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Over Iraq, Pilots Fly Into Action

Dec-20-2004 » Filed Under: Iraq News

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By Bradley Graham, Washington Post

AL UDEID AIR BASE, Qatar -- A giant video screen, hung inside a warehouse here that has been transformed by the U.S. Air Force into a state-of-the-art operations center, provides a window on the military action that still occupies the skies over Iraq.

One day earlier this month, the radar signatures of a half-dozen U.S. fighter jets could be seen over Mosul, Fallujah and Babil Province south of Baghdad, their locations reflecting the best guesses of military commanders about where trouble might flare.

The morning and early afternoon passed without incident, but the quiet was suddenly broken at 3:14 p.m. when soldiers in Mosul reported taking small arms fire.

Nothing gets higher priority for military planes involved in the Iraq mission than a situation of troops under attack. Within seconds of the alert, a yellow box with "TIC" -- for Troops in Contact -- popped up on the video map. The Navy fighter jets that had been over Mosul swooped low in a show of force, and the attackers faded away, forestalling more aggressive measures by the aircraft. [...]

Pilots now take their cues for missions not from Air Force strategists but from Army and Marine commanders who daily submit requests for where they think aircraft can help most in support of ground operations. Instead of taking to the air with a clear idea of what they will strike and when, the pilots now largely wait for something to happen -- an attack on U.S. forces, for instance, or the discovery of militants ensconced somewhere -- and then fly into action.

With the exception of large offensive ground operations, such as the assault on Fallujah last month, days can pass without a bomb being dropped. This has led to the use of U.S. combat aircraft in nontraditional ways.

Fighters, for instance, now often are employed as surveillance and reconnaissance platforms. Using video and infrared cameras on their airframes, they cruise above oil pipelines and power plants, scouting for evidence of attack damage or suspicious activity.

When an opportunity for an airstrike presents itself, the weapon of choice may be nontraditional, particularly if the desire is for a relatively small missile and a quick attack. Predator drones are a case in point. Built originally as spying platforms to linger high above targets, they are being used occasionally as shooters in Iraq, firing Hellfire missiles.

In all, more than 500 U.S. and other coalition aircraft remain on duty in Central Command's area of responsibility, which covers not just Iraq but also Afghanistan and the Horn of Africa. More than a fourth of these are jet fighters -- Air Force F-15s , F-16s and A-10s, Navy F-14s and F/A-18s, Marine AV-8s and F/A-18s and British GR-4s and GR-7s.


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