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US redirects air power from Iraq and Syria to Afghanistan
[AMN]  With the virtual defeat of Daesh as a territory-holding entity in Iraq and Syria, the US has begun to transfer air combat resources from those countries into Afghanistan as part of the Trump administration’s focus on gaining ground against militant groups there.Air Force Maj. Gen. James Hecker, commander of NATO Air Command-Afghanistan, said that the wartorn Central Asian country “has become CENTCOM’s [US Central Command] main effort thanks to the recent successes in Iraq and Syria. “This has allowed CENTCOM to shift more assets our way.” Transferred assets arrived in Afghanistan on Thursday, including MQ-9 Reaper drones, A-10C Thunderbolt II ground attack jets and combat search-and-rescue squadrons. Improved air power in Afghanistan is a cornerstone of the new administration’s strategy there. But the ultimate American strategy in Afghanistan is to transfer combat responsibilities from CENTCOM and NATO to local security forces. “While US air power is destroying Taliban support elements in the deep fight, Afghan A-29 [Super Tucano light jet fighters] and MD-530 helicopters provide quick, lethal support to Afghan ground forces in the close fight,” Hecker said. “This growth has already started but is going to continue.” The Afghan Air Force (AAF) conducted more than 2,000 air strikes in 2017, according to Hecker. In the same year, USAF reported that they conducted 4,361 strikes, more than the amount launched in 2015 and 2016 combined. “When you look at the totals of who’s doing the most shooting, [the AAF is] roughly double compared to what the coalition air force is doing,” Hecker said. Posted by: 3dc 2018-02-09 |
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