U.S. intelligence community assesses that aircraft from Shayrat conducted the chemical weapons attack on April 4. The strike was intended to deter the regime from using chemical weapons again.

Russian forces were notified in advance of the strike using the established deconfliction line. U.S. military planners took precautions to minimize risk to Russian or Syrian personnel located at the airfield.

We are assessing the results of the strike. Initial indications are that this strike has severely damaged or destroyed Syrian aircraft and support infrastructure and equipment at Shayrat Airfield, reducing the Syrian Government’s ability to deliver chemical weapons. The use of chemical weapons against innocent people will not be tolerated.

US Navy Deploying 4 Aegis DDGs to Med

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http://www.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=65393

WASHINGTON (NNS) — Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced Feb. 16 the four Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers which will be forward deployed to Rota, Spain.

USS Ross.....Is she headed for the Med to be closer to Somali Pirates, or Iranian airspace?

The four include three from Norfolk, Va; USS Ross, USS Donald Cook, and USS Porter, and one from Mayport, Fla., USS Carney. The ships are in support of President Obama’s European Phased Adaptive Approach to enhance the security of the European region.

“We welcome Spain’s partnership in stationing four U.S. Navy Aegis ships at Naval Station Rota,” said Mabus. “We have a long history of cooperation between our two countries and we have developed significant interoperability between our naval forces.”

These multi-mission ships will perform a myriad of tasks, including the full spectrum of maritime security operations, bilateral and multilateral training exercises, NATO operations and deployments, and NATO missile defense.

Ross and Donald Cook will arrive in fiscal 2014 and Carney and Porter in fiscal 2015.

Secretary of Defense Leon E. Panetta initially announced the stationing of four Aegis ships to Rota Oct. 5, 2011, in Brussels, Belgium.

“By hosting these ships, Spain will continue its vital role in enhancing the security of the European region, the Mediterranean Basin, and the Atlantic Ocean,” said Panetta in an Oct. 5, 2011, statement. “The agreement also enables the United States to provide rapid and responsive support to the U.S. Africa and U.S. Central Commands, as needed.”