Air Support in AFG - JTAC View

[Lazer-Hound]

Some interesting quotes here:

Bad Medicine (http://www.michaelyon-online.com/bad-medicine.htm)

[chinook240]

L-H,

Think you were beaten to it: http://www.pprune.org/military-aircrew/386414-pharmacy-road-sangin-bad-medicine.html

But still excellent reading, thanks.

[skua]

But note the MoD, with typical wisdom, have cancelled his embed. The truth always hurts.....

[glad rag]

skua, that MY should have been censored in this way is really, really the LOWEST of acts............................remember your government is here to think for you!

[Vox Populi]

From Michael Yon's website today..

Greetings,

The British Ministry of Defence canceled my embed after today's dispatch. Please Read "Bad Medicine".

Next Stop U.S. Forces.



Your Writer,

Michael

This is disturbing news and speaks volumes about the Ministry of Defence.

[Yeoman_dai]

Gah, apparently his next dispatch was going to be about the elections... MoD can't take any more critisism so had taken a knee jerk reaction. I'd bet quite a lot of my savings that this was an order sent from upon high by only one of the Civil Service Mandarins who got scared of the content.

He's an excellent writer, and has done among other things an excellent job of increasing the awareness of what British Forces are doing in afghan, to not only the British Public, but the US Public as well.

[The B Word]

I've added emphasis on my points of interest...

Yes, we need more helicopters, but since I have been in Sangin, we never have been short on attack aircraft...

The JTACs are happy. Air cover, since I have been in Sangin, is better than we could honestly hope for. Axle talked about strike aircraft; “The F-15E Strike Eagles are brilliant,” he said. The JTACs, if given a choice of the other fourteen types of piloted aircraft that come on station, seem to vote for F-15E Strike Eagles.
The F-15E package (weapons, electronics, and strike pilots) is particularly lethal for this fight. When strike aircraft come onto station, the pilots declare their weapons load. A typical F-15E declartion sounds like this: An American voice crackles over the radio, “Good morning. I’ve got 4 GBU-12s, 6 GBU-38s, 2 GBU-31s, and 1,000 x 20mm cannon.” [GBU-12: 500lb Laser Guided Bomb is the JTAC favorite here; GBU-38 is a 500lb JDAM and also very good; GBU-31 is a 2,000lb JDAM and too big for use in Sangin but there are many other fights in Afghanistan; 20mm cannon can destroy armored vehicles but bounce off the compound walls here.]
In total, the two F-15Es arrive with a dozen accurate bombs, a thousand rounds of 20mm, incredibly good optics, and a great downlink package so the JTACs can peer through F-15E crosshairs and coordinate with the pilot. Most importantly, the Strike Eagle pilots are specifically trained for this mission. Nobody on the ground complains about this package.
Whereas Strike Eagles are favored in Sangin, there are close runner-ups. B-1Bs are called “Bones” because B-One spells bone. Bones were made for nuclear war with the Soviets and for carrying hydrogen bombs, and so they don’t carry a lot of different tricks for small battles. B-1Bs do come with 12 GBU-38s and 8 GBU-31s, very good optics and Axle says the pilots are easy to talk onto targets. When a B-1B runs low on gas, refuelers can fly to us. One day, Axle could see Bones refueling directly overhead while continuing to track a target.
In all, about fourteen types of aircraft fly topcover, including American, Belgian, British, Dutch and French. JTACs here say the least desirable aircraft of those fourteen are the French M2000D. A package of two jets carries no cannon, no downlink and a total of only 4 GBU 12s. The optics aboard the aircraft are not good, and the trail aircraft spots targets with binoculars like the Red Baron. Also, the French and British have problems understanding each other’s accents. The British who work with French forces refuse to say a bad word. They say the French are good and ready—which can be surprising because the Brits and the French like to slag each other—but the French aircraft simply are primitive in comparison to the American jets. An American unit in Zabul Province last year said that some French pilots probably saved them, or at least made a big difference, and so any words about primitive aircraft should be taken in light of respect for the pilots.
No mention is made of the Apache helicopters because Axle was talking about jets. The Apaches seem to do most of the heavy lifting—for every jet strike I must have seen 5-10 Apache strikes. Apaches are very effective. We are too far out for coverage from Kiowa Warriors. Predators are excellent but Reapers are especially welcome.


What do I take from this:

1. Buy more Apache and man them for increased tempo.
2. Buy more Reaper (at least we bought the better UAV according to the customer.
3. Ensure that Typhoon can be an F-15E equivalent and not another M2000D!!!
4. Be proud that Air Power is starting to be taken seriously by the Brown Jobs.

The B Word

[knowitall]

B word

1. in the short tearm i would suggest buying more spares and training more crew to get the ones we have in storage in use

2. agreed

3. it has the same or simmilar targeting pod with downlink, arguably a better cannon and can carry more 500lb paveways (though how many it actually would carry on ops is another matter)

4. ...for now

[Easy Street]

Quote from 'brandnew' on the "Royalty" thread (shifted here to try to stick within topic)....

I totally agree that the support given by JFH was superb; this compares interestingly to the Tornado debacle currently going on.

Would brandnew care to elaborate (or if you're not reading this thread, anyone else who has an opinion (recce_FAC?) All publicly-available stuff I've read about the Tornado takeover from JFH has been pretty favourable, although clearly that comes with an MOD PR health warning. "Debacle" and "currently" are a bit strong to cover one takeoff accident over a month ago, in my view!

[Mighty Quercus]

As said earlier, Michael yon has been axed by the MOD. But the MOD are more than happy to use his photos on their website.

See link:

Ministry of Defence | Defence News | Military Operations | British soldiers clear Helmand roads of IEDs (http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/MilitaryOperations/BritishSoldiersClearHelmandRoadsOfIeds.htm)

I have read most of his posts and think his writing is top class. Sometimes the truth hurts. But who else out there is writing this quantity and quality with superb photos.

Shame he's gone back to the yanks.

[Gaz ED]

From the daily record:-

Aug 6 2009 (http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/real-life/2009/08/06/) By Stephen Stewart
THERE was trouble brewing for the Taliban when a Scots-based Tornado squadron unleashed their tea boy - armed with a laser-guided 500lb bomb.
Junior pilot Chris Whitehair dropped the Paveway 4 on an enemy compound during his first combat mission as British troops encountered fierce fighting on the Afghan battlefield below.
His devastating debut was a million miles from his usual role - boiling the kettle for 12 Squadron's other pilots at RAF Lossiemouth. Chris, 26, is just one cog in the RAF machine that played a pivotal role in the bloody battles of Operation Panther's Claw.
He said: "As a junior member of the squadron, I am responsible for doing the tea bar and making sure there is enough milk and stuff.
"It was a bit of a contrast going from that to taking out Taliban positions.
"It was a baptism of fire - I had only been on the squadron for nine months and it had been building to action like this.
"Guys who have been flying for a year or two may not get to drop a Paveway - so it was unusual that I had to do it 30 minutes into my first mission.
"The bomb went into a compound and destroyed everything inside but left the walls standing. It is a precision weapon."
Chris and his comrades - pilots and groundcrew - have been in Kandahar for just a few weeks, operating their fleet of eight fighterbombers 24 hours a day from one of the world' busiest runways.
They have brought a fearsome array of weapons and skills to bear on the Taliban.
Flight Sergeant John Ellis and his groundcrew team ensure the supersonic Tornado GR4 jets are cared for and their hi-tech arsenal primed for action.
There's the Paveway 4 - the world's most advanced "smart bomb" - and the Raptor imaging system, which can spot a roadside bomb from the air then send ground troops a picture of its location.
Pilots stay safe as sensors allow the aircraft to remain outside heavily defended areas, lowering the risk of missile and rocket attack.
John, 50, of Alexandria, Dunbartonshire, said: "It's very rewarding to know that our work is making a real difference to our soldiers on the ground.
"It takes us 16 minutes from a standing start to get the Tornadoes up in the air.
"Our Tornadoes are responsible for reconnaissance overwatch, which means looking after ground forces, and scramble as and when they are needed. We can be flying more than six sorties a day.
"It's a pretty harsh environment to be working in and when we came here, we just hit the ground running.
"We just do the job and don't expect a pat on the back. It is hardest for our families who are left behind and are just wondering how we are getting on."
John and his team hope that their gizmos will lead to fewer civilian casualties.
He said: "We now have some amazing pieces of kit. Gone are the days when bombs damaged whole areas. This technology can target the bad guys and also save lives."
His team feel they are doing good. Senior aircraftman Gareth Henderson, 26, from Stonehaven, Kincardineshire, said: "It's a tough place to work in but I have been to Afghanistan before and you get used to it. It was good to be part of things like Operation Panther's Claw.
"We are the last link in the chain before the planes go out so we do have the pilots' lives in our hands. It is a high pressure job but it goes with the territory.
"You feel as if you are really making a difference here. It's hard being so far from luxury and I miss my girlfriend Nicky."
Stephen Murray, 25, from Uddingston, Lanarkshire, said: "It is very rewarding to be able to help the guys on the ground. We don't really see the enemy so it's not really something we think about.
"I am really proud of the role we played in Panther's Claw. That's what it was all about and it was good to be part of such a successful operation."
Weapons technician John Ferguson, 38, from Paisley, said he was still amazed by the technology. He said: "It can deliver a bomb to a target with an accuracy of a foot or so. That is impressive."
Ace pilot Joe Nixon, 36, is the squadron leader and has notched up more than 2000 hours' flying time.
He said: "We have only been in Afghanistan for a few weeks but it has been very busy already. We get to see the guys come back from recent operations like Operation Panther's Claw and it can be satisfying to see their relief at getting back.
"It's rewarding to be able to help out our guys and to get them back safely.
"It's unusual for us to be so close to the guys - normally we are in a more detached location rather than in the combat zone.
"But here we get to see the results of our work after missions. We are glad to get the recognition of a job well done."