Today’s Times has a fascinating story out of Afghanistan. Well, more like above it, really. Reporter David Cloud hitched a ride on a “B-1 bomber orbit[ing] at 20,000 feet, responding to radio calls from American and Canadian troops who asked the plane to use its radar to watch for insurgent forces and to be prepared to drop bombs.“
The Air Force has conducted more than 2,000 airstrikes in Afghanistan over the past six months, a sharp increase in bombing that reflects the growing demand for American air cover since NATO has assumed a larger ground combat role, Air Force officials said…
The NATO forces are mostly operating without heavy armor or artillery support, and as Taliban resistance has continued, more air support has been used to compensate for the lightness of the units, Air Force officials said. Most of the strikes have come during close air support missions, where the bombers patrol the area and respond to calls from ground units in combat rather than performing planned strikes…
To carry out the heavier mission load, the Air Forces entire complement of B-1 bombers was shifted over the summer from the British air base at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean to a Middle Eastern airfield closer to Afghanistan. The new basing arrangement shortens the flying time to Afghanistan by two hours, allowing bombers to remain overhead for longer periods between refueling by aerial tankers…
The 2,095 attacks by American aircraft since June is many times greater than the number of airstrikes in Iraq, where the terrain and nature of the conflict are less susceptible to bombing campaigns. There have been only 88 attacks by American aircraft in Iraq since June, according to Air Force figures. Unlike in Afghanistan, insurgents in Iraq are largely in urban areas and do not often mass in groups large enough to warrant use of airstrikes, Air Force commanders said.
I think we al know how effective close air support can be. But is it really a substitute for having fewer troops on the ground?
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SOF and air power is the correct strategy for Afghanistan. Using large numbers of conventional forces outside of large towns is stupid. Guerrilla warfare requires these types of tactics.
Not to split hairs, but the B-1s are standing in for tube and direct-fire artillery, not ground troops.
This is generally the time when someone should chime in about how a “B-767″ aircraft would do the job just as well; show-of-force (SOF in pilot slang) drawbacks aside, there’s certainly something to the idea. But you go to war with the military you have, and the ever-present Bone has been very popular with troops on the ground.
Fair enough, TBV.
A couple of years ago there was discussion of a concept that had target designators in the hands of the troops. The idea being that Pvt. Snuffy could aim his laser at a target, and a bomber high overhead would release a GBU-controlled bomb.
In the final development of that, troops would go into action with weapons for self-protection plus what amounted to laser pointers. When they wanted to kill something, they’d call fire from the sky. Yes, I know, that’s taking it too far.
This seems to me an idea worth development. Has more been done?
Regards,
Ric
A friend of mine is the weapons officer onboard a B-1, who did a few tours over Afghanistan out of Diego Garcia. The mission, indeed, was close ground support from 21K feet. Once over Afghanistan, he controlled the plane, and listened on chatter between ground forces. Forces on the ground would communicate map coordinates which he’d verify and translate back for checking purposes to GPS. He’d organize the bombing run accordingly, under ground forces command, much like the “laser pointer” model discussed above. This has been going on for years. The only new thing I see here is a better basing arrangement, and maybe a greater intensity of activity. The trip from Diego involved several in-flight refuelings along the way, and much fatique buildup with the crew. R&R on Diego is great, it’s a tropical island. Thing is the beaches are shark infested.
One interesting point in the story is the rebasing from Diego Garcia to an undisclosed location in the Middle East. Al Udeid comes to mind, but are there other possibilities?
It also occurs to me that any Middle East base is way closer to Iran than is Diego G, should things come to that.
> Al Udeid comes to mind
Yup. It does seem to be Al Udeid:
http://www.airforcetimes.com/story.php?f=1–292925-2331598.php
November 03, 2006
Qatar base population hits 7,000
Staff report
Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar is on its way to becoming one of the largest bases in the Air Force, and it’s looking more like a permanent base than a deployed location.
[snip]
Among the new arrivals are a B-1B Lancer bomber squadron, a reconnaissance aircraft ground relay station and a communications training squadron.
[mas snip]
I would like to hear more about the 9th Bomber Squadron now based at Al Udeid
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