HMCS OTTAWA off to the Persian Gulf
The Canadian Navy returns.
...about 225 other officers and sailors boarded HMCS Ottawa [HALIFAX class at the link] and set sail from CFB Esquimalt for the Middle East...
HMCS Ottawa is the first Canadian warship to patrol the Middle East since HMCS Winnipeg returned to Esquimalt last September.
The Canadian frigate is expected to join with United States naval strike groups in early November and continue Canada's naval campaign against terrorism, called Operation ALTAIR [in the interest of either diplomatic nicety or misguided political correctness, the site refers to the "Persian Gulf (Arabian Gulf)"--when will we get the "Persian Sea" to balance things?].
"Every bit of time we are out there is making a difference," said Rear Admiral Roger Girouard, Commander Maritime Forces Pacific.
"Right now it is about working towards stability. There are nasty things going on in the world out there... and the difference it makes is that we send signals that say we are concerned, we are ready to do things that might arise, and we are on the world scene ready to pay our dues as a global player."
Girouard called HMCS Ottawa's mission "comparatively routine." It will work with the Indian navy and the European Union task force patrolling the unstable Persian Gulf region near combat zones in Iraq and Afghanistan...
Much of HMCS Ottawa's time will be spent sailing with a U.S. navy expeditionary strike group led by the USS Boxer, a 36,000 tonne amphibious assault ship that dwarfs the 4,700 tonne HMCS Ottawa, one of Canada's 12 Halifax-class frigates.
Still, the Canadian navy's strength is in its ability to lead escorts, conduct security operations, and undertake surveillance and search missions, said ship Cmdr. Darren Hawco. The frigate also carries a Sea King helicopter that provides specialized airlift capabilities the Americans don't have, said Hawco...
posted by Mark, Ottawa at 3:22 p.m.
3 Comments:
The frigate also carries a Sea King helicopter that provides specialized airlift capabilities the Americans don't have, said Hawco...
Errr... what sort of specialised airlift capability does the venerable Sea King have that an LHD's variable loadout of AV-8Bs, AH-1Ws, CH-46s, CH-53s and UH-1Ns wouldn't also have?
Unless they decided to send her out with just Harriers and ASW Seahawks.
Off the top of my head, I'd guess foul-weather airlift capabilities. The Americans aren't using the bear trap yet, are they?
Just a guess - that's a good question, Chris.
That's an excellent guess BB, but the H-53 series [CH, MH and HH] certainly does have all-weather capability (in the case of helos that's loosely defined as having NVG, autopilot and anti-icing capabilities).
And good guess of your own, but yes the Yanks use the RAST system on their CGs and DDs, too.
Still a mystery to me.
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