Red Alert on the Atlantic Carrier Strike
Group 8 a heavily armed naval formation
headed by an aircraft carrier is out on
the Atlantic to rehearse a real case
scenario the purpose of the 4-week
maneuver is to practice the technical
interplay between the warships prior to
engaging in combat three nations are
involved any mission anytime anywhere
we're ready to go the centerpiece of the
group is its flagship the carrier harry
s truman a 1090 three feet long floating
small town with a military airport
with 5600 personnel on board the Truman
can accommodate 49 jet fighters
during the exercise its crew will handle
several thousand takeoffs and landings
the physical demands are so massive that
all those involved always have to push
themselves to the very limit being outer
is definitely stressful it's very
stressful environment
a further 1400 naval personnel are
serving on the group's destroyers and
frigates over the next few weeks they
too will be engaged in the most
demanding military exercises fire
onboard has to be combatted swiftly and
effectively medical teams have to ensure
that those with injuries or burns
receive prompt attention and anyone
going overboard into the cold waters of
the Atlantic has to be rescued with all
haste far away from the mainland's the
warships will fire thousands of rounds
of ammunition and launch dozens of
rockets attacks will be controlled
thankfully from the group's operation
centers stress in a confined space in
the tough daily routine of life in the
Navy this is your commander war an
unidentified approaching aircraft in
order to indicate our capacity for
action and that of the force over and
out
to defend peace in the world's oceans
that is the reason why 7,000 sailors
soldiers and pilots are prepared to
endure four weeks of torture on the high
seas for weeks that will see them grow
together to form a powerful carrier
group
[Music]
the harry s truman is so huge it can be
seen from afar this nuclear-powered
steel colossus has been in service since
1998 and has been used for military
operations in Syria Iraq and Yemen one
of the US Navy's nine Carrier Strike
groups the Truman is the centerpiece of
every operation involving Carrier Strike
Group eight
the group's command center is also
located on the Truman
the commander-in-chief of Carrier Strike
Group 8 is Admiral Eugene black
carrier Strike Group is a way for
nations with a common purpose in the
maritime world to show interest maintain
security and ensure the free flow of
Commerce all over the world carrier
Strike Group 8 consists of six warships
and a submarine at the center of the
formation is its flagship the USS Harry
s Truman an American Nimitz class
carrier with 49 combat aircraft on board
the Truman is escorted by two US Navy
destroyers the arleigh Burke and the
Jason Dunham like bodyguards their job
is to defend the carrier against enemy
attack the USS Normandy an American
guided missile cruiser functions as a
floating missile screen and protects the
group from air strikes
the German frigate Essen is the eyes and
the ears of the strike group it
specializes in aerial reconnaissance
with a radius of 250 miles
the real world Amundson is a frigate
that is part of the Norwegian Navy the
smallest vessel in the group its task is
to combat enemy submarines and warships
[Music]
the carrier is also escorted by a Los
Angeles class attack submarine its job
is to protect the group by hunting down
and destroying enemy submarines
[Music]
the carrier group with its 7,000
personnel has embarked on a four-week
exercise with a three-day final battle
scenario
what we're doing out here is about a
month-long exercise it's very intense
and it's called comp 2x of course the US
military has to make a funny word out of
everything but it really means is it's
your graduation exam to go on deployment
so these ships and aircraft and these
sailors have been working together for
just over a year to come together and
deploy and this month-long exercise is
our final exam the composite training
unit exercise comp 2x for short takes
place six to eight weeks prior to actual
operations it encompasses six areas of
marine warfare it's a test which all the
units have to pass
all the warships involved first have to
congregate at a naval base in Virginia
on the east coast of the United States
Naval Station Norfolk is the biggest
naval base in the world it is from here
that the u.s. Navy coordinates all its
military activities in the Atlantic
Norfolk is also homeport of 75 American
warships including four aircraft
carriers every exercise every deployment
begins at one of the 14 berths
a week before the Computex maneuver
there is a hushed air of expectation at
the base the slumbering warships are in
their starting blocks over the next few
days the crews will go aboard and
ammunition and supplies will disappear
in the warships overly armed hulls
first and foremost inside the
nuclear-powered aircraft carrier the USS
Harry s Truman this class of warship is
equipped with two nuclear reactors which
can accelerate the ninety five thousand
ton giant to a speed of 30 knots
1093 feet long and 253 feet wide the
Truman is one of the biggest vessels of
its kind
a draught of 39 feet means that 1/3 of
the ship is below the surface
to ensure that the Truman passes the
four week acid test for several days
forklift trucks provide provisions
medical supplies and technical equipment
through the hangar gate and into the
Hall of the ocean giant the volume of
supplies stored here is equivalent to
the daily requirements of a small town
on a daily basis were talking about 280
kilograms of hamburger meat over 2,000
eggs 800 loaves and 350 kilograms of
vegetables along with half a ton of
fruit the Truman can store supplies for
up to 90 days
[Music]
and to ensure nothing is damaged in
rough seas all supplies are secured with
steel chains we are a floating city at
sea we serve as an airport we make our
own water our propulsion we have nine
restaurants serve over 15,000 meals a
day besides being a gigantic pantry the
Truman is also a huge Arsenal just
before she set sail hundreds of missiles
shells and bombs are stored onboard the
blue colored projectiles are practice
ammunition
[Music]
but these bombs which weigh nearly a ton
are also part of the carrier's arsenal
the weapons officers keep an exact
account of every bullet that goes on
board after days of tough loading work
on the jetty the Truman is now ready for
action birthed a few metres away is the
frigate Essen currently the German
Navy's most modern system her task
within the Truman group is aerial
surveillance and air defense the
officers and Men of the Hessen have a
worldwide reputation as reconnaissance
specialists
[Music]
the carrier groups air defense frigate
the hessen is 469 feet long and 59 feet
wide and has a complement of 255 with a
draught of only 20 feet she can also
operate effectively in coastal waters
the frigate Hessen is the newcomer in
Carrier Strike Group 8 our two nations
are operating very well together and
I've been teaching the German officers a
little bit about American football and
they've been teaching me a little bit
about the Bundesliga and German football
so we were working very well together
and I look forward to working tactically
with with the German Navy in the future
before the Hessen can put to sea she too
has to be loaded up with a month's
provisions and that is a tough job
[Music]
the frigate doesn't have any loading
ashes so every container has to be
transferred 460 feet into the storage
area by hand via three decks the task
alone takes a whole day
be honest amuse it away if we have 1,800
kilograms of fruit and vegetables on
board along with 11,000 bottles of water
and some 1.2 tons of meat and fish most
of it deep frozen the limit for staying
at sea is about 21 days simply because
we also like meals to contain a lot of
fresh produce like salad and fresh
vegetables and they don't really keep
longer than three weeks in Norfolk the
big moment is approaching most of the
crews in the strike group have boarded
their warships the most important figure
in the carrier group Admiral Jean Black
has also arrived on the key side
[Music]
the remaining crew members say goodbye
to their families they won't see them
again for a half a year for most of the
personnel the exercise will be followed
by an actual tour of duty set at six
months
[Music]
I'm so pleased and proud of the hairiest
Truman Carrier Strike Group team 6500 of
the finest Americans you could ever sail
with or serve with we're trained we're
ready any mission anytime anywhere we're
ready to go
the last ties with the mainland are
detached as the USS re s Truman prepares
to leave the thick mooring ropes are
hauled in by hand
the massive anchor chains are more of a
problem 1083 feet long and weighing
several tons they can only be hoisted
with a huge winch
for special tugs have arrived it's
mooring is too tight for the carrier to
maneuver on its own so the tugs have
come to shepherd the slow-moving giant
meter by meter into the Norfolk
navigation channel
[Music]
then under its own steam the Truman
makes its way through the world's
biggest naval base and out into the open
sea as yet there's no aircraft activity
on its flight deck that's because
there's a strict ban on takeoffs and
landings in the port area the command
cast off has also been given on board
the next warship the maneuverable guided
missile destroyer
our Lee Burke with its complement of 300
also heads out of the port complex the
Normandy is the next to leave this
guided missile cruiser has been in
service with the US Navy since 1989 it
has a complement of 390 the los
angeles-class submarine is also moving
off for tactical reasons this attack
submarine will remain underwater and out
of sight throughout the entire maneuver
[Music]
the Norwegian frigate roald amundsen has
now also left its berth its crew of 120
is the smallest complement in the strike
group the second international partner
the German frigate Essen is the last of
the warships to set sail all the vessels
in the Carrier Strike Group eight have
now left the safety of the Norfolk Naval
Base the comp 2x maneuver has started
a sailor on the bridge of the German
frigate has spotted two speedboats on
the horizon they're attacking the Essen
the warship has only just left port but
its crew are already given a foretaste
of what to expect over the next few
weeks both boats are accelerating speed
both defense the versatile speedboats
seem innocuous but they could have
dangerous weapons on board like
rocket-propelled grenades and limpet
mines on no account must they be allowed
to get through to the strike Gunners now
have the boats in their sights the
aggressive tapping stimulates the Salvos
from the light naval gun on the date
the threat has been eliminated and the
exercise completed successfully in turn
actual attack the commander and his crew
would have to go through the sequence of
actions as if they were second nature
otherwise it could quickly be too late
for the frigate and the carrier out of
the Atlantic the harry s truman is on
course for its exercise area
[Music]
with a top speed of 32 knots the
nimitz-class aircraft carriers are among
the world's fastest warships its 276
thousand horsepower engines are now
propelling the carrier at full speed
through tight curves taken at an angle
of 15 degrees
the two nuclear reactors driving the
ships four giant propellers are working
at maximum output this particular
manoeuvre constitutes a massive stress
test for the rigid Colossus engineers on
board the carrier carry out regular
checks for any cracks or deformations
we anticipate that nimitz-class aircraft
carrier will stay operational for a
service life of 50 years Truman is
coming up on about halfway through its
service life but we will continue in the
normal rotation of training deployments
returning for maintenance refit
retraining and continue on so very
bright future for harry s truman and the
harry s truman strike group as we
continue to operate for the missions
that we were designed for me first
though some hard work lies ahead for the
Truman's crew they're awaiting the
arrival of 49 combat Jets the steel
giants main weapon without its fighter
squadron the carrier would be virtually
defenseless
the Boeing f-18 Super Hornet is the
fighter aircraft of the US Navy and at
the same time the backbone of the
Truman's carrier airwing
after taking off from several military
bases on the mainland the fighter pilots
have flown up to 3100 miles since that
is more than double the range of a Super
Hornet the fighters have had to be
refueled in midair
the airspace above the Truman is slowly
filling up it's an extremely tense time
for all those involved the carrier is
sailing into the wind to make landing
easier for the pilots it's runway would
never be long enough for the aircraft to
come to a normal standstill so technical
aids are essential
just 820 feet in length the runway on
the Truman is extremely short so for
safety or arresting wires are tensioned
right across the flight deck they can
bring a jet to a standstill in just two
seconds attached to each aircraft is a
tail hook which snags one of the steel
cables on landing hitting a 2-inch thick
steel cable with a 15-ton jet while
landing at 155 miles per hour on a
floating runway that is far too short is
always an ordeal for the pilot it
involves precision work in all weathers
when the teams on deck - that's why
there are clear dressed regulations on
the Truman's flight deck to indicate
their various responsibilities the teams
were different colored shirts each color
represents a specific task area the
yellow shirts for instance allocate the
pilot a parking position
to make it more maneuverable on deck the
f-18 was designed with folding wings
this feature greatly reduces the normal
wingspan of 39 feet
the next Super Hornet is now ready to
land the pilot has extended the five
feet long tail hook his wingman checks
to see that it has been fully extended
[Music]
the jet fighter then approaches the
runway
the Sailor is in green also belong to
the 400 personnel on the flight deck
known as hook runners they make sure the
safety wires are tensioned after every
landing the wires are positioned 39 feet
apart to ensure that every jet is
arrested
the pilot is now coming in to land he's
assisted by the men in white the landing
signal officer zor-el SOS are themselves
pilots and are in permanent radio
contact with their colleague in the
cockpit
they guide him on to the optimum
approach for snagging one of the
arresting wires
one after another the Jets land at
one-minute intervals this is a real acid
test for the arresting system on board
the Truman its wires are connected
directly to a huge hydraulic cylinder
the braking system braces itself against
the force from the jet and brings the
aircraft to a standstill
landing on an aircraft carrier is
literally a balancing act ideally a
pilot will snag the second safety wire
even for particularly experienced pilots
the pinpoint navigating requires
enormous concentration
this Super Hornet is flying too high but
its tail hook just manages to snag the
last wire here just a few inches make
the difference between coming to an
abrupt stop and having to give full
throttle when a pilot misses all the
arresting wires the situation is
critical the runway then becomes a
take-off ramp the pilot has to perform a
go-around known in the Navy as a bolter
this happens in five to ten percent of
all landings
[Music]
for safety reasons a tanker aircraft is
already waiting because after the
botched attempt at landing the Jets fuel
gauge needle is in the red zone but now
3,000 litres a minute are flowing into
the f-18s fuel tanks the pilot is ready
to make a second attempt
this time the landing is successful
[Music]
after the Super Hornets blended the
remaining members of the carrier airwing
come in and are parked the 20 1500
square yards of the Truman's flight deck
are now jam-packed every Nimitz class
carrier can take up to 85 aircraft but
the number is slightly less for the
requirements of the comm 2x exercise
we have 44 strike fighter aircraft f-18
Super Hornets this air wing is unique in
that our air wing is comprised solely of
f-18 Super Hornets with advanced radars
and advanced capabilities along with
that we have two helicopter squadrons
that form different functions we have
518 G growlers those advanced electronic
attack aircraft and we also have the Phi
of a 2ds
[Music]
the Truman cost around four and a half
billion dollars and each day this
floating airfield is an operation costs
a further two and a half million dollars
[Music]
the aircraft carrier is protected by six
steel bodyguards depending on the
scenario to realize their full
effectiveness the destroyers and
frigates are moved around like figures
on a chessboard the group is limited
only by the dimensions of the Atlantic
training area
the virtual warzone is projected onto
the ocean like a slide
the artificial operations map resembles
the Mediterranean and the Middle East
the fictional come to X area of
operation is subdivided into several
sections or boxes in these boxes the
ships have to comply with certain rules
think of the boxes like this last night
we came here from the north we relocated
south into the more North Lee of the two
boxes each of which is roughly 37 to 50
miles an area we're now moving further
south to enable our helicopter to take
off this box is roughly the same size
but of a slightly different shape it is
already off-limits for other exercises
this is where the ships that are
involved in other operations were fire
afterwards and down here our helicopter
will be able to take off safely we've
now got half an hour left to get there
we're travelling straight there at top
speed to rendezvous with the Norwegians
who will accept our helicopter as soon
as it has taken up desire by Oscar
started
[Music]
to prevent the group presenting an easy
target after passing through canals or
straights for example the ships will
separate immediately and operate in an
extended formation often dozens of miles
apart the group's helicopters go into
action whenever technical staff medical
supplies munitions or provisions have to
be exchanged between vessels here a
German helicopter is transporting two
technicians from the Truman to a
destroyer which is having problems with
its air conditioning system
[Music]
the guided missile destroyer arleigh
Burke is something very special and as
thus lent its name to an entire vessel
class which currently consists of more
than 65 structurally identical
destroyers they were the first naval
vessels to be built with stealth
technology
[Music]
arleigh burke-class destroyers are 509
feet long
have a width of 66 feet and a draught of
some 33 feet this makes them extremely
stable even in heavy seas they're 99
thousand horsepower engines give the
Destroyers a top speed of 30 knots the
arleigh burke s' each have 300 personnel
onboard arleigh Burke destroyer czar
equipped with a complex electronically
controlled combat system which makes
them ideal for protecting carriers like
the Truman from aerial and submarine
attack
headed by commander Jason t-step the
team on the bridge is rotated to ensure
that the warship is ready to defend the
carrier at all times during the exercise
it's an amazing capability that we have
on this ship with the latest combat
systems upgrade in the United States
Navy and we bring a lot of capability to
that strike group and ultimately to the
combatant commander when deployed to
present as low a radar cross-section as
possible all the outer surfaces and
decks superstructures were designed in
line with stealth principles
our Lee Burke is a multi mission capable
destroyer
so we're capable of conducting
anti-submarine warfare anti-surface
warfare air and missile defense both of
ourselves and of a strike group so point
an area defense we're also very capable
in ballistic missile defense according
to the maneuver map the arleigh Burke is
moving in enemy waters in reality things
would now be really tight for the
destroyer several islands are making it
hard for the warship to maneuver the
destroyer would thus be an easy target
for land-based forces but steps have
already been taken to combat this a
unique capability of us is for us based
on our upgraded electronic system is
that we can control steering from
multiple locations throughout the ship
so that we have redundancy in the event
that there is a loss of steering the
warship is designed like a gigantic
labyrinth countless bulkheads protected
from serious damage and make it hard for
any enemy to advance through to the
bridge the crew can only get straight
from the stem to the stern via the Zulu
deck deep in the bowels of the ship this
is also where the system rooms and the
offices are located along with the mess
where meals are served so four times a
day there is something of a crush you
Carly Burke is home to about 300 sailors
and four times a day we produce 300 or
so meals for the crew so you think about
you know the ship's galleys put now you
know a restaurant size 1200 meals a day
for the crew on board so a pretty
monumental feat and a lot of credit goes
to the the culinary folks on board that
you know work to get that together and
make sure the crew is very well fed and
taken care of
the destroyers turbines are just as
hungry as its crew on average they
consume 100 tons of diesel oil a day
since the Second World War
more arleigh Burke destroyer x' have
been built for the US Navy than
virtually any other class of warship
their combat systems make them extremely
effective especially in difficult
defense scenarios
the arleigh Burke is a fighting machine
it has eight harpoon missile systems for
combating enemy warships
six torpedo tubes for attacking
submarines and a 127 millimeter cannon
that can sink speedboats in seconds and
any attacker is still managing to
penetrate through to the warship can
expect to be met with a heavy barrage
from the sea was phalanx but the main
weapon on board the arleigh burke is its
guided missile system with rockets fired
from ninety launch cells the destroyer
can combat attacks from air land and sea
[Music]
it's vertical launch system enables the
destroyer to attack bunker installations
as much as 600 miles away missiles fired
by this high-tech warship can also
combat supersonic fighter aircraft and
near-earth satellites with great
accuracy
[Music]
the Phalanx II whis is an automatic
rapid-fire system firing 50 rounds a
second six rotating barrels literally
pulverized any airborne object attacking
the ship
[Music]
naval engineers are constantly working
on improving the arleigh burke defense
systems these include a computerized
missile defense system known as Ram
short for rolling airframe missile
[Music]
the super airbox system launches chaff
or infrared decoys to foil anti-ship
missiles
the destroyers Bushmaster m242
autocannon and it's 127 millimeter
lightweight gun are used against targets
close to the shore
[Music]
the arleigh Burke defense systems are
complemented by a complex electronic
tracking system its core element is the
aegis combat system a combination of
radar sonar and sensor technology that
can track and guide weapons to destroy
targets in the air and at sea
a high-performance sonar system in the
arleigh Burke bulbous bow detects all
movements underwater you can also
register objects on the surface up to
124 miles away in order to determine the
precise nature of an object the signals
from it are compared with the
information stored in a huge echo
databank the warship also has a
360-degree radar system that can even
detect objects no bigger than a golf
ball
112 miles away the two radar units at
the stern transmit a signal which guides
missiles fired by the ship precisely to
their target
in addition numerous antennas ensure
pinpoint navigation of the vessel itself
[Music]
within the carrier group the arleigh
Burke is clearly designed as what is
known as a multi-mission platform in
defending the Truman you can assume
several roles
and then part of the comp 2x that we're
in right now operating with the the
aircraft carrier and our joint partners
is proving that capability in a joint
cooperative environment
[Music]
this particular morning the fighter
aircraft on board the USS Harry s truman
are being positioned on its flight deck
because Admiral Eugene black has a
complex air surveillance exercise plans
for today the carrier's human machine
clock work is starting to tick
first of all the Hawkeye's takeoff to be
followed by the f-18 fighter jets the
aim is to fill the airspace above the
Carrier Strike Group and then monitoring
in coordination with all the units in
the group
[Music]
for the deck crews this is pressure time
the yellow shirts guide each jet to its
takeoff position the green shirts
operate the catapult which hurls the
Super Hornets into the sky
[Music]
with the help of the catapult the f18
reaches a speed of 124 miles per hour in
just over one second the Jets take off
into the Atlantic sky at a rate of one a
minute all the cogwheels of the truman
clockwork have intermeshed to perfection
the first phase of the manoeuvre has now
been completed
this warship ensures that the Jets are
able to operate safely over the Atlantic
the hessin is a Saxon class frigate with
the German Navy this type of warship has
been designed in such a way that it can
defend itself independently in a naval
conflict the Hessen is the hawk among
the groups warships its numerous
high-tech radar systems make the hessen
a specialist in air reconnaissance
[Music]
Essen is Germany's most powerful and
most expensive weapon system what makes
it so expensive is its sensor technology
the radar systems we have onboard when
we leave Ville humps often we can
monitor the airspace over Frankfurt and
London simultaneously this gives us a
good picture of the situation which we
can then make available to NATO but also
to the aircraft carriers the smart L at
the stern is a rotating radar system it
enables the hessen to establish a giant
monitoring dome over the entire carrier
group around a thousand targets within a
radius of 249 miles can be detected and
tracked simultaneously located in the
frigates Tower is the ape our missile
guidance system its sensor arrays can
track 250 different air targets at a
distance of 93 miles at the same time
the system can transmit the coordinates
directly to the weapons systems for
precise targeting
underwater detection is no problem for
the HESA neither the high-performance
sensor in the bulbous bow monitors all
activity in the ocean in a radius of up
to 27 miles
the frigates two helicopters extend its
detection capability equipped with
dipping sonar they can monitor the ocean
many miles beyond the essence radius of
activity
[Music]
all data flow into the Operations Center
giving commander penny and is 255 person
crew and up-to-the-minute and extremely
precise overview of the entire situation
in the air and on and below the surface
Essen is a group air defense frigate
specializing in anti-air warfare the
vessels defense capabilities are
multi-dimensional you can combat targets
in the air on the surface and underwater
[Music]
located deep in the bowels of the ship
is the operations center near fennec and
his team are totally self-sufficient
decoupled well sprung and protected by
extremely thick armor plating the center
can even withstand the shocks from
missiles hitting the ship the operations
center also has its own separate supply
of power and oxygen it would continue to
function even if the hessen were in
flames
the operation center is the ship's brain
so to speak all data interchanged within
the carrier group is gathered here the
terms of a high seas computer network
and its back Holsey the hessin can not
only see and hear extremely well it can
also hit hard
the frigate has six different weapon
systems for defense
with a range of five miles a 76
millimeter cannon on the bow can fire
100 rounds a minute
to ram launchers protect the Hess and
against aerial attack eight harpoon
missile systems can attack enemy
warships and to triple launchers provide
torpedo defense against submarines the
32 cells of the vertical launch system
make the frigate a dangerous destroyer
the crew also have access to various
firearms for close ranged events
a hi-tech frigate the hessen is the
German Navy's pride and joy since 2010
ships of the Saxon class a regularly
part of the fighting force around the
aircraft carrier harry s truman
in operation only a few miles further
north is the KNM roald amundsen
a frigate belonging to the Royal
Norwegian Navy
she's the strike group submarine hunter
the ship's network multifunction combat
system enables it to simultaneously
detect pursue and combat underwater
attackers 440 feet long and 56 feet wide
this sub Hunter has two powerful diesel
engines and a gas turbine which
generates 39,000 450 horsepower with a
16 feet trapped and a top speed of 27
knots the Amundsen is extremely fast and
maneuverable the smallest warship in the
strike group the Amundsen is an integral
part of Norway's powerful high-tech
fleet belonging to the frig off Nansen
class it specializes in hunting
submarines and the fjords of the far
north and in the Atlantic because of the
Ahmanson sporty shape the Norwegians
also fondly refer to it as the yacht
during the four-week comp 2x maneuver
the Roald Amundsen will protect the
group's flanks
in the event of a surface attack the
ship's remote-controlled browning
machine guns are brought into action
[Music]
so it has to be totally ready in an
emergency like the crews of all the
warships in the Carrier Strike Group
during the exercise the Norwegians
practice firing projectile weapons on
board the frigate during the exercise
our 120 men and women they constitute
the smallest crew within the Carrier
Strike Group with more and more
technology functioning automatically
fewer hands are needed the advantage for
the crew is less stress and more space
on board
[Music]
depending on its mission the almond
scent also has 30 members of Norway's
Special Forces onboard the frigate
speedboats transport the troops at top
speed to their operational areas on the
coast the Norwegian warship also has two
helicopters on board
[Music]
this cruiser is another member of the
harry s truman carrier group the USS
Normandy is a floating missile base
[Music]
it's vertical launch system VLS for
short is one of the world's fastest
missile launch systems five different
types of missile can be fired from the
Normandy
[Music]
568 feet long and almost 56 feet wide
the Normandie is a guided missile
cruiser with a draught of just over 33
feet the twin propellers are driven by a
seventy eight thousand nine hundred six
horsepower engine that gives the warship
a top speed of 30 knots
the Carrier Strike Group is now in the
middle of its four-week war maneuver
each of the units is operating in its
particular task area the group 7,000
sailors and aircrews are waiting for
their next test which could come at any
moment in the days ahead
they will face some tough challenges
is our final exams will be certified and
once that certification that graduation
is complete we're able to go on
deployment
whenever directed by the president
so far things are going well I think
we're gonna pass and we've got a few
more weeks to go
those weeks will prove a really tough
test especially for the Truman's deck
crews the exercise schedule will involve
hundreds of takeoffs and landings by
fighter aircraft over a short period of
time
[Music]
the f-18 Jets are in the air day and
night and have to assume constantly
changing roles in the maneuvers
sometimes they're a friend and at others
the foe in this way a genuine combat
situation is created which the entire
carrier group has to handle together
this air defense exercise adex for short
is the most important element in the
entire multinational maneuver surface
defense is also part of the program the
group is attacked time and time again
from all sides the sailors have to
detect pursue and combat enemies
speedboats
and warships with total precision
[Music]
in gun X a gunnery exercise involving
shooting at targets on the surface the
group's high-tech weapons are fired til
they're hot
[Music]
during the course of canto X the stress
levels of the crew are constantly rising
the call man-overboard goes out time and
again dinghies are launched and rescue
teams enter the water on the high seas
every second counts in saving human life
at the same time there's fire and
injured sailors on board the crews
rescued the wounded and fight the flames
under realistic conditions
[Music]
[Applause]
for everyone involved the program means
tough weeks on the high seas from here
on the seven vessels and their
complement of 7,000 men and women will
give everything to ensure that the US
Navy's come to X maneuver is a success
because only then will they be able to
prevail in actual warfare and that is
the goal of Carrier Strike Group eight
[Music]