From the S&S archives:
Marine missiles protect the Gulf

EASTERN SAUDI ARABIA — Should Iraqi warbirds ever wing south toward U.S. Marine outposts, the Corps will uncage flocks of a different feather — HAWK III antiaircraft missiles.

HAWKs, or Homing All the Way Killer ground-to-air missiles, are designed to shoot down attacking jets or cruise missiles, said Marine Lt. Col. John Ryan, who commands the 2nd Light Anti-aircraft Missile Battalion. The battalion has been ready to defend the Saudi skies since deploying here from Yuma, Ariz., two months ago.

"I sent a message to (Lt.) Gen. (Walter) Boomer (the Marines' Mideast commander) the other day to stop sending (extra) missiles and start sending me targets," Ryan said.

An undisclosed number of HAWK III batteries are nested throughout the Arabian Peninsula in defense of critical allied sites and dug-in Marine units, said Ryan, 41, from El Paso, Texas.

THE COMMANDER noted that while the Army and Marine Corps have owned HAWK missiles for 30 years, the HAWK III is part of an updated system that is less than a year old. Unlike earlier HAWK versions, the new system can track and kill several enemy jets at once, said Ryan, who has worked with the missiles for 17 years and helped develop the latest model.

Ryan explained that "if a whole bunch of targets appear at close range" on the system's radar screen, then the new-model HAWKs can "engage more than six targets simultaneously."

"The missiles leave the launcher just that fast," Ryan said, snapping his fingers. He said he could not comment on the maximum number of targets the system could track.

Although other countries own HAWK missiles, Ryan noted that the United States alone fields the latest, state-of-the-art model. He said that radar jammers cannot fool the new U.S. system and added that the HAWK III could shoot down Iraqi SCUD surface-to-surface missiles.

RYAN SAID that HAWKS are best used for low-altitude targets, while the Army's Patriot missile batteries that are deployed in Operation Desert Shield would defend high-altitude air space. U.S. fighter jets, surveillance planes and air defense missile systems work together to spin a thick web above Saudi Arabia, leaving "no safe place for the enemy to fly," he said.

While HAWK Ills employ sensitive electronics gear, a battery maintenance chief explained that desert heat, dust and sand should not harm the missile systems.

"The missiles and their rocket motors are factory sealed and stay that way until we actually launch them," said Master Sgt. Ralph Bollinger, 40, from Yuma. "Things are holding up real well" in the desert, he added.

Bollinger said that the battalion is used to working in the heat, as the Marines often train at the White Sands Missile Range, N.M., as well as similar sites in Arizona and Nevada.

Fall temperatures range from 100- plus at midday to 65 degrees at night — compared to 120-degree readings in mid-August.

Addressing his potential enemy's strengths, Ryan conceded that Iraq may have captured some HAWKs from Kuwait after the Aug. 2 invasion.

"Let them take it (the missiles) apart and try to understand it," the commander said. "Then let their pilots come down here. But don't leave the porch light on because (they) aren't coming home."