Yokel
LE

When the Cold War fell, marked ultimately by the dissolution of the USSR itself, there was much talk of a New World Order, at least there was once Saddam Hussein was ejected from Kuwait in 1991. Sadly the violent disintegration of Yugoslavia started, with violent civil wars marked by ethnic bloodletting. One of the ways the World responded was with a significant of forces at sea, in the air, and on land. At this time we had pretty much the forces we had built up for Cold War purposes - this included our ASW carriers. Much has been written about carriers and their value to NATO - such as on these threads:
CVF and Carrier Strike - ARRSE
Future Carrier - PPRuNe
Late 1970s US Congress Report - The US Sea Control Mission (carriers needed in the Atlantic for Air Defence and ASW - both then and today) - ARRSE
A common question is what had the (RN) carriers done since the Falklands. Obviously they had been involved in Cold War activities, but the fall of the Berlin Wall and the USSR did not mean they were no longer busy. In early 1993 HMS Ark Royal was deployed to the Adriatic at fairly short notice, and the carrier commitment was maintained for a number of years. They were also busy in the Arabian Gulf throughout this decade. I have found this old clip with Mark Urban - possibly from Newsnight:
At the time she had carrying Sea Harrier FRS1 (I think that the FA2 upgrade had been delayed), Sea King HAS6, Sea King AEW2, and a few Sea King HC4s. Because the Sea Harrier FRS1 had a radar with limited capability and no Beyond Visual Range weapons it was not seen as one of NATO's primary fighters, yet it did fly air to air sorties as part of the NATO Operation Deny Flight, something Nick Richardson talks about in his book No Escape Zone. How much of a difference would it have made it it had already relieved the FA2 upgrade, and had the much more capable Blue Vixen radar which came along in 1995 I think.
How much more effective would Blue Vixen have made the Sea Harrier and its Cold War anti Bear role? @jrwlynch perhaps.
There is a second video - although I find it annoying the way the narrator says 'it' and 'it's' and not 'she' and 'her'.
There is talk of Ark Royal backing up the warships enforcing the arms embargo, but what does that mean? Contributing to the surface picture, providing logistic support with helicopters, or being able to intercept a hostile aircraft? I remember the 1995 series HMS Brilliant about the frigate of the same name as she conducted maritime operations, including ones which took her near to the coast and at higher threat. There were air defence exercises (some involving Sea Harriers), one of which involved someone in the Operation Room repeatedly giving radio warnings to an unknown aircraft. I know that a few times the Serbs/Yugoslavs flew uncomfortably close to NATO warships.
This third video is from the post upgrade days - 1995?
CVF and Carrier Strike - ARRSE
Future Carrier - PPRuNe
Late 1970s US Congress Report - The US Sea Control Mission (carriers needed in the Atlantic for Air Defence and ASW - both then and today) - ARRSE
A common question is what had the (RN) carriers done since the Falklands. Obviously they had been involved in Cold War activities, but the fall of the Berlin Wall and the USSR did not mean they were no longer busy. In early 1993 HMS Ark Royal was deployed to the Adriatic at fairly short notice, and the carrier commitment was maintained for a number of years. They were also busy in the Arabian Gulf throughout this decade. I have found this old clip with Mark Urban - possibly from Newsnight:
At the time she had carrying Sea Harrier FRS1 (I think that the FA2 upgrade had been delayed), Sea King HAS6, Sea King AEW2, and a few Sea King HC4s. Because the Sea Harrier FRS1 had a radar with limited capability and no Beyond Visual Range weapons it was not seen as one of NATO's primary fighters, yet it did fly air to air sorties as part of the NATO Operation Deny Flight, something Nick Richardson talks about in his book No Escape Zone. How much of a difference would it have made it it had already relieved the FA2 upgrade, and had the much more capable Blue Vixen radar which came along in 1995 I think.
How much more effective would Blue Vixen have made the Sea Harrier and its Cold War anti Bear role? @jrwlynch perhaps.
There is a second video - although I find it annoying the way the narrator says 'it' and 'it's' and not 'she' and 'her'.
There is talk of Ark Royal backing up the warships enforcing the arms embargo, but what does that mean? Contributing to the surface picture, providing logistic support with helicopters, or being able to intercept a hostile aircraft? I remember the 1995 series HMS Brilliant about the frigate of the same name as she conducted maritime operations, including ones which took her near to the coast and at higher threat. There were air defence exercises (some involving Sea Harriers), one of which involved someone in the Operation Room repeatedly giving radio warnings to an unknown aircraft. I know that a few times the Serbs/Yugoslavs flew uncomfortably close to NATO warships.
This third video is from the post upgrade days - 1995?
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