| Submit your comments on this article |
| Afghanistan |
| Smart Bombs Force Change in Tactics on the Ground |
| 2006-06-09 |
| June 9, 2006: For the U.S. Air Force, Afghanistan has become the major theater of war. In May, American warplanes delivered 750 air strikes in Afghanistan, 14 percent than in May, 2005. Meanwhile, the number of air strikes in Iraq continued to decline, as it has been doing for most of this year. But in May, there were fewer air strikes in Iraq than in Afghanistan. For the last three months in Afghanistan, there have been about 2,000 air strikes. Most of the air strikes were smart bombs delivered by B-1 bombers (which replaced a departing unit of B-52s on May 1st). The heavy bombers like the B-1 and B-52 operate out of Diego Garcia (a 44 square kilometer island 4,700 kilometers south of Afghanistan). Small (six or so aircraft) units of heavy bombers rotate in and out of the island every three months. One or two are usually in the air over Afghanistan 24/7. Each heavy bomber carries 10- 12 tons of bombs, and stays in the air for some sixteen hours, during each sortie over Afghanistan. Most of the bombs are 500 pound JDAMs. Some of the air strikes are by A-10s, using their 30mm cannon, or missiles. Some AC-130 gunships are also in the area. The enemy in Iraq has become very wary of smart bombs, especially that 500 pound JDAM. Anti-government forces know that if they are cornered, a JDAM will be arriving shortly, often within ten minutes. Naturally, Iraqis like to exaggerate such things, so most of them think that American troops merely have to point their fingers and mumble the magic words, and the JDAM arrives within a minute or two. This fear of JDAM has caused American troops to adapt as well. More often, the enemy gunmen will try and flee, which puts a premium on mobility and a sharp eye for nervous guys with AK-47s, trying to run away as inconspicuously as possible. Some of the enemy fighters will be more clever and just ditch the rifle and try to blend in. But this is also dangerous, because there are all those UAVs up there, capturing such moves on video. Iraqi police and soldiers usually operate with Americans these days, and they can go in and search for whoever looked suspicious on the UAV video. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #10 A heartwarming story. Like someone said, "the can run, but they'll only die tired". My only question is how will JDAMs cope with the brutal Afghan winter? |
| Posted by: SteveS 2006-06-09 21:24 |
| #9 LOL. Apache Tracker is well-schooled in the ways of The Force, lol. My jealousy is intense, heh. :) |
| Posted by: Glavitch Angineter5765 2006-06-09 18:19 |
| #8 Anti-government forces know that if they are cornered, a JDAM will be arriving shortly, often within ten minutes. JDAM = Judgment Day Arriving Momentarily |
| Posted by: Mike 2006-06-09 18:06 |
| #7 I imagine they work snipers into this mix. This jihad crap has a short shelf life. |
| Posted by: wxjames 2006-06-09 17:55 |
| #6 Naturally, Iraqis like to exaggerate such things, so most of them think that American troops merely have to point their fingers and mumble the magic words, Not an exaggeration, but you must be pure. Not all can do it. |
| Posted by: Apache Tracker 2006-06-09 17:46 |
| #5 insh'allah |
| Posted by: lotp 2006-06-09 13:36 |
| #4 You point out the flaw in their plan. If there are just a few of them, the locals will add them to the cooking pot just on principle. So they have to concentrate in larger groups for self-protection. But this makes them juicy targets for the black djinns of the USAF that fly by night and steal your soul. Plus make your body disintigrate. Sucks to be them. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2006-06-09 13:34 |
| #3 Is there anyone in Afghanistan that doesn't have a gun? I don't think so. So if only three guys come around and bully an entire village, why don't they just kill them and claim they never saw anything? I know what would happen in my little town if 3 or 4 guys showed up and started pushing everyone around. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2006-06-09 11:57 |
| #2 Note also that the ‘rocky’ Afghan mountain side produces a lot more secondary shrapnel on target than flatland Iraq. |
| Posted by: Glaising Glaigum5899 2006-06-09 10:31 |
| #1 Yup, and the Afghan government and increasingly their new Army will take care of those small attacks. |
| Posted by: lotp 2006-06-09 10:20 |