CVN 77 IN THE MED

62 // SEPTEMBER 2017 #354 http://www.airforcesmonthly.com

n Su-22 from Syria was threatening

coalition ground forces, and we

were in the position to intercept

the aircraft.” Rear Admiral Kenneth

Whitesell, Commander, Carrier Strike

Group (CSG) 2 recalled the incident of

June 18, when an F/A-18E from USS George

H W Bush (CVN 77, motto: ‘Freedom

at Work’) shot down a Syrian fighter-

bomber over northern-central Syria.

“Our aircraft were able to rendezvous and

visually identify the Syrian aircraft,” RADM

Whitesell told AFM, just two days after the

shoot-down. “We knew that it was continued

in a straight line towards forces on the

ground. We warned the aircraft on guard

frequency, an internationally recognised

frequency. We warned it twice, as it kept

flying towards friendly forces. They never

responded on the radio about their intent.

“We flew very close to that aircraft and

dropped flares in close proximity to get

the attention of the pilot to try to steer

him away from friendly forces on the

ground, but he did not turn away.

“Then our pilot went back to a position

where he could watch what the Su-22

was doing. He observed the Su-22

rolling on the ground forces; we had the

situational awareness where his nose

was pointing and he dropped bombs

off his aircraft. As soon as he dropped

weapons we knew that he has heading

towards coalition forces on the ground

and that’s why we shot the Su-22 down.

“He demonstrated hostile intent by

flying towards them and then dropping

weapons on friendly forces. [The missile

kill] was a visual shot on the aircraft. The

tape on the HUD [head-up display] clearly

shows the missile hitting the aircraft.”

As the conflict in the Syrian theatre showed

signs of becoming more complex, RADM

Whitesell reflected on the importance of

the carrier’s presence in the region as part

of the wider coalition fighting so-called

Islamic State (IS) in Syria and Iraq.

“It is very important for us to be here

as a part of our coalition forces. The

carrier provides a significant number

of strike fighter sorties, electronic

warfare, as well as command and

control sorties over Syria and Iraq.

“There is a lot of co-operation when we

fight together. Obviously, Turkey is one of

our routes. We fly through Turkey to Syria,

as well as when we fly over Iraq. We depend

on Turkey for a couple of things. They allow

us to fly over their airspace, they offer us

an air base [at Incirlik] and obviously there

are airborne refuelling areas [in Turkish

airspace]. We refuel after we take

off from the carrier and then

we move to combat areas and

FREEDOMFREEDOM

A

“

Above: F/A-18C 165187/’AC-100’, the VFA-37 ‘Bulls’ ‘CAG bird’, returns to CVN 77. This is the only squadron

on the carrier operating ‘legacy’ Hornets.