Air war report of 11/19

F/A 18-E/F Super Hornet

The Air Force news service gives the official report for air power usage in the Iraq War and the Afghanistan War covering the day of 11/18/06:

In Afghanistan, which still is nearly invisibile in the US media:

Afghanistan Nov. 18, U.S. Navy F/A-18Cs and F/A-18Es provided close-air support for International Security Assistance Force troops in contact with Taliban extremists near Kandahar. The F/A-18Cs expended a guided bomb unit-12 and the F/A-18Es expended a GBU-12 and cannon rounds on enemy positions.

Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt IIs provided close-air support to ISAF troops in contact with enemy forces near Asadabad.

In total, 42 close-air support missions were flown in support of ISAF and Afghan troops, reconstruction activities and route patrols.

Forty-two combat-support missions on Saturday. Five years after "liberating" Iraq the fighting is still at that level. And always keep in mind that any air strike in any sort of populated area, whether city of village, is likely to claim the lives of noncombatants, especially when bombs are used.

Are any American reporters following up on the results of these dozens of air strikes per day in Afghanistan?

The F/A-18Cs (single seat) and F/A-18Ds (dual seat) Hornets are described as follows by GlobalSecurity.org:

These Hornets carry the Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) and the infrared imaging Maverick air-to-ground missile. Two years later, the C/D models came with improved night attack capabilities. ...

On all missions, the Hornet will employ the highly effective 20mm Gatling gun. With the high performance of a lightweight fighter combined with the "state-of-the-art" night attack, all weather weapon system, the Hornet is capable of finding and destroying land, sea, or air targets on the first pass, day or night.

Powered by two GE F404 engines, the F/A-18C can get home in the event of a malfunction or battle damage. Moreover, its self-start capability and modular maintenance make it ideal for remote airstrip operation, as well as the furious pace of carrier operations.

This "remote airstrip" capability is presumably one of the reasons these Navy planes are being used in Afghanistan. Presumably, the "Taliban extremists" don't have much of a navy of their own.

The F/A-18C radar is the world's most advanced for a fighter aircraft. Two radars in one, the Hughes APG-73 has the ability to detect airborne targets at more than 100 miles, distinguish low-flying or slow-moving targets "on the deck," pinpoint ships at sea, map the contours of the ground, and track ground targets. F/A-18Cs have synthetic aperture ground mapping radar with a doppler beam sharpening mode to generate ground maps. This ground mapping capability that permits crews to locate and attack targets in adverse weather and poor visibility or to precisely update the aircraft's location relative to targets during the approach, a capability that improves bombing accuracy. New production F/A-18Cs received the APG-73 radar upgrade radars starting in 1994, providing more precise and clear radar displays.

We're fighting guerrillas armed with rifles and IEDs with high-tech aircraft? I wonder of other potential adversaries of the US in the world are noticing that they can spend a few dollars and devote a few guerrillas to attacks that will bring entice the US to bring expensive hardware like this to bear.

The F/A-18Es mentioned in the Air Force story are known as Super Hornets with even longer ranges and more capabilities.

The F/A 18-C/D and F/A 18-E/Fs are manufactured by Northrop Grumman under contract to Boeing.

And in the Iraq War:

In Iraq, an Air Force Predator conducted a strike against anti-Iraqi forces near Ramadi. The Predator expended Hellfire missiles on enemy targets.

Royal Air Force GR-4s provided close-air support to troops in contact with anti-Iraqi forces near Baghdad.

United States Air Force F-15E Strike Eagles provided close-air support to troops in contact with anti-Iraqi forces near Bayji, Baghdad and Al Musayyib.

Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcons provided close-air support to troops in contact with anti-Iraqi forces near Subakhu.

In total, coalition aircraft flew 30 close-air support missions for Operation Iraqi Freedom. These missions included support to coalition troops, infrastructure protection, reconstruction activities and operations to deter and disrupt terrorist activities.

We're policing "reconstruction activities" with Hellfire missiles? When one of those nicely-painted schools we keep hearing about get built, how many houses in the town on the average have to be blown up with missiles to protect that "reconstruction activity"?

I'm noticing that the Air Force press releases often have these close-air support missions being carried out "near" some town or city. Which would probably sound to most American readers like "somewhere out in the desert".

It would certainly be helpful for independent reporters to follow up on these attacks reported by the Air Force. But we know that, outside of Baghdad's Green Zone, most of Iraq is considered too dangerous for reporters to even travel. Not that that reflects on the unending success of the Cheney-Bush administration and our infallible generals in Iraq.

GlobalSecurity.org describes the F-16 Fighting Falcon as follows:

In an air combat role, the F-16's maneuverability and combat radius (distance it can fly to enter air combat, stay, fight and return) exceed that of all potential threat fighter aircraft. It can locate targets in all weather conditions and detect low flying aircraft in radar ground clutter. In an air-to-surface role, the F-16 can fly more than 500 miles (860 kilometers), deliver its weapons with superior accuracy, defend itself against enemy aircraft, and return to its starting point. An all-weather capability allows it to accurately deliver ordnance during non-visual bombing conditions.

The F-16 was built under an unusual agreement creating a consortium between the United States and four NATO countries: Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway. These countries jointly produced with the United States an initial 348 F-16s for their air forces. Final airframe assembly lines were located in Belgium and the Netherlands. The consortium's F-16s are assembled from components manufactured in all five countries. Belgium also provides final assembly of the F100 engine used in the European F-16s. The long-term benefits of this program will be technology transfer among the nations producing the F-16, and a common-use aircraft for NATO nations. This program increases the supply and availability of repair parts in Europe and improves the F-16's combat readiness.

USAF F-16 multi-mission fighters were deployed to the Persian Gulf in 1991 in support of Operation Desert Storm, where more sorties were flown than with any other aircraft. These fighters were used to attack airfields, military production facilities, Scud missiles sites and a variety of other targets.

Originally conceived as a simple air-superiority day fighter, the aircraft was armed for that mission with a single six-barrel Vulcan 20-mm cannon and two Sidewinder missiles, one mounted at each wingtip. Over the years, however, the mission capability of the aircraft has been extended to include ground-attack and all-weather operations With full internal fuel, the aircraft can carry up to 12 000 pounds of external stores including various types of ordnance as well as fuel tanks.

The original F-16 was designed as a lightweight air-to-air day fighter. Air-to-ground responsibilities transformed the first production F-16s into multirole fighters.

Hearing: Bruce Springsteen, "Bring 'Em Home (If You Love Your Uncle Sam)