AT SEA/KUWAIT: U.S. FIGHTJETS ON THE USS LINCOLN AND FIGHTJETS FROM AIR BASE IN KUWAIT INTENSIFIED THEIR MISSIONS OVER IRAQ
Record ID:
648626
AT SEA/KUWAIT: U.S. FIGHTJETS ON THE USS LINCOLN AND FIGHTJETS FROM AIR BASE IN KUWAIT INTENSIFIED THEIR MISSIONS OVER IRAQ
- Title: AT SEA/KUWAIT: U.S. FIGHTJETS ON THE USS LINCOLN AND FIGHTJETS FROM AIR BASE IN KUWAIT INTENSIFIED THEIR MISSIONS OVER IRAQ
- Date: 21st March 2003
- Summary: (EU) AT SEA, THE GULF (MARCH 21, 2003) (REUTERS) SV/LV OF AIRCRAFT TAKING OFF FROM U.S.S. LINCOLN (10 SHOTS) (EU) AIR BASE NEAR THE IRAQI BORDER, KUWAIT (MARCH 21, 2003) (REUTERS) SLV HARRIER ON TARMAC SV BOMBS BEING LOADED ONTO F-18 SLV HARRIER JET LANDING SV F-18 ON TARMAC HAVING LANDED (2 SHOTS) SLV ONE F-18 PREPARING TO TAKE OFF WHILST ONE HAS JUST LANDED LV FIGHTER JET TAKES OFF MCU MAINTENANCE CREW ON TARMAC LV F-18S LANDING (2 SHOTS) SLV AIR CREWS RELAXING LV PATRIOT MISSILES
- Embargoed: 5th April 2003 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: AT SEA, THE GULF/ AIR BASE NEAR THE IRAQI BORDER, KUWAIT
- City:
- Country: Kuwait At Sea
- Topics: War / Fighting
- Reuters ID: LVAA73IK6RK6P89K7PI2Y9UOU66Z
- Story Text: As U.S. fighterjets on the USS Lincoln intensified their missions to clear the way for U.S.-led ground forces invading southern Iraq, fighterjets from an air base in Kuwait stepped up their attacks on Iraq, taking off in quick succession for the second day running.
Sorties of U.S. fighterjets from the U.S. Lincoln gathered pace on Friday (March 21) as groundforces intensified their move into Iraq.
The Lincoln is one of three carriers in the Gulf, along with the Kitty Hawk and the Constellation.
Two others -- the Harry S. Truman and the Theodore Roosevelt -- are within striking distance of Iraq in the eastern Mediterranean. Each carries about 80 aircraft.
F-18s, F-16 and Harrier fighter jets took off every 5 to 10 minutes from an air base in Kuwait near the southern Iraqi border on Friday (March 21) for the second day running.
The Flightline was busy with incoming and outgoing planes and packed full of bombs and missiles waiting to replace those that had been shed by returning air crafts.
Cluster bombs were also being fitted onto an F-18. They scatter on impact over an area of 100 yards (91.4 metres).
One crew member said one squadron had dropped 39,000 pounds (17,727 kilograms) of bombs on Iraq over a 20-hour period.
Maintenance crews were wearing flak jackets, helmets, chemical suits and boots following several scud attacks from Iraq into Kuwait.
There were as many as six alerts overnight and aircrews, which have been working around the clock since the air assault started at this airbase on Thursday, had their sleep badly disrupted by the call to bunkers.
U.S. armoured columns have raced towards Baghdad on Friday, but U.S. Marines met unexpected resistance when they attacked a key southern Iraqi port.
The startling speed of the American advance from Kuwait deep into the Iraqi desert prompted some U.S. and British officers to predict a swift victory, but British Prime Minister Tony Blair said the war would not be won overnight.
GULF WAR 2 - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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