Newsgroup: it.cultura.militare
Titolo: (Semi ot) una questione che mi preme molto

La NOAA (nationa atmospheric and oceanic administration) sospende un
esercitazione dell'us navy per il contemporaneo spiaggiamento in massa di
200 cetacei. Per la cronaca sono una volta tanto completamente d'accordo con
gli ambientalisti.
July 20, 2004: A Navy training exercise earlier this month was halted due to
a near-beaching of 200 melon-headed whales. Allegations of a link between
active sonar (that broadcasts an acoustic signal some marine mammals can
hear) and previous mass beachings had caused an epic struggle between
environmentalists and the Navy. One court case involving the SURTASS LFA
system (a large, towed active sonar) went on for over a year and led to the
Navy accepting restrictions on the testing of that system.
The Navy stopped its June exercise at the request of the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and is currently investigating the
alleged beaching  incident. Some facts,  such as the timing of the exercise
and the involvement of only one species of whale, point to this incident as
not being sonar-related. However, this incident will only increase the
likelihood of new restrictions on training that will undermine the Navy's
ability to conduct anti-submarine operations against modern non-nuclear
submarines like the Scorpene and Type 212. Already, environmental groups are
promising opposition to a new sonar range off the Carolinas.
These fights are going to be very fierce. The environmentalists (such as the
Natural Resources Defense Council) will seize on this incident to make their
case that the use of active sonar is causing the mass beachings that are
usually fatal to whales, and press for restrictions in any condition but
war. The Navy's determination to construct the Carolinas sonar range will be
intense. Littoral ASW (coastal anti-submarine warfare) will be practiced
there. This is perhaps the most likely scenario the Navy faces in the near
future. The Navy will be fighting restrictions, not so much as to avoid
being pushed around (albeit that is one factor), but so as to ensure
adequate training on active sonar systems.
The military lives by the axiom, "you fight like you train." Training gives
the United States military its biggest advantage over opponents - the prime
example of this being the Army's National Training Center at Fort Irwin (a
comment among Army officers in Desert Storm was, "It was like the NTC - only
the Iraqis weren't as good as the OPFOR."). Restrictions on training will be
conceded very grudgingly, and everything will be done to minimize the
effects of what restrictions are enacted.
While the Navy does not deliberately go out of its way to target whales with
active sonar signals during the training exercises, there are often
instances where some whales are inadvertently injured. This is what has the
environmentalists demanding extreme restrictions on the use of active sonar
in peacetime exercises and training. The Navy, though, is going to work hard
to get what it feels is adequate training at a minimum., and would prefer to
err on the side of too much training.
It might sound ironic, but the Navy's success in a for-real littoral ASW
situation may not be determined by luck, but instead by how well the Navy's
lawyers fare in court. - Harold C. Hutchison (
hch...@ix.netcom.com
)

 gli ambientalisti.
Sě. E la domanda qual č?
A banker is a fellow who lends you his umbrella when the sun is shining,
but wants it back the minute it begins to rain.
Mark Twain

 Sě. E la domanda qual č?
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