Kontingen Garuda

Kontingen Garuda disingkat KONGA atau Pasukan Garuda adalah pasukan Tentara Nasional Indonesia yang ditugaskan sebagai pasukan perdamaian di negara lain. Indonesia mulai turut serta mengirim pasukannya sebagai bagian dari pasukan penjaga perdamaian PBB sejak 1957.

Sejarah

Ketika Indonesia menyatakan kemerdekaannya pada 17 Agustus 1945, Mesir segera mengadakan sidang menteri luar negeri negara-negara Liga Arab. Pada 18 November 1946, mereka menetapkan resolusi tentang pengakuan kemerdekaan RI sebagai negara merdeka dan berdaulat penuh. Pengakuan tersebut adalah suatu pengakuan de jure menurut hukum internasional.

Untuk menyampaikan pengakuan ini Sekretaris Jenderal Liga Arab ketika itu, Abdurrahman Azzam Pasya, mengutus Konsul Jendral Mesir di India, Mohammad Abdul Mun'im, untuk pergi ke Indonesia. Setelah melalui perjalanan panjang dan penuh dengan rintangan terutama dari pihak Belanda maka akhirnya ia sampai ke Ibu Kota RI waktu itu yaitu Yogyakarta, dan diterima secara kenegaraan oleh Presiden Soekarno dan Bung Hatta pada 15 Maret 1947. Ini pengakuan pertama atas kemerdekaan RI oleh negara asing.

Hubungan yang baik tersebut berlanjut dengan dibukanya Perwakilan RI di Mesir dengan menunjuk HM Rasyidi sebagi Charge d'Affairs atau "Kuasa Usaha". Perwakilan tersebut merangkap sebagai misi diplomatik tetap untuk seluruh negara-negara Liga Arab. Hubungan yang akrab ini memberi arti pada perjuangan Indonesia sewaktu terjadi perdebatan di forum Majelis Umum PBB dan Dewan Keamanan PBB yang membicarakan sengketa Indonesia-Belanda, para diplomat Arab dengan gigih mendukung Indonesia.

Presiden Sukarno membalas pembelaan negara-negara Arab di forum internasional dengan mengunjungi Mesir dan Arab Saudi pada Mei 1956 dan Irak pada April 1960. Pada 1956, ketika Majelis Umum PBB memutuskan untuk menarik mundur pasukan Inggris, Prancis dan Israel dari wilayah Mesir, Indonesia mendukung keputusan itu dan untuk pertama kalinya mengirim Pasukan Pemelihara Perdamaian PBB ke Mesir yang dinamakan dengan Kontingen Garuda I atau KONGA I.

Daftar kontingen
Kontingen Garuda I

Kontingen Garuda I dikirim pada 8 Januari 1957 ke Mesir. Kontingen Garuda Indonesia I terdiri dari gabungan personel dari Resimen Infanteri-15 Tentara Territorium (TT) IV/Diponegoro, serta 1 kompi dari Resimen Infanteri-18 TT V/Brawijaya di Malang. Kontingen ini dipimpin oleh Letnan Kolonel Infanteri Hartoyo yang kemudian digantikan oleh Letnan Kolonel Infanteri Suadi Suromihardjo, sedangkan wakilnya Mayor Infanteri Soediono Suryantoro. Kontingen Indonesia berangkat tanggal 8 Januari 1957 dengan pesawat C-124 Globe Master dari Angkatan Udara Amerika Serikat menuju Beirut, ibukota Libanon. Dari Beirut pasukan dibagi dua, sebagian menuju ke Abu Suweir dan sebagian ke Al Sandhira. Selanjutnya pasukan di El Sandhira dipindahkan ke Gaza, daerah perbatasan Mesir dan Israel, sedangkan kelompok Komando berada di Rafah. Kontingen ini mengakhiri masa tugasnya pada tanggal 29 September 1957. Kontingen Garuda I berkekuatan 559 pasukan.

Kontingen Garuda II

Konga II dikirim ke Kongo pada 1960 dan dipimpin oleh Letkol Inf Solichin GP. Konga II berada di bawah misi UNOC.KONGA II berjumlah 1.074 orang dipimpin Kol. Prijatna (kemudian digantikan oleh Letkol Solichin G.P) bertugas di Kongo September 1960 hingga Mei 1961.

Kontingen Garuda III

Konga III dikirim ke Kongo pada 1962. Konga III berada di bawah misi UNOC dan dipimpin oleh Brigjen TNI Kemal Idris dan Kol Inf Sobirin Mochtar.KONGA III terdiri atas 3.457orang dipimpin oleh Brigjen TNI Kemal Idris, kemudian Kol. Sabirin Mochtar. KONGA III terdiri atas Batalyon 531/Raiders, satuan-satuan Kodam II/Bukit Barisan, Batalyon Kavaleri 7, dan unsur bantuan tempur. Seorang Wartawan dari Medan, H.A. Manan Karim (pernah menjadi Wkl. Pemred Hr Analisa) turut dalam kontingen Garuda yang bertugas hingga akhir 1963. Menteri/Panglima Angkatan Darat Letjen TNI Ahmad Yani pernah berkunjung ke Markas Pasukan PBB di Kongo (ketika itu bernama Zaire) pada tanggal 19 Mei 1963. Komandan Yon Kavaleri 7 Letkol GA. Manulang gugur di Kongo.

Kontingen Garuda IV

Konga IV dikirim ke Vietnam pada 1973. Konga IV berada di bawah misi ICCS dan dipimpin oleh Brigjen TNI Wiyogo Atmodarminto.Pada tanggal 23 Januari 1973 pasukan Garuda IV diberangkatkan ke Vietnam yang dipimpin oleh Brigadir Jenderal TNI Wiyogo Atmodarminto, yang merangkap Deputi Militer Misriga dengan kekuatan 294 orang yang terdiri dari anggota ABRI dan PNS Departemen Luar Negeri. Kontingen Garuda IV ini merupakan Kontingen ICCS (International Commission of Cantre and Supervision) pertama yang tiba di Vietnam. Tugas kontingen Garuda IV adalah mencegah pelanggaran-pelanggaran, menjaga status quo, mengawasi evakuasi pasukan dan alat-alat perang serta mengawali pertukaran tawanan perang.

Kontingen Garuda V

Konga V dikirim ke Vietnam pada 1973. Konga V berada di bawah misi ICCS dan dipimpin oleh Brigjen TNI Harsoyo.

Kontingen Garuda VI

Konga VI dikirim ke Timur Tengah pada 1973. Konga VI berada di bawah misi UNEF dan dipimpin oleh Kol Inf Rudini. Kontingen Garuda Indonesia VI di resmikan oleh Menhankam/Pangab Jenderal TNI M. Pangabean. Tugas pokok Kontingen Garuda Indonesia sebagai peace keeping force atau “Pasukan Pemelihara Perdamaian”. Komposisi Kontingen tersebut berintikan Yonif 512/Brigif Kodam VIII/Brawijaya dengan kekuatan 466 orang, dibawah pimpinan Kolonel Inf. Rudini. Sebagai Komandan Komando Taktis, ditunjuk Mayor Basofi Sudirman. Selain pengiriman Kontingen, atas permintaan PBB diberangkatkan pula Brigadir Jenderal Himawan Sutanto sebagai Komandan Brigade Selatan Pasukan PBB di Timur Tengah, pada tanggal 13 Desember 1973. Kontingen Garuda Indonesia VI tiba kembali di Indonesia setelah menyelesaikan tugasnya di Timur Tengah selama sembilan bulan. Pada tanggal 31 September 1974, Kasum Hankam Marsdya TNI Sudharmono atas nama Menhankam/Pangab membubarkan Kontingen Garuda Indonesia VI dan selanjutnya diserahkan kepada kesatuan masing-masing.

Kontingen Garuda VII

Konga VII dikirim ke Vietnam pada 1974. Konga VII berada di bawah misi ICCS dan dipimpin oleh Brigjen TNI S. Sumantri.

Kontingen Garuda VIII

Kontingen Garuda VIII dikirim dalam rangka misi perdamaian PBB di Timur Tengah paska Perang Yom Kippur antara Mesir dan Israel yang berlangsung dari tanggal 6 sampai dengan 26 Oktober 1973, dengan tercapainya gencatan senjata di kilometer 101 dan disusul dengan keluarnya resolusi PBB 340[1]. Kontingen Garuda VIII bertugas di daerah penyangga PBB di Semenanjung Sinai tersebut dikirim dalam 9 gelombang rotasi, dan setiap rotasi bertugas selama 6 bulan. Negara yang berkontribusi dalam pasukan perdamaian dalam wadah UNEF II tersebut yaitu dari Australia, Austria (penerbangan), Canada (logistik), Finlandia (pasukan), Ghana (pasukan), Indonesia (pasukan), Irlandia, Nepal, Panama, Peru, Polandia (logistik), Senegal dan Swedia (pasukan)[2].

Kontingen Garuda VIII/1

Konga VIII/1 dikirim ke Timur Tengah pada 1974. Konga VIII/1 berada di bawah misi UNEF II dan dipimpin oleh Kol Art Sudiman Saleh.

Kontingen Garuda VIII/2

Konga VIII/2 dikirim ke Timur Tengah pada 1975. Konga VIII/2 berada di bawah misi UNEF II dan dipimpin oleh Kol Inf Gunawan Wibisono. Berintikan anggota TNI dari kesatuan KOSTRAD, yaitu dari YONIF LINUD 305/Tengkorak-BRIGIF LINUD 17/KOSTRAD, dengan komandan batalyon Letkol Inf.

Kontingen Garuda VIII/3

Konga VIII/3 dikirim ke Timur Tengah pada 1976. Konga VIII/3 berada di bawah misi UNEF II dan dipimpin oleh Kol Inf Untung Sridadi.

Kontingen Garuda VIII/4

Konga VIII/4 dikirim ke Timur Tengah pada 1976. Konga VIII/4 berada di bawah misi UNEF II dan dipimpin oleh Kol Inf Suhirno.

Kontingen Garuda VIII/5

Konga VIII/5 dikirim ke Timur Tengah pada 1977. Konga VIII/5 berada di bawah misi UNEF II dan dipimpin oleh Kol Kav Susanto Wismoyo.

Kontingen Garuda VIII/6

Konga VIII/6 dikirim ke Timur Tengah pada 1977. Konga VIII/6 berada di bawah misi UNEF II dan dipimpin oleh Kol Inf Karma Suparman. Inti pasukan Garuda VIII/6 ini adalah dari kesatuan Yonif 700 Linud (Ujung Pandang) dibawah pimpinan Letkol Inf Sarmono (dalam kontingen menjabat sebagai Wakil Komandan Kontingen). Untuk meningkatkan komando dan pengendalian pasukan maka markas kontingen yang semula berada di Kota Suez diajukan ke tengah-tengah buffer zone yaitu di Wadi Reina, Semenanjung Sinai.

Kontingen Garuda VIII/7

Konga VIII/7 dikirim ke Timur Tengah pada 1978. Konga VIII/7 berada di bawah misi UNEF II dan dipimpin oleh Kol Inf Sugiarto.

Kontingen Garuda VIII/8

Konga VIII/8 dikirim ke Timur Tengah pada 1978. Konga VIII/8 berada di bawah misi UNEF II dan dipimpin oleh Kol Inf R. Atmanto.

Kontingen Garuda VIII/9

Konga VIII/9 dikirim ke Timur Tengah pada 1979. Konga VIII/9 berada di bawah misi UNEF II dan dipimpin oleh Kol Inf RK Sembiring Meliala.

Kontingen Garuda IX
Kontingen Garuda IX/1

Konga IX/1 dikirim ke Iran-Irak pada 1988. Konga IX/1 berada di bawah misi UNIIMOG dan dipimpin oleh Letkol Inf Endriartono Sutarto.
Kontingen Garuda IX/2

Konga IX/2 dikirim ke Iran-Irak pada 1989. Konga IX/2 berada di bawah misi UNIIMOG dan dipimpin oleh Letkol Inf. Fachrul Razi.

Kontingen Garuda IX/3

Konga IX/3 dikirim ke Iran-Irak pada 1990. Konga IX/3 berada di bawah misi UNIIMOG dan dipimpin oleh Letkol Inf Jhony Lumintang.

Kontingen Garuda X

Konga X dikirim ke Namibia pada 1989. Konga X berada di bawah misi UNTAG dan dipimpin oleh Kol Mar Amin S.

Kontingen Garuda XI
Kontingen Garuda XI/1

Konga XI/1 dikirim ke Irak-Kuwait pada 1992. Konga XI/1 berada di bawah misi UNIKOM dan dipimpin oleh Letkol Inf Albert Inkiriwang.

Kontingen Garuda XI/2

Konga XI/2 dikirim ke Irak-Kuwait pada 1992. Konga XI/2 berada di bawah misi UNIKOM dan dipimpin oleh May CZI TP Djatmiko. Setelah Kontingen Garuda XI-1 mengakhiri masa tugasnya pada tanggal 23 April 1992 kemudian tugas selanjutnya diserahkan kepada Kontingen Garuda XI-2 untuk melaksanakan tugas sebagai pasukan pemelihara perdamaian PBB di wilayah Irak-Kuwait sebagaimana Kontingen Garuda XI-1. Kontingen gelombang kedua ini berangkat pada tanggal 23 April 1992.Penugasan Kontingen Garuda XI-2 berdasarkan resolusi Dewan Keamanan PBB Nomor 687 tanggal 3 April 1992 pada paragraf 5 tentang pembentukan dan tugas-tugas yang dilaksanakan Unikom dan Surat Perintah Panglima ABRI Nomor Sprin 1024/IV/1992.Sebagai Komandan Kontingen Garuda XI-2 adalah Mayor Czi Toto Punto Jatmiko. Personel anggota Kontingen Garuda XI-2 terdiri dari 6 perwira. Sebagai duta bangsa prestasi yang berhasil dicapai Kontingen Garuda XI-2 adalah berperan mengembalikan personel Amerika Serikat yang ditangkap oleh Polisi Irak di wilayah Kuwait. Di samping itu Kontingen Garuda XI-2 berhasil membujuk suku Bieloven untuk tidak melaksanakan kegiatan pasar gelap. Pada tanggal 23 April 1991 Kontingen Garuda XI-2 telah selesai melaksanakan tugas dan kembali ke tanah air dan mereka kemudian mendapatkan bintang Satyalencana Santi Dharma dari pemerintah.

Kontingen Garuda XI/3

Konga XI/3 dikirim ke Irak-Kuwait pada 1993. Konga XI/3 berada di bawah misi UNIKOM dan dipimpin oleh May Kav Bambang Sriyono. Garuda XI-2 mengakhiri masa tugasnya pada tanggal 23 April 1992, maka Kontingen Garuda XI-3 menggantikan Kontingen Garuda XI-2 untuk melaksanakan tugas sebagai pasukan pemelihara perdamaian PBB di wilayah Irak-Kuwait. Kontingen ini beranggotakan enam orang perwira ABRI di bawah pimpinan Mayor Kav. Bambang Sriyono. Mereka berangkat ke wilayah Irak-Kuwait pada tanggal 19 April 1993 dan kembali ke tanah air pada tanggal 25 April 1994.Atas permintaan Dewan Keamanan PBB pada tanggal 10 Oktober 1993 Pemerintah Indonesia mengirimkan Letkol Inf. Hasanudin sebagai anggota Staf UNIKOM. Ia termasuk Kontingen Garuda XI/UNIKOM dan berhasil melaksanakan tugas dengan baik. Pada tanggal 17 Oktober 1994 kontingen ini kembali ke tanah air.

Kontingen Garuda XI/4

Konga XI/4 dikirim ke Irak-Kuwait pada 1994. Konga XI/4 berada di bawah misi UNIKOM dan dipimpin oleh May Inf Muh. Mubin.

Kontingen Garuda XI/5

Konga XI/5 dikirim ke Irak-Kuwait pada 1995. Konga XI/5 berada di bawah misi UNIKOM dan dipimpin oleh May CPL Mulyono Esa.

Kontingen Garuda XII
Kontingen Garuda XII/A

Konga XII/A dikirim ke Kamboja pada 1992. Konga XII/A berada di bawah misi UNTAC dan dipimpin oleh Letkol Inf Erwin Sujono.

Kontingen Garuda XII/B

Konga XII/B dikirim ke Kamboja pada 1992. Konga XII/B berada di bawah misi UNTAC dan dipimpin oleh Letkol Inf Ryamizard Ryacudu.

Kontingen Garuda XII/C

Konga XII/C dikirim ke Kamboja pada 1993. Konga XII/C berada di bawah misi UNTAC dan dipimpin oleh Letkol Inf Darmawi Chaidir.

Kontingen Garuda XII/D

Konga XII/D dikirim ke Kamboja pada 1993. Konga XII/D berada di bawah misi UNTAC dan dipimpin oleh Letkol Inf Saptaji Siswaya dan Letkol Inf Asril Hamzah Tanjung. Pada tanggal 20 Januari 1993 Kontingen Garuda XII-D diberangkatkan ke Kamboja untuk menggantikan Kontingen Garuda XII-C. Kontingen Garuda XII-D dipimpin oleh Letkol Inf. Saptadji dan wakilnya Mayor Inf. Suryo Sukanto. Jumlah personel 850 orang terdiri atas 390 orang dari Yonif 303/SSM Kostrad, 213 orang anggota Korps Marinir TNI AL dan 217 orang anggota ABRI dari berbagai kesatuan. Selama penugasan terjadi penyusutan lima orang personel, karena tiga orang menderita kecelakaan ranjau, satu orang kecelakaan lalu lintas dan satu orang sakit. Untuk menggantikan personel tersebut dikirim 63 orang, sehingga pada akhir penugasan berjumlah 908 personel.
Kontingen Garuda XII (Civpol)

Konga XII dikirim ke Kamboja pada 1992. Konga XII berada di bawah misi UNTAC (civil police) dan dipimpin oleh Kol Pol Drs S. Tarigan dan Kol Pol Drs Rusdihardjo.
Kontingen Garuda XIII

Konga XIII dikirim ke Somalia pada 1992. Konga XIII berada di bawah misi UNOSOM dan dipimpin oleh May Mar Wingky S.
Kontingen Garuda XIV
Kontingen Garuda XIV/1

Konga XIV/1 dikirim ke Bosnia-Herzegovina pada 1993. Konga XIV/1 berada di bawah misi UNPROFOR dan dipimpin oleh Letkol Inf Eddi Budianto.
Kontingen Garuda XIV/2

Konga XIV/2 dikirim ke Bosnia pada 1994. Konga XIV/2 berada di bawah misi UNPROFOR dan dipimpin oleh Letkol Inf Tarsis K.
Kontingen Garuda XIV/3

Konga XIV/3 dikirim ke Bosnia pada 1994. Konga XIV/3 berada di bawah misi UNPROFOR.
Kontingen Garuda XIV/4

Konga XIV/4 dikirim ke Bosnia pada 1994. Konga XIV/4 berada di bawah misi UNPROFOR (civil police) dan dipimpin oleh Letkol Pol Drs Suhartono.
Kontingen Garuda XIV/5

Konga XIV/5 dikirim ke Bosnia pada 1994. Konga XIV/5 berada di bawah misi UNPROFOR dan dipimpin oleh Letkol Art Mazni Harun.
Kontingen Garuda XIV/A

Konga XIV/A dikirim ke Bosnia pada 1994. Konga XIV/A berada di bawah misi UNPROFOR (Yonkes) dan dipimpin oleh Letkol CKM dr Heridadi. Konga XIV/A ini merupakan petugas kesehatan.
Kontingen Garuda XIV/B

Konga XIV/B dikirim ke Bosnia pada 1994. Konga XIV/B berada di bawah misi UNPROFOR (Yonkes) dan dipimpin oleh Letkol CKM dr Budi Utoyo. Konga XIV/B ini merupakan petugas kesehatan.
Kontingen Garuda XIV/C

Konga XV dikirim ke Georgia pada 1994. Konga XV berada di bawah misi UNOMIG dan dipimpin oleh May Kav M. Haryanto. Kontingen Garuda XV pada awalnya merupakan kontingen para Military Observer yang bertugas di bawah misi United Nations Observer for Military in Georgia (UNOMIG). Bertugas di Rep. of Georgia untuk mengawasi perjanjian damai antara Rep. of Georgia dan Rep. of Abkhazia (Self Autonomous), yang merupakan upaya pemecahan diri dari sebagian wilayah. Pertama kali misi ini di kirimkan pada tahun 1994 dan sampai dengan saat sekarang misi tersebut masih berjalan.
Kontingen Garuda XVI

Konga XVI dikirim ke Mozambik pada 1994. Konga XVI berada di bawah misi UNOMOZ dan dipimpin oleh May Pol Drs Kuswandi. Kontingen ini terdiri dari 15 pasukan.
Kontingen Garuda XVII =

Konga XVII dikirim ke Filipina pada 1994. Kontingen ini bertugas dari 17 Juni 1994 sampai 28 Desember 1994. KONGA XVII dipimpin oleh Brigjen TNI Asmardi Arbi, kemudian digantikan oleh Brigjen TNI Kivlan Zein, bertugas di Filipina sebagai pengawas genjatan senjata setelah adanya perundingan antara MNLF pimpinan Nur Misuari dengan pemerintah Filipina.
Kontingen Garuda XVIII

KONGA XVIII dikirim ke Tajikistan pada November 1997. Kontingen ini terdiri dari 8 perwira TNI yang dipimpin oleh Mayor Can Suyatno.
Kontingen Garuda XIX
Kontingen Garuda XIX/1

Konga XIX/1 dikirim ke Sierra Leone pada 1999-2002. Konga XIX/1 beranggotakan 10 perwira TNI dipimpin oleh Letkol K. Dwi Pujianto dan bertugas sebagai misi pengamat (observer mission).
Kontingen Garuda XIX/2

Konga XIX/2 dikirim ke Sierra Leone pada 1999-2002. Konga XIX/2 beranggotakan 10 orang dipimpin oleh Letkol PSK Amarullah. Konga XIX/2 bertugas sebagai misi pengamat.
Kontingen Garuda XIX/3

Konga XIX/3 dikirim ke Sierra Leone pada 1999-2002. Konga XIX/3 beranggotakan 10 perwira dipimpin oleh Letkol (P) Dwi Wahyu Aguk. Konga XIX/3 bertugas sebagai misi pengamat.
Kontingen Garuda XIX/4

Konga XIX/4 dikirim ke Sierra Leone pada 1999-2002. Konga XIX/4 beranggotakan 10 perwira dan dipimpin oleh Mayor CZI Benny Oktaviar MDA. Konga XIX/4 bertugas sebagai misi pengamat.
Kontingen Garuda XX
Kontingen Garuda XX/A

Konga XX/A dikirim ke Bungo, Kongo pada 6 September 2003 dan bertugas selama 1 tahun. Konga XX/A berjumlah 175 prajurit dari Kompi Zeni dibawah pimpinan Mayor CZI Ahmad Faizal.
Kontingen Garuda XX/B

Konga XX/B bertugas di Republik Demokratik Kongo. Konga XX/B berasal dari Kompi Zeni.
Kontingen Garuda XX/C

Konga XX/C dikirim ke Republik Demokratik Kongo pada 28 September 2005. Konga XX/C berjumlah 175 personel dan dipimpin Mayor Czi Demi A. Siahaan. Konga XX/C berasal dari Kompi Zeni.
Kontingen Garuda XX/D

Konga XX/D rencananya akan diberangkatkan ke Republik Demokratik Kongo untuk menggantikan Konga XX/C yang telah bertugas selama hampir satu tahun. Konga XX/D berjumlah 175 personel dan dipimpin oleh Mayor Czi Jamalulael. Konga XX/D berasal dari Kompi Zeni yang terdiri dari kelompok komando 27 orang, tim kesehatan 11 orang, ton bantuan 30 orang, ton 1 Zikon 22 orang, ton 2 Zikon 22 orang, ton 3 Zikon 22 orang dan ton Alberzi 41 orang .
Kontingen Garuda XXI

Kontingen Garuda XXI merupakan kontribusi TNI dalam misi perdamaian PBB di Liberia (UNMIL) yang terdiri dari perwira AD, AL, AU yang terlatih dalam misi PBB dan mempunyai kecakapan khusus sebagai pengamat militer (UN military observer).

Konga XXI sampai saat ini 2009 sudah masuk gelombang ke-6:

1. Konga XXI-1 dipimpin oleh Letkol Lek. Bayu Roostono, bertugas tahun 2003-2004 dalam periode DDRR, pasca perang sipil II.
2. Konga XXI-2 dipimpin oleh Letkol (L) Putu Angga, bertugas tahun 2004-2005 dalam periode pasca pemilu dan pemilu.
3. Konga XXI-3 dipimpin oleh Letkol (L) Supriatno, beserta dua orang perwira lainnya yaitu Mayor Inf Fritz Pasaribu dan Mayor Pnb Andri G. bertugas tahun 2005-2006 dalam periode pemulihan keamanan, rekonstruksi, pemilu dan pemerintahan demokratis pertama semenjak perang sipil 14 tahun.
4. Konga XXI-4 dipimpin oleh Letkol Kav. Hilman Hadi, beserta dua orang perwira lainnya yaitu Mayor Mar Beni dan Kapten Adm Tri Ambar, bertugas tahun 2006-2007, sudah memasuki tahap konsolidasi setelah berhasil melewati tahap DDRR.
5. Konga XXI-5 dipimpin oleh Letkol Lek. Joseph Rizki P., bertugas tahun 2007-2008, di saat misi UNMIL memulai tahap drawdown.

Kontingen Garuda XXI dalam melaksanakan tugasnya senantiasa didukung oleh Perhimpunan Masyarakat Indonesia di Liberia (PERMIL) termasuk beberapa staf Internasional yang berasal dari Indonesia.
Kontingen Garuda XXII

Kontingen Garuda XXII merupakan kontribusi TNI dalam misi perdamaian PBB di Sudan (UNMIS) yang terdiri dari perwira AD, AL, AU yang bertugas khusus sebagai pengamat militer (UN Military Observer). Sekarang ini Konga XXII juga berkontribusi untuk UNAMID (Darfur).

Kontingen Garuda XXII/G berjumlah 6 personel TNI yang bertugas sebagai UNMO (UN Military Observer)untuk UNMIS (United Nations Mission In Sudan) yang terdiri dari: Mayor Inf Tri Saktiyono, Mayor Laut (E) Danny Bachtera, Mayor Adm Mirza Hus'an, Mayor Arh I Made Kusuma Dhyana Graha, Mayor Tek Lully Hermawan, dan Kapten Laut (E) Ertawan Juliadi. Periode Penugasan Konga XXII/G ini terhitung mulai tanggal 9 Pebruari 2008 sampai dengan 8 Pebruari 2009.

Kontingen Garuda XXII/H berjumlah 3 personel TNI yang bertugas sebagai UNMO (UN Military Observer)untuk UNMIS (United Nations Mission In Sudan) yang terdiri dari: Mayor Arm Ari Estefanus , Mayor Laut (P) Robert Marpaung , Mayor Lek Johni Purwnato. Periode penugasan Konga XXII-H/08 terhitung mulai 23 Agustus 2008 - 22 Agustus 2009. Dengan Tugas pokok : Monitorir , Verifikasi dan Implementasi CPA ( Comprehensive Peace Agreement ) dengan sasaran yaitu Proses Gencatan senjata , Proses DDR ,Sensus , Pemilu dan Referendum. Dalam kurun tersebut terjadi beberapa peristiwa penting : Indictment Presiden Baasyir, Malakal Assault , PCA Abyei dan penolakan hasil Pemilu oleh SPLM.

Kontingen Garuda XXII/I berjumlah 3 personel TNI yang bertugas sebagai UNMO (UN Military Observer)untuk UNMIS (United Nations Mission In Sudan) yang terdiri dari: Mayor Inf Freddino Silalahi, Mayor Laut (adm) Tarmizi dan, Mayor (psk) Nana Setiawan. Periode Penugasan Konga XXII/I ini terhitung mulai tanggal 4 September 2008 sampai dengan 3 September 2009. Tugas Pokok para Milobs adalah mengawasi gencatan senjata antara tentara SAF (pemerintah)& SPLA (pemberontak)untuk mendukung pelaksanaan Referendum pada tahun 2011 nantinya.

Kontingen Garuda XXIII/A

Konga XXIII/A bertugas sebagai bagian dari Pasukan Perdamaian PBB di Lebanon (UNIFIL) dan rencananya akan berangkat pada akhir September 2006 tetapi kemudian ditunda karena PBB menunda keberangkatan pasukan perdamaian dari negara-negara Asia sehingga akhirnya pasukan dikembalikan lagi ke kesatuannya masing-masing. Kontingen Garuda XXIII/A dipimpin oleh Kolonel Surawahadi dan terdiri dari 850 personel TNI. Anak pertama Presiden Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono juga ikut serta dalam pasukan ini.

Kontingen Garuda XXIV

Bertugas dalam pengawasan Pemilu di Nepal.
Kontingen Garuda XXV

Bertugas di UNIFIL sebagai Satgas POM di sektor timur (INDO SEMPU)
Kontingen Garuda XXVI

Menyusul keberhasilan penugasan Kontingen Garuda XXIII bersama dengan UNIFIL, sekaligus dalam rangka memperbesar peran serta Indonesia dalam pemeliharaan perdamaian di Lebanon Selatan dan atas permintaan PBB, maka dikirimkan pasukan tambahan Indonesia untuk melaksanakan tugas sebagai satuan Force Headquarter Support Unit (FHQSU) dan INDO Force Protection Company (INDO FP Coy) berjumlah 200 orang. Tugas yang diemban berbeda dengan Konga XXIII (INDOBATT) yang merupakan satuan Yonif Mekanis yang memiliki wilayah operasi di sekor timur UNIFIL, Konga XXVI merupakan satuan yang bertugas untuk mendukung pelayanan dan pengamanan di UNIFIL HQ - Naqoura. Konga XXVI-A tiba pertama kali di Naqoura pada tanggal 31 Oktober 2008, dipimpin oleh Kolonel Mar Saud P. Tamba Tua.

101st Airborne Division

The 101st Airborne Division — the "Screaming Eagles"— is a U.S. Army modular infantry division trained for air assault operations. During World War II, it was renowned for action during the Normandy Landings and in the Battle of the Bulge. During the Vietnam War, the 101st Airborne Division was redesignated first an airmobile division, then later as an air assault division. For historical reasons, it retains the "Airborne" tab identifier, yet does not conduct parachute operations at a division level. Many modern members of the 101st are graduates of the U.S. Army Air Assault School, and wear the Air Assault Badge, but it is not prerequisite for assignment to the division. The division's headquarters are at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and has served in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is the only U.S. Army division with two aviation brigades. It is one of the most prestigious and decorated divisions in the U.S. Army

History
World War II
Gen. Eisenhower speaking with 1st Lt. Wallace C. Strobel and men of Company E, 502nd PIR on 5 June. The placard around Strobel's neck indicates he is the jumpmaster for chalk #23 of the 438th TCG.
101st Airborne troops posing with a captured Nazi vehicle air identification sign two days after landing at Normandy.

The division was activated on 15 August 1942 at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana. On 19 August 1942, its first commander, Major General William C. Lee, promised his new recruits that the 101st had "no history but had a rendezvous with destiny."

General Order Number Five, which gave birth to the division, reads:

The 101st Airborne Division, activated at Camp Toccoa, Georgia, has no history, but it has a rendezvous with destiny. Like the early American pioneers whose invincible courage was the foundation stone of this nation, we have broken with the past and its traditions in order to establish our claim to the future.

Due to the nature of our armament, and the tactics in which we shall perfect ourselves, we shall be called upon to carry out operations of far-reaching military importance and we shall habitually go into action when the need is immediate and extreme.

Let me call your attention to the fact that our badge is the great American eagle. This is a fitting emblem for a division that will crush its enemies by falling upon them like a thunderbolt from the skies.

The history we shall make, the record of high achievement we hope to write in the annals of the American Army and the American people, depends wholly and completely on the men of this division. Each individual, each officer and each enlisted man, must therefore regard himself as a necessary part of a complex and powerful instrument for the overcoming of the enemies of the nation. Each, in his own job, must realize that he is not only a means, but an indispensable means for obtaining the goal of victory. It is, therefore, not too much to say that the future itself, in whose molding we expect to have our share, is in the hands of the soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division.

D-Day
Main article: Mission Albany

The Pathfinders of the 101st Airborne Division led the way on D-Day in the night drop prior to the invasion. They left from RAF North Witham having trained there with the 82nd Airborne Division.

The 101st Airborne Division's objectives were to secure the four causeway exits behind Utah Beach, destroy a German coastal artillery battery at Saint-Martin-de-Varreville, capture buildings nearby at Mésières believed used as barracks and a command post for the artillery battery, capture the Douve River lock at la Barquette (opposite Carentan), capture two footbridges spanning the Douve at la Porte opposite Brévands, destroy the highway bridges over the Douve at Sainte-Come-du-Mont, and secure the Douve River valley.

In the process units would also disrupt German communications, establish roadblocks to hamper the movement of German reinforcements, establish a defensive line between the beachhead and Volognes, clear the area of the drop zones to the unit boundary at Les Forges, and link up with the 82nd Airborne Division.

Drop Zone A

The paratroopers of the 101st Airborne Division "Screaming Eagles" jumped between 0048 and 0140 British Double Summer Time of 6 June. The first wave, inbound to Drop Zone A (the northernmost), was not surprised by the cloud bank and maintained formation, but navigating errors and a lack of Eureka signal caused the first error. Although the 2nd Battalion 502nd PIR was dropped as a compact unit, it jumped on the wrong drop zone, while its commander, Lt Col. Steve A. Chappuis, came down virtually alone on the correct drop zone. Chappuis and this stick captured the coastal battery soon after assembling, and found that it had already been dismantled after an air raid.

Most of the remainder of the 502nd (70 of 80 sticks) dropped in a disorganized pattern around the impromptu drop zone set up by the pathfinders near the beach. The battalion commanders of the 1st and 3rd Battalions, Lt Col. Patrick J. Cassidy (1/502) and Lt Col. Robert G. Cole (3/502), took charge of small groups and accomplished all of their D-Day missions. Cassidy's group took Saint Martin-de-Varreville by 0630, sent a patrol under S/Sgt. Harrison C. Summers to seize the "XYZ" objective, a barracks at Mésières, and set up a thin line of defense from Fourcarville to Beuzeville. Cole's group moved during the night from near Saint Mère Église to the Varreville battery, then continued on and captured Exit 3 at 0730. They held the position during the morning until relieved by troops moving inland from Utah Beach. Both commanders found Exit 4 covered by German artillery fire and Cassidy recommended to the 4th Infantry Division that it not use the exit.

The division's parachute artillery did not fare nearly as well. Its drop was one of the worst of the operation, losing all but one howitzer and dropping all but two of 54 loads four to twenty miles (32 km) to the north, where most ultimately became casualties.

Drop Zone C

The second wave, assigned to drop the 506th PIR on Drop Zone C 1 mile (1.6 km) west of Sainte Marie-du-Mont, was badly dispersed by the clouds, then subjected to intense antiaircraft fire for 10 miles (16 km). Three of the 81 C-47s were lost before or during the jump. One, piloted by 1st Lt. Marvin F. Muir of the 439th Troop Carrier Group, caught fire. Lt. Muir held the aircraft steady while the stick jumped, then died when the plane crashed immediately afterward, for which he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. Despite the opposition, the 506th's 1st Battalion[notes 1] (the original division reserve) was dropped accurately on DZ C, landing two-thirds of its sticks and regimental commander Col. Robert F. Sink on or within a mile of the drop zone.

Most of the 2nd Battalion commanded by Lt Col. Robert L. Strayer had jumped too far west, near Sainte Mère Église. They eventually assembled near Foucarville at the northern edge of the 101st Airborne's objective area. It fought its way to the hamlet of le Chemin near the Houdienville causeway by mid-afternoon, but found that the 4th Division had already seized the exit hours before. The 3rd Battalion of the 501st PIR, led by Lt Col. Julian J. Ewell (3/501), also assigned to jump onto DZ C, was more scattered, but took over the mission of securing the exits. An ad hoc company-sized team that included division commander Maj. Gen. Maxwell D. Taylor reached the Pouppeville exit at 0600.[1] After a six-hour house-clearing battle with elements of the German 1058th Grenadier Regiment, the group secured the exit shortly before 4th Division troops arrived to link up.

Drop Zone D

The third wave also encountered severe flak, losing 6 aircraft. The troop carriers still made an accurate drop, placing 94 of 132 sticks on or close to the drop zone, but part of the DZ was covered by pre-registered German machinegun and mortar fire that inflicted heavy casualties before many troops could get out of their chutes. Among the killed were two of the three battalion commanders and the executive officer of the 3/506th.

The surviving battalion commander, Lt Col. Robert A. Ballard, gathered 250 troopers and advanced toward Saint Côme-du-Mont to complete his mission of destroying the highway bridges over the Douve. Less than half a mile from his objective at les Droueries he was stopped by elements of battalion III./1058 Grenadier-Rgt. Another group of 50 men, assembled by the regimental S-3, Major Richard J. Allen, attacked the same area from the east at Basse-Addeville but was also pinned down.

The commander of the 501st PIR, Col. Howard R. Johnson, collected 150 troops and captured the main objective, the la Barquette lock, by 0400. After establishing defensive positions, Col. Johnson went back to the DZ and assembled another 100 men, including Allen's group, to reinforce the bridgehead. Despite naval gunfire support from the cruiser Quincy, Ballard's battalion was unable to take Saint Côme-du-Mont or join Col. Johnson.

The S-3 officer of the 3rd Battalion 506th PIR, Capt. Charles G. Shettle, put together a platoon and achieved another objective by seizing two foot bridges near la Porte at 0430 and crossed to the east bank. When their ammunition drew low after knocking out several machine gun emplacements, the small force withdrew to the west bank. It doubled in size overnight as stragglers came in, and repulsed a German probe across the bridges.

Other actions

Two other noteworthy actions took place near Sainte Marie-du-Mont by units of the 506th PIR, both of which involved the seizure and destruction of batteries of 105mm guns of the German III Battalion-191st Artillery Regiment. During the morning, a small patrol of troopers from Company E 506th PIR under 1st Lt. Richard D. Winters overwhelmed a force 3-4 times its size and destroyed four guns at a farm called Brécourt Manor for which Winters was later awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.

Around noon, while reconnoitering the area by jeep, Col. Sink received word that a second battery of four guns had been discovered at Holdy, a manor between his CP and Sainte Marie-du-Mont, and the defenders had a force of some 70 paratroopers pinned down. Capt. Lloyd E. Patch (Headquarters Company 1st/506th) and Capt. Knut H. Raudstein (Company C 506th PIR)[4] led an additional 70 troops to Holdy and enveloped the position. The combined force then continued on to seize Sainte Marie-du-Mont. A platoon of the 502nd PIR, left to hold the battery, destroyed three of the four guns before Col. Sink could send four jeeps to save them for the airborne's use.

At the end of D-Day, Gen. Taylor and his assistant division commander (ADC) Brig. Gen. Anthony C. McAuliffe returned from their foray at Pouppeville. Taylor had control of approximately 2,500 of his 6,600 men, most of which were in the vicinity of the 506th CP at Culoville, with the thin defense line west of Saint Germain-du-Varreville, or the division reserve at Blosville. Two glider airlifts had brought in scant reinforcements and had resulted in the death of his other ADC, Brig. Gen. Don F. Pratt. The 327th Glider Infantry had come across Utah Beach but only its third battalion (1st Battalion 401st GIR) had reported in.

The 101st Airborne Division had accomplished its most important mission of securing the beach exits, but had a tenuous hold on positions near the Douve River, over which the Germans could still move armored units. The three groups clustered there had tenuous contact with each other but none with the rest of the division. A shortage of radio equipment caused by losses during the drops exacerbated his control problems. Taylor made destroying the Douve bridges the division's top priority and delegated the task to Col. Sink, who issued orders for the 1st Battalion 401st Glider Infantry to lead three battalions south the next morning.

Operation Market Garden
Main article: Operation Market Garden

On 17 September 1944, the division became part of the XVIII Airborne Corps in the First Allied Airborne Army. The division took part in Operation Market Garden (September 17–25, 1944), an unsuccessful Allied military operation under field marshall Bernard Montgomery to capture Dutch bridges over the Rhine fought in the Netherlands and the largest airborne operation of all time.[notes 2]

The plan, as outlined by Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, required the seizure by airborne forces of several bridges on the Highway 69 across the Maas (Meuse River) and two arms of the Rhine (the Waal and the Lower Rhine), as well as several smaller canals and tributaries. Crossing the these bridges would allow British armoured units to outflank the Siegfried Line, advance into northern Germany, and encircle the Ruhr, Germany's industrial heartland, thus ending the war. This meant the large-scale use of Allied airborne forces, including both the 82nd and 101st.

The operation was initially successful. Several bridges between Eindhoven and Nijmegen were captured by the 82nd and 101st. The 101st met little resistance and captured most of their initial objectives by the end of 17 September. However, the demolition of the division's primary objective, a bridge over the Wilhelmina Canal at Son, delayed the capture of the main road bridge over the Maas until 20 September. Faced with the loss of the bridge at Son, the 101st unsuccessfully attempted to capture a similar bridge a few kilometers away at Best but found the approach blocked. Other units continued moving to the south and eventually reached the northern end of Eindhoven.

At 06:00 hours on 18 September the Irish Guards Group resumed the advance while facing determined resistance from German infantry and tanks.[5]:p71 Around noon the 101st Airborne were met by the lead reconnaissance units from XXX Corps. At 16:00 radio contact alerted the main force that the Son bridge had been destroyed and requested that a bailey bridge be brought forward.[citation needed] By nightfall the Guards Armoured Division had established itself in the Eindhoven area[6] however transport columns were jammed in the packed streets of the town and were subjected to German aerial bombardment during the night. XXX Corps engineers, supported by German prisoners of war, constructed a class 40 bailey bridge within 10 hours across the Wilhelmina Canal.[5]:p72 The sector of the longest sector of the highway secured by the 101st Airborne Division later became known as "Hell's Highway".

Battle of the Bulge
Main article: Siege of Bastogne
101st Airborne Division troops watch as C-47s drop supplies over Bastogne
Letter from General McAuliffe on Christmas Day to the 101st Airborne troops defending Bastogne

The Ardennes Offensive (16 December 1944 – 25 January 1945) was a major German offensive launched towards the end of World War II through the forested Ardennes Mountains region of Belgium. Germany's planned goal for these operations was to split the British and American Allied line in half, capturing Antwerp, Belgium in the process, and then proceeding to encircle and destroy the entire British 21st Army Group and all 12th U.S. Army Group units north of the German advance, forcing the Western Allies to negotiate a peace treaty in the Axis Powers’ favor as a result.[7] In order to reach Antwerp before the Allies could regroup and bring their superior air power to bear, German mechanized forces had to seize all the major highways through eastern Belgium. Because all seven of the main roads in the Ardennes converged on the small town of Bastogne, control of its crossroads was vital to the success or failure of the German attack.

Despite several notable signs in the weeks preceding the attack, the Ardennes Offensive achieved virtually complete surprise. By the end of the second day of battle, it became apparent that the 28th Infantry Division was near collapse. Maj. Gen. Troy H. Middleton, commander of VIII Corps, ordered part of his armored reserve, Combat Command B of the 10th Armored Division to Bastogne.[notes 3] Meanwhile, Gen. Eisenhower ordered forward the SHAEF reserve, composed of the 82nd and 101st Airborne, which were stationed at Reims.

Both divisions were alerted on the evening of 17 December, and not having organic transport, began arranging trucks for movement forward. The 82nd, longer in reserve and thus better re-equipped, moved out first. The 101st left Camp Mourmelon on the afternoon of 18 December, with the order of march the division artillery, division trains, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR), 506th PIR, 502nd PIR, and 327th Glider Infantry. Much of the convoy was conducted at night in drizzle and sleet, using headlights despite threat of air attack to speed the movement, and at one point the combined column stretched from Bouillon, Belgium, back to Reims.

The 101st Airborne was routed to Bastogne, located 107 miles away on a 1463 ft (445m) high plateau, while the 82nd Airborne took up positions further north to block the critical advance of Kampfgruppe Peiper toward Werbomont, Belgium. The 705th Tank Destroyer Battalion, in reserve sixty miles to the north, was ordered to Bastogne to provide anti-tank support to the armorless 101st Airborne on the 18th and arrived late the next evening. The first elements of the 501st PIR entered the division assembly area four miles west of Bastogne shortly after midnight of 19 December, and by 0900 the entire division had arrived.

By 21 December, the German forces had surrounded Bastogne, which was defended by both the 101st Airborne and Combat Command B of the 10th Armored Division. Conditions inside the perimeter were tough—most of the medical supplies and medical personnel had been captured on 19 December. CCB of the 10th Armored Division, severely weakened by losses in delaying the German advance, formed a mobile "fire brigade" of 40 light and medium tanks (including survivors of CCR of the 9th Armored Division, which had been destroyed while delaying the Germans, and eight replacement tanks found unassigned in Bastogne). Three artillery battalions, including the all-black 969th Field Artillery Battalion, were commandeered by the 101st and formed a temporary artillery group. Each had 12 155 mm howitzers, providing the division with heavy firepower in all directions restricted only by its limited ammunition supply (By 22 December artillery ammunition was restricted to 10 rounds per gun per day.) The weather cleared the next day, however, and supplies (primarily ammunition) were dropped over four of the next five days.

Despite several determined German attacks, the perimeter held. The German commander, Generalleutnant Heinrich Freiherr von Lüttwitz,[8] requested Bastogne's surrender.[9] When General Anthony McAuliffe, now acting commander of the 101st, was told, a frustrated McAuliffe responded, "Nuts!" After turning to other pressing issues, his staff reminded him that they should reply to the German demand. One officer (Harry W. O. Kinnard, then a Lieutenant Colonel) recommended that McAuliffe's initial reply should be "tough to beat". Thus McAuliffe wrote on the paper delivered to the Germans: "NUTS!" That reply had to be explained, both to the Germans and to non-American Allies.

Both of the two panzer divisions of the XLVII Panzer Corps moved forward from Bastogne after 21 December, leaving only one panzergrenadier regiment of the Panzer-Lehr-Division to assist the 26th Volksgrenadier Division in attempting to capture the crossroads. The 26th VG received additional armor and panzergrenadier reinforcements on Christmas Eve to prepare for its final assault, to take place on Christmas day. Because it lacked sufficient armor and troops and the 26th VG Division was near exhaustion, the XLVII Panzer Corps concentrated the assault on several individual locations on the west side of perimeter in sequence rather than launching one simultaneous attack on all sides. The assault, despite initial success by German tanks in penetrating the American line, was defeated and virtually all of the German tanks involved were destroyed. The next day, 26 December, the spearhead of General George S. Patton's U.S. Third Army relief force, the 4th Armored Division, broke through the German lines and opened a corridor to Bastogne, ending the siege.

Post-War

On 1 August 1945, the 501 PIR was moved to France while the rest of the division was based around Zell am See and Kaprun in the Austrian alps. The division was deactivated 30 November 1945.

For their efforts during World War II, the 101st Airborne Division was awarded four campaign streamers and two Presidential Unit Citations. The division suffered 1,766 Killed In Action; 6,388 Wounded In Action; and 324 Died of Wounds during World War II.

Units
101st Airborne troops retrieving air dropped supplies during the siege of Bastogne.

* Division Headquarters
* 327th Glider Infantry Regiment
* 401st Glider Infantry Regiment, disbanded 1 March 1945 in France; assets to 327th GIR
* 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, attached 1 May 1944 – past 9 May 1945
* 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment
* 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, assigned 1 March 1945, previously attached 15 September 1943 - 1 March 1945- Which contains the "Easy Company" which gained fame from the show Band of Brothers.
* HHB, Division Artillery
o 321st Glider Field Artillery Battalion (75mm)
o 377th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion (75mm)
o 463d Parachute Field Artillery Battalion (75mm)
o 907th Glider Field Artillery Battalion (75mm)
* 81st Airborne Antiaircraft Battalion
* 326th Airborne Engineer Battalion
* 326th Airborne Medical Company
* 101st Parachute Maintenance Company
* 101st Signal Company
* 101st Counter Intelligence Corps Detachment
* Headquarters, Special Troops
o 801st Airborne Ordnance Maintenance Company
o 426th Airborne Quartermaster Company
o Headquarters Company, 101st Airborne Division
o Military Police Platoon
o Reconnaissance Platoon
o Band (assigned in 1 Mar 45 reorganization)

Source: Order of Battle: U.S. Army World War II by Shelby Stanton, Presidio Press, 1984.

Helmet Insignia

The 101st was distinguished partly by its helmet decorations. The soldiers used card suits (diamonds, spades, hearts, and clubs) to indicate the regiment to which they belonged. The only exception being the 187th, who were added to the division later.

* These insignias were first seen in World War II, and can still be seen on 101st Division soldiers today.
o 327th: Clubs (♣) (Currently worn by the 1st Brigade Combat Team; seen in 1949 film Battleground)
o 501st: Diamonds (♦) (Currently 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment is part of the 4th Brigade (ABN), 25th Infantry Division in Alaska.) (The Diamond is currently used by the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade)
o 502d: Hearts (♥) (Currently worn by the 2d Brigade Combat Team)
o 506th: Spades (♠) (Currently worn by the 4th Brigade Combat Team; seen in miniseries Band of Brothers (TV miniseries))
o 187th: Torii(Torii.svg) (Currently worn by the 3d Brigade Combat Team; not during World War II, when the 187th Infantry Regiment was part of the 11th Airborne Division.)

Reactivation

The 101st Airborne Division was reactivated as a training unit at Camp Breckinridge, Kentucky, in 1948 and again in 1950. It was reactivated again in 1954 at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, and in March 1956, the 101st was transferred, less personnel and equipment, to Fort Campbell, Kentucky, to be reorganized as a combat division. The 101st was reactivated as a "pentomic" division with five battle groups in place of its World War II structure that featured regiments and battalions. The reorganization was in place by late April 1957 and the division's battle groups were:

* 2d Airborne Battle Group, 187th Infantry
* 1st Airborne Battle Group, 327th Infantry
* 1st Airborne Battle Group, 501st Infantry
* 1st Airborne Battle Group, 502nd Infantry
* 1st Airborne Battle Group, 506th Infantry

Division artillery consisted of the following units:

* Battery D, 319th Artillery (Abn)
* Battery E, 319th Artillery (Abn)
* Battery A, 321st Artillery (Abn)
* Battery B, 321st Artillery (Abn)
* Battery C, 321st Artillery (Abn)
* Battery A, 377th Artillery (Abn)

Other supporting units were also assigned.

Civil rights
Main article: Little Rock Nine
Members of the 101st Airborne escorting the Little Rock Nine to school

The Little Rock Nine were a group of African-American students who were enrolled in Little Rock Central High School in September 1957, as a result of The U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in the historic Brown v. Board of Education case. Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus, in direct opposition to the Court's ruling, activated and deployed the Arkansas National Guard to support the segregationists on 4 September 1957. The sight of a line of soldiers blocking nine black students from attending high school immediately polarized the city.

Attorneys from the U.S. Justice Department requested an injunction against the governor's deployment of the National Guard from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas in Little Rock. Judge Ronald Davies granted the injunction and ordered the governor to withdraw the National Guard on 20 September.[11]

As a result, elements of the division's 1st Airborne Battle Group, 327th Infantry (bearing the lineage of the old Company A, 327th Glider Infantry Regiment) were ordered to Little Rock by President Eisenhower to enforce the court injunction during the crisis. The division was deployed from September through November 1957, when they were relieved by the U.S. Marshals.
[edit] Vietnam War
Main article: Vietnam War
Men of the 1st Brigade, 101st Airborne Division, fire from old Viet Cong trenches.

In the mid-1960s, the 1st Brigade and support troops were deployed to the Republic of Vietnam, followed by the rest of the division in late 1967. The 101st was deployed in the northern I Corps region operating against the Vietnam People's Army (NVA) infiltration routes through Laos and the A Shau Valley for most of the war. In almost seven years of combat in Vietnam, elements of the 101st participated in 15 campaigns. Notable among these were the Battle of Hamburger Hill in 1969 and Firebase Ripcord in 1970.
[edit] Firebase Ripcord

On 12 March 1970, the 3rd Brigade of 101st began rebuilding abandoned Fire Support Base Ripcord which relied, as with most remote bases at the time, on a helicopter lifeline to get supplies in and the personnel out. The firebase was to be used for a planned offensive by the 101st to destroy NVA supply bases in the mountains overlooking the A Shau Valley. Located on the eastern edge of the valley, and taking place at the same time as the Cambodian Incursion, the operation was considered covert.

As the 101st Airborne planned the attack on the NVA supply bases, the North Vietnamese Army was secretly observing their activities. From 12 March until 30 June, the NVA was sporadically attacking the Firebase. After weeks of reconnaissance by the NVA, on the morning of 1 July 1970 the North Vietnamese Army launched a surprise mortar attack on the firebase. The resulting 23 day battle between the 101st Airborne and the North Vietnamese Army was the last major confrontation between United States ground forces and North Vietnam of the Vietnam War.

During the 23-day siege, 75 U.S. servicemen were killed in action, including 2nd Battalion, 506th Infantry commanding officer Colonel Andre Lucas, who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, and 1st Lt. Bob Kalsu, the only American professional athlete to be killed during the war.[12] During the entire battle (including the siege), 250 members of the division were killed.

Fighting from four hilltops, surrounded, and outnumbered nearly ten to one, the division's forces inflicted heavy losses on eight enemy battalions before an aerial withdrawal was ordered on 23 July 1970 while under heavy mortar, anti-aircraft, and small arms fire, ending the siege. After the division withdrew from the firebase, USAF B-52 heavy bombers were sent in to carpet bomb the area. NVA losses at Ripcord delayed the Easter Offensive by a full year.

Lam Son 719

In 1971, elements of the division supported the ARVN Operation Lam Son 719, the invasion of southern Laos, but only aviation units actually entered Laos. In the seven years that all or part of the division served in Vietnam it suffered 4,011 Killed in Action and 18,259 Wounded in Action. Casualties for the 101st in Viet Nam were twice those suffered in World War II, and its total number of Killed in Action was the third highest of all U.S. Army ground units, behind the 1st Cavalry Division (5,464) and the 25th Infantry Division (4,561). Had the entire division arrived in 1965, as did the 1st Cavalry and 25th, its total casualties could have been even higher.

It has been said that most North Vietnamese had never seen a bald eagle, so they called the 101st soldiers "Chicken Men" or "Rooster Men." Viet Cong commanders were rumored to regularly include in their briefings that they were to avoid confrontation with the "Chicken Men" at all costs, as they were sure to lose. Supposedly this remained a source of fierce pride among veterans who served in Vietnam under the 101st.

Post-Vietnam
A member of the 101st Airborne Division, armed with an M60 machine gun, participates in a field exercise. M16A1 rifle in background with each soldier wearing an M1 Helmet

In 1968, the 101st took on the structure and equipment of an airmobile division. Following its return from Vietnam, the division was rebuilt with one brigade (3d) and supporting elements on jump status, using the assets of what had been the 173rd Airborne Brigade. The remaining two brigades and supporting units were organized as airmobile. With the exception of certain specialized units, such as the pathfinders and parachute riggers, in early 1974 the Army terminated jump status for the division. Concurrently the 101st introduced the Airmobile Badge (renamed later that year as the Air Assault Badge), the design of which was based on the Glider Badge of World War II. Initially the badge was only authorized for wear while assigned to the division, but in 1978 the Army authorized it for service-wide wear. Soldiers continued to wear the garrison cap with glider patch, bloused boots, and the cloth wing oval behind their wings, as had division paratroopers before them. A blue beret was authorized for the division in the early 1970s until revoked at the end of 1978.[16] The division also was authorized to wear a full color (white eagle) shoulder patch insignia instead of the subdued green eagle shoulder patch that was worn as a combat patch by soldiers who fought with the 101st in Vietnam, a distinction shared with the 1st and 5th Infantry divisions.

Charles Bloodworth, a pathfinder officer in the 101st during the early 1970s, describes the transition of the post-war division to fully Air Assault and the adoption of the Air Assault Badge at this link.

Tragedy struck the division on 12 December 1985. A civilian aircraft, Arrow Air Flight 1285, chartered to transport some of the division from peacekeeping duty with the Multinational Force Observers on the Sinai Peninsula to Kentucky, crashed near Gander, Newfoundland. All eight air crew members and 248 US servicemen died, most were from the 3d Battalion, 502d Infantry. The crash was the worst in Canadian aviation history. President Ronald Reagan and his wife Nancy traveled to Fort Campbell to comfort grieving family members. On 8 March 1988, two U.S. Army helicopters collided in Fort Campbell, Kentucky, killing 17 servicemen.

Persian Gulf War
Main article: Gulf War
Ground operations during Operation Desert Storm, with the 101st Airborne Division positioned at the left flank.

In January 1991, the 101st once again had its "Rendezvous with Destiny" in Iraq during the combat air assault into enemy territory. The 101st sustained no soldiers killed in action during the 100-hour war and captured thousands of enemy prisoners of war. The 101st Aviation Regiment, fired the first shots of the war when eight AH-64 helicopters successfully destroyed two Iraqi early warning radar sites.[17]

The division has supported humanitarian relief efforts in Rwanda and Somalia, then later supplied peacekeepers to Haiti and Bosnia.

Kosovo

In August 2000, the 2nd battlaion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) From Fort Campbell, Kentucky, helped secure the peace in Kosovo and support the October elections for the formation of the new Kosovo government.

Montana forest fires

In September and October 2000, the 3d Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) from Fort Campbell, Kentucky, helped fight fires on the Bitterroot National Forest in Montana. Designated Task Force Battle Force and commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Jon S. Lehr, the battalion fought fires throughout the surrounding areas of their Valley Complex near Darby, Montana.[18]

Operation Enduring Freedom
Main article: Operation Enduring Freedom
Rakkasans of the 187th Infantry Regiment return from Operation Anaconda in Afghanistan.

The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) was the first conventional unit to deploy in support of the American War on Terrorism.[19] The 2d Brigade, "Strike", built around the 502d Infantry, was largely deployed to Kosovo on peacekeeping operations, with some elements of 3rd Battalion, 502nd, deploying after 9/11 as a security element in the U.S. CENTCOM AOR with the Fort Campbell-based 5th Special Forces Group. The Division quickly deployed its 3rd Brigade, the 187th Infantry's Rakkasans, as the first conventional unit to fight as part of Operation Enduring Freedom.[citation needed]

After an intense period of combat in rugged Shoh-I-Khot Mountains of eastern Afghanistan during Operation Anaconda with elements of the 10th Mountain Division, the Rakkasans redeployed to Fort Campbell only to find the 101st awaiting another deployment order. In 2008, the 101st 4th BCT Red and White "Curraahee" including the 1st and the 2nd Battalions, 506th Infantry "Band of Brothers" were deployed to Afghanistan. The 101st Combat Aviation Brigade deployed to Afghanistan as Task Force Destiny in early 2008 to Bagram Air Base. 159th Combat Aviation Brigade deployed as Task Force Thunder to Afghanistan in early 2009.

Operation Iraqi Freedom
Main article: Iraq War
3rd Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment alongside Task Force 20 at Uday and Qusay Hussein's hideout.

In 2003, Major General David H. Petraeus ("Eagle 6") led the Screaming Eagles to war during the 2003 invasion of Iraq (Operation Iraqi Freedom). General Petraeus led the division into Iraq saying, "Guidons, Guidons. This is Eagle 6. The 101st Airborne Division's next Rendezvous with Destiny is North to Baghdad. Op-Ord Desert Eagle 2 is now in effect. Godspeed. Air Assault. Out." The division was in V Corps, providing support to the 3rd Infantry Division by clearing Iraqi strongpoints which that division had bypassed. 3rd Battalion 187 inf regt (3rd Brigade) was attached to 3rd Infantry Division and was the main effort in clearing Saddam International Airport. The Division then went on to a tour of duty as part of the occupation forces of Iraq, using the city of Mosul as their primary base of operations. 1st and 2d Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment (1st Brigade) oversaw the remote airfield Qayarrah West 30 miles (48 km) south of Mosul. The 502d Infantry Regiment (2d Brigade) and 3d Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment were responsible for Mosul itself while the 187th Infantry Regiment (3d Brigade) controlled Tal Afar just north of Mosul.

Once replaced by the first operational Stryker Brigade, the 101st was withdrawn in early 2004 for rest and refit. As part of the Army's modular transformation, the existing infantry brigades, artillery brigade, and aviation brigades were transformed. The Army also activated the 4th Brigade Combat Team, which includes the 1st and 2nd Battalions, 506th Infantry Regiment ("Currahee") and subordinate units. Both battalions were part of the 101st in Vietnam but saw their colors inactivated during an Army-wide reflagging of combat battalions in the 1980s, with 1-506th INF resurfacing in Korea, along with 1-503d INF and 2-503d INF (the latter later inactivated), as Air Assault units within the 2d Infantry Division. The colors of the 506th have returned to the 101st and 1-503d and 2-503d are parachute infantry battalions of the 173d Airborne Brigade in Italy, just as they were when the 173d was in Viet Nam.

The reconfiguration of 101st formed seven major units in the division (four infantry BCTs, two combat aviation brigades (CABs), and one sustainment brigade), making it the largest formation currently in the U.S. Army.

As of December 2007, 143 members of the Division have died while on service in Iraq.[20]

Second deployment to Iraq
A silhouette photo of soldiers from Battery B, 3d Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, pose at the end of a patrol near Wynot, Iraq much like the cover of Band of Brothers.

The division's second deployment to Iraq began in the late summer of 2005. The division headquarters replaced the 42d Infantry Division, which had been directing security operations as the headquarters for Task Force Liberty. Renamed Task Force Band of Brothers, the 101st assumed responsibility on 1 November 2005 for four provinces in north central Iraq: Salah ad Din, Kirkuk, Diyala and As Sulymaniyah. On 30 December 2005, Task Force Band of Brothers also assumed responsibility for training Iraqi security forces and conducting security operations in Ninevah and Dahuk provinces as the headquarters for Task Force Freedom was disestablished.

During the second deployment, 2d and 4th Brigades of the 101st Airborne Division were assigned to conduct security operations under the command of Task Force Baghdad, led initially by 3d Infantry Division, which was replaced by 4th Infantry Division. The 1st Battalion of the 506th Infantry (4th Brigade) was separated from the division and served with the Marines in Ramadi, in the Al Anbar province. 3d Brigade was assigned to Salah ad Din and Bayji sectors and 1st Brigade was assigned to the overall Kirkuk province which included Hawijah, one of the deadliest cities in Iraq.

Task Force Band of Brothers' primary mission during its second deployment to Iraq was the training of Iraqi security forces. When the 101st returned to Iraq, there were no Iraqi units capable of assuming the lead for operations against Iraqi and foreign terrorists. As the division concluded its tour, 33 battalions were in the lead for security in assigned areas, and two of four Iraq divisions in northern Iraq were commanding and controlling subordinate units.

Simultaneously with training Iraqi Soldiers and their leaders, 101st Soldiers conducted numerous security operations against terrorist cells operating in the division's assigned, six-province area of operations. Operation Swarmer was the largest air assault operation conducted in Iraq since 22 April 2003. 1st Brigade conducted Operation Scorpion with Iraqi units near Kirkuk.

Developing other aspects of Iraqi society also figured in 101st operations in Iraq. Division commander Major General Thomas Turner hosted the first governors' conference for the six provinces in the division's area of operations, as well as the neighboring province of Erbil.[21] Numerous civil affairs operations were directed by the division, including the construction and renovation of schools, clinics, police stations, and other important landmarks in civilian communities from Turkey to Baghdad and from the Syrian border to the Iranian border.

B-2

The Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit (also known as the Stealth Bomber) is an American heavy bomber with "low observable" stealth technology designed to penetrate dense anti-aircraft defenses and deploy both conventional and nuclear weapons. Because of its considerable capital and operational costs, the project was controversial in Congress and among the Joint Chiefs of Staff. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Congress slashed initial plans to purchase 132 bombers to just 21.

The cost of each aircraft averaged US$737 million in 1997 dollars.[3] Total procurement costs averaged US$929 million per aircraft, which includes spare parts, equipment, retrofitting, and software support.[3] The total program cost, which includes development, engineering and testing, averaged US$2.1 billion per aircraft (in 1997 dollars).[3]

Twenty B-2s are operated by the United States Air Force. Though originally designed in the 1980s for Cold War operations scenarios, B-2s were first used in combat to drop bombs on Serbia during the Kosovo War in 1999, and saw continued use during the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.[4] One aircraft was lost when it crashed on takeoff in 2008.[5]

The bomber has a crew of two and can drop up to 80 x 500 lb (230 kg)-class JDAM GPS-guided bombs, or 16 x 2,400 lb (1,100 kg) B83 nuclear bombs in a single pass through extremely dense anti-aircraft defenses. The B-2 is the only aircraft that can carry large air to surface standoff weapons in a stealth configuration. The program has been the subject of espionage and counter-espionage activity and the B-2 has provided prominent public spectacles at air shows since the 1990s.

Development
[edit] ATB project

The B-2 Spirit originated from the Advanced Technology Bomber (ATB) black project that began in 1979.[6] The Cold War was well underway, and on the campaign trail in 1979 and 1980, candidate Ronald Reagan promised a restoration of American military strength. On 22 August 1980, the incumbent Carter administration publicly disclosed that the Department of Defense was working to develop stealth aircraft including the ATB.[7] In 2007, it was revealed publicly that MIT scientists helped assess the mission effectiveness of the aircraft under classified contract during the 1980s.[8]

After the evaluations of the companies' proposals, the ATB competition was reduced to the Northrop/Boeing and Lockheed/Rockwell teams with each receiving a study contract for further work.[6] The Northrop design was larger while the Lockheed design was smaller and included a small tail.[9] The black project was funded under the code name "Aurora".[9] The Northrop/Boeing team's ATB design was selected over the Lockheed/Rockwell design on 20 October 1981.[6][10]

The Northrop design received the designation B-2 and the name "Spirit". The bomber's design was changed in the mid-1980s when the mission profile was changed from high-altitude to low-altitude, terrain-following. The redesign delayed the B-2's first flight by two years and added about US$1 billion to the program's cost.[7] An estimated US$23 billion was secretly spent for research and development on the B-2 by 1989.[11] At the program's peak, approximately 13,000 people were employed at a dedicated plant in Pico Rivera, California for the aircraft's engineering and portions of its manufacturing.[12]

The B-2 was first publicly displayed on 22 November 1988, at Air Force Plant 42, Palmdale, California, where it was assembled. Its first public flight was on 17 July 1989 from Palmdale.[13]
[edit] Procurement

A procurement of 132 aircraft was planned in the mid-1980s, but was later reduced to 75.[14] By the early 1990s, the Soviet Union had disintegrated, which effectively rendered void the Spirit's primary Cold War mission. In light of budgetary pressures and congressional opposition, in his 1992 State of the Union Address, President George H.W. Bush announced B-2 production would be limited to a total of 20 aircraft.[15] In 1996, however, the Clinton administration, though originally committed to ending production of the bombers once the 20th aircraft was completed, authorized the conversion of a 21st bomber, a prototype test model, to Block 30 full operational status at a cost of nearly $500 million.[16]

The bomber's high costs reflected the innovation of a paperless computer aided design (CAD) system, and a computerized manufacturing control system. The costs also reflect the inefficiencies of separating design teams into different parts of the country for both design intelligence compartmentalization as a counter-espionage measure, and by parceling out the supply chain with the requisite lucrative contracts to congressional districts as a political reward.

In 1995 Northrop made a proposal to the USAF to build 20 additional aircraft with a flyaway cost of $566M each.[17]
[edit] Espionage

In 1984 a Northrop employee, Thomas Cavanaugh, was arrested for trying to sell classified information to the Soviet Union, which apparently was smuggled out of the Pico Rivera, California factory.[18] Cavanaugh was eventually sentenced to life in prison and released under parole in 2001.

Noshir Gowadia, a design engineer who worked on the B-2's propulsion system, was arrested in October 2005 for selling B-2 related classified information to foreign countries. His trial was initially scheduled for 12 February 2008, but he received a continuance.[19][20]
[edit] Program costs
In a 1994 live fire exercise near Point Mugu, California, a B-2 drops forty-seven 500 lb (230 kg) class Mark 82 bombs, which is more than half of a B-2's total ordnance payload

The program was the subject of public controversy for its costs to American taxpayers. In 1996 the General Accounting Office disclosed that the USAF's B-2 bombers "will be, by far, the most costly bombers to operate on a per aircraft basis", costing over three times as much as the B-1B (US$9.6 million annually) and over four times as much as the B-52H ($US6.8 million annually). In September 1997, each hour of B-2 flight necessitated 119 hours of maintenance in turn. Comparable maintenance needs for the B-52 and the B-1B are 53 and 60 hours respectively for each hour of flight. A key reason for this cost is the provision of air-conditioned hangars large enough for the bomber's 172 ft (52.4 m) wingspan, which are needed to maintain the aircraft's stealthy properties, especially its "low-observable" stealthy skins.[21][22]

The total "military construction" cost related to the program was projected to be US$553.6 million in 1997 dollars. The cost to procure each B-2 was US$737 million in 1997 dollars, based only on a fleet cost of US$15.48 billion.[3] The procurement cost per aircraft as detailed in General Accounting Office (GAO) reports, which include spare parts and software support, was $929 million per aircraft in 1997 dollars.[3]

The total program cost projected through 2004 was US$44.75 billion in 1997 dollars. This includes development, procurement, facilities, construction, and spare parts. The total program cost averaged US$2.13 billion per aircraft.[3]
[edit] Opposition

In its consideration of the fiscal year 1990 defense budget, the House Armed Services Committee trimmed $800 million from the B-2 research and development budget, while at the same time staving off a motion to kill the bomber. Opposition in committee and in Congress more largely was broad and bipartisan, with Congressman Ron Dellums (D-CA), John Kasich (R-OH), and John G. Rowland (R-CT) authorizing the motion to kill the bomber and others in the Senate such as Jim Exon (D-NE) and John McCain (R-AZ) also opposing the project.[23]

The growing cost of the B-2 program, and evidence of flaws in the aircraft's ability to elude detection by radar,[23] were among factors which drove opposition. At the peak production period specified in 1989, the schedule called for spending US$7 billion to $8 billion per year in 1989 dollars, something Committee Chair Les Aspin (D-WI) said "won't fly financially."[24]

In 1990, the US Department of Defense accused Northrop of using faulty components in the flight control system. Efforts have also been made to reduce the probability of bird ingestion, which could damage engine fan blades.[25]

In time, a number of prominent members of Congress began to oppose the program's expansion, to include former Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry who cast votes against the B-2 Stealth Bomber in 1989, 1991 and 1992 while a United States Senator representing Massachusetts. By 1992, Republican President George H.W. Bush called for the cancellation of the B-2 and promised to cut military spending by 30% in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union.[26]

In May 1995, on the basis of its 1995 Heavy Bomber Force Study, the DOD determined that additional B-2 procurements would exacerbate efforts to develop and implement long term recapitalization plans for the USAF bomber force.

In October 1995, former Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force, General Mike Ryan, and Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General John Shalikashvili, strongly recommended against Congressional action to fund the purchase of any additional B-2s, arguing that to do so would require unacceptable cuts in existing conventional and nuclear-capable aircraft to pay for the new bombers,[27] and because the military had much higher priorities on which to spend its limited procurement dollars.[28]

Some B-2 advocates argued that procuring twenty additional B-2s would save money because B-2s would be able to deeply penetrate anti-aircraft defenses and use low-cost, short-range attack weapons rather than expensive standoff weapons. However, in 1995, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), and its Director of National Security Analysis, found that additional B-2s would reduce the cost of weapons expended by the bomber force by less than US$2 billion in 1995 dollars during the first two weeks of a conflict, which is when the Air Force envisions bombers would make their greatest contribution. This is a small fraction of the US$26.8 billion (in 1995 dollars) life cycle cost that the CBO projected an additional 20 B-2s would cost.[29]

In 1997, as Ranking Member of the House Armed Services Committee and National Security Committee, Congressman Ron Dellums, a long-time opponent of the bomber, cited five independent studies and offered an amendment to that year's defense authorization bill to cap production of the bombers with the existing 21 aircraft. The amendment was narrowly defeated.[30] Nonetheless, Congress has never approved funding for the purchase of any additional B-2 bombers to date.
[edit] Upgrades

In 2008, the US Congress funded upgrades to the B-2s weapon control systems for hitting moving targets.[31]

On 29 December 2008, Air Force officials awarded a production contract to Northrop Grumman to modernize the B-2 fleet's radar. The contract provides advanced state-of-the-art radar components, with the aim of sustained operational viability of the B-2 fleet into the future. The contract has a target value of approximately US$468 million.[32] The award follows successful flight testing with the upgraded equipment. A modification to the radar was needed since the U.S. Department of Commerce required the B-2 to use a different radar frequency.[33] It was reported on 22 July 2009 that the B-2 had passed the second of the two USAF audit milestones associated with this upgraded AESA radar capability.[34]

On 28 April 2009, an Air Force/contractor team verified that the 30,000 pound Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) would fit in the B-2's bomb bay.[35]
[edit] Design
The B-2's engines are buried within its wing to conceal the induction fans and minimize their exhaust signature. The crew of two sit side-by-side in the cockpit

The B-2's low-observable, or "stealth", characteristics give it the ability to penetrate an enemy's most sophisticated anti-aircraft defenses to attack its most heavily defended targets. The bomber's stealth comes from a combination of reduced acoustic, infrared, visual and radar signatures, making it difficult for opposition defenses to detect, track and engage the aircraft. Many specific aspects of the low-observability process remain classified. The B-2's composite materials, special coatings and flying wing design, which reduces the number of leading edges, contribute to its stealth characteristics.[36] Each B-2 requires a climate-controlled hangar large enough for its 172-foot (52 m) wingspan to protect the operational integrity of its sophisticated radar absorbent material and coatings.[37] The engines are buried within the wing to conceal the induction fans and hide their exhaust.[38]

The blending of low-observable technologies with high aerodynamic efficiency and large payload gives the B-2 significant advantages over previous bombers. The U.S. Air Force reports its range as approximately 6,000 nautical miles (6,900 mi; 11,000 km).[4][39] Also, its low-observation ability provides the B-2 greater freedom of action at high altitudes, thus increasing its range and providing a better field of view for the aircraft's sensors. It combines GPS Aided Targeting System (GATS) with GPS-aided bombs such as Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM). This uses its passive electronically scanned array APQ-181 radar to correct GPS errors of targets and gain much better than laser-guided weapon accuracy when "dumb" gravity bombs are equipped with a GPS-aided "smart" guidance tail kit. It can bomb 16 targets in a single pass when equipped with 1,000 or 2,000-pound (450 kg or 900 kg) bombs, or as many as 80 when carrying 500 lb (230 kg) bombs.

The B-2 has a crew of two: a pilot in the left seat, and mission commander in the right.[4] The B-2 has provisions for a third crew member if needed.[40] For comparison, the B-1B has a crew of four and the B-52 has a crew of five.[4] B-2 crews have been used to pioneer sleep cycle research to improve crew performance on long sorties. The B-2 is highly automated, and, unlike two-seat fighters, one crew member can sleep, use a toilet or prepare a hot meal while the other monitors the aircraft.[41]
A B-2 during aerial refueling which extends its range past 6,000 miles to support intercontinental sorties.

As with the B-52 Stratofortress and B-1 Lancer, the B-2 provides the versatility inherent in manned bombers. Like other bombers, its assigned targets can be canceled or changed while in flight, the particular weapon assigned to a target can be changed, and the timing of attack, or the route to the target can be changed while in flight.

The prime contractor, responsible for overall system design, integration and support, is Northrop Grumman. Boeing, Raytheon (formerly Hughes Aircraft), G.E. and Vought Aircraft Industries, are subcontractors.

The original B-2 design had tanks for a contrail-inhibiting chemical, but this was replaced in the final design with a contrail sensor from Ophir that alerts the pilot when he should change altitude[42] and mission planning also considers altitudes where the probability of contrail formation is minimized.
[edit] Operational history

The first operational aircraft, christened Spirit of Missouri, was delivered to Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, where the fleet is based, on 17 December 1993.[43] The B-2 reached initial operational capability (IOC) on 1 January 1997.[44] Depot maintenance for the B-2 is accomplished by U.S. Air Force contractor support and managed at Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center at Tinker Air Force Base.[4] Originally designed to deliver nuclear weapons, modern usage has shifted towards a flexible role with conventional and nuclear capability.
[edit] Into combat
An Air Force maintenance crew services a B-2 at Andersen AFB, Guam, 2004

The B-2 has seen service in three campaigns. Its combat debut was during the Kosovo War in 1999. It was responsible for destroying 33% of selected Serbian bombing targets in the first eight weeks of U.S. involvement in the War.[4] During this war, B-2s flew non-stop to Kosovo from their home base in Missouri and back.[4] The B-2 was the first aircraft to deploy GPS satellite guided JDAM "smart bombs" in combat use in Kosovo.[45]
B-2 Spirit.ogv
Play video
B-2 Spirit United States Air Force video

The B-2 has been used to drop bombs on Afghanistan in support of the ongoing War in Afghanistan. With the support of aerial refueling, the B-2 flew one of its longest missions to date from Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri to Afghanistan and back.[4]

During the ongoing War in Iraq, B-2s have operated from Diego Garcia and an undisclosed "forward operating location". Other sorties in Iraq have launched from Whiteman AFB.[4] This resulted in missions lasting over 30 hours and one mission of over 50 hours. The designated "forward operating locations" have been previously designated as Guam and RAF Fairford, where new climate controlled hangars have been constructed. B-2s have conducted 27 sorties from Whiteman AFB and 22 sorties from a forward operating location, releasing more than 1.5 million pounds of munitions,[4] including 583 JDAM "smart bombs" in 2003.[46]

The B-2's combat use preceded a U.S. Air Force declaration of "full operational capability" in December 2003.[4] The Pentagon's Operational Test and Evaluation 2003 Annual Report noted that the B-2's serviceability for Fiscal Year 2003 was still inadequate, mainly due to the maintainability of the B-2's low observable coatings. The evaluation also noted that the Defensive Avionics suite also had shortcomings with pop-up threats.[4]

All B-2s, nuclear-capable B-52s, and nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles have shifted to the new nuclear-focused Air Force Global Strike Command scheduled to be set up by September 2009.[47][48]
[edit] Operators
The "Spirit of Indiana" sits on the ramp at Andersen AFB in Guam on 23 June 2006

B-2s are operated exclusively by the United States Air Force active units.

* United States Air Force
o 509th Bomb Wing, Whiteman Air Force Base (currently has 19 B-2s)
+ 393d Bomb Squadron
+ 394th Combat Training Squadron
o 131st Bomb Wing, Whiteman Air Force Base (Missouri Air National Guard)[49]
+ 110th Bomb Squadron
o 412th Test Wing, Edwards Air Force Base (currently has 1 B-2)
+ 419th Flight Test Squadron
o 53d Wing, Eglin Air Force Base (former)
+ 72d Test and Evaluation Squadron, Whiteman Air Force Base
o 57th Wing, Nellis Air Force Base (former)
+ 325th Weapons Squadron, Whiteman Air Force Base
+ 715th Weapons Squadron (inactivated)

[edit] Accident
Main article: Andersen Air Force Base B-2 accident

On 23 February 2008, a B-2 crashed on the runway shortly after takeoff from Andersen Air Force Base in Guam.[50] The Spirit of Kansas, 89-0127 had been operated by the 393rd Bomb Squadron, 509th Bomb Wing, Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, and had logged 5,176 flight hours. It was the first crash of a B-2. The two person crew ejected from the aircraft and survived the crash. The aircraft was completely destroyed, a hull loss valued at US$1.4 billion.[51][52] After the accident, the Air Force took the B-2 fleet off operational status until clearing the fleet for flight status 53 days later on 15 April 2008.[53]
[edit] Aircraft on display
Mockup of a B-2 Spirit on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force

Because of its unparalleled cost, strategic bombing role, and the still-classified aspects of its low observable coatings, no production B-2 has ever been placed on permanent display. However, B-2s have made periodic appearances on ground display at various air shows.

In 2004, one of the test articles (s/n AT-1000) built without engines or instruments for static testing was placed on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force near Dayton, Ohio.[54] The test article passed all structural testing.[55] The Museum's restoration team spent over a year reassembling the fractured airframe.

From 1989 to 2004, the South Dakota Air and Space Museum located on the grounds of Ellsworth Air Force Base displayed the 10-short-ton (9-metric-ton) "Honda Stealth", a 60% scale mockup of a stealthy bomber which had been built by North American Honda in 1988 for an advertising campaign.[56] Although not an actual replica of a B-2, the mock-up was close enough to the B-2's design to arouse suspicion that Honda had intercepted classified, top secret information, as the B-2 project was still officially classified in 1988. Honda donated the model to the museum in 1989, on condition that the model be destroyed if it was ever replaced with a different aircraft. In 2005, when the museum received a B-1 Lancer for display (Ellsworth being a B-1 base), the museum destroyed the mock-up.[57][58]
[edit] Specifications (B-2A Block 30)
Orthographically projected diagram of the B-2 Spirit

Data from USAF Fact Sheet,[4] Pace,[59] Spick,[39] Globalsecurity[60]

General characteristics

* Crew: 2
* Length: 69 ft (21.0 m)
* Wingspan: 172 ft (52.4 m)
* Height: 17 ft (5.18 m)
* Wing area: 5,140 ft² (478 m²)
* Empty weight: 158,000 lb (71,700 kg)
* Loaded weight: 336,500 lb (152,200 kg)
* Max takeoff weight: 376,000 lb (170,600 kg)
* Powerplant: 4× General Electric F118-GE-100 non-afterburning turbofans, 17,300 lbf (77 kN) each

Performance

* Maximum speed: Mach 0.95 (525 knots, 604 mph, 972 km/h)
* Cruise speed: Mach 0.85[39] (470 knots, 541 mph, 870 km/h)
* Range: 6,000 nmi (11,100 km (6,900 mi))
* Service ceiling: 50,000 ft (15,200 m)
* Wing loading: 67.3 lb/ft² (329 kg/m²)
* Thrust/weight: 0.205

Armament

* 2 internal bays for 50,000 lb (23,000 kg) of ordnance.[39]

* 80× 500 lb class bombs (Mk-82) mounted on Bomb Rack Assembly (BRA)
* 36× 750 lb CBU class bombs on BRA
* 16× 2000 lb class weapons (Mk-84, JDAM-84, JDAM-102) mounted on Rotary Launcher Assembly (RLA)
* 16× B61 or B83 nuclear weapons on RLA

Later avionics and equipment improvements allow B-2A to carry JSOW, GBU-28, and GBU-57A/Bs as well. The Spirit is also designated as a delivery aircraft for the AGM-158 JASSM when the missile enters service.

M1 Abrams

The M1 Abrams is a third-generation main battle tank produced in the United States. The M1 is named after General Creighton Abrams, former Army Chief of Staff and Commander of US military forces in Vietnam from 1968 to 1972. It is a well armed, heavily armored, and highly mobile tank designed for modern armored ground warfare.[6] Notable features of the M1 Abrams include the use of a powerful gas turbine engine, the adoption of sophisticated composite armor, and separate ammunition storage in a blow-out compartment for crew safety. It is one of the heaviest tanks in service, weighing in at close to 68 short tons (almost 62 metric tons).

The M1 Abrams entered U.S. service in 1980, replacing the 105 mm gun, full tracked M60 Patton.[7] It did, however, serve for over a decade alongside the improved M60A3, which had entered service in 1978. Three main versions of the M1 Abrams have been deployed, the M1, M1A1, and M1A2, incorporating improved armament, protection and electronics. These improvements, as well as periodic upgrades to older tanks have allowed this long-serving vehicle to remain in front-line service. The M1A3 is currently under development. It is the principal main battle tank of the United States Army and Marine Corps, and the armies of Egypt, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Australia, and in 2010 Iraq. The M1 Abrams is anticipated to be in U.S. service until the 2050s, approximately 70 years after entering U.S. service.

History
Main article: History of the M1 Abrams
[edit] Development
An XM1 Abrams, during a demonstration at Fort Knox, Kentucky in 1979.

The first attempt to replace the aging M60 tank was the MBT-70, developed in partnership with West Germany in the 1960s. The MBT-70 was very ambitious, and had various ideas that ultimately proved unsuccessful. As a result of the imminent failure of this project, the U.S. Army introduced the XM803. This succeeded only in producing an expensive system with capabilities similar to the M60.[8]

Congress canceled the MBT-70 in November and XM803 December 1971, and redistributed the funds to the new XM815 later renamed the XM1 Abrams after General Creighton Abrams. Prototypes were delivered in 1976 by Chrysler Defense and General Motors armed with the license-built version of the 105 mm Royal Ordnance L7 gun along with a Leopard 2 for comparison. The Chrysler Defense design was selected for development as the M1. In 1979, General Dynamics Land Systems Division purchased Chrysler Defense.

3273 M1 Abrams were produced 1979-85 and first entered US Army service in 1980. It was armed with the license-built version of the 105 mm Royal Ordnance L7 gun. An improved model called the M1IP was produced briefly in 1984 and contained small upgrades. The M1IP models were used in the Canadian Army Trophy NATO tank gunnery competition in 1985 and 1987.

About 6000 M1A1 Abrams were produced from 1986–92 and featured the M256 120 mm smoothbore cannon developed by Rheinmetall AG of Germany for the Leopard 2, improved armor, and a CBRN protection system.
[edit] Gulf War
Abrams move out on a mission during the Gulf War. A Bradley IFV and logistics convoy can be seen in the background.

As the Abrams entered service in the 1980s, they would operate alongside M60A3 within the United States military, and with other NATO tanks in numerous Cold War exercises. These exercises usually took place in Western Europe, especially West Germany, but also in some other countries like South Korea. During such training, Abrams crews honed their skills for use against the men and equipment of the Soviet Union. However, by 1991 the USSR had collapsed and the Abrams would have its trial by fire in the Middle East.

The Abrams remained untested in combat until the Gulf War in 1991. A total of 1,848 M1A1s were deployed to Saudi Arabia. The M1A1 was superior to Iraq's Soviet-era T-55 and T-62 tanks, as well as Iraqi-assembled Russian T-72s, and locally-produced copies (Asad Babil tank). The T-72s, like most Soviet export designs, lacked night vision systems and then-modern rangefinders, though they did have some night fighting tanks with older active infrared systems or floodlights—just not the latest starlight scopes and passive infrared scopes as on the Abrams. Only 23 M1A1s were taken out of service in the Gulf[9]. Some others took minor combat damage, with little effect on their operational readiness. Very few Abrams tanks were hit by enemy fire, and there was only one fatality, along with a handful of woundings as a result.
An M1A1 destroyed by Iraqi fire during the Liberation of Kuwait.

The M1A1 was capable of making kills at ranges in excess of 2,500 metres (8,200 ft). This range was crucial in combat against tanks of Soviet design in Desert Storm, as the effective range of the main gun in the Soviet/Iraqi tanks was less than 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) (Iraqi tanks could not fire anti-tank missiles like their Russian counterparts). This meant Abrams tanks could hit Iraqi tanks before the enemy got in range—a decisive advantage in this kind of combat. In friendly fire incidents, the front armor and fore side turret armor survived direct APFSDS hits from other M1A1s. This was not the case for the side armor of the hull and the rear armor of the turret, as both areas were penetrated at least in two occasions by friendly DU ammunition during the Battle of Norfolk.[10]
[edit] Interwar upgrades

The M1A2 was a further improvement of the M1A1 with a commander's independent thermal viewer and weapon station, position navigation equipment, digital data bus and a radio interface unit. The M1A2 SEP (System Enhancement Package) added digital maps, FBCB2 (Force XXI Battlefield Command Brigade and Below) capabilities, and an improved cooling system to maintain crew compartment temperature with the addition of multiple computer systems to the M1A2 tank.

Further upgrades included depleted uranium armor for all variants, a system overhaul that returns all A1s to like-new condition (M1A1 AIM), a digital enhancement package for the A1 (M1A1D), a commonality program to standardize parts between the U.S. Army and the Marine Corps (M1A1HC) and an electronic upgrade for the A2 (M1A2 SEP).

During Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm and for Bosnia, some M1A1s were modified with armor upgrades. The M1 can be equipped with mine plow and mine roller attachments if needed. The M1 chassis also serves as a basis for the Grizzly combat engineering vehicle and the M104 Wolverine heavy assault bridge.

Over 8,800 M1 and M1A1 tanks have been produced at a cost of US$2.35–$4.30 million per unit, depending on the variant.
[edit] Iraq War
M1A1 conducts reconnaissance in Iraq in September 2004.

Further combat was seen during 2003 when US forces invaded Iraq and deposed the Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. As of March 2005, approximately 80 Abrams tanks were forced out of action by enemy attacks.[11] Nevertheless, the campaign saw very similar performance from the tank with no Abrams crew member being lost to hostile fire during the invasion of Iraq, although several tank crew members were later killed by roadside bombs during the occupation that followed.

The most lopsided achievement of the M1A2s was the destruction of seven T-72 Lion of Babylon tanks in a point-blank skirmish (less than 50 yards (46 m)) near Mahmoudiyah, about 18 miles (29 km) south of Baghdad, with no losses for the American side.[12] In addition to the Abrams' already heavy armament, some crews were also issued M136 AT4 shoulder-fired anti-tank weapons under the assumption that they might have to engage heavy armor in tight urban areas where the main gun could not be brought to bear.

Following lessons learned in Desert Storm, the Abrams and many other US combat vehicles used in the conflict were fitted with Combat Identification Panels to reduce friendly fire incidents. These were fitted on the sides and rear of the turret, with flat panels equipped with a four-cornered 'box' image on either side of the turret front (as seen in the image above). Some Abrams were also fitted with a secondary storage bin on the back of the existing bustle rack on the rear of the turret referred to as a bustle rack extension to enable the crew to carry more supplies and personal belongings.

Many Abrams (irrecoverable due to loss of mobility or other circumstances) were destroyed by friendly forces to prevent their capture, usually by other Abrams, who often found them very difficult to destroy despite their firepower.[13]

A majority of Abrams damaged post-invasion were by Improvised explosive devices (IEDs).[14]

Some Abrams were disabled by Iraqi infantrymen in ambushes during the invasion. Some troops employed short-range anti-tank rockets and fired at the tracks, rear and top. Other tanks were put out of action when struck in critical places by heavy machine gun rounds.[15][16]

Due to the vulnerability of tanks in urban combat, the Tank Urban Survival Kit, or TUSK, is being issued to some M1 Abrams. It is intended to improve fighting ability in urban environments.
[edit] Future

The tracked M8 Armored Gun System was conceived as a possible supplement for the Abrams in U.S. service for low-intensity conflict in the early 90's. Prototypes were made but the program was canceled. The 8-wheeled M1128 Mobile Gun System was designed to supplement the Abrams in U.S. service for low-intensity conflict. It has been introduced into service and, though mobile, it has proven to be quite vulnerable.

The U.S. Army's Future Combat Systems' XM1202 Mounted Combat System was to replace the Abrams in U.S. service and was in development when funding for the program was cut from the DoD's budget.

The M1A3 Abrams is in the early design period with the U.S. Army.[17][18] The Army aims to build prototypes by 2014 and to begin to field the first combat-ready M1A3s by 2017.

The U.S. Army's developing BCT Ground Combat Vehicle Program might permanently replace the M1 as well as many other U.S. army vehicles. However, the Army anticipates that the Abrams may remain in U.S. service until 2050.
[edit] Design
[edit] Countermeasures
[edit] Camouflage
A group of M1A1s enter the Twin Bridges training area prepared for a mock battle in the Republic of Korea during Foal Eagle '98, seen with their factory single green paint scheme.

Unlike earlier US military vehicles from World War II through Vietnam, which used a scheme of dark brownish green known as "olive drab" with large white stars, prototypes and early production M1 (105 mm gun) & M1-IP models used the flat medium green paint; and the large white insignia stars have transitioned to much smaller black markings. Some units painted their M1s with the older MERDC 4-color paint scheme but the turn-in requirements for these tanks required repainting them to solid green. Therefore, even though a large number of the base model M1s were camouflaged in the field, few or none exist today.

M1A1s (120 mm gun) came from the factory with the NATO 3 color camouflage Black/Med-Green/Dark-Brown CARC paint jobs.[citation needed] Today M1A1s are given the NATO three color paint job during rebuilds. M1s and M1A1s deployed to Desert Storm were hastily painted desert tan. Some, but not all, of these tanks were re-painted to their "authorized" paint scheme. M1A2s built for Middle Eastern countries were painted in desert tan.

Some M1 series tanks are being painted desert tan for service in Iraq and some are not. Replacement parts (roadwheels, armor skirt panels, drive sprockets, etc.) are painted overall green, which can sometimes lead to vehicles with a patchwork of green and desert tan parts.
[edit] Concealment

The turret is fitted with two six-barreled smoke grenade launchers (USMC M1A1s use an eight-barreled version). These can create a thick smoke that blocks both vision and thermal imaging, and can also be armed with chaff. The engine is also equipped with a smoke generator that is triggered by the driver. When activated, fuel is sprayed on the engine manifold, creating the thick smoke. However, due to change from diesel as a primary fuel to the use of JP-8, this system is disabled on most Abrams today, because JP-8 causes the tanks to catch fire when sprayed on the manifold.
[edit] Active protection system

In addition to the advanced armor, some Abrams are equipped with a Missile Countermeasure Device that can impede the function of guidance systems of semi-active control line-of-sight (SACLOS) wire and radio guided anti-tank missiles (Russian AT-3, AT-4, AT-5, AT-6 and the like) and thermally and infrared guided missiles (ATGM).[19] This device is mounted on the turret roof in front of the loader's hatch, and can lead some people to mistake Abrams fitted with these devices for the M1A2 version, since the Commander's Independent Thermal Viewer on the latter is mounted in the same place, though the MCD is box-shaped and fixed in place as opposed to cylindrical and rotating like the CITV.
[edit] Armor
Tankers drive an M1A1 Abrams through the Taunus Mountains north of Frankfurt during Exercise Ready Crucible in February, 2005.

The Abrams is protected by armor based on the British-designed Chobham armor, a further development of the British 'Burlington' armor. Chobham is a composite armor formed by spacing multiple layers of various alloys of steel, ceramics, plastic composites, and kevlar, giving an estimated maximum (frontal turret) 1,320–1,620 millimetres (52–64 in) of RHAe versus HEAT (and other chemical energy rounds) and 940–960 mm (37–38 in) versus kinetic energy penetrators.[20] It may also be fitted with reactive armor over the track skirts if needed (as in the Urban Survival Kit) and Slat armor over the rear of the tank and rear fuel cells to protect against ATGMs. Protection against spalling is provided by a Kevlar liner. Beginning in 1987, M1A1 tanks received improved armor packages that incorporated depleted uranium (DU) mesh in their armor at the front of the turret and the front of the hull. Armor reinforced in this manner offers significantly increased resistance towards all types of anti-tank weaponry, but at the expense of adding considerable weight to the tank, as depleted uranium is 1.7 times more dense than lead.[21]

The first M1A1 tanks to receive this upgrade were tanks stationed in Germany, since they were the first line of defense against the Soviet Union. US-based tank battalions participating in Operation Desert Storm received an emergency program to upgrade their tanks with depleted uranium armor immediately before the onset of the campaign. M1A2 tanks uniformly incorporate depleted uranium armor, and all M1A1 tanks in active service have been upgraded to this standard as well, the added protection from the depleted uranium armor is believed to be equivalent to 24 inches (610 mm) of RHA. The strength of the armor is estimated to be about the same as similar western, contemporary main battle tanks such as the Leopard 2. In the Persian Gulf War, Abrams tanks survived multiple hits at relatively close ranges from Iraqi Lion of Babylon tanks and ATGMs. M829A1 "Silver Bullet" APFSDS rounds from other M1A1 Abrams were unable to penetrate the front and side armor (even at close ranges) in friendly fire incidents as well as an incident in which another Abrams tried to destroy an Abrams that got stuck in mud and had to be abandoned.[22]
[edit] Damage control

In the chance that the Abrams does suffer damage resulting in a fire in the crew compartment, the tank is equipped with a halon fire-suppression system that automatically engages and extinguishes fires in seconds.

Fuel and ammunition are in armored compartments with blowout panels to protect the crew from the risk of the tank's own ammunition cooking off if the tank is damaged.
[edit] Armament
[edit] Primary armament

M68A1 rifled gun

The main armament of the original model M1 was the M68A1 105 mm rifled tank gun firing a variety of high explosive anti-tank, high explosive, white phosphorus and an anti-personnel (multiple flechette) round. This gun is a license-built version of the British Royal Ordnance L7 gun. While being a reliable weapon and widely used by many NATO nations, a cannon with lethality beyond the 3-kilometer (1.9 mi) range was needed to combat newer armor technologies. To attain that lethality, projectile diameter needed to be increased. The M68A1's performance in terms of accuracy and armor-piercing penetration is on par with the M256A1 up to 3 kilometers (1.9 mi) out[citation needed], but beyond that range the 105 mm projectile lacks the kinetic energy to defeat modern armor packages.

M256 smoothbore gun

A Marine M1A1 Abrams, fires its main gun into a building to provide suppressive counter fire against insurgents in Fallujah, Al Anbar Province, Iraq during the Second Battle of Fallujah, 2004.

The main armament of the M1A1 and M1A2 is the M256A1 120 mm smoothbore gun, designed by Rheinmetall AG of Germany, manufactured under license in the United States by Watervliet Arsenal, New York. The M256A1 is a variant of the Rheinmetall 120 mm L/44 gun carried on the German Leopard 2 on all variants up to the Leopard 2A5. Leopard 2A6 replaced the L/44 barrel with a longer L/55.

The M256A1 fires a variety of rounds. The M829A2 was developed specifically to address the threats posed by a Soviet T-90 or T-80U tank equipped with Kontakt-5 Explosive Reactive Armor. It also fires HEAT shaped charge rounds such as the M830, the latest version of which (M830A1) incorporates a sophisticated multi-mode electronic sensing fuse and more fragmentation which allows it to be used effectively against armored vehicles, personnel, and low-flying aircraft. The Abrams uses a manual loader, due to the belief that having a crewman reload the gun is faster and more reliable.[citation needed] and because autoloaders do not allow for separate ammunition storage in the turret.[citation needed] The fourth tank crewman on the Abrams also provides additional support for maintenance, observation post/listening post (LP/OP) operations, and other tasks.

The new M1028 120 mm anti-personnel canister cartridge was brought into service early for use in the aftermath of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. It contains 1,098 3⁄8-inch (9.5 mm) tungsten balls which spread from the muzzle to produce a shotgun effect lethal out to 600 meters (2,000 ft). The tungsten balls can be used to clear enemy dismounts, break up hasty ambush sites in urban areas, clear defiles, stop infantry attacks and counter-attacks and support friendly infantry assaults by providing covering fire. The canister round is also a highly effective breaching round and can level cinder block walls and knock man-sized holes in reinforced concrete walls for infantry raids at distances up to 75 meters (246 ft).[23]

In addition to this, the new XM1111 (Mid-Range-Munition Kinetic Energy) is also in development. Essentially a cannon-fired guided round, it has a range of roughly 12 km and uses a KE warhead which is rocket assisted in its final phase of flight. This is intended to be the best penetrator yet, an improvement over the US 3rd generation DU penetrator (estimated penetration 790 mm (31 in)).
[edit] Secondary armament
U.S. Army M1A2 Abrams tanks maneuver in the streets as they conduct a combat patrol in the city of Tall Afar, Iraq, in February, 2005.

The Abrams tank has three machine guns:

1. A .50 cal. (12.7 mm) M2HB machine gun in front of the commander's hatch. On the M1, M1IP and M1A1, this gun is on a powered mount and can be fired using a 3× magnification sight, known as the Commander's Weapon Station (CWS for short), while the vehicle is "buttoned up" with all its hatches closed to protect the crew. On the M1A2 & M1A2SEP, this gun is on a flex mount (seen at right), the Commander having to expose himself to fire the weapon manually. With the forthcoming TUSK addon kit, an M2HB or a Mk 19 grenade launcher can be mounted on the CROWS remote weapons platform (similar to the Protector M151 remote weapon station used on the Stryker family of vehicles). The upgrade variant called M1A1 Abrams Integrated Management (AIM) equips the .50 caliber gun with a thermal sight for accurate night and other low-visibility shooting.[24]
2. A 7.62 mm M240 machine gun in front of the loader's hatch on a skate mount. Some of these have been fitted with gun shields during the ongoing conflict in Iraq as seen in the image at right, as well as night-vision scopes for low-visibility engagements.
3. A second 7.62 mm M240 machine gun in a coaxial mount to the right of the main gun. The coaxial MG is aimed and fired with the same computer fire control system used for the main gun.[25]
4. (Optional) A second coaxial 12.7 mm M2HB machine gun can be mounted directly above the main gun in a remote weapons platform as part of the TUSK upgrade kit.

For the US Army in previous years, the Abrams usually maintained the provision for storing an M16 rifle or M4 carbine inside the turret in case the crew is required to leave the tank under potentially hostile conditions; while the crewmen were supplied with the M9 Beretta pistol as a personal sidearm. Considering the current (often dismounted) role of American armored crewmen and contemporary operating environments, though, current US Army crews maintain a rifle or carbine for each crewman. During Iraqi Freedom some crews were also issued M136 AT4 shoulder-fired anti-tank weapons under the assumption that they might have to engage heavy armor in tight urban areas where the main gun could not be brought to bear.
[edit] Aiming
Soldiers conduct a counter improvised explosive device (CIED) mission in Baghdad, December 2007.

The Abrams is equipped with a ballistic fire-control computer that uses user and system-supplied data from a variety of sources, to compute, display, and incorporate the three components of a ballistic solution - lead angle, ammunition type, and range to the target, to accurately fire the tank. These three components are determined using a YAG rod laser rangefinder, crosswind sensor, a pendulum static cant sensor, data concerning performance and flight characteristics of each specific type of round, tank-specific boresight alignment data, ammunition temperature, air temperature, barometric pressure, a muzzle reference system (MRS) that determines and compensates for barrel droop at the muzzle due to gravitational pull and barrel heating due to firing or sunlight, and target speed determined by tracking rate tachometers in the Gunner's or Commander's Controls Handles. All of these factors are computed into a ballistic solution and updated 30 times per second. The updated solution is displayed in the Gunner's or Tank Commander's field of view in the form of a reticle in both day and Thermal modes. The ballistic computer manipulates the turret and a complex arrangement of mirrors so that all one has to do is keep the reticle on the target and fire to achieve a hit. Proper lead and gun tube elevation are applied to the turret by the computer, greatly simplifying the job of the Gunner.
Washington Army National Guard soldier, performing the critical job of "boresighting;" the alignment of all the tank's sights to the center of the axis of the bore of the main gun on an M1A1 Abrams in Mosul, Iraq in January 2005.

The fire-control system uses these data to compute a firing solution for the gunner. The ballistic solution generated ensures a hit percentage greater than 95 percent at nominal ranges. Either the commander or gunner can fire the main gun. Additionally, the Commander's Independent Thermal Viewer (CITV) on the M1A2 can be used to locate targets and pass them on for the gunner to engage while the commander scans for new targets. In the event of a malfunction or damage to the primary sight system, the main and coaxial weapons can be manually aimed using a telescopic scope boresighted to the main gun known as the Gunner's Auxiliary Sight (GAS). The GAS has two interchangeable reticles; one for HEAT and MPAT (MultiPurpose AntiTank) rounds and one for APFSDS and STAFF (Smart Target-Activated Fire and Forget) ammunition. Turret traverse and main gun elevation can be accomplished with manual handles and cranks in the event of a Fire Control System or Hydraulic System failure. The commander's M2 .50 caliber machine gun on the M1 and M1A1 is aimed by a 3x magnification sight incorporated into the Commander's Weapon Station (CWS), while the M1A2 uses either the machine gun's own iron sights, or a remote aiming system such as the CROWS system when used as part of the TUSK (Tank Urban Survival Kit). The loader's M240 machine gun is aimed either with the built-in iron sights or with a thermal scope mounted on the machine gun.
[edit] Mobility
[edit] Tactical mobility
Marines from 1st Tank Battalion load a Honeywell AGT1500 gas turbine back into the tank at Camp Coyote, Kuwait, February 2003.

The M1 Abrams is powered by a 1,500 shaft horsepower (1,100 kW) Honeywell AGT 1500 (originally made by Lycoming) gas turbine, and a six speed (four forward, two reverse) Allison X-1100-3B Hydro-Kinetic automatic transmission, giving it a governed top speed of 45 mph (72 km/h) on paved roads, and 30 mph (48 km/h) cross-country. With the engine governor removed, speeds of around 60 mph (97 km/h) are possible on an improved surface; however, damage to the drive train (especially to the tracks) and an increased risk of injuries to the crew can occur at speeds above 45 mph (72 km/h). The tank for all intents and purposes was built around this engine.[26] The tank can be fueled with diesel fuel, kerosene, any grade of motor gasoline, JP-4 jet fuel, or JP-8 jet fuel; the US Army uses JP-8 jet fuel in order to simplify logistics. The Royal Australian Armoured Corps' M1A1 AIM SA uses diesel fuel; it is cheaper and makes practical sense for Australian military logistics.
Driving controls

The gas turbine propulsion system has proven quite reliable in practice and combat, but its high fuel consumption is a serious logistic issue (starting up the turbine alone consumes nearly 10 US gallons (38 l) of fuel).[27] The engine burns more than 1 US gallon (3.8 l) per mile and 12 US gallons (45 l) per hour when idle.[28] The high speed, high temperature jet blast emitted from the rear of M1 Abrams tanks makes it difficult for the infantry to proceed shadowing the tank in urban combat. The turbine is very quiet when compared to diesel engines of similar power output and produces a significantly different sound from a contemporary diesel tank engine, reducing the audible distance of the sound, thus earning the Abrams the nickname "whispering death" during its first REFORGER exercise.
M1 Abrams offloading from Landing Craft Air Cushioned vehicle.

Honeywell was developing another gas turbine engine with General Electric for the XM2001 Crusader program that was also to be a replacement for the AGT-1500 engine already in the Abrams tank.[29] The new LV100-5 engine is lighter and smaller (43% fewer parts) with rapid acceleration, quieter running and no visible exhaust.[30] It also features a 33% reduction in fuel consumption (50% less when idle) and near drop-in replacement.[31] The Abrams-Crusader Common Engine Program was shelved when the Crusader program was canceled, however Phase 2 of Army's PROSE (Partnership for Reduced O&S Costs, Engine) program calls for further development of the LV100-5 and replacement of the current AGT-1500 engine.[32] Future US tanks may return to reciprocating engines for propulsion, as 4-stroke diesel engines have proven quite successful in other modern heavy tanks, e.g. the Leopard 2, Challenger 2 and Merkava.[citation needed]

Using a high power density 330 cc (20 cu in) Wankel rotary engine modified to use diesel and military grade jet fuel, TARDEC developed a 220-pound (100 kg) Auxiliary Power Unit designed to fit into the M1 Abrams, replacing an existing battery pack that weighs about 500 pounds (230 kg). The new APU will also be more fuel efficient.[33] The installation of the first APUs is expected to start in 2009.

A provision exists that the Abrams be able to transport passengers in tank desant with the turret stabilization device off. One Infantry squad carrying only their battle gear may ride the rear of the turret. The soldiers have the option of using ropes and equipment straps as a field-expedient Infantry rail to provide handholds and snap links to secure themselves to the turret. The Squad leader, team leaders, grenadiers sit on the left and right sides of the turret, while the riflemen, and automatic riflemen sit at the rear. If and when enemy contact is made, the tank conceals itself allowing the infantry to dismount.[34]
[edit] Strategic mobility
A U.S. Army M1A1 after being offloaded from a US Air Force C-17 at Balad Air Base, Iraq in 2004.

Strategic mobility is the ability of the tanks of an armed force to arrive in a timely, cost effective, and synchronized fashion. The Abrams can be carried by a C-5 Galaxy or a C-17 Globemaster III. The limited capacity (two combat-ready in a C-5, one combat-ready tank in a C-17) caused serious logistical problems when deploying the tanks for the First Gulf War, though there was enough time for 1,848 tanks to be transported by ship.

The Abrams is also transportable by truck, namely the M1070 Heavy Equipment Transporter (HET). The HET can operate on highways, secondary roads, and cross-country. The HET accommodates the 4 tank crewmen.[35]

The government-owned Lima Army Tank Plant in Lima, Ohio, currently manufactures the Abrams,[1] the Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant in Warren, Michigan manufactured it from 1982 to 1996. It costs upwards of US$5 million a tank[3]
[edit] Variants and upgrades
U.S Army M104 Wolverine Heavy Assault Bridge
Grizzly Combat Mobility Vehicle (CMV)
Assault Breacher Vehicle launching a line charge

* XM1: Experimental model. Nine test-beds were produced in 1978.
* M1: First production variant. Production began in 1979 and continued to 1985 (3,273 built for the US).
o M1IP (Improved Performance): Produced briefly in 1984 before the M1A1, contained upgrades and reconfigurations like new turet with thicker frontal armor, new turret is reffered as "long" turret instead of older "short" turret, armor upgraded from ~650mm line of sight thickness to ~880mm (894 build fo US).
* M1A1: Production started in 1985 and continued to 1992, pressurized NBC system, rear bustle rack for improved stowage of supplies and crew belongings, redesigned blow-off panels and M256 120 mm smoothbore cannon (4,976 built for the US Army, 221 for USMC, 755 for Egypt, 59 M1A1 AIM SA sold to Australia).
o M1A1HA (Heavy Armor): Added 1st generation depleted uranium armor mesh, some tanks were later upgraded with 2nd generation depleted uranium armor mesh, and are unoficially designated M1A1HA+.
o M1A1HC (Heavy Common): Added new 2nd generation depleted uranium armor mesh, digital engine control and other small upgrades common between Army and Marine Corps tanks.
o M1A1D (Digital): A digital upgrade for the M1A1HC, to keep up with M1A2SEP, manufactured in quantity for only 2 battalions.
o M1A1AIM v.1 (Abrams Integrated Management): A program whereby older units are reconditioned to zero hour conditions; [2] and the tank is improved by adding Forward-Looking Infra-Red (FLIR) and Far Target Locate sensors, a tank-infantry phone, communications gear, including FBCB2 and Blue Force Tracking, to aid in crew situational awareness, and a thermal sight for the .50 caliber machine gun. General Dynamics has been awarded contracts by the US Army to supply this variant.[24]
o M1A1AIM v.2/M1A1SA (Situational Awareness): Upgrades similar to AIM v.1 tanks + new 3rd generation depleted uranium armor mesh.
o M1A1FEP (Firepower Enhancement Package): Similar upgrade to AIM v.2 for U.S.M.C. tanks.
o M1A1KVT (Krasnovian Variant Tank): M1A1s that have been visually modified to resemble Soviet-made tanks for use at the National Training Center, fitted with MILES gear and a Hoffman device.
o M1A1M: An export variant ordered by the Iraqi Army.[36]

* M1A2 (Baseline): Production began in 1992 (77 built for the US and more than 600 M1s upgraded to M1A2, 315 for Saudi Arabia, 218 for Kuwait). The M1A2 offers the tank commander an independent thermal sight and ability to, in rapid sequence, shoot at two targets without the need to acquire each one sequentially, also 2nd generation depleted uranium armor mesh.[37]
o M1A2SEP (System Enhancement Package): Has upgraded 3rd generation depleted uranium armor mesh with graphite coating (240 new built, 300 M1A2s upgraded to M1A2SEP for the USA, also unknown numbers of upgraded basic M1's and M1IP's, also 400 oldest M1A1's upgraded to M1A2SEP).

* M1 TTB (Tank Test Bed): Prototype with unmanned turret, 3 crew members in armored capsule in front of the heavy armored hull, main armament was 120mm smoothbore gun, M256 derivative or modification, mechanical loading system under turret, never fielded.
* CATTB - Experimental model with a 140 mm smoothbore gun (about 25 ft (7.5 m) long), heavy armored turret and upgraded hull based on the M1's chassis. It had a mechanical loading system in turret bustle, a new engine and probably other upgrades, never fielded. The tank went trials in 1987-1988. CATTB stands for Component Advanced Technology Test Bed. [38]
* M1 Grizzly Combat Mobility Vehicle (CMV)[3][4]
* M1 Panther II Remote Controlled Mine Clearing Vehicle [5]
* M104 Wolverine Heavy Assault Bridge [6]
* M1 Panther II Mine Clearing Blade/Roller System.
* M1ABV Assault Breacher Vehicle: Assault variant for the USMC. Based upon the M1A1 Abrams chassis, the Assault Breacher Vehicle has a variety of systems installed, such as a full-width mine plow, two linear demolition charges, and a lane-marking system. Reactive armor has been fitted to the vehicle providing additional protection against HEAT-based weapons. The turret has been replaced by a new smaller one with two MICLIC launchers at its rear. A M2HB .50 machine gun in a remote weapons station is mounted on the commander's cupola and a bank of grenade launchers are fitted to each side of the superstructure to cover the frontal arc are provided for self-protection.[39][40]
* M1 Armored Recovery Vehicle. Only a prototype produced.

[edit] Specifications of variants
M1 M1IP M1A1 M1A2 M1A2SEP
Produced 1979–85 1984 1986–92 1992–present
Length 32.04 ft (9.77 m)
Width 12 ft (3.7 m)
Height 7.79 ft (2.37 m) 8.0 ft (2.4 m)
Top speed 45 mph (72 km/h) 41.5 mph (66.8 km/h) 42 mph (68 km/h)
Range 310 mi (500 km) 288 mi (463 km) 243 mi (391 km)
Weight 61.4 short tons (55.7 t) 62.8 short tons (57.0 t) 67.6 short tons (61.3 t) 68.4 short tons (62.1 t) 69.5 short tons (63.0 t)
Main armament 105 mm M68 rifled 120 mm M256 smoothbore
Crew 4 (commander, gunner, loader, driver)

Note: All of the above produce a power of 1,500 shp (1,100 kW).
[edit] Tank Urban Survival Kit
M1A2 with TUSK.
M1A1 Abrams with an Abrams Integrated Management System and the Tank Urban Survivability Kit conducting a patrol in Baghdad, 2007.

The Tank Urban Survival Kit (TUSK), is a series of improvements to the M1 Abrams intended to improve fighting ability in urban environments.[41] Historically, urban and other close battlefields have been the worst place for tanks to fight—a tank's front armor is much stronger than that on the sides, top, or rear, and in an urban environment, attacks can come from any direction, and attackers can get close enough to reliably hit weak points in the tank's armor, or get sufficient elevation to hit the top armor square on.

Armor upgrades include reactive armor on the sides of the tank and slat armor (similar to that on the Stryker) on the rear to protect against rocket-propelled grenades and other shaped charge warheads.

A Transparent Armor Gun Shield and a thermal sight system are added to the loader's top-mounted M240B 7.62 mm machine gun, and a Kongsberg Gruppen Remote Weapon Turret carrying a .50 caliber machine gun (again similar to that used on the Stryker) is in place of the tank commander's original .50 caliber machine gun mount, wherein the commander had to expose himself to fire the weapon manually. An exterior telephone allows supporting infantry to communicate with the tank commander.

The TUSK system is a field-installable kit that allows tanks to be upgraded without needing to be recalled to a maintenance depot.

While the reactive armor may not be needed in most situations in maneuver warfare, items like the rear slat armor, loader's gun shield, infantry phone (which saw use on Marine Corps M1A1s as early as 2003), and Kongsberg Remote Weapons Station for the .50 caliber machine gun will be added to the entire M1A2 fleet over time.

On August 29, 2006, General Dynamics Land Systems received a US Army order for 505 Tank Urban Survivability Kits (TUSK) for Abrams main battle tanks supporting operations in Iraq, under a US$45 million contract. The add-on kit will be provided for M1A1 and M1A2-series tanks to enhance crew survivability in urban environments. The kit ordered by the Army consists of a Loader's Armor Gun Shield (LAGS), a Tank Infantry Phone (TIP), Abrams Reactive Armor Tiles (ARAT), a Remote Thermal Sight (RTS) and a Power Distribution Box (PDB). Deliveries are expected to be complete by April 2009.[42]

Under a separate order, the US Army awarded General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products (GDATP) US$30 million to produce reactive armor kits to equip M1A2. The total contract value could reach $59 million if all contract options are exercised. The reactive tiles for the M1 will be locally produced at GDATP's Burlington Technology Center. Tiles will be produced at the company's reactive armor facility in Stone County Operations, McHenry, Miss. On December 8, 2006 the U.S. Army added Counter Improvised Explosive Device enhancements to the M1A1 and M1A2 TUSK, awarding GDLS U.S. $11.3 million, part of the $59 million package mentioned above. In December GDLS also received an order amounting about 40% of a US$48 million order for loader's thermal weapon sights being part of the TUSK system improvements for the M1A1 and M1A2 Abrams Tanks.[42]