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http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=10743 Facilities friendly to B-2 bombers are ready on Diego Garcia By Wayne Specht, Stars and Stripes Pacific edition, Sunday, September 29, 2002 -�Diego is very important for U.S. Forces for geographical reasons. American planes can fly to the Middle East, southeast and southwest Asia without refueling and without constraints from other countries.� -Basing the aircraft at Diego Garcia would reduce the flight distance to Baghdad to 3,300 miles, compared with 6,800 miles if the bombers launched strikes from its U.S. base. �U.S. airplanes had to fly to the Middle East from as far as Guam in the past,� Shikata said. �B-2s from Diego can attack Iraq without flying over other countries. I cannot think of any other reason for assigning them there.� -They have previously flown very long missions over Afghanistan � and before that to Kosovo � but always originating from their Missouri base. Climate-controlled temporary shelters recently erected on Diego Garcia could establish the Indian Ocean island as a staging area for ultrasensitive aircraft such as the B-2 bomber. During an interview with Stars and Stripes in Washington this week, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. John P. Jumper confirmed climate-controlled temporary shelters have been erected there. He stopped short, though, of confirming the actual deployment of the bombers to the atoll. But war analysts predicted Diego Garcia would be the perfect temporary home of the sleek bat-winged B-2 bombers. �Diego is very important for U.S. Forces for geographical reasons,� said Toshiyuki Shikata, a former Ground Self-Defense Force lieutenant general, and now professor of international law and politics at Tokyo�s Teikyo University. �American planes can fly to the Middle East, southeast and southwest Asia without refueling and without constraints from other countries,� he said The B-2 requires a special hangar for maintenance because of its unique construction. The exterior skin of the radar-evading planes is sensitive to heat, humidity and moisture � climatological extremes found at Diego Garcia. American bombers, including B-52s and B-1Bs, using the island for strikes on Afghanistan, do not require climate-controlled housing. If the Missouri-based aircraft are dispatched to the 17-square-mile atoll, it would mark the first time the $2 billion bomber is based overseas. The Wall Street Journal reported Sept. 16 that Pentagon officials had asked Britain to allow the Air Force to erect portable, climate-controlled shelters for up to six of the 21 B-2 bombers now based at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri. To deploy the B-2 overseas, the Air Force estimated in a June 1999 General Accounting Office report that such portable facilities are necessary to house and maintain the bomber. That same report questioned the durability of the B-2�s special radar-deflecting skin and argued the plane needs so much regular attention that in wartime it cannot be easily moved to forward locations � where it would be of greatest use. The Air Force put those claims to rest in 1998 after two of B-2s flew from Missouri to Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, to test its ability to operate in a forward-deployed location. The planes spent 11 days operating on and near Guam; the Air Force pronounced the deployment a success. B-2s could lead a U.S. military campaign against Iraq, their payloads of bombs being used against Saddam Hussein�s formidable air defenses among their first targets, experts said. Basing the aircraft at Diego Garcia would reduce the flight distance to Baghdad to 3,300 miles, compared with 6,800 miles if the bombers launched strikes from its U.S. base. �U.S. airplanes had to fly to the Middle East from as far as Guam in the past,� Shikata said. �B-2s from Diego can attack Iraq without flying over other countries. I cannot think of any other reason for assigning them there.� A senior Pentagon source, however, said the move to base them on Diego Garcia was not directly related to any potential operations involving Iraq. Crewed by a pilot and a mission commander, the B-2 �Spirit� carries 16 satellite-guided bombs. They have previously flown very long missions over Afghanistan � and before that to Kosovo � but always originating from their Missouri base. In 1999, B-2s flown from Missouri were responsible for destroying 33 percent of all Serbian targets in the first eight weeks of Operation Allied Force, according to an Air Force fact sheet. Diego Garcia is no stranger to U.S. air operations. B-1B Lancer and B-52 bombers launched hundreds of sorties from the island in the opening days of Operation Enduring Freedom in October. If B-2s are ordered to Diego, it is unknown if they would take advantage of PACAF�s celebrated tanker bridge that provides aerial gas stations for aircraft transiting the Pacific Ocean to Middle East and southwest Asia locales. PACAF spokesman Tech Sgt. Christopher Haug in Hawaii referred all queries on the potential deployment of B-2s to the Pentagon. Part of the Chagos archipelago, Diego Garcia�s strategic location is what made it attractive as a military base. Britain established a military base on Diego in 1962 when it set up a telecommunications center. Britain governs Diego Garcia, but allows the United States to use the island as a staging area for operations in the Middle East, including Desert Storm and operations Allied Freedom and Enduring Freedom. Hiroshi Chida and Patrick Dickson contributed to this report. __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? New DSL Internet Access from SBC & Yahoo! http://sbc.yahoo.com --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [email protected] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.bacIlu Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
