Why Russia, China and Iran Should Fear America's Naval Super Mines
Michael Peck [2]
“Typically, mine delivery has been a low-altitude operation, largely because of the drift of a parachute-retarded weapon,” Pietrucha writes. Today's minelayers essentially use the same techniques as B-29s did over the Sea of Japan in 1945, “often requiring multiple passes with inaccurate, parachute-retarded mines. A B-52 mine-laying pass occurs at 500 feet and 320 knots—too slow to be safe in fighters or the B-1B Bomber. The F-18 and P-3 employ similar profiles, leaving the laying aircraft low, slow, and predictable—a contributor to the loss of one aircraft and crew in Desert Storm’s only mine-laying attempt.”
Source URL (retrieved on September 15, 2017):
http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/why-russia-china-iran-should-fear-americas-naval-super-mines-22303
