The final decade of the Cold War saw unprecedented peacetime expansion of the US Navy, including Naval Aviation. President Reagan-s plan for a 600-ship Navy resulted in stepped-up construction of Nimitz class supercarriers and the aircraft to operate from them, including new types like the F/A-18 Hornet. Naval aviation was highly diverse, from carrier-borne F-14 Tomcats to P-3 Orions keeping vigil over the world-s oceans, SH-2 Seasprites operating from tiny landing pads on warships in heaving seas, and land-based adversaries playing the opposing force -bad guys- during training.Tensions were high in the 1980s. While US carrier battle groups prepared for confrontation with the Soviets, should the Cold War turn -hot-, they also engaged in combat operations in the Mediterranean and Persian Gulf.Take a step inside the day-to-day operations of Naval Aviation in the 1980s.
