US Joint Forces Conduct Long-Range Maritime Strikes on Ex-USS Ingraham Near Hawaii Coast

Commissioned on August 5, 1989, the USS Ingraham (FFG-61) was the last Oliver Hazard Perry-class guided missile frigate to be constructed, and the fourth US Navy vessel named after Captain Duncan Ingraham. Prior to its January 2015 decommission, the frigate was credited with the capture of nine drug trafficking vessels and $561 million in cocaine.

Earlier this month, the US joint forces took to the Hawaiian Islands Operating Area to conduct a sinking exercise (SINKEX) consisting of coordinated multi-domain, multi-axis, long-range maritime strikes on ex-USS Ingraham.  

The joint forces’ various missiles were seen pummeling the decommissioned frigate toward the end of a video jointly released by the US Navy and US Marine Corps. During the first half of the footage, the USS Carl Vinson launched a number of F-35C Joint Strike Fighters that employed laser-guided weapons, and a P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft was able to test its Harpoon weapon system.

The SINKEX required the target to sink at least 1,000 fathoms (6,000 feet, 1829 meters) of water, and the exercise was prohibited from being performed within 50 nautical miles (58 miles, 93 kilometers) from land.

Participants in the joint, live-fire exercise included units from Vinson Carrier Strike Group (VINCSG), Submarine Forces Pacific, 1 Marine Expeditionary Force/3rd Marine Air Wing, III Marine Expeditionary/3rd Marine Division, and U.S. Army Multi-Domain Task Force.

The event came as the second time a decommissioned USS Ingraham was used in a SINKEX. The other ex-USS Ingraham (DD-694), commissioned from 1944 to 1971, was sold to the Hellenic Navy and renamed Miaoulis before it was used in a 2001 SINKEX. 

“The precise and coordinated strikes from the Navy and our Joint teammates resulted in the rapid destruction and sinking of the target ship and exemplify our ability to decisively apply force in the maritime battlespace.” 

Sourse: sputniknews.com